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THE ringing felt like it went on for hours.
It went to voicemail after Iris waited for at least two minutes. She breathed in deeply, trying to gain some kind of oxygen back into her lungs, and pressed call again. She bit down on the edge of her thumbnail and brought the phone up to her ear. Every breath felt like she was working overtime. Her hands ached, creating an intense throb right in the center of her palm.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Pick up, goddammit!" She whispered loudly, biting her nail down more and more.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep –
"Uh – hello?"
Iris shrieked the second Dick's voice wafted through her speaker. It sounded groggy and disoriented. Kind of cute, if she were being honest. (Stop that! Her conscious groaned.) She clutched the phone even tighter, pressing it to her ear with both hands, attempting to not cry out in pain from the burning that was scorching through her fingers.
"Who is this?" He asked, grumbling low under his breath.
"Dick. It's Iris," she replied as quickly as she could. "Iris Kingsley. From the station."
She heard a loud thud on the other end. Iris raised a brow. "Dick?"
"Yeah, yeah! It's me. I'm here." His words were rushed, struggling for a release. "I just – uh – I didn't expect your call. Especially, at –"
"Midnight. Yeah, I realize that." Iris looked up to her ceiling. The lights were reflecting off the chipping, white paint, creating bright circles around the room. She huffed softly and closed her eyes. "I know this is ... very strange."
Dick laughed. The sound was weirdly calming. "You think?"
She brought one hand down and rested it on her knee. While balling her hand into a fist, she realized the light never flickered. Iris bit her lip. "I think I need your help."
More stirring echoed through the speaker. Dick cleared his throat, "Is everything okay?"
"Define, okay ..." She trailed off, allowing her stare to linger on the light just a bit too long. After a moment, she looked away, blinking her eyes rapidly. "Listen, in most situations, I would definitely not be calling my coworker about a problem at midnight, but I fear you're my best option at the moment."
"Alright," he said, exhaling heavily, "what's the problem?"
Iris unclenched her hand once again. "Well," she cleared her throat, "you see –"
"Yes –"
"My hands are kind of ..." She paused. "... Lighting up."
Dead air rang through her ears. The silence was deafening, swallowing her whole.
