Dancing with the Dead ✔

Chapter Twenty-Six - Welcome to the Real World

"Doc? Doc, come on! Wake up!" Lucas' panic-filled voice echoes on my ears.

My whole body feels numb. It takes a while before my senses start coming back to me. The pounding in my head is the first thing that I notice, followed by the scent of moss and flowers lingering in the air. I struggle to open my heavy eyelids at first, but I manage to do so after a while. Even though my vision is still a blur, I can see Lucas' silhouette in front of me and slowly I can feel his hands on my shoulders, shaking them ferociously.

"Jesus, Doc. Wake up, please!"

I gulp. Just as the numbness begins to wear away, pain radiates through my whole body.

"Argh!" I want to scream out loud at the excruciating pain, but a soft groan is the only thing that comes out of my mouth.

"Oh, thank God!" Lucas stops shaking my body at once. He lets out a sigh of relief and takes his seat next to me.

"Jesus Christ, Doc! What the hell happened? Th-the scar just came out of nowhere! It was like watching Freddy Krueger slashing you in your dreams!" he rambles on and on with a tinge of panic in his voice.

"What?"

Curiosity starts building up inside me. With one hand on the ground, propping my body, my other hand reaches to Lucas' arm for support. Lucas places one hand on the nape of my neck and the other on the small of my back.

"Take it easy," he says as he helps me switch into a sitting position.

While my head is still pounding, I feel a sharp pain on my right cheek that makes me wince. That's when my gaze inadvertently falls to the detective, who's busy rummaging my bag.

I grimace. "What are you doing?" I ask, my voice comes out soft and hoarse.

He ignores my question and continues to ransack my bag. The pain from my cheek slowly worsens, causing me to drag a hand to the origin of the pain. When my finger feels a tinge of warm fluid seeping from what feels like an incision on my cheek, that's when I notice something is wrong. I take a look at my hand and discover a smear of blood on my fingers.

Holy cow! My face! My pretty little face!

Don't be such a drama queen, Alexis! I'm sure it's just a small cut!

MY FREAKING FACE IS BLEEDING, EVIL ME!

"Look at me." The detective puts two fingers on my chin, gently forcing me to look his way. His eyes are fixated on the incision on my cheek. His warm fingers slide across my cheek, carefully inspecting the fresh wound. The fact that our face is just a few inches away makes me gulp. He uses a ply of tissue—one that he most probably gets from my bag—to gently wipe the blood off my face. The pain when the tissue touches the wound makes me flinch.

"Sorry." He retracts his hand in an instant.

I try to reply but this time no voice comes out of my mouth, so I shake my head lightly instead.

Before I know it, his hand is already busy roaming through my bag again. "You don't suppose to have any band-aid in this magic bag, do you?"

An inevitable smile finds its way to my face. "Front pocket..." I answer, my voice still strained.

On the corner of my eyes, I can see a tinge of a smile formed on the side of his lips as he murmurs to himself, "Girlscout, huh?"

It doesn't take long before he finds the pack of band-aids. He takes one out and leans closer to my face. With a serious look on his face, he observes the wound once more before he gently puts the band-aid on it. My heart skips a beat when his warm finger grazes my cheek.