Chapter 37: Bad Dreams and Embarrassing Nights
Nightmares.
A frightening or unpleasant experience that haunts one when they least expect it. Usually at night, when they think they can have a peaceful slumber. A bit like how I thought I could have a peaceful slumber. Oh, how I was wrong.
The familiarity of the fire from the building, surrounds me and almost suffocates me with its lack of oxygen. I turn around, searching for a place to run, but the orangey blaze traps me and leaves me only to feel the raging heat attacking me. I bet I could melt at any moment right now.
My eyes catch sight of a figure, laying motionlessly on the ground, surprisingly on the other side of the fire. I squint my eyes to get a closer look, and when I see the dark, wavy locks that surround the figure's head, my eyes widen. It's Lauren.
"Lauren!" I yell at the top of my lungs, racing forward to reach her, but a burst of fire shoots past me, stopping me from reaching her. I can't get to her.
The fires that surround her, edges closer and closer to her body, sending me in panic mode. I'm not letting her get hurt. I don't care if this is real or not. She is not going to die.
Tears race furiously down my face as I try to find a way around the fire, but I'm trapped. I can't move. I look down and try to budge my feet from their position, but it's as if someone has glued them in place. No.
A blood curdling scream causes me to snap my head up, and I see Lauren's terrified expression. She's backing up to the wall behind her, the fires edging closer and closer and closer.
"Lauren," I cry out, trying to push myself to reach her, but everything feels so real. She's going to die. And I'm going to watch her, knowing I could have saved her, but didn't.
She sends me one last look, her green eyes viewable from where I am. Tears roll down her cheeks and her petrified expression is the last thing I see before the fires envelop her and her screams are heard. I cover my mouth in shock and scream out at the top of my lungs, all my anger, frustration and fear being expressed.
She's gone.
***
My eyes shoot open violently and immediately search around the room frantically. I sit up straight away and feel my cheeks soaking wet. I raise my hand and feel wetness, causing me to look down to my pillow and see that it's got a dark wet patch on the usual white fabric. It was just a dream. Or a nightmare, technically.
After that horrible experience, I know I need to see Lauren. That felt so real. I need to make sure she's okay. That she's safe. That she's still here.
I click the button on my bedside, signalling for the doctor to come help me. As I wait for her to come, I pick up my whiteboard and pen from my beside table and write a message on it. My hands are shaking with fear, betraying my obvious affect from my nightmare. I manage to try my best and write what I need to.
"How can I help you, Y/N?" Doctor Hudson asks as soon as she walks in my room. I can see the look of concern on her features once she notices my red eyes and tear-stricken face.
I hold up my board and she furrows her eyebrows as she reads it.
'I need to see Lauren.'
She sighs, hesitantly replying, "I'm afraid she's asleep, Y/N. She's had a hard time, as have you, and is resting up. I suggest you do the same."
I try not to get angry at her reply, knowing she only doing her job. I have been sleeping, Doctor Hudson. Sorry if I had a nightmare and woke up from it.
I rub the writing off my board and write a new message, which is harder than before because my hands are shaking even more now. The longer it takes to see Lauren, the more scared and nervous I feel.
'She's my girlfriend. Please :('
Her stern gaze softens once she's read the message, and she reluctantly nods, motioning for me to get out of bed. She holds out her hand and helps me out, but it takes a few seconds for me to get used to standing on my own two feet. After the dizziness from standing up too fast subsides, I nod in her direction, signalling for her to lead me to Lauren's room. I'm literally itching to see her.
She cautiously leads me out of the room and down the neutral, white halls of the hospital, glancing at me every few seconds, to make sure I'm okay. The smell of blood and sterilised medical equipment is stronger out here, and I scrunch my nose with discomfort. Nurses and doctors pass us every once in a while, probably to tend to a patient. I hope whoever they are going to is okay.
Eventually, she stops me outside a door that has a number of '352' printed on it. A small glass window is cut in the centre of it and I manage to catch a glimpse of a hospital room that looks similar to mine.
"Press the button on her bed when you want me to take you back to your room," Doctor Hudson's soft voice tells me.
I nod my head and she sends me an encouraging smile before walking away, leaving me to check on Lauren by myself. I don't even think about what I'm doing when I launch myself in her room and rush to her bedside.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see she is alive and well. I knew that deep down she was okay, but it's just a relief to see her. I haven't seen her since the fire and I'm glad to see she is... well, alive. Her face is pale, as usual, aside from the purple bruise that is swelling above her right eye. There are the tiniest of burns on her arm, only from sparks in the fire, but otherwise she looks as good as new. Well, except from her red puffy eyes, showing me that she has been crying.
