It’s
raining……..
“John,
are you there”……..
The
voice slowly fades away into the darkness surrounding me. I don’t know where I
am anymore, but then again I don’t think I’ve ever known. My whole life I have
felt like there has been a part of me missing. Now laying here on this rain
soaked, blood splattered (My blood?),
cobblestone road, I think I may have finally found it. The darkness is so
comforting, supplying answers to all of the questions I have ever had. I feel
like I should embrace it, while a part of me clings to that voice, that
question: “John, are you there?”
Suddenly a large blue,
crackling, light tears the darkness apart. Instead of being wrapped in a
comforting darkness I am thrust into a reality where I am gasping, screaming,
and essentially bleeding to death. I long to return to the darkness, but there
is a face looking down at me, a face warped with emotion. Rain soaked golden
hair frames the face, and even though her makeup is running, and she looks
scared half to death, she is still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in
my life. At that moment, nothing could drag me back to the darkness. I have
something to cling to, a reason to stay, a woman to love!
“Rhea…”
I manage to gasp, tears streaming down my face.
She
grabs my hand and squeezes, I would do anything to take away the pain I see in
her eyes. I’m immobilized by pain though. There is a long jagged slash in my
chest, stretching from my right shoulder to my left hip. I hear sirens in the
distance, I can only hope that they get here in time. Rhea looks up and the
look on her face turns to pure terror. That’s when the screaming starts.
All
I can do is lay there and listen as the family trapped in the minivan behind me
tries to get out. “Oh my god, it’s on fire!” Rhea screams, starting to stand
up. I feel her start to let go of my hand, and the darkness starts to return,
this time I know it won’t recede……….
****
5 Years Later
Beep…..Beep….Beep…..
I was wrong.
Chapter
1
The
first thing I feel is confusion. One minute I’m staring into Rhea’s face, the
next I’m looking into a harsh light that hurts my eyes. Before I can try to
process the transition I hear a loud crash from a few feet away. A woman
wearing green scrubs is standing over a tray of food that she obviously just
dropped. “Oh my god, he’s awake!” she almost yells.
“Where’s
Rhea?” I manage to croak, but she doesn’t hear me in her excitement.