Matters of the Heart

Chapter 16: What Lies Beneath

Chapter 16:

What Lies Beneath

The next few days were a blur. Waking up next to Alison in the mornings was a dream for Emily. The first morning she woke up in Alison's bed she had stared at her girlfriend in awe while she slept. She had a finer appreciation for everything after getting out of the hospital. Being next to Alison was a comfort to her. It offset the nightmares she was having. Wherever her mind had gone when her heart stopped seemed to have opened up every single door inside her head she'd slammed shut years ago. She usually woke up in the mornings, her palms slick with sweat and her jaw tense from clenching it all night long. But then all she had to do was look at the sleeping beauty beside her and she'd come down from her nightmares.

When Alison's alarm went off for school on Friday morning Emily welcomed the interruption. She'd been dreaming about being back in the dollhouse. She was trapped in a dark box filling up with icy water. At first she thought she'd been tossed into the ocean, but the water that splashed into her mouth didn't have the salty taste of the beach. She had been completely submerged within a matter of minutes. She'd tried to remain calm at first. She knew that the quicker she panicked the quicker she'd run out of air. She flashed back to all of her swimming safety lectures. Unfortunately, she'd never learned how to handle being waterboarded. Her lungs were starting to burn when a loud buzzing noise screamed through the air. When she woke up she realized it wasn't the alarm at the bunker, but the alarm on Ali's phone.

Alison wasn't in bed. She came stumbling into the room and rushed over to her phone to shut it off.

"Sorry, I meant to turn that off. I woke up early." Ali quickly silenced her phone.

Emily glanced at the clock. It was 6:15. Ali was already dressed and had her make-up on for school. She had to have been up for at least an hour, but she didn't have to be at school for another hour.

"What are you doing up so early?" Emily yawned. She sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. She put her feet against the floor.

"I couldn't sleep." Ali shrugged. She looked at Emily with a soft expression on her face. "You were tossing in your sleep again."

"Sorry." Emily glanced at her remorsefully. "I've had some trouble getting back to a normal sleeping pattern since I left the hospital."

"But you've been feeling okay, right?" Ali asked in anticipation.

"Yeah, I've felt fine since they changed the dosage on my meds," Emily replied.

"When is your follow up?"

"Ali, we talked about this. You're acting like a worried mother again." Emily glared at her.

"I nag because I care." Ali pressed her lips together in a tight smile.

"You know, there's other ways to show you care." Emily reached for Ali's arms and gently pulled her towards the bed.

"Oh, yeah?" Ali lifted her brows mischievously. She leaned over Emily and put her hand on Emily's face. "Like this?" She kissed her on the lips. Emily could taste her cherry flavored lip gloss. "Or...this?" Her lips grazed Emily's cheek and then she trailed a line of kisses down her jawline.

Emily's heart sped up in her chest when she felt Alison's hot breath on her neck. She wrapped her arm around Alison's waist to pull her closer. She put her free hand on Alison's cheek. Alison put her forehead against Emily's and looked into her eyes and smiled.

"You are absolutely stunning, you know that?" Alison kissed her again, softer this time.

"We have an hour before you have to get to school." Emily grinned seductively.