Voices |E. Cullen|

EIGHTEEN

I hated the hospital. It was really loud, and that's without all of the noise that everyone can hear. I was never alone this time around. Extra blankets were brought in by Emmett and Edward sat by my side all day and all night long. Carlisle wasn't my physician but he did check on me every time he was working. They wanted to get me out and discharged within a week but it had taken longer because I needed a course of antibiotics to prevent infection from the field chest tube. It felt like people were in and out of my room every minute, but only half of them were living.

Running. I was running as fast as I could toward an unknown destination. My heart was beating rapidly and I felt like my breath was escaping me. Confusion plagued my mind because trees surrounded me. Thick and dense forest was the only thing I could see to the edge of my view in any direction. I was supposed to be sleeping in a white bed with friends at my side, not lost in the woods. That made me think, was this a dream? I stopped running. To my left there was nothing. Not even a bird or fox running around. Behind me, nothing. Empty in front of me as well. To my right, however, I heard snapping of twigs.

I looked over to see two people, one behind the other. The one closest to me stood with a large knife in his hand. The other person knelt on the ground with his hands behind his back. I arched my brow, cocked my head at an angle, and started to walk closer. This was obviously a dream, I wasn't going to get hurt by exploring. Their conversation was inaudible, but it seemed high stress. My feet carried me to the front of the two, but when I reached it, I screamed.

Jason knelt down in front of a man close to his age. His wrists were bound together by rope and he was blindfolded. The man behind him was blond and tan, roughly Jason's height. He had a fraternity sweat shirt on, though. The same letters as Jason's. My mind was racing with all of the possibilities of what this dream could mean. The man dragged the knife across Jason's throat faster than I could comprehend. I didn't want to watch his death but I had no choice, it made me scream again, but that time I woke up.

I was a hyperventilating mess of tears as I pulled my knees to my chest and gripped my hair. What the fuck had just happened? Two cool hands were placed on my shoulders.

"Julia, hey, hey, hey. It's okay, you're okay, you're safe," Edward's voice was soothing. "You're safe."

He got into bed with me and put an arm around my shoulders. I held the one in front of me close as I sobbed. My breaths were quick and my heart rate must have sky rocketed because my telemetry alarm was sounding and a nurse ran into the room to check if everything was okay.

"Ms O'Connor, are you okay?" She came close to me and started to assess my pulse and other vital signs.

I nodded, "It was- just- a- nightmare," I was still hyperventilating but trying to control my breathing. You know when you cry and you breathe in but it's really choppy? That's what I was doing.

"Everything looks okay, do you want to talk about it?" She questioned.

I shook my head. "No thank you," tears were still streaming down my face.

"Okay, well if you need anything you just press this button and I'll be right in," she smiled as she showed me the call bell I already knew how to use.

I thanked her before she walked out of the room. Edward rubbed his hand across my back as he held me close. "What's wrong, Jules?"

I sniffled and started to breathe choppily again. "I think- I saw- his death."

He knew who I was talking about, he didn't have to ask. His arms pulled me so that we were laying down and I was at his side. With one arm he still held me close and with the other he played with my hair. I ignored the fact that all of this was a giant mixed signal because the embrace from anyone was so comforting. After a while of Edward playing with my hair, I slowly drifted back into a sleeping state.