The Drawings Never Lie

Chapter Five

My heart won't stop beating against my ribs.

It's painful, and yet I don't want it to end.

I don't want him to be a figment of my imagination.

I want him to be real.

Part of me wants him to be real more than I want my memories back.

I want to believe that it's because this boy from my dreams holds more answers about these mysterious drawings I keep dreaming of--I haven't even seen one of them, but I might've given them to him or let him see them--but honestly, I can't stop thinking about those eyes. I know it sounds cliché, but ever since I sat up in bed, I've been haunted by those eyes.

So he has to be real, right?

And there's this funny feeling spreading throughout my body. It's like my heart is aching. It's bittersweet.

No.

Not bittersweet.

Longing.

An intense yearning.

But what am I yearning for? The answers to the questions about my past that plague my every waking thought, or the boy that suddenly made an appearance in my "repressed memories"?

My hand subconsciously goes to the base of my neck, only to come up empty. Thanks to my dream, I now know why I've been feeling like a part of my soul is missing.

I make sure to slip my feet into my bunny slippers so that I don't make too much noise when I sneak around in the office at the end of the hallway.

Last night, Bonnie told me that I wasn't allowed to go into the office under any circumstances, and I wouldn't if it weren't for me accidentally seeing Richard piling all the boxes he and Bonnie brought to me in the hospital into said office while I was on my way to grab a glass of water before bed.

The only problem with the location of Richard's office is that I have to pass by the staircase to get to it. So it shouldn't really surprise me when I run into Bonnie as she's coming up the stairs.

We stand frozen in shock as we look at each other with wide eyes.
Bonnie recovers sooner than I do.
"I was just about to come and wake you up."

"I was just about to go wash up, but I decided to come down for breakfast after I caught a whiff of chocolate and pastries. "

It's a good thing I could smell said aroma from all the way inside my bedroom or else she would see past my lie.

But she beams with pride as her oven mitted hand grabs hold of my elbow and pulls me down the stairs.

"I just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies," she explains. "It's a good thing you decided to follow your nose, Ramona. Richard has been devouring them. He's pigging out so badly that I can't even guarantee there would be anything left by the time you finished washing up."

"I'm not pigging out," Richard says through a mouthful of crumbs.

Bonnie scrunches up her nose.

"Richard, sweetheart, I thought we agreed you'd start watching your figure."

"After this cookie."

I don't understand what Bonnie is so worried about. Richard is actually surprisingly fit for a man his age, but Bonnie grabs the cookie out of his hand before he can take another bite.
He rolls his eyes at his wife and they catch sight of me awkwardly standing on the threshold of the kitchen.

"Look who finally decided to wake up."

Bonnie hugs him around his waist.

"She smelled the chocolate and decided to come down to breakfast instead of getting ready first."