Her figure is curled up and she hugs her pillow, her chest rising and falling slowly as she breathes. She's asleep.
I lean forward and raise my hand to touch her bruise gently. Who the hell did this? Why would someone trap her in there on purpose? No one I know has a vendetta against her, so why would they try to kill her, or at least injure her?
She shuffles in her position and I remove my hand, hoping I'm not causing any discomfort. She grumbles and her eyes slowly flicker open, darting around in confusion. Her glassy green eyes bring me a sense of comfort. I missed her.
Her eyes focus on my face and she squints them, probably to see if it's really me before her. So much for not wanting to see her.
"Y/N?" her hoarse voice calls out, giving away that she has been crying a lot. It pains me to see her like this, but then I remember how much pain she caused me.
No. I'm not here for that.
I nod my head slowly, causing her to sit up straight and stare at me intently. I use my whiteboard pen and write something down on my board before holding it up for her shocked expression to see.
'I can't speak.'
She nods her head slowly. "Yeah, the girls told me. They also told me I wasn't allowed to see you. So, what are you doing here?"
I wipe away the message and write something down again before holding it up for her to see.
'I wanted to see if you were okay. Are you?'
Her eyes are still wide with shock as she nods. "Um, yeah. I'm f-fine. How about you?" Her eyes flicker down to my bandaged arm and she frowns, her eyes filling up with tears. "I'm so sorry, Y/N. Thank you for saving me. I don't think I can ever repay you."
I shrug my shoulders. That's what you do for the ones you love.
'I'm okay. And it's no problem. I'm just glad you're safe.'
Once she's read the message, a tear slips from her eye and she frowns sadly. I manage to stop myself from wiping it away. I'm still angry at her for cheating on me.
"Y/N, I'm really sorry for what I did," she chokes out, reaching out to hold my hand, but I pull away, causing her to visibly tense up. "I know I said you could trust me, but I swear I have a reason for what happened."
As she says this, I ignore her and write on my board.
'I don't want to talk about what happened, Lauren. I just want to make sure you are okay. Someone did this to you and I need to make sure it doesn't happen again.'
She frowns at the message, obviously disheartened at my attempt to push away the issue for now. "Okay. You're right."
'What happened after I left?'
I frown at the memory of me running away from her, and she notices, sending me an apologetic stare, but I ignore it.
"Well, when you left, I ran out of the closet and tried to leave the party, but someone dragged me back and I was too drunk to stop them. I was dragged back in the closet and they hit me and that was it."
I nod my head, thinking about the possibilities of who it may be. It was obviously someone at that party. I'm still shocked that someone would do that.
'Okay. We'll have to tell the teachers when we leave this place. I'm glad you're okay.'
And I really am. I don't know what I would do if I lost her. Seeing her unconscious body in that room was enough to make me fear a life without her.
"I love you," she says, her eyes glistening with tears. "I know you may not feel the same because of what happened, but I really do love you."
I look down at my shoes, wishing I wasn't so affected by her words. Why did she have to do what she did? Yesterday was perfectly normal. Everything in my life was great. And one party turned that around. Why?
'I still love you, Lauren. I'm just upset. That's all.'
She nods her head slowly, relief flooding through her expression. "Okay. I guess I should let you rest up then."
I nod my head, waving goodbye to her. I press the button beside her bed and wait patiently for the doctor to return. Meanwhile, I feel Lauren watching me, but I ignore her stares. I know I should hear her out, but I can't bring myself to it. She broke my heart. And that isn't fair, because she still has control of all the pieces.
The doctor eventually returns and I glance at Lauren one last time before allowing Doctor Hudson to lead me back to my room.
***
That evening, the bandage from my arm is removed, leaving the burn mark to look disgustingly viewable. I am told it should heal within a month, so I'm just hoping it will. The girls and my parents come to collect me and as my parents are signing me out, I catch sight of Lauren and her parents. Lauren stares at me, not saying a word, and I do the same. Her parents thank me for saving their daughter and I just nod my head in return. After signing Lauren out, they take her back to school, just as my parents do with me.
The girls promise my parents they will take care of me and my parents wish me a goodbye. Just seeing how worried they are for me hurts, but I know they believe I will be fine. It's just one of those things, right?
