Survival of the Fittest

Chapter Seven - The Therapist

The pellets of rain from the open sky felt like drops of scorching lava against my skin. Each drip stung worse than the one before. And the more I tried to open my eyes to the blaring light above, the more I wished that the darkness would just take over.

I tried to move, but my arm was pinned underneath something hard. I tried to move it a little more, pulling to release it, but with no luck.

Wait...why wasn't I feeling the pain? Was I paralyzed? No, I could still wiggle my toes and my other arm was moving. Okay, good. That's a good sign. Right? No, that wasn't good. I was alone and was probably going to die. This couldn't be real, right?

"Hello! Someone help! Hello!"

Nothing. My screams were met with an empty silence.

I was alone...

That was when I realized that I had to force my eyes open and face the naked truth that this wasn't a dream. It was a fucking nightmare.

No...that wasn't right. This couldn't be real. This was just a nightmare that I had to wake up from. There was no way this was happening. I just had to wake up...I just had...to...

The next time I opened my eyes, it wasn't as bright. I must've fallen asleep. That, or passed out. Time was slipping away. But how much time?

Was I asleep for minutes? Hours? Days?

I had to get out of here. I had to get home. There were patients waiting to be seen.

The only thing that kept me from seeing the rest of the damage to my arm was a large piece of metal. The piece of metal that I'd finally noticed was sliced deep into my flesh and kept me from moving. The oblivious shock that my body had taken clearly damaged my ability to feel anything. The adrenaline firing through my body kept the realities at bay. And I couldn't wait to wake up from this horrible dream.

Tomorrow morning, I knew I'd wake up in the safety of my bed, clinging to the safety of my navy blue comforter surrounded by a mountain of pillows, not a mountain of unidentifiable green plants and animals. My heart thumped feverishly against the wall of my chest, threatening to jump out with each forceful beat. My helpless breathing continued to the point of hyperventilation.

Open your eyes, Melissa. Just open your fucking eyes...Wake up!

After countless rounds of blinking tears away, I was finally able to keep my swollen eyes open. I took in my surroundings. And if I wasn't in the worst nightmare of my life, I'd think this place was beautiful. But in this nightmare, the sea of green was anything but beautiful. It was possibly the final place I'd ever see. The trees, the plants, the grass would quite possibly be my undoing.

My final resting place.

The more I looked around, the more I longed to see the mundane coloring of my office building. The gray concrete that I'd once taken for granted was all I wanted. That, and any kind of alcohol to numb the pain, both literal and figurative. I gave my arm another jerk, but it was once again met with resistance. It was still pinned under the metal piece from the plane.

The plane...the fucking plane!

I wasn't alone...I was on a plane. And it was full of people. Lots of people.

"Hello!"

I yelled loudly, finding the energy somehow to screech again and again. But my shouts were only met with the squawking of the birds and dripping of the falling rain.

"Can anyone...hear me?"

I cried, realizing that there was no one around. Or if they were, they were in worse shape than I was.