Needles and Butterflies

Fourty-Four

Pain. Cold. Chills. Flash. Repeat.

Pain. Cold. Chills. Flash. Repeat.

Pain. Cold. Chills. Flash. Repeat.

~

The waves crashed quietly against the sandy beach as the grey clouds swirled above. Emma sat silently on the shore, sobbing into her knees as she shivered from the cold.

"Emma!" The distant voices called to her. "Emma! Wake up!"

"Leave me alone," she sobbed. "Just leave me alone!"

"Emma," a soft voice called suddenly as the sand shifted beside her. She looked up suddenly only to he met by a pair of stunning Emerald green eyes.

"Harry?" She muttered, instinctively reaching for him. He smiled at her gently and rested his warm hand against her cheek, igniting a flame in her chest.

"Emma... love... come back to me," he begged softly. "Come back to me..." she felt the sand shift on her other side and quickly turned to see Luke sitting beside her, staring out over the growing waves.

"Luke?" She whispered, barely hearing her own voice over the roaring wind. He smiled at her sadly before glancing at the sand.

"It's okay, Em," he murmered, looking down at the sand. "It's okay if you pick him... I just need to you wake up."

Emma felt her eyebrows furrow in confusion as each of the men took one of her hands.

"Wake up," they whispered together, standing and pulling her up with them as they went. They each let her hand fall from their own as they turned and began walking off behind her.

"W-wait-" she called, trying to turn towards them. Her legs were locked in place and she couldn't move. The water infront of her began to rise quickly, coming towards her as the boys disappeared behind her. "W-wait!" She called. "Help!" The water was around her ankles now and she could feel every limb in her body numb from the cold. She tried to run, tried to will her legs to move, but it was too late. Emma took in a sudden breath before the water completely engulfed her. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness around her as she floated. She began searching frantically in every direction, searching for a way out. She no longer knew which way was up or down as everything around her seemed to be pressing in. Her lungs screamed for air as a sob lodged itself in her throat. A distant light appeared infront of her and she frantically began swimming towards it, but with every stroke it seemed to fade away farther into the distance. She wanted to scream in frustration, but knew she couldn't as her lungs felt as if they were shriveling away to nothing in her chest. Her head was pounding as she felt the pressure pressing in on her, every ounce of her body willing her to give up, and suddenly, she did.

~~~

The five men stood quietly around her bed, speaking in hushed whispers. Harry held tightly onto his girlfriend's hands, watching as her eyelids twitched and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He gently brushed a hand through her hair, trying his best to calm her as she attempted to wake up. There was a thick line of sweat glistening on her forehead and she was running a fever of 103. Her entire body was shivering and her hands were cold to the touch, a result of her criminally low blood pressure.

"We need to get her started on antibiotics, the wound is infected," Thomas whispered softly to Tim and Dylan.

"How is it infected?" Tim muttered, feeling his heart stop in his chest.