May Blossom High

Emma's Pov (44)

I wail in anguish as my head seems to be splitting in two, banging like a number of bulldozers were racing inside it. I'm about to topple over the bed when strong arms catch me, whispering incoherent words to me, but they seem to make the migraine worse.

I struggle out of his hold needing to reach the cold floor, maybe it might soothe the pain. I dunno, I'm flustered, sobbing in fits until a group of hands hold me down, I can barely feel the touch on my hair as I slip off into silence, again.

***

It feels like minutes later when I start hearing muttering sounds beside me. Like two people were deeply involved in a conversation, I try to peel my eyes open but they seem too heavy to budge, I'm too tired to lift a finger.

Oh gosh! I have to get out of this position, my body feels cranky for staying in place for too long. A familiar voice speaks to me and I recognize her immediately.

"Mum," I whisper.

"Yes dear... It's me, mummy Joana. How are you feeling? Can you open your eyes darling?" She caresses my face slightly. I try, I try very hard to but my eyes are stuck.

"I... I tttth_" I couldn't get my words right anymore before the dizziness takes over and I'm slipping away in tiredness, I hear mum yell at a nurse before I'm gone.

***

It's been like this forever!

Slipping in and out of consciousness, needing to say a thing or two without doing so.
I hear the door swing open and someone walks in to sit beside me. I can smell his nice masculine scent as he drops beside me.

For a while he doesn't say anything, my eyebrows twitch in anticipation, I'm not sure if he's gazing at my face or at his phone. His hand soothes my feeble one in a slow rhythm causing ripples in me.

"Emma... I'm not sure if you can hear me but I hope you can because I want you to remember everything I've said when you wake up." I recognize Eric's voice. It's shaky.

"It's been two days since you blacked out, I shouldn't be sad cos at least you're alive and safe. It's just... I want to hear your voice so badly, I want to see your smiles and laughter cos it's been so long. Everyday I beat myself for causing you such misery. I prayed and penance myself for being the cause of your difficulty."

I try to think about what he said and why he needs my forgiveness. I can't even remember how I got here in the first place. All I can think of is to wake up and jump into his arms.

He continued
"And I want you to know that I'm deeply sorry, I don't deserve you at all but I wanna make it right by you. I will make it right I promise." he shifts from his chair noisily, for seconds I wait to hear from him but a slight touch on my dry lips got me shuddering.

He kissed me?!
Was it even legal to steal kisses from a sick person?... His touch felt welcoming. I've missed him so much.

"My mum and Mummy Joana think I've done the best I can for you but they don't get it... They don't understand what I feel for you and the extent I'll go to prove myself to you Em. You don't know how joyful I was when you woke up in my arms the other night. I prayed to be there when you first opened your eyes and you did. You heard me and I'm happy to be here for you even if I have to skip school. I was amazed at the number of people who visited with beautiful bouquets, scented candlesticks and much more. The love was massive, they kept asking about you, especially Cheryl..." He stops abruptly as if he wasn't sure to mention the name or not.

"Eric, why are you here?!" A hasty feminine voice says from afar.

He drops my hand and turns to the voice.  "Nurse Gladis, I just need a minute with Emma. Can't I get that?"

"At school hours?..."

"I don't mind_"

"Well you should cos your mom has instructed me not to let you in here during school hours. You're beginning to skip school"

"But I have to stay with her, what if something bad happens? I can't bear being in school while my girlfriend is lying here unconscious!" He cries, I can hear the weary in his voice but the word that caught me was

girlfriend.

I love the way he said the word girlfriend...

"That's our job dear, she's in a hospital and will be properly looked after alright?"

"That's what you said until she almost fell off the bed if not for my presence. How do you explain that nurse Gladis?" He accuses.

She clears her throat to calm her voice. I'm sure she knows the noise isn't good for me.

"Alright dear, I understand your worry but you have to attend classes at least for an hour or two before heading here. I've had to call your driver to pick you up here several times because you took the bus here"

"I'm sorry for the inconveniences but I'll stay till Emma wakes up!" I feel him sit beside me, rubbing my palms together.

All the way in my head I'm feeling his possessive need to care and be there for me. It's shocking. I really need to open my goddamn eyes to see his expression.

***

My eyes flash open in quick movement, flapping their lid like butterfly wings as the effect of the sunlight sipping through the curtains makes an incident on them.

I shut them immediately. After a while I open my eyes again, it takes a while to adjust them to my unfamiliar environment.

When I can see clearly, I try to sit up but the rapt pain in my back shoots through my body seeping off my little energy.
My gaze lands on a figure on the couch by the door. She's wrapped in a duvet snoring silently unaffected by the intensity of light in the room.

I look around at the complicated equipment and tubes on me. I'm in a horrible blue gown with nothing under. Oh Gawd! I think aloud.

"Em!... Emma, is that you?" A voice speaks,I turn to see mum throwing off the duvet and rushing towards me. That's when I realize I've been moaning in pain.

"Do you need me to sit you up?..." She's unsure of what to do till I give her an affirmative nod.

She adjusts the bed to a sitting position and I'm feeling a bit better.

"Mum?" I start

"Yes honey" she responds.

"Was I dead?"