james [s h a k e] wilson

  'Creak!'

  She felt herself coming to— she felt her eyelids sit heavily as she turned to her left side, curling back into a ball and readjusting the fleece blanket she was wrapped up in. Her fan let out a soft hum. She started slipping asleep again....

  'Creeeeak!'

  She opened her eyes, and glanced at her phone to see the time read '4:09 AM'. She didn't remember coming home. "I didn't think I drank that much," she thought. Her vision blurry, she blinked a few times again before hearing a noise from across her apartment again.

'Thunk!'

  This time she felt her blood run cold and her heart begin to race. Groggily, with a thumping heart, she threw herself upright. In the dark, she patted around in the air for her night stand. She tries to quietly find her taser, her mouth dry as adrenaline courses throughout her body. She feels her breathing quicken as her skin begins to feel as though it's covered in a sheet of ice. Her panicked movements become rigid as she shakily grabs her phone. She turns the volume all the way down, legs shaking as she begins to struggle to hold herself still.

  What does she do? Who does she reach out to? Her boss? Her colleagues?

  'Someone's in my house'
  Sent at 4:10 AM

  She frantically texts her friend, Remy, who is on the night shift in the ER. She doesn't know who else to reach out to, who else would be awake at this hour— she can only hope she will see it.

  She begins typing again.
  'If you see this Remy please'

  'THUNK!'

  'The bathroom. They're in the bathroom now. Oh my God.' She thinks, feeling her heart rate soar. She feels her heart begin to beat so rapidly, she feels an uneven thumping in her throat. Her arms begin to feel weak as she tries to quietly stand up, the cold floor not even phasing her as she felt her heartbeat in her face. Her legs shake as she feels her late dinner begin to try and lurch upwards.

  She felt her phone begin to vibrate, the soft and rhythmic whirring just enough to send her into a further state of panic. She glances to see she's getting a call, unable to make out the contact name.

  'CLANK!'

  The bedroom door slams open.

  Her phone drops to the ground. Her heart feels as though it stalls, she gets a good look at the figure in the doorway. Illuminated from behind by the kitchen light, she sees a familiar figure, but she just can't put a name to them.

  She feels her stomach wretch. She takes a deep breath, still gasping for air. She walks towards his figure. She feels as though she's finally calming down as she sees who it is. She finds herself in the same spot as before, despite knowing she walked towards him.

  "Back up." He says, his voice heavier than normal. "Where's your fucking wallet?" She feels her eyelids get heavy. She looks down and back up, seeing as the colors of the lights shift. For a moment, the vision of the man she was looking at shifted to someone she couldn't place a name to. The figure was changing. First it was who appeared to be James, now it was a stockier figure...

  "Hello..?" It came out slurred and a mash of syllables, despite knowing what she was trying to say, it wouldn't come out. She was struggling to focus on a single thing.

  She didn't even feel it until she was back on the bed, the wind knocked out of her body before she realized the figure that she thought was James wasn't him. He was shaking her, his features still indistinguishable. "Have I been drugged..?" She thought, as even with the light from the hall peering into her bedroom she was unable to make out eyes, a nose, a mouth...

  She hears screaming. He's yelling. She can't breathe, she feels herself gasping for air. Her vision becomes blurry and she feels her arms tingle. She gasps, and gasps. Every draw of air felt like an immense struggle as she put more effort in than she got worth of air. She begins to feel her numbing extremities claw at her chest subconsciously as her eyes black.

  She hears yelling but she can't tell what the figure is saying. She hears clinking metal. She can't tell what it is. She sees nothing but feels as the man gets up, relieving pressure from the bed. She feels wind brush her face before she feels an immense pressure to the side of her head, and then blacks out entirely.

 

  "____? Are you there?" she hears a woman's voice, taking an immense amount of energy to open her eyes. Shes greeted with a blurry set of surroundings, she hears movement and can make out the faint figures moving around. The warm kitchen lighting of her apartment greets her once again as she feels the warmth of someone's hand grasping her wrist. She blinks a few times, feeling her mouth fall open as she struggled to make a noise with her vocal chords.

  "____, can you hear me?" She heard the woman's voice again. She felt a soft vibration in her throat as she makes a soft sound. Her throat felt dry and raw as she noticed every breath she took seemed to add to the dryness. She mustered the energy to nod her head. The slightest bit of movement elicited a gasp as her head began pounding. Her left temple was where it was sourced the worst, and she felt tears prick her eyes as she shut them tight.

"My head..." She managed to get out, and felt the hand on her forearm trail to her own. Her eyes opened and she recognized the blurry features of none other than Thirteen. She felt confusion race throughout her body.

"We know. Hey, hey... Calm down." Thirteen said, watching as she began to looked panicked, heart rate picking up on the mobile reader. "We've got to get you to the ER. Hang tight, ___." Remy glanced off to someone to her right, as she removed her hand from hers. The doctor said something she couldn't quite decipher without being able to read her lips. Her heart picked up as she heard more shuffling. She had a bad case of tunnel vision, and heard a lot but was unable to tell what was going on. "We're going to sedate you, okay?"

"What happened?!" She gasped out, and she felt a firmer hand grasp hers. A panicked, male voice said something she couldn't quite understand.

"____, calm down. You've bled too much." She heard a shaky voice say. This did the opposite of what was intended. Her panic picked up as she realized something had happened. Something serious had happened.

"Wilson, that's not helping. She's going into shock." Remy muttered, she watched as she grabbed and rifled through a bag before pulling out a vial. ___ didn't know what to do— her surroundings blurred together as she began to panic. "Calm her down but don't say anything dumb." Remy said, preparing the syringe.

"James..?" She gasped out, as he moved in closer, Remy out of sight.

"Hey, ___. It's okay. I'm here." He said, grasping your hand. Despite the sensory overload, she felt his hand shake ever so subtly while she was still unable to gain a clear look at his face. It was blurry, but there were still split seconds where she was able to make out his face. It was red, and his eyes were swollen. "I'm right here, okay? It's ok-kay." He stuttered out. She felt tears begin to pour. His grip tightened.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're gonna be okay." He sounded off, almost seemingly reassuring himself of that. She watched as he looked away, a soft whimper coming from his lips. Her heart rate began to soar, eliciting panic from Remy. She hears more indistinct voices begin to sound like argue.

"You're okay. I'm so sorry."

She felt a pinprick in her arm, and before she
could process what had happened, she fell unconscious.