Countdown

Chapter Twenty-One -- PRESENT 7:27 PM

Danielle's P.O.V.

    Slowly, the ringing in my ears turns into steady beeps. The sound is so close but so far away. What is it? As it starts to beep louder and more clear, I begin to grow irritated with the annoying noise.

    A bright light suddenly appears and then disappears just as quick as it had come. It happens again. My heart speeds up as I fear the obvious truth. Is this what everyone talks about? The bright light showing you the way to your next place? To heaven?

    The beeping grows even louder and faster. I want to scream for it to stop or at least quiet down, but the words will not leave my mouth. I try to move but I can't. This only scares me more and intensifies the increasing speed of the beeping.

    Then I hear muffled words. I can't make out the incoherent phrases, but somehow, I know they are talking to me directly. As they continue to speak, the beeping slows and I become relaxed. Without the annoyingly loud beeps, I can actually hear what the man is saying.

    "She's going to be fine," he announces, relief clear in his voice. "Danielle, can you hear me? Raise your finger if you can."

    I raise my finger.

    "Danielle, if you can hear me, raise your finger up," he repeats. I try to. I put all my energy into trying to show this stranger I can hear him, but I can't. It's impossible. "We can try again in a few minutes, Mr. Athens."

    Dad? He's here? Where is here?

    "Are you sure? Please, just one more time," Dad begs. His voice is rough and full of worry. "Sammie, tell him to try it one more time."

    "Dad --" Sammie starts, exhausted.

    I raise my finger. I know I do this time because my whole body starts to ache. I fill the pain and the memories of the past week flood back. I let out a whimper as the man argues with my family, and it all stops.

    "Danielle?" Sammie calls out, taking my hand in hers.

    Even though I would rather feel like I did a few seconds ago, I open my eyes, searching the room for her. The first thing I see is a bunch of machines with random readings and numbers on it. I look over to my right side and see her blonde hair.

    Her blue eyes are almost like her normal bright blue except now they are bloodshot and have dark circles under them. My heart skips a beat as I think about all she has gone through while I was gone.

    "Where's Alan?" is the first thing that comes out of my lips. I didn't care about Sam or Dad, Tyler or the other guys, or even the agonizing pain increasing as I become more aware of everything.

    "It's okay, sweetie," Sam assures, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

    What? No, no, no. They have it all wrong!

    "No, Sammie!" I yell. Sitting up, I throw the blankets off me even though I don't think I've ever been in more pain in my life (including the time those disgusting guys pulled out my fingernails). I look down and see bandages covering three of the tips of my fingers.

    "Danielle, calm down," the man in the white lab coat demands, carefully pushing me back into the hospital bed. His messy hair gives the evidence of his exhausted day at work. He must be my doctor. "You can talk about it when you have rested."

    I push his arms away roughly. My voice is intimidating and yet I am terrified. "Sammie, he didn't do it! He had to. He had to."

    She knitted her eyebrows together in confusion as I rambled on.