Dream // Van McCann

9. Missed Call

The last place I expected to wake up was in the hospital. A nurse hurried past me and knocked on a door before walking in. I looked around but it was just me in the hallway. I stared at the room the nurse disappeared in, wondering if I should follow her but it made me nervous as I wasn't sure who was in the room.

The curtains were down but there was a crack I could peer through. I looked around until I saw a shock of blonde hair. It was Florence. She was sitting next to the hospital bed holding someone's hand but I couldn't see who. I decided to knock on the door and let myself in before someone could respond.

Everyone looked at me, including Florence, who was shocked to see me so soon. But I was too caught up looking at the other people in the room. I recognized the nurse from earlier but not the older man and woman.

"I'm sorry but you're not allowed in here," the nurse said, walking towards me. I started backing away but then Florence spoke.

"It's okay. He's with me," she said.

"Is there anything else you need?" the nurse asked.

"No, that's it. Thank you."

The nurse slipped past me and silence descended once again when the door closed. The people were still staring at me which was making me deeply uncomfortable. Usually, they don't have a face but these people do, which means that Florence knows who they are. At quick glance, I thought they were strangers but upon closer inspection, I could see that they were most likely her dad and sister. So who's in the bed? My eyes wandered to the bed. There was a frail, sick woman who I suspected was her mum.

This was all strange to me as I wasn't expecting to meet her family in a dream! But Florence told me she hasn't seen her family in years so I wasn't sure how accurate her dream is.

"This is my family," Florence spoke up, as if reading my mind. "That's my dad, my sister Hannah, and my mom." She turned to face her mum once again. Although she confirmed who they were, I was still very confused about this dream. Having her mum in the hospital is never a good sign.

"The reason why I've been avoiding going under my dream is because my sister managed to find me and told me my mom is dying. She has stage four lung cancer and the prognosis isn't good. They're giving her three months but that's being hopeful. The funny thing is that I keep dreaming about visiting her and us making up for the lost time but I've not actually seen her for 10 years."

"I'm sorry Florence. If I'd known, I wouldn't have suggested that we go under your dream," I apologized, feeling terrible.

"It's okay. I was going to tell you anyway. Having you see this makes things easier. So tell me—what is my dream telling me?" I've not had much experience interpreting these kinds of dreams but the answer was obvious.

"That your mum is dying. You want to reconnect with her but something is holding you back."

"I haven't told you much about my mom and why I had to get away. We've never been on good terms. She's described me as a difficult child to raise and that I was a disgrace to the family. She was very strict with us growing up. I wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend until I was done with school, I wasn't allowed to have sex before marriage, and I was supposed to be ladylike and subservient to men. She found a nice boy from church that she wanted me to marry and that was the last straw that made me run away.

"My early adult years were rough and I didn't exactly make the right choices. I did things to spite my mom but I learned a lot from the mistakes I've made. However, my mom still believes I'm inadequate and incapable of a lot of things. My sister told me that my mom wants to see me before she passes and all I can think of is her being critical and judgmental. You understand why I'm hesitant to visit her, do you?" I nodded my head.