Josie's Journey

Why? Oh, Because She's (Almost) Dead

Josie's eyes blinked open. She stared at her phone - she'd just ended a call with Ethan. She slipped the phone into her right pocket and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She stared at the person in the mirror, still not even close to feeling like herself. It was an odd feeling, hearing voices in her head.

"This is all so crazy... What if Ethan thinks I'm lying?" she asked her reflection. Obviously, it didn't answer her. She held onto her bathroom counter and leaned closer to the mirror, staring into her own eyes.

You know what you have to do, a voice said. She shuddered. A chilling feeling spread down her spine and she felt her knees begin to grow weak. Suddenly she collapsed and her head hit the counter on the way down.

Blood oozed from her head, the loud thump echoed when she hit the tile floor. She was still slightly conscious.

You idiot. You shouldn't have stood there for so long. She groaned. She could hear footsteps running up the stairs until suddenly everything went black.

—

Uncle Adam heard a thud and rushed upstairs. He saw the bloody gash on the side of Josie's head and kneeled on the floor beside her unconscious body.

"Josie. Are you okay?" He grabbed her by the shoulder as he checked for a pulse. "Wake up, you're going to be okay." He tried his best to comfort her, unsure if she could hear him or not. He wasn't sure if he should call 9-1-1, so he just watched over her until she slowly began to regain consciousness.

Unfortunately, she wasn't conscious as he first thought when he saw her head move. She was convulsing on the floor, her eyes fluttering. He quickly grabbed his phone and called the paramedics. He held the phone to his ear as he waited for them to arrive.

Once the paramedic team arrived, put her on a stretcher to carry her downstairs to the ambulance waiting outside. Josie's seizure finally stopped two minutes after it began. The paramedics began gathering vitals and checking for any injuries other than her head wound. They attached her to the monitor and wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her upper arm. Josie was still unconscious, her heart rate had skyrocketed, and her blood pressure was dangerously low. They instantly tried to find a vein to place an IV. It took them a few tries before they got the catheter into the vein.

Josie was laying on the gurney, still unconscious while the paramedic team sat down, turned the lights on, and rushed towards the hospital.

— — —

The next time Josie's eyes opened, she was in a hospital bed in the intensive care unit. She had a ton of electrodes on her head and chest, wires leading to different monitors around her. The ones on her chest connected to the heart monitor. She wasn't sure what the ones on her head were for - she didn't know that they were recording her brain waves in case she was to have another seizure.

Her eyes scanned her surroundings and she looked at the machines.

We almost died. Didn't we?

She shook her head and tried to sit up, but she was still far too weak. She was awake enough to understand where she was, but she felt weird. She felt different, like a completely different person, way different than before. She had this sadness and anxiety in her that felt almost alien.