The Void Between Hearts ~~ongoing~~

ⓀⓃⓄⒸⓀ! ⓀⓃⓄⒸⓀ!

ℐᏉᎯℕ

SOMEONE IS AT THE DOOR. It's a dream.

I come awake slowly as my eyes open to the dark quietness of the hotel room. Immediately, flashes of yesterday roll through my head, eating at all those places, the shopping, watching the sun set from the hotel's rooftop. The highlight however, I bought her a ring. She doesn't know yet, I'll ask her in Santorini, and she can say whatever she wants, but I'll give it to her.

Another knock directs my attention to the door. Who's there?

Beside the bed, I switch on the lamp and grab my phone, it doesn't respond when I touch it. 

Right. It was switched off before I slept. 

I squeeze the power button and it boots up in my palm. 1:05am. There's a shadow seeping in from the slit under the door. I get up, slipping into the new slides I bought yesterday. In the peep hole, I see the receptionist, Christina, the white girl with red hair and green eyes; we met her on duty in the evening when we returned to the hotel. 

What does she want this early?

I open the door to find out. "Christina, it's kind of really late."

"Sorry about the troubles," she says, quite nervously. 

I peek out of the door frame, looking down the hallway at Boma's room, two doors from mine. The door is shut but there's light leaking out from under. 

Why isn't she sleeping?

Back to the receptionist, I smile, urging her to state her purpose. "Miss Lawson called the front desk, she couldn't reach your cell—"

"Yeah, I switched it off."

"Well she needed me to reach you on the intercom to ask you to come see her immediately. . ."

Come see her immediately, it's one in the morning, why would Boma do that? 

"I did call, but you didn't take it so I presumed you would have been asleep and had to come up myself."

"Did she say why?"

"No, she didn't specify."

I button up my pyjamas. "Did she sound distressed?"

"I'm not sure, but it felt urgent."

I walk out of my room, taking quick steps while Christina follows behind me. I would have disagreed that there's anything wrong but I also can't deny the nag in my mind. She did sound stressed, and she had that nasty cough again after we got back. I insisted against the walking, but she just gets so stubborn sometimes, it's impossible to go against her.

At the door, I knock. "Boma?"

She doesn't respond. I knock again, harder. She still doesn't answer. Something is wrong. I hear my heart as it picks up speed. "Is there a way to get in?"

Christina nods and hands me her keycard. I swipe it impatiently. The beep follows the green light that tells us the door is unlocked. I'm afraid of being too late or of being right that she's not fine. Maybe she's pranking me.

I suck cold air through my teeth and turn the knob.

JESUS!

My heart jumps out of my throat when I see her on the floor, beside the bed, her hair tossed over her face.

"Call for help!" I yell at Christina and rush to Boma. I pull her up against my chest and move my ears to her mouth, I don't think she's breathing. "Boma?" She's unresponsive.