A Love Out of Time

Chapter 1

Cold- heat- light- dark...

Moisture soaked my clothes, but my tongue choked in my throat for want of water. Somewhere in the swimming blackness there was a shrieking, whining tone pulling at my blissful daze. Was that my alarm clock?

I reached out my hand, stretched out my fingers searching for the source of the noise. I couldn't feel anything, and the pounding in my head was unbearable. Why wouldn't it stop?

"No, no, no!" I heard the pads of feet pounding into the ground. Someone was running. It was at that moment that I realized that something was wrong. Where was I?

A dark shape appeared above me, breathing heavily, his face hidden by the darkness. There was a person, a person over my bed! A terrible pain blossomed in my chest, and with it, the whining grew in intensity.

"No, please!" He shouted. His hands were on my chest, pushing in, sending pain throughout my body. I wanted to push him off, but even though I was raising my arms with all my might, they wouldn't move!

The light in the room turned on, suddenly, and the man jerked away from it, covering his face with his hand. He jumped off of me and out of my vision.

"You!" a shrill female voice cut through the air, "What are you doing here? Out!"

I heard the grinding of wheels and the clatter of feet, and suddenly there were more faces in my vision than I could focus on! A nurse leaned over me and pulled my shirt open, reaching back to grab those two little metal paddles I would see so often on medical shows.

"Charged to five hundred!" The woman's voice yelled at the nurse. "Clear!"

The paddles touched my chest, and it jumped into the air. My whole body tingled like I'd touched an electric dog fence. The sharp taste of metal grated against my teeth.

A thin, petite woman with a dark, high ponytail stepped forward and shone a penlight in my eyes. My eyes recoiled at the light, and the woman nearly dropped it.

"Oh my gosh! You're awake!" she swung to the nurse who was staring, spellbound. "Tell the director! Quickly!" She turned back, and her whole demeanor had changed, like a chameleon putting on new skin. "I'm glad to see you awake, Agatha."

She reached out and held my hand, and a shot of fear spiked through me. Why couldn't I feel her touch? Was I paralyzed?

The whining noise was gone, and with it, the pain in my chest.

"You've been asleep for so long."

My brow furrowed. I was in a hospital. Had I been in coma? Why?

The woman's smile wavered. She reached out and brushed her hand against my forehead. "Can you hear me? How are you feeling?"

I swallowed on a dry throat. "May I get a drink of water?"

The woman's face lightened immediately. "Yes, of course!" She snapped her fingers, and a nurse appeared and lifted my head, giving me slow sips until the water was gone. The woman nodded. "Good. You're doing so well. Do you remember what happened?"

Was I paralyzed? Why was I here? What had happened? I tried to pull up some image to explain  the frantic buzzing in my mind.

I remembered going to an audition, and then-had there been an explosion? An accident? I closed my eyes, trying to catch the elusive memory.

I had been deep in thought, and my eyes had been down, poring into the sidewalk. I remembered hearing a dull thum, a reverberation in the concrete, and any New Yorker would have been instantly on alert.

I looked up and saw the same nervous confusion on other faces. Suddenly an airborne object careened into the side of the block directly in front of me, bringing chunks of concrete raining down on the sidewalk.

Then I ran. I should have kept running, but I had seen a flash of color, and for one moment I looked back over my shoulder. The flash of color, the man, fell from the sky and into me, throwing me to the ground.

Ah, that had been it. I did remember hearing a sickening crunch, but I didn't know where it had come from. I lay in a twisted heap on the concrete, the star-spangled man standing over me. As my vision faded away, the last thing I saw was a single silver star, shining in the middle of his chest.

The woman's eyes were boring into mine, and her smile had turned crooked. "Did you remember something?"

Oh yes I had. And now I did have many questions.