Serenis

Chapter 3

'Evie, Evie! Wake up! What's wrong?' 

I could hear Ben's voice echoing through my head but nothing could interrupt the dream that I was living, or should I say the nightmare. I was back, trapped once again in my car and choking. I looked at the dead canary; the only part that was different about the nightmare this time was that I could now see the man's face. The man in the cowboy hat was as clear as day although he was not who I thought he was. I recognized him but somewhere in my conscious mind I knew I had never formally met him before, not in real life anyhow. No, we had met somewhere far more secretive, we had met in my mind and in my nightmares and that made it far more worrying. 

As usual, I jolted into reality with my hands gripped around my throat only this time I had an audience. I lay there gasping for air as an oxygen mask was pushed to my mouth and although this should have been comforting I felt more claustrophobic than ever. My eyes fixed on the bright light above me and if it wasn't for Ben's face hovering over me every few seconds, I probably would have thought the light had a completely different meaning and I had finally choked to death in my sleep. I could hear a loud beeping noise gradually getting slower and slower. A woman's voice barked out orders to a flurry of blue flashes and before I knew it my eyes were open and I was completely aware of where I was. 

I ripped off the oxygen mask and sat up, attempting to get out of bed. The woman who was shouting orders before was now ordering me to stay put. She had a thick Spanish accent and was speaking to me as if I had lost my hearing.  

'E-vie, you have to st-ay do-wn, okay? You collapsed and you are now at Lunbridge Hospital. Ben is here and you are okay.'  

Who was this woman? The way she spoke to me was making me panic. Had I suffered a stroke? I felt as though I was moving and mobile but was that really the case or was I actually lying on a bed unable to even open my eyes? I could feel a familiar churning in my stomach and knew what was coming. It took all of my strength but somehow I managed to breathe out enough of a sentence to have her release me from her kung fu grip. 'I'm going to be sick. Please, I'm going to throw up. I have to move.' 

And with that I turned my head to the side and proceeded to be sick once again, only this time, much to my dismay, it was not in the privacy of my own bathroom but in front of a room full of people.  

Ben jumped back and walked to the end of the bed to avoid the exorcist re-enactment that was being performed in front of him. I was mortified, forget the drunken, 'I love you speech,' at the street party - this was way more embarrassing than that. I was definitely going to have to move far, far away from Ben after this. Hell, I would even go back to college if it meant I would never have to see his face again. 

I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling. Normally at this point I would begin to cry but not today. I had hit a new low with my nightmares. I had crossed a line and made the progression from dreamtime to reality and for that I had no emotions. 

A warm hand wiped over my forehead, I looked up to see it was Ben. 'Oh Eves, you scared me. You scared me half to death.'  

He had tears in his eyes and at that very moment I went from feeling mortified for throwing up in front of him to feeling guilty. If only I hadn't been such a baby this morning and faced my fate on my own like I was supposed to, Ben wouldn't have been subjected to any of this. But of course I had to go and drag him down with me. I caused the pained look on his face, I caused his tears and his worry and I felt so bad about it. 'Ben, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, you have to believe me.' 

'What are you talking about? None of this is your fault. The doctor is going to do some tests. You collapsed Evie.' 

'Ben, please go. I'm just so sorry you had to see all of this. You went from having a normal day to this. I'm fine now, honest.'