𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙮 || 𝘵. 𝘬𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘺𝘢𝘮𝘢

23 | Fever Dream

My eyes slowly flutter open, the smell of lavender filling my nose. I was in a hospital bed, though it seemed abandoned. No machines, no people, just me.

I frantically check my stomach for my wound, but there isn't one there. No bandages, no scar, no blood, nothing.

"Hi Honey." I hear a familiar voice say.

It couldn't be. Was she here? No.

I turned towards the voice, and there she was. I sat there on the bed, unmoving. My heart dropped, there she was, in front of me, standing in the doorway.

"You were in quite an accident, weren't you?" She asked with a small laugh.

"Oh no, I'm hallucinating. I'm definitely dying." I look down again to check for a scar, still nothing.

"You're not quite dying yet, but that definitely is an option." My grandmother says, sitting on the bed beside me.

I drew my body away from her slightly, "How is this real?" I asked her.

"It isn't." She said softly. "You're on the brink of death, you have a decision to make."

I stared at her, tears started to prick my eyes and I could feel the blood rush into my face.

"So you were sent here, by god or whoever is out there, to help me decide if I want to die." I ask frantically.

She nods, setting her hand on top of mine.

"Oh." I say, curling up into a ball on the bed. Everything started to hit me all at once, I'm in my head. Death has come to me and my mind is playing tricks on me.

"I advise you not to give up, but if you decide so, I will help you cross over." She said.

I look to her, "If I give up, will I stay with you forever?" I ask, tears now rolling down my cheeks.

"Oh sweetheart, don't cry." she says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "There's a chance."

So she didn't know. This was a mess.

I was dying, I was seeing my dead grandmother in some kind of fever dream, and most of all I had to choose between my favorite person in the world or everyone else I love.

I heard her sigh from beside me, then she started bouncing her leg up and down. This probably wasn't easy for her either, if she was real of course.

She stood up after a second, walking across the room to a roller cart with a small tv on top. After detangling the wheels from the overgrown vines, she rolled the cart over to the side of the hospital bed.

I was still curled into a ball, still in shock from the appearance of the dead.

She fiddled with the buttons for a moment, then a soft static sound filled the air. More buttons were pressed and knobs were turned, then I saw another hospital room appear on the small screen.

It looked almost identical to the room we occupied. The appliances weren't broken and the overgrowth was missing, but other than that it was truly the exact same room.

Then it hit me.

There, on the bed of the contrasting room, was a girl. Same long black hair as me. Same bronze skin. She was laying still, her chest barely rising as her short breath entered her lungs.

I slowly swung my legs over the edge of the bed, gripping the sheets tightly in my hands. "Is tha- Is that me?" I asked, my voice trembling.

I looked at her, my eyes wide with shock. I felt my heart drop to my stomach when she nodded her head 'yes'. I knew I was dying, but seeing it was unsettling. The reality was hitting me harder than I ever thought it could.

I looked back to the TV, "Wow." I whispered. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes as I stared at my lifeless body.

"So, what now?" I ask.

"You choose."