Chapter 1
There’s an explosion of rushed voices sliced off by the slam of closing doors and the piercing sounds of sirens. I try to reach out for the remote control. Why was the volume of the television so damn loud?
“Jane? Jane, can you hear me?”
No, I can’t hear anything because someone has the TV too damn loud.
Again, I try to reach out for the remote, but something presses my arm flat to my side. And those wailing sirens won’t stop. They’re shrieking through my head in sharp quick stabs.
“She’s losing a lot of blood,” a voice warns, urgent and grave.
Ugh, gross. What kind of show is this? I don’t want it on, it sounds morbid. I don’t want nightmares. I try to lift my hand again, but it won’t budge.
I try my other arm. I can’t raise that one either.
I try my legs, my head, my torso.
I can’t move any part of my body.
This isexactlywhy I can’t listen to scary television shows when I’m trying to sleep. I must be having one of those sleep-paralysis nightmares. Although, I will admit it’s a tad bit odd I’m cognizant of having a nightmarewhilehaving a nightmare.
I try to lift my ass and fire rips across my abdomen. I can hear myself sob. This hurts way too much to be a nightmare.
“Jane, try and stay still for me, okay?”
There’s that voice again.
“Jane, please,” Julia’s familiar voice is in my ear, whispering. “Stay still, let them help you. Oh, God. Oh, God.” I feel her push a few strands of my hair off my forehead, and I try to open my eyes. Julia is nothing but a blur of colors, blues and yellows.
“Wha…?” I want to know what’s happening, but I can’t breathe the words out, my body feels engulfed in flames. White-hot unbreathable pain. My throat feels too dry, I can’t swallow or get enough air in my lungs. I try to inhale through my nose and the sting of antiseptic suffocates me.
“Jane? Jane, you need to calm down.” Something sharp pierces through the back of my hand and iciness spreads out from it, traveling to my fingertips, surging up my forearm.
“Dex?” I mumble. Is he here with me? “Dex?”
“No, babe.” It’s Julia’s voice again. “He’s not here. Remember, he left the apartment? He was drunk. You guys had a fight? Don’t think about him right now. Just focus on staying awake. You’re in an ambulance.” Her voice breaks over the words. “They’re going to get you to the hospital.”
Hospital? In an ambulance?
I suddenly feel the aggressive motion and bounce of tires over the streets. We’re bumping over New York City’s crater-sized potholes, riding in a box full of rattling cabinets and loose equipment ready to smash into my skull at any given moment. Will my insurance cover this or am I essentially in a speeding taxi whose meter read $5000 before it pulled away from the curb? Can’t we get out and take the subway?
What happened anyway?Why am I in an ambulance? Was there a gas explosion? Am I still on fire? Because it feels like flames are relentlessly burning and eating away at my stomach. Oh, oh wait! Did my appendix burst? My gallbladder?
I knew all that junk food and alcohol I’ve been stress-inhaling was going to come back and bite me in the ass. I figured it would be in the form of ten or so pounds, not a late-night race to the emergency room.
Hindsight.
It’s a complete bitch.
The ice in my arm is now traveling over my shoulders and through the rest of my body, easing the burning fires of Hell raging across my midsection to a dull throb. When the icy sensation hits my toes, I could swear my head floats off the rest of my body and sails around the small confines of the metal box we’re in.
“Am I…am I high?” I hear myself slur the words. “Did someone slip me a roofie?”
Julia whimpers, “Oh no, Jane they just gave you something for the pain.” She snivels and blubbers her words. Maybe she needs this ambulance more than I do.
We continue racing along, sirens screeching, a sense of controlled chaos above me.
What did she say happened before? “Dex and I had a fight?”
