Matters of the Heart

Chapter 30: Reality Bites

But how? She was dead.

"No!" Emily called out more firmly. She looked down at where the IV line hooked into the IV catheter in her hand. "What did you do to me?" She groaned.

The machines she was hooked up to started beeping faster as her pulse started to rise. Her chest started to burn. Emily freaked out. She reached over to try and pry her IV catheter out, but Sara grabbed her hands.

"No! Get off me!" She fought against Sara. "Help! Someone help!"

Sara shoved Emily's hands up beside her head and pinned them there. Emily thrashed against her, yelling for help, her chest throbbing in pain. Sara just leaned over her with a menacing smile on her face. Emily felt herself getting drowsy. She fought it. She let out a loud scream as her vision went dark. She felt her body jerking. She threw her head from side to side. She rolled her hips and kicked her feet. Seconds later, she heard Alison.

"Em?"

Her cries had roused Alison from beside her. Emily was thrashing around in her hospital bed, panting. She tried to scream, but the noise got caught in her throat. Her eyes were shut tight.

Alison stumbled out of the chair she'd pushed up beside Emily's bed. She'd been curled up next to her since Emily had come out of the recovery room. Alison heard the machines monitoring Emily picking up speed and then Emily let out a gurgled cry.

"No!" Emily was flailing around, tugging at her IV line. She was dripping with sweat. "What did you do to me?"

"Emily!" Alison tried to pry Emily's fingers away from the IV before she yanked it out. "Emily, calm down." Alison pushed her knee up on the mattress to get closer to her. She leaned over her and reached out to touch her face to try and still her motions, careful not to jostle her oxygen line. "Relax. Stop struggling."

"No! Stop!" Emily cried out in her sleep.

"Em, listen to me. Listen to the sound of my voice." Alison kept one hand on Emily's arm to try and keep her from tugging at her IV. Her other hand was pressed firmly against Emily's damp sweat-soaked cheek. "You're dreaming. It's not real. Whatever is happening is not real. You're okay. I'm here. I'm right here with you. Just listen to me. Concentrate on me."

Emily stopped kicking, but the numbers on her heart monitor were still climbing. Her head was still jerking like she was trying to get away from something, her lips twisted into a pained grimace.

"Come on. Come back to me, sweetie."

Emily was breathing heavily through her nose, pushing out the air that the oxygen line was blowing into her nostrils, but she stopped jerking her head around.

"Listen to me. Feel me." She pressed her fingers into Emily's cheek. She thought about how Emily had pulled her out of her spiral last night, Emily's words echoing in her mind. "I'm right here. I'm right here." She slowly repeated it the second time for emphasis.

Emily still seemed to be frozen in some state of perpetual fear. It's like she wanted to wake up, but her body wouldn't let her. Alison didn't know what to do to help her. So she did only thing she could think of to reach her – she kissed her. She leaned down and brushed their lips together, her mouth gentle and reassuring against Emily's. The kiss was quick, and somewhat effective. She felt Emily stop trembling. She pulled back, her lips inches from Emily's.

"I'm with you. You're safe." She slowly pulled her knee back and put her foot against the ground.

She leaned back, her eyes fixed on Emily's as she waited for them to open. She wanted her face to be the first thing Emily saw when she woke up. She wanted her to know that she was safe. Emily relaxed, though not entirely. Alison continued soothingly stroking her cheek and Emily started to calm down underneath her touch.