Expensive Mistakes

Careful Makin' Wishes in the Dark #6

Tobi's journal: 

Emilio certainly was unexpected. I hadn't anticipated being in a relationship anytime soon. I never hoped for one— hadn't allowed myself to.

It's nice, I'll admit, but with these feelings comes an acute sense of paranoia that I'm no stranger to. 

I despise not knowing exactly what he's thinking. There are so many things that could go wrong. 

Edburt, of course, is fully aware of all of this. 

I found myself in the hospital. 

Odd, I think. This certainly was different from everything I had dreamt before. Dreams had either been in the room or had some connection to the church and my family. The hospital had been a haven of sorts. My family never visited and I didn't have to go to work or class. I failed to see how this would be torture. 

I surveyed the room and startled slightly when I noticed Emilio standing in the corner with his purple notebook, distanced from the hospital bed I was lying in.

Strapped to, I realized. 

It was one of those beds you saw more in the psychiatric ward with brown leather straps at the wrists, ankles, and across the chest. 

I watched Dream Emilio nervously, remembering the last time Mr. Edburt had controlled the voice of someone I cared about. Dream Mattias's words still stick with me, even if real Mattias has assured me repeatedly that he doesn't think that way. 

But Dream Emilio didn't move toward me. He didn't give any sign that he was interested by my presence. I would have assumed he didn't know I was 'awake' or however it works in dreams, but I could feel his violet eyes boring into me, even if the reflection of his glasses blocked them from my sight. 

"What's happening?" I ask, more nervous for what Dream Emilio might say to me than for whatever torture Edburt had lined up for me. My trust issues already made it hard enough to open up, I don't need my brain to make it harder. 

Dream Emilio moved to the corner slightly closer to the bed. The light no longer glinted off of his glasses and I could see his eyes. In the waking world, they're usually filled with curiosity and affection. When I made eye contact with Dream Emilio, none of this was present. There was an indifference that made me feel insecure. 

"What's happening?" I asked again. 

Dream Emilio returned to his notebook and wrote something down. 

Typical. 

Seeing that Dream Emilio wasn't going to answer me, I focused my efforts on Edburt. "What do you have planned this time?" I shouted at the ceiling because I wasn't sure where exactly he was. 

A voice from the doorway startled me. "If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise."

I whipped my head around to the best of my abilities, considering I was strapped down, to see Mr. Edburt walking into the hospital room. He looked significantly more human than normal. His skin, though pale, was no longer an ashen-gray color and his eyes no longer glowed. He pushed in a cart on which sat several different medical tools, sharp and caked with dry blood. 

"You have to sanitize those," I snarked, knowing that whatever procedure I was about to undergo, Edburt would ensure that it was as far from safe and painless as possible. 

I looked over at Dream Emilio, even though I knew he was being controlled by Edburt and held no sympathy for me. If anything, I was nothing more than an interesting specimen to him, meant only to be dissected and discarded once he was satisfied with the information he received.