A New Kind of Science / Holtzbert

Subconscious

Time passed and everything had eventually returned to normal. The Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination had caught many ghosts in the last few months and they had even lined up a few interviews for more recruits to their ghost busting team. Patty was now dating some man she had met, ironically, on a subway train to work. Abby and Kevin were beginning to flirt some more and soon, the others knew it would turn into an actual relationship. Jillian had invented as many new inventions as Thomas Edison or Nicola Tesla could within a whole year. Every new gadget she constructed became more and more useful with every hunt of a new ghost. Erin had stayed completely the same. Alone...waiting. Hoping for someone to come into her life. Her online dating profiles had close to no interests and the few men that HAD been interested were turned down by the picky brunette. She found them okay looking and two were actually as attractive as Kevin, but they weren't for her. 

She would sit down at her computer desk, staring at their profile pictures and reading their bios with a sad expression on her face. What was the deal? She would ask herself. She hadn't a clue. She could have given them a chance if she wanted to. But why had she continued to torture herself? She would stand up from her chair, pace around her bedroom, then quickly press the 'deny' button. She just wasn't feeling it anymore. She wanted to meet someone naturally, like Patty or Abby had. 

One day, she and Abby had their night shift at the station. They had finally added in some beds to the extra room upstairs. When they awoke the next morning, they were completely shocked when both Patty and Kevin had made it to work before the quirky blonde. Growing concerned, they all took turns attempting to call her. They even called Dr. Gorin a few times, who swore she hadn't seen nor heard from her. 

Everything was going great...and in a flash, it was all taken with one ring of the phone. 

"Hello. Ghostbusters, we answer the call. How can we help you?" Kevin spoke into the speaker. Halfway through the speech on the other end, Kevin looked to Abby as if asking for help and she stood from her desk, recognizing that look. The expression on her face was one of both confusion and worry as she approached her future-boyfriend's desk, taking the phone from him when he offered it. 

"Hello? This is Dr. Abigail Yates." She listened to the person through the telephone and slowly turned to look at Patty and Erin by their own desks. Without even saying a word, Yates hung up the phone and froze in her place. 

"What?" Tolan asked.

"What is it, Abby?" Erin wondered. 

"It's Holtzy." The woman's voice cracked before she tried to continue. "She's in the hospital." 

"She what?" Erin walked around her desk and Patty stood from her chair.

"She's in a coma." Kevin watched Abby tell them with sorrow, as he already knew from the beginning of the phone call. 

"What?" Gilbert suddenly felt faint. She rested her left hand on the desk beside her.

"What the hell happened?" Tolan now walked around her desk as well.

"She was hit by a car this morning." A single tear fell passed the lower brim of Abby's glasses and she quickly reached up to wipe it away.

Patty stood with her jaw locked open and Erin suddenly morphed into a statue. Yates turned her body slightly so she could look down at Kevin. The man reached a hand up to hold hers and after she took it, her head dropped in fear and sadness. 

"What-what hospital?" Tolan grabbed her denim jacket from the chair behind her desk.

"The one on East 76th." The paranormal researcher responded, her hand still holding Kevin's.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm goin.'" Patty did not hesitate one moment to head toward the door.

After seeing the look on Abby's face, Kevin spoke, "I'll stay here. You go."

She sent him a weak smile and headed for the exit as well. When Patty opened the door, Yates turned around to look at her best friend. "Erin, are you comin?'"

Still stiff as a board, Gilbert blinked and looked up to Abigail. "Uh...yeah. I'll, uh..."

"What?" The shortest of the group asked. "You'll what?" 

A nervous laugh came from the former teacher and she smiled at both Patty and Abby. "I'll, uh..." Before she could even speak, the world spun, gravity getting the best of the woman, and she fainted, collapsing to the ground.

When Dr. Gilbert came to, she panicked with a roaring gasp. Finding it hard to catch her breath at first, she struggled to look at her surroundings. The moment she realized where she was, she slouched in pure frustration. A nightmare! It was only a ridiculous nightmare! Erin was getting sick of her subconscious. She had had so many screwed up dreams in the past few weeks, but this one was by far the worst. 

It took her a few moments, but soon she realized that it had only been one night since she found out Holtzy was in love with her. She let out a sigh of relief for it was just a dream and Holtzmann was probably in her own apartment somewhere, completely fine. The woman's hand reached up to push her bangs off of her forehead for a second before she slapped her tired hand to her own thigh. She removed the blanket from her lap and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Looking down at the floor, she sighed, wondering what was going on with her. 

Her mind went through every dream she'd had since becoming a part of the Ghostbusters and she closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She immediately regretted closing her eyes, however, when she pictured the blonde in her evening gown once again. After remembering the dream, her brain flashed to the memory of her standing in the doorway of Jillian's apartment when part of her hair had been out of place. 

Grey-blue eyes opened with uncertainty and trepidation. After a few seconds of having no thoughts at all, she soon began to recall the night before. Jillian was in love with her? Kevin had a thing for Abby? This was all too much. She wanted to express her excitement for Abby but couldn't, knowing it'd be super embarrassing if Patty were wrong and Kevin really had no interest in anyone. She wanted nothing more than to just grab Jill and give her a huge hug to make her feel better, but a part of her suspected it'd make things worse. Plus, Holtzmann didn't like hugs, as Dr. Gorin had stated about the both of them the other day. 

Erin didn't know anymore. She really didn't. She hated feeling bad for Holtzy and the past two days, she found herself feeling more depressed than ever before. Perhaps it was finding out and accepting the truth that she and Kevin would never happen...or perhaps it was the pressure of having to break her dear friend's heart. She hadn't a clue. Again, all she could think about was wanting to hold Holtzmann. She closed her eyes and pictured holding the blonde, a small grin growing on her face.

She reopened her eyes and sighed once more before clearing her throat and feeling sudden butterflies in her gut. She lost her breath and slightly lifted her head to look at the wall across from her. It wasn't until now that she realized her fingers were squeezing the sheet at her sides below her. Her body temperature rose and a slight case of nausea hit her as she began to long for the day she could actually hug Jillian, but she suspected it would never happen. 

Shaking her head no with a sense of feeling pathetic, she began to laugh at herself. She slightly rocked back and forth for a moment before bringing her feet up onto the bed and sitting Indian style. She put her face in her hands, remembering Holtzmann's smile and missing it. "What have I done?" She whispered to herself, feeling responsible for the disappearance of Holtzy's happiness. The soft, gentle butterflies in her abdomen quickly turned to a brief, harsh pain and when it was gone, she brought her hands down and looked up to the wall again. She hadn't expected the tears to fall, but they did and she slammed her head back down on her pillow and cried herself back to sleep.