a friend from college-jemily

dream a little dream of me

The hiss of the exhaust rang in JJ's ears. Her vision was blurry, made even worse by the smoke that was billowing outside the vehicle. As she tried to move, a piercing shock paralyzed her in her chair. Glass had shattered everywhere and as she scanned around her, she didn't recognize her surroundings. Of course she wouldn't. It was dark on the highway, especially in this part of New York at this time of night. When she finally freed herself from her seat, she noticed she was relatively unscathed. She kicked open her passenger door and slowly walked out of the car. Other drivers had stopped to witness the carnage. Since JJ had been asleep, she didn't really know what happened, but several other vehicles were beat up in the accident. The hissing in JJ's ears got louder. She turned around to the hood of Emily's car again.

Emily.

Where's Emily?

JJ's stomach felt like a pit as she realized her girlfriend was not in the vehicle but that the windows and windshield had been blasted out from the crash.

"EMILY!" JJ began to yell frantically. Others took notice to JJ's concern and began scanning the area for the brunette. Soon, JJ's screams were muffled by the sound of approaching sirens. The ambulances had arrived but Emily was still nowhere to be seen.

"Please, my girlfriend!" JJ screamed to those who stopped to witness the crash. "Help me find my girlfriend! Her name...her name is Emily!"

"EMILY! EMILY!"

As JJ screamed, an EMT came up to her. "Miss, were you in the accident?"
"Yes, please, my girlfriend was driving," JJ pleaded. "I don't. I don't know where she is." JJ felt her head spinning and her surroundings getting hazy. She wanted to continue to walk the area to find Emily, but her balance had betrayed her. The EMT guided her to the end of one of the rigs.
"Are you in any pain?" the EMT asked.
"I've got a bit of a head ache," JJ admitted. At that moment, two EMTs had returned to the rig from just off the edge of the highway.
"We need the gurney. It's bad," one of them said.
"Oh my god, that's my girlfriend," JJ cried as she ran off with the EMTs. Emily had been thrown from the car and her body had slid along the pavement several yards and lodged her under the metal shoulders of the highway. As the EMTs got her on the gurney, her body was full of awful cuts and bruises, a huge gash was visible in her abdomen.
JJ ran alongside the gurney back to the ambulance.
"Emily, oh my god," JJ cried, nearly shaking. Emily didn't speak but her eyes scanned her surroundings and when she met JJ's face, her hand reached out for JJ. JJ took it as the EMTs lifted Emily in to the ambulance.
"Emily," JJ said again.
"J...J," Emily gasped between labored breathes.  Before she could attempt to speak again, Emily began throwing up blood. The EMTs pushed JJ off to the side in the ambulance as they attempted to control Emily's internal bleeding. JJ could hear Emily's vitals spiraling out of control.
"We're losing her, damn it," one of the EMTs stated as Emily went in to vfib. They ripped open Emily's shirt and prepared the defibrillator. JJ watched from the corner in total shock as Emily flatlined. An EMT would yell "Clear!" and then Emily's lifeless body would flail from the shock that was entering her chest. They shocked her twice more before her heart returned to normal rhythm.

JJ sighed in relief but Emily was still unconscious and her internal injuries were severe. Finally, they had arrived to the emergency entrance of the hospital and Emily was immediately rushed to a trauma room. A nurse took JJ and began asking her questions about Emily. To her frustration, she barely knew any of the answers. "Was she on any medication? Did she have any allergies? Do you know her blood type? Is there anyone we can call?" She didn't know. She didn't know. She didn't know. JJ felt useless. Her head continued to pound presumably from the impact it took in the crash.

After what felt like hours waiting in the emergency room, JJ had still not gotten an update on Emily. A neurologist had given JJ a clean bill of health, with only a mild concussion that needed to be monitored. A plastic surgeon had come to stitch up some of the deeper cuts JJ had on her arm and cheek. Still, nothing about Emily.

Eventually, the nurse that met JJ had found her a quiet room that she could sit and wait for Emily in. Music played softly from the corner of the empty lobby next to the room.

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singing in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me

For what it was worth, the song helped soothe JJ enough for her to stop shaking for the first time since the accident. Warm tears softly rolled down JJ's cheeks as she rested her head against the wall. Suddenly, the room began to spin and bed at the center was suddenly a lush, sprawling meadow, with daisies peaking above the tall grass and butterflies dancing from petal to petal. Off in the distance the birds fluttered around a huge sycamore tree. The lyrics to the song had intensified, almost hauntingly so, inside JJ's head. She popped her head out in to the hallway of the hospital and came upon a nurse she didn't recognize.

"Excuse me?" JJ asked from behind. "Do you know if there's an update on my girlfriend? Her name is Emily Prentiss."

The nurse turned around sharply, revealing a monster from JJ's recent past. "Emily Prentiss?" hissed Evan Parker's voice. JJ screamed and began to run down the hospital hallway. "Emily Prentiss, Emily Prentiss, Emily Prentiss," continued to echo intensely in JJ's ears. Finally, she made it to the end of the hall where she saw a body lying lifelessly in the hospital bed at the center of the room. It looked like Emily. JJ got closer, but before she could reach her. The body sat straight up, eyes wide open. "Emily Prentiss is dead!" Emily's body yelled.
JJ started running again, she could still hear Emily's voice calling her. "JJ, JJ." It whispered. She kept running. "JJ, JJ," this time louder.

"JJ," Emily said as she shook her girlfriend awake. JJ's eyes opened to reveal she and Emily sitting in the cobblestone driveway of a huge European cottage style home.

"C'mon, JJ, we're home."