Confined

Chapter Fourteen - Only a Dream

My mouth opened, but no words came out. Beads of sweat clustered on my skin, saturating my bandage as the room grew uncomfortably warm. A deafening screech filled the room, the sound of metal grinding against metal. My head snapped up, looking for the source of the noise but nobody else seemed to notice.

Even as I was looking at their faces, screams filled the room, but no one had opened their mouths. I frantically searched the crowd, I knew that scream, but I couldn't find the person responsible. No one's eyes wavered from my face as if they didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I looked back down at the notecards, but they fell from my hands and fluttered to the floor. Gone were the words that I had practiced the past day and a half. Instead they were splattered in blood.

The screaming hadn't stopped but sounded closer now as if coming from right behind me. I spun around, the blood draining from my face.

An eerie silence followed the screaming. I stood face to face with myself, except her black dress was covered in blood. My-her mouth formed a perfect "O", but nothing came out of it now. She raised a bloody hand, pointing behind me.

I slowly turned, but the crowd was gone. Only two people remained, standing in front of the now empty chairs. Two people that definitely should not have been in attendance. They stood so still that I wondered if they were really there.

Mom's brown eyes were void of any emotion and her face was hollow. Even though she was staring straight at me, it looked as if she saw right through my body. Her neck was bent at an odd angle, her head leaning to one side. Tears streaked down my face as I looked to my dad right beside her. His mouth was set into a hard line, the crinkles around his eyes that showed when he smiled were gone, and his face was half concealed with blood.

A hand landed on my shoulder and suddenly I'm facing myself again. My-her mouth was closed when she leaned close to my ear. "All your fault," she whispered. She jerked backward, repeating the same three words over and over again. Disembodied voices joined the chant until eventually the words vibrated inside my head.

"All your fault. All your fault. All your fault." The voices buzzed louder and louder, seeping into my body, my soul.

I crouched down and covered my ears, willing it all to go away. I felt several people towering above me, blocking me in. My lungs felt like they were on fire, and I couldn't seem to get a breath in. A scream tore through my throat, drowning out their voices.

"Stop!" I bolted upright in bed, breathless. Sweat poured down my face, and my hair stuck to my forehead. Jaime burst through my door seconds later, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, a gun clutched in his hand. He scanned the room for potential threats until his gaze landed on me and he lowered the gun. I can only imagine what he must see, a pitiful girl incapable of handling a bad dream.

His concerned expression caused me to bury my face in my hands, a choked sob threatening to escape. I didn't look up when I heard his soft footsteps approach. The bed dipped beside me. A gentle touch pried my hands away from my face, but I kept my head low. "I'm fine. You can leave now." My voice came out as a strained whisper.

Jaime shifted closer, his fingertips brushing against my chin, lifting my head. I avoided his eyes, taking sudden interest in the quilt across my legs. Jaime brushed a strand of hair from my forehead, eyeing the scar.

"Was it only a dream?" Jaime whispered, his eyes finally finding mine.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, biting down hard on my lip and shook my head. "When I was fifteen, I was invited to perform at the biggest recital in the state, standing ovation. When we left, it started pouring down rain. My mom wanted my dad to pull over to let the worst of the storm pass, but he was insistent on driving through it. We were probably an hour away from home, out on some back road.

"Out of nowhere, a pair of headlights appeared in front of us, in our lane. Dad swerved out of the way, but he must've hit a pool of water because the next thing I know, we were spinning. And spinning. And spinning. I could see the streaks of rain blurring through the windshield.

"Eventually something stopped the world from spinning. I don't remember anything after the impact. I was told later that it was a tree that stopped us. The other car didn't even stop. I don't know how long until the next car came but by then it was too late. They were both dead."

Jaime's thumb brushed against my cheek, wiping away the tears that had fallen and lingered there. "I was in the hospital for nine days with a concussion and a few scratches. I used to have really bad nightmares about the crash and the funeral, but I haven't had one in years."

When I realized that his hand was still on my cheek, I lurched back from his touch. His hand hovered in the air for a second before he curled his fingers and dropped it. "I guess I should try to go back to sleep."

"If you need me to.... If you need anything, let me know." Jaime slowly stood, never taking his eyes off of me. I nodded and watched him cross the room to the door.

"Jaime?" He paused, his hand resting on the door frame, a strange emotion clouding his eyes that wasn't there before. My breath caught in my throat, but the look was gone before I could understand it. My next words came out as a whisper.

"Thank you."