The Waiting Room

Chapter 14- Rid of Pain

"Pain is my best friend. Obliviousness is my drug."

 Those words echoed through the silence of darkness. I turned around to find nothing but pitch black obscurity. I quickly spun around, but to no avail. The room or area I was in was too dark for me to see anything.

"You know, Phaedra, I never took you as someone who was so... weak."

 It said again. Suddenly like a light switch, the light flooded intot the room. I felt a lash of nostalgia as the color turne a white color like I was in the Waiting Room. About a foot away from mem was Malia. I screamed louydly in fear, and nearly jumped out of my skin. I placed a hand over my heart to calm my breathing. I looked back up at Malia. Her  black hair was messily swilring around her hair, and her mouth was upstunred into a cooked position. What striked me the most was her red eyes, sharp fangs, and claws. She was like Death’s demons. Was this my fate when I die? She cackled evily,

"You see. I'm not poor little Malia anymore. I don't need you crying over me like I'm some lost teddy bear," she sneered. I swallowed sloudly in fear at her scary tone, and shook my head violently. This wasn't Malia, it couldn’t be,

"It's not you!" I yelled at her. She just looked smug and pointed over at a mirror a couple feet away that had just appeared.

"It’s not? Look at yourself, just like me."

I walked over to the mirror an looked in it, and staring back at me was a girl with red hair, purple tanktop, ripped jeans, and red eyes.

A demon’s red eyes.

***

I wanted so badly to wake up with a start after the nightmare, but I couldn’t. “I’m so sorry,” a deep gruffy voice said. It was repeated again and again in my ears, and I was so desperate to open my eyes and find out why everyone was so sorry. It was like a broken recorder into my eyes that I couldn’t stop. I wanted to open my eyes. I did. It was like the world was sitting ontop of my eyes lids and not my shoulders. I couldn’t feel where I was, nor how cold it was. The only sense that was awake was my ears, and they seemed to be mocking me as they listened to garbled nonsense that I couldn’t make sense of. All I wanted to know was where was I? What happened?

Finally the weight lifted from my eyes and I immediately blinked them open. Instead of them blurring and then focusing, they immediaely were clear. I looked down, I was in a hospital gown. I looked forward and I saw that I was in the same hospital bed I was left in to operate. Everywhere was deserted though. I quickly got up and starightened, I would have to find my mother. I winced as the action had tugged on my IV plug. I quickly took it out, walked towards the blue door, and turned the cold knob. Once in the hallway, I saw the huge amount of people bustling around, and the noises of telephones ringing. I winced at the amount of sound stuffed into my ears.

“Mother?” I shouted. I doubted she ever heard me though, what with all the noises around me. I quickly sped walk through the hallway, and searched around. Once I arrived in the waiting room, the wailings got louder. There were pale people, with dak rims in their eyes, with tears streaking down their faces. Next to these seemingly dead people were women and men who looked so in pain, that it hurt my eyes to watch. I gasped, what was this sight? It reminded me of my dream of Death. I looked around for a red haired woman, and I spotted one. In the far left corner, there a middle aged woman with frizzy red hair, and dark circles under her eyes. As soon as she spotted me, the corners of her mouth lifted up, and new tears made their way down. “Oh, Phaedra, Phaedra!” she shouted merrily.

She ran over her and her arms wrapped around me. “Mom! Oh, where’s Sydney?” I asked, peering over her shoulder to see if my sister was there. Nothing but a crowd with uneasy and saddened people sat behind her in the waiting room. “No, no. Sydney was so sad when you slipped into the coma, as was I,” the tears had started a new wave rolling down her already rosy cheeks, “Oh, honey! We’re so glad you are okay,” she exclaimed. I opened my mouth to say that I was perfecly fine when a feeling in my gut stopped me. Was I fine? I guess it wasn’t a mystery why I doubted I was fine. I got ran over by a truck. “Come on, now. Let’s take you home.”

I was so excited to see Malia and Sydney again, that I didn’t dwell on the fact that we didn’t even talk to a nurse before high tailing it out of the hospital.

***

“So, how’s Malia doing?” I tried to ask calmly, but jitters were in my stomach. I couldn’t wait to see her again. My mother laughed whole heartedly, “Oh she’s fine, that one. She made cookies today, to celebrate Saint Patrick’s day. Of course, we didn’t expect you to join us, you were in a coma for over three weeks,” she bit the last part out, but I could hear her starting to tear up again.

“Hey, I’m here now.” I made an effort ot soothe her. The feeling from the hospital was nagging me, poking at my sides so hard that I thought I would bleed. When I had woken up, it felt as if I had only slept a day, and not three weeks.   

I rolled down the window, and let the cold wind hit against my face. A feeling of nostalgia ripped through me, as I caught sight of the rectangle house with the little chimneys, and the smell of the oak trees that scattered the area. No wonder it was called Oak Brooks. I sat down further in my seat. “Alright, we’re almost there,” my mother murmured more to herself. Suddenly our house came into view. It was a yellow brick house, with a brown roof. Flower beds were scattered like pennies all over our newly trimmed yard. This was home. “Alright,” Mom said after we parked in the garage, “let’s go surprise Sydney and Malia.” I chuckled a little and walked into our house. The back door bell chimed, indicating a new visitor.

“Mom?” Sydney shouted, “Is that you?” I heard feet running towards the door, and then my blonde haired sister came, her ocean blue eyes seemed even deeper. As hard as I could, I looked for a little spark of happiness in her eyes, but all I saw was a dark void. I frowned. What happened to her?

            Then, she looked at me. At first, nothing happened. Then her eyes lit up like a  Christmas tree, and she ran up to me, “Phaedra!” she screamed into my arms. She squeezed her arms tighter around my frail body. I had thought it strong after three weeks of rest, but it seemed to be weak. Soon, Malia had come to. She had given me a quick hug and beckoned me over to the kitchen. They were crying and were telling me how much they missed me. I could say that I missed them to, but for me, it only seemed like a night.

As I layed down in my bed that evening, I had no sleep. None would come to me. As soon as I closed my eyes, images of the red truck would ram into me, over and over again. The fear that had once left, now siezed me again and drowned me in it.

Not only could I not fall asleep, but I wasn’t tired. Looking around my room, I felt no need to go to sleep. Deeper in room, though, flashbacks from my nightmares haunted me as if it was on a projector. I kept seeing flashes of a man in a hooded black cloak with blood red eyes staring right at me. I gulped. I remembered seeing his face mulitple times in my coma, but that was all I remembered. I didn’t recognize him and it scared me. I quickly got up and crossed out of my room. Maybe a hot chocolate would do good for this kind of thing.