The Artist's Wife (BWWM)

Chapter 20~ Do

Listen to 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons for this chapter. It's one of the best songs to get the total feels for it.

I seem to have a lot of silent readers, if you're one and you can see this, drop an 'hey' let me meet you.

Have you ever woken up feeling cold yet you're completely covered in hot sweat? I really hoped your answer was no because it was a horrible thing, and that was how I woke up.

My heart was working so fast, I feared my sternum was in danger of cracking and the sound of my quick, shallow breaths scared me. I scanned my darkroom to make sure they weren't actually in there, turning on the bed lamp. I could hear the pitter-patter of light rain and knew at once that the rain had triggered my darkest memory.

Stupid ass rain. Since the day of the incident, I had hated the rain. Passionately.

I wiped off beads of sweat and crawled out of the bed, my vision immediately went all blurry and I felt vomit rise in my throat. I clamped my lips shut with my palm and raced to the bathroom. In a matter of seconds, I was on my knees, my hair falling in my face, puking my dinner into the toilet bowl. When I was done retching my dinner, I fell limply onto the floor, my hand clutching my scar and trembles shaking my whole body.

Why was this happening now?

I kept getting these mini panic attacks lately and if these nightmares kept up, I would have to go back to the pills and I hated using those things. I sighed and tried to get up.

Get a grip, girl.

You're numb to the pain.

I flushed away the foul-smelling puke and rinsed my mouth. I stared at my reflection and the image scared me, my hair was tangled and my brown eyes wore this permanently haunted look they always seemed to have so pronouncedly tonight. I ran my hands through the curls and tried to put on the practised everything-is-okay smile I had perfected over the years.

Perfect.

I crossed back into the room, settled on the lush rug by the bedside and reached for my phone. I glanced at the time.

2:48 AM. Great. Not.

My fingers dialled the same number they had called on so many nights when this had happened. He picked up on the first ring like I knew he would.

"Hey, Rina," I heard Lance murmur, his voice a bit sleepy. "What's good?"

"I'm sorry if I woke you up." My voice sounded hoarse and strained. I sounded like a crazy woman to my ears. "I just really needed to talk to you."

"You had the dream again, didn't you? I had a feeling this would happen when I saw the rain." I could imagine him frowning as he talked. "Do you want me to come over to pick you so--" he paused mid-sentence and his tone changed, rising hotly. "For the last time Vivian, Rina is just a friend!"

"Are you with a girl?" I asked, trying to remember if he had mentioned this Vivian person to me recently. I honestly couldn't keep track of the girls at all, they came as fast as they left.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," he sighed. "Remind me never to date girls I meet on assignments. So, back to you."

"I'll call you later, go back to her," I stated, resting my head on the bed and biting on my nails. "Don't worry about me."