Elora - Squeal

4

"Does she ever remember her dreams?" Rico thought fit a second.

"Nah now that I think about it. I'd try to all her what it was about and she'd  forget why she even woke up on the first place." Rico was beating his own ass mentally. He wondered why didn't he didn't realize this was more serious than he thought it was. 

"How long is it before she calms down and comes back to bed."

"30 to 45 minutes, why?" Once again Rico was confused.

"Have you ever heard of night terrors?"

"No. What's that?" Rico sat up and rested his right arm on the arm rest.

"A night terror, sleep terror or pavor nocturnus is a parasomnia or sleep disorder. It causes feelings of terror or dread, and typically happens during the first hours of stage 3-4 non-rapid eye movement sleep. But in rare cases it can worsen if the person suffers from PTSD. Which can make people paranoid or hear and see things that's not really there. People who ate autistic have these problems."

"Wait, hold up. You saying she's got a mental issue?" Rico frowned and raised his voice all little.

"I'm not saying she's autistic. But I think Elora might have developed Schizophrenia." Rico leaned back on the couch.

"How you figure that?"

"I'll have my answer once you answer this. Besides her jumping up at night from nightmares what else is strange to you."

"She shops a lot but it seems like more of a nervous habit more than a trip to the mall to. Every time she'll bring in fifteen to twenty bags filed with shit she didn't really need. And she'll go shopping maybe five times a week. El read my whole 32 page essay on religion vs. Science. It was so boring to the point where I was falling asleep while rereading the shit. But she was reading it like it was the best thing she ever read. She's very supportive but she never read none of my work before. And sometimes she can't sleep or she'll wake me up in the middle of the night and have me listen for something I can't here. That worries me too. I'll catch her staring at something for a long time and then will her her tell herself to get it together. I never say anything to avoid her from snapping on me." Rico took a deep breath.

Dr. Francisco nodded as he came to a conclusion but kept it to himself. "She's awake right now. But I'll save my questions for later when the police get here and she's able to talk."

"Can I see her?" Rico asked with hope.

"Yes. You may. But, try not to overwhelm her. Her body's still in shock so we don't need any unwanted blood pressure spikes. Follow me." Rico stood quickly and followed behind him.

ZeRico's heart pounced as they walked down a long wide hallway. They stopped at a door with huge white letter paint on the wood.

Room 302.

The doctor opened it slowly.

Elora laid in the hospital bed with a starch white bandage around her neck. She had a long tube running out her mouth. Breathing on her own was an issue since the lack of blood caused her to be extremely weak.

She laid there with her curly hair sprawled every which way. Her skin was pale and tears ran down the sides of her face.

Rico went around the side of the bed and looked down at her.

"We'll give you two some time." Nurse Sammie closed the door leaving the two of them alone.

El laid there flat on her back staring up at the plain white ceilings. A long IV's stuck out from her left arm with a solution to replenish the amount of blood she lost.

Tears poured from her eyes as she laid in the hospital bed with images flashing before her. No one else can see it but she was aware of that by now.

It was like a movie playing before her. Everything that happened to her was coming back to her. She wished that she would've died on that bathroom floor.

Dr. Francisco gave her a large amount of morphine right after surgery to keep her pain free. But that didn't stop the pain in her heart.

Rico stood there not knowing what to say. Elora didn't blink once but more tears came. He took a deep breath and paced back and forth realizing that this was real.

"El.... Why?" He stopped walking and sat in the chair by the bed and scooted it so he was close to her.

She couldn't respond due to the tube. But even if she wanted it she couldn't.  She only laid there faintly hearing his voice.

Elora knew Rico was in the room but the horror film in her mind wouldn't let her look at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were thinking about killing yourself?" He held her cold hand but she didn't hold it back. "I just don't understand. If you were going through more than just nightmares and being unable to sleep why didn't you tell me? I would've listened. Even if you didn't want help. I would've listened. Even if you felt like I was going to judge then, I still would listen, even though I would never judge you no matter how bad it is. At least you would've had someone to share that burden with you. You must've been going through a hell of a lot if it drove you to this." Elora heard him loud and clear. "Baby why would you do this?"

Rico wiped the tears from her face but they kept coming.

He stared at her with tears of his own falling from his face.

"Baby I'm right here with you. I'm not leaving." He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles.

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