Elements

Chapter 32

Hey you guys! Sorry I haven't updated in so long. Marching band really takes up your life. I hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it is short. It has some interesting conversations I hope you'll enjoy. Sorry again and thank you. This chapter is dedicated to booklovinturtle . Glad your on wattpad chica!

I was floating in an endless expanse of darkness, thick and black. Every now and then I would hear noises- words, conversations. People were talking beyond the darkness. I could hear them, but couldn't speak or escape the blackness that surrounding me as hard as I tried. All I could do was listen and wait for light to come through the dark.
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"Will she be alright?" An older voice asked. Female, very stern, and laced thoroughly with concern.

"Oh yeah. We get this all the time Ms. Wren. She'll be out for a while though- used too much power in too long of a time. It'll take a few days to overcome the exhaustion." I didn't recognize this voice. It was shrill and elderly, coming across as indifferent and lazy- also female.

"Thank you Heidi. We're so lucky to have nurses like you at this school. Please, let me know when she wakes up." The voice I now knew to be Ms. Wren replied. She complimented the nurse with a coolness that made me question the sincerity of the kindness- as if the nurse was the exact opposite of what the school needed, but Ms. Wren was too mature and respectful to say it.

"You'll be the first."

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Time passed and the darkness swallowed me up again. Eventually another conversation drew me from the darkness again- familiar voices this time.

"Is she up yet?" A voice I recognized as Ben's asked. I had heard the same voice in the blackness, much more muddled and suppressed. Now however, I could hear clearly.

"No. Still no. " Nurse Heidi replied annoyed. "I keep telling you all, it will be a while until the wakes up."

"How long is a while?" Anita's voice asked.

"Anywhere from one to four more days.  Power exhaustion isn't just your typical cat nap. You two need to stop acting like she just fell asleep for a while- staying here for days on end won't help. Go get some air and let me do my job in peace!"

"There's no one else here..." Ben trailed off.

"Just... Go. " Heidi pleaded exasperatedly. "I'll come get you if she wakes up."
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"Any sign of her waking up?" Ben was back.
"No the nurse is out- again- so I stuck around to watch her." Anita's voice replied. Their voices, though normally to muffled to be audible, had been near constant in the darkness that I wanted desperately to escape.

"I, um... Brought some flowers. Thought she might want some color in the room other than white when she wakes up."

A sigh. "That was very kind of you." Anita replied tightly.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked. I pictured the two of them sitting by the hospital wing bed, Anita staring at the ground as she searched for an adequate answer.

"It's just that... Ella's falling for a guy, even though she refuses to recognize it. A guy who just... Showed up, claiming to know her, claiming to be her friend... I don't want her to get hurt.

"I won't hurt her Anita. I... I really like her. More than like her. I- I love her 'Nita." He said quietly, as if just stumbling upon this himself.

"Love her? How could you possibly love her? You hardly know her! And don't try giving me that, 'I've know her longer than you have' thing again." Again? They'd had this conversation before? "What's her favorite color? Favorite food? What Holliday does she look forward to the most? You don't know anything about her." Anita said with an edge to her voice. I'd never heard Anita talk that way ...except for the day we had discovered I could see the dead. She sounded... Dangerous.