Now, I'm dusting off my bed covers, ready to jump straight in. I'm literally exhausted, despite the sleep I had in the hospital. It wasn't exactly comfortable. And I still have school tomorrow, so I need all the rest I can get.
"Goodnight, Y/N," Camila says as she jumps into her bunk and gets comfortable. "Wake me up if you need anything."
I nod my head and jump into bed also, leaving Ally to turn off the light. She's brushing her hair anyway, so I don't feel bad. Once she's ready, she turns off the light and clambers into her bed, yawning as she lays down.
"Goodnight, guys," she says tiredly, shuffling in her covers.
I can't really reply, so I don't, leaving the atmosphere in complete silence. Time to try and get some sleep.
***
My eyes shoot open and I sit up immediately. My breathing is heavy and uneven and I feel a layer of sweat covering my body. The gasping of someone makes me aware of my surroundings, and I look around my room, seeing it's still dark outside, but the girls are all awake and staring at me with wide eyes. A few others are there too, but I don't look at their faces because I'm still in fear of my nightmare.
"Y/N," Normani speaks up shakily, "you were thrashing around in your sleep. Are you okay?" How did she get here?
It was just a dream. Just a dream. I repeat that to myself over and over again, trying to rid the terrible nightmare that disturbed me again. It was the same nightmare that I had at the hospital, except it was ten times worse, if possible.
My eyes flicker between the faces that are all staring at me. I see that some people from the floor we're on are here. I must have woken them up with all the noise. And judging from the mess around my bed, I assume that I knocked things off the bedside table, causing a lot of noise. The girls are all here, probably because Ally and Camila called them, and so is Lauren. When I meet her scared expression, I burst into sobs, using the blanket to cover my face. I'm embarrassed. I just woke everyone up because I'm stupid.
I hear whispering from Dinah, I think, and someone else whom I don't recognise, speaks.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"Yeah," Dinah whispers, but I can sense the fear in her voice. "Sorry for disturbing you."
"It's okay," the voice responds, and then I hear the click of the door, so I'm guessing they've gone.
My bed presses down on all sides, meaning the girls are all sat here. I feel my blanket being pulled off me, and I try not to look at their faces as I cry to myself embarrassingly.
"Y/N...," Ally's concerned voice says quietly. She rubs my back comfortingly. "It was just a dream. Everything is okay."
I shake my head, knowing nothing is okay. I force myself to look up and I scan the faces before me. They all look confused, terrified, and worried. When I meet Lauren's eyes, I can't help myself as I launch forward and into her arms. She's okay. She isn't hurt. She isn't dead. She's here. With me.
She's surprised at first, and I can sense her looking to the others with confusion, but once she feels my sobs into her shoulders, she wraps her arms protectively around me and rubs my back comfortingly. Oh, how I missed her touch. She whispers reassuring things in my ears, not even bothering to ask why I'm like this, which I'm thankful for. I don't care if I'm angry at her. I'm just glad she's okay. She's safe.
After I calm down, I pull away from her embrace and look at them all apologetically, mouthing an 'I'm sorry'.
"Don't apologise," Normani shakes her head. "We're just glad you're okay."
I nod my head slowly and move to the headboard of my bed, bringing my knees to my chest and hugging them tightly.
"Do you think you can go back to sleep, now?" Camila asks wearily, watching me with concern.
I don't know. I don't want to have another nightmare, but I don't want to worry them either. I nod my head slowly, sliding into my covers and curling up to myself, trying to ignore the dampness on my pillow.
Camila kisses the top of my head and whispers a goodnight in my ear before walking away to her bunk. Ally does the same, Dinah and Normani following soon after. The latter waits by the door for Lauren who is kneeling by my bedside, watching me closely.
"It's only a dream," she whispers, kissing my forehead. "Goodnight, Y/N. I love you."
My heart aches at her words, and I only nod my head slowly in response. How can she say those words after what she did to me? But, I can tell when she's lying, and she isn't when she says that. Love and nurture is all that is present in her soothing green eyes. Is it wrong if I want her to sleep with me tonight?
She rubs my arm once more before joining Normani and Dinah by the door.
"Goodnight, girls," Dinah says to us all, before leaving the dorm with Lauren and Normani.
Goodnight, Dinah.
//
I've got my mock exams next week, and I honestly can't be bothered. We literally just had some mocks before Christmas. Kill me now pls :)))
But yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter aha. And to any new readers I have: HIII