Something about you (Norminah)

Chapter Twenty One

Dinah wrapped her arms around me, and I instinctively leaned back into the embrace. "Hey babe, come back to bed."

"Sun's about to rise," I murmured, gesturing to the sky which was beginning to lighten. Dinah let go, only to come and stand beside me. I could tell she was tired. We got in at 2 and although she fell asleep as soon as she was in bed, she hadn't gotten in nearly enough hours and now we were both up again watching the sun bloom on the horizon.

It was worth it. The sky went from blue so a kaleidoscope of oranges and pinks. My fascination with them began when I was a child, ironically during the time my mom was sick. When she was home from the hospital, she'd wake up early each morning and struggle until she finally got to my room which had the best view of them. I happened to wake up one morning and see her sitting in the rocking chair that had been there since I was a baby, staring out the window. When I asked her why, she told me that the peaches, magentas, amber and and violets radiated hope and help the promise of a new beginning, and another chance to live. I asked her to wake me up when she came to watch the sunrises and she did, every morning without fail. I didn't realize it then, but every morning that she woke me up felt like a promise that she would fight. Until the one morning that she didn't.

"Babe?" The sound of Dinah's voice jolted me out of my reverie. "Let's go back to bed."

"I'll be right there," I murmured before turning back to the beach. It wasn't warm yet, but as I shut my eyes and listened to the sound of the ocean trying desperately to claim as much of the shore as it could, I imagined the golden rays touching my skin and allowing me to shine like I was meant to.

When I got back to bed, Dinah was already asleep. She frowned when I pulled back the covers to slip into bed beside her, letting in some of the cold air from the ocean as I did. Her body immediately found fine, as though she was being drawn by the little warmth that I still had. I was more tired than I had initially realized; my eyes quickly fluttered shut not long after I had gotten into bed.

I knew I hadn't slept nearly enough when I woke up. I felt Dinah's lips on my face, at least I hoped they were hers; every thought was in high definition and yet groggy. I could hear laughter and noise from just outside the room.

The clock read 11:52. I had gotten just over five hours of sleep which, although it wasn't nearly enough, was better than I expected.

"Morning babe, go and shower. I'll get you some food."

"I feel kinda nauseous and I have a slight headache, please get me water too?"

"I've got you babe. It's a good thing we can arrive at the spa at any time because everyone over slept."

I shook my head. "I definitely under slept. What time will we get to the camp site if we're only heading to the spa now?"

"Don't worry about that. Just go and shower, quickly if possible, then I'll round everyone up and we'll head to the spa. It's only a five minute drive from here and the spa has a complimentary car service."

I got up quickly, well as quickly as I could with a headache and the possibility that I could vomit at any moment and went to the bathroom. I ran it for a minute to get the temperature right before stepping in, toes flinching as they touched the still too cold ceramic floor.

The warm water helped some, as did the hangover pack that Dinah left which included a disgusting concoction. She came back just after I got dressed with breakfast, and I managed to get two slices down, all the while drinking as much water as I could without throwing up.

"Okay everyone's ready, let's go."

Dinah and I sat at the back of the car and I almost started to doze off, until I realized that we were already at the spa.