Unexpected Feelings: Lingess

Miracles

Painful bright lights were all she could see as they stung her eyes. Everything was spinning so she blinked hard against the blur. She struggled to focus, lying there in pain and withered. She was then greeted by the blinding white walls of an ICU room.

Strapped around her face were transparent tubes that ran up her nostrils. She tried to reach up to pry those contraptions off her face but couldn't since it was torture. To her dismay, there was another tube sticking out of her side and she groaned in agony.

Hazy images attacked her brain as she tried to figure out how she got there. She couldn't even tell whether she was dreaming or not. Gradually, her vision became clear and she tried to call out. But it was too uncomfortable, she felt like she had swallowed a scrap of sandpaper.

To her left, she heard someone getting restless as that person continued on twitching and crying softly. She looked down and realised it was Kim. She was bent in what had to be an incredibly uncomfortable position over the edge of her bed.
'She must be having a nightmare.' she then debated whether she should wake her up. As her poor girlfriend continued crying in her sleep, Erin felt awful and couldn't watch her in pain any longer. So she gathered up all her strength and started shaking Kim's arm that was rested on her leg.

"Kim. Kim. Kim..." she croaked. Her throat burned and she wondered why.
"Kim, sweetie. Wake up. You're dreaming." she rubbed her arm.
'Wow. I should really ask what moisturizer she uses.' Erin radiated at the touch of her skin, realising it was so soft.

Kim slowly opened her eyes and looked utterly confused. She rubbed them in order to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Erin laughed when she saw her expression. Her big brown eyes staring back at her with tears.
"Yes. It's me." she started coughing since her throat iched.
"Erin?" she muttered. She was confused since she thought Erin had passed. It scared her how vivid her dream was.

Cloudy green eyes stared back at her and she felt her heart skipped a beat. "Oh darling." she jumped to her feet, grabbed the cup of water and held the straw to her lips to let her clear her throat.
"Hey." she now smiled back. Kim's relieved that Erin's awake. She've been waiting for days.

Losing Erin would shatter her, there was absolutely no point in even trying to deny that fact because she had been faced with the hard truth of that very  possibility for the past few days and she had been behaving like a terrified spouse.

"Hey." Erin replied, her voice low and rough from being on a ventilator. "What happened?"
"You don't remember?" Kim sat on the edge of the bed.
She shook her head. "All I remember is going into the cafeteria with Adam...the rest is a blur."
She started coughing again. "Ugh. Why does my throat hurt?"
"You were on a ventilator babe. You couldn't breath on your own. They had it removed just this morning." she explained.
She looked down at the area that hurt the most, it was covered with bandages. "I was shot, wasn't I?"
Just before Kim could reply, the doctor and nurse interrupted the ladies.

"Ahh good to see you awake. I'm Dr. Drake Ramoray. You had your family worried, especially this one." he said with his thick New York accent and winked at Kim.
Erin narrowed her eyes in disbelief at what she just witnessed but then ignored it and smiled apologetically, feeling bad about what she had put her loved ones through.
"Ok. We need to check on you now that you're awake." the nurse added and helped her sit up on the bed.
"Oh. I'll be outside." Kim turned towards the door.
"No. It's alright. Just stay where you are." Dr. Ramoray grinned and reassured her.
Erin rolled her eyes as the more he spoke, the more he started to irritate her. Especially with that accent.

He then turned back to his patient. "Do you remember your name?"
"Erin Lindsay."

"Great then. Miss Lindsay, do you remember what happened?"
"I'm...not sure. Ahh, my partner and I were clearing the cafeteria then I saw this girl. Oh Kim! The girl, is she alright?" Erin asked Kim with grave concern in her voice. Kim just loves how selfless she is. Even when she needs to think for herself, she never fails to care for others too.
"Yea. She's fine." Kim answered.
"Do you remember anything after that?" She held her hand as Dr. Ramoray continued asking her questions.
"Um, I got shot?" she said, looking questioningly at Kim for confirmation. She nodded.