Lure To The Woods

XIV

I stared up at the flaking paint chips above my bed, my vision going blurry. My whole body felt like it was on fire and my mouth was so dry, no matter how much water I gulped down. I had been getting these hot flushes every night since I had stopped talking to Xavier. Each night they were getting progressively worse and I was struggling to deal with them- they were so painful.

When they subsided, I usually cried for a while before heading out and drinking with the twins until I couldn't walk straight. It was a self destructive cycle, I must admit, but I didn't know how else to deal with it. Xavier seemed to know what was going on, because he kept trying to get my attention and talk to me. I was doing a pretty good job of avoiding him, getting lifts to and home from school with Mum (even if it meant going in super early and coming home late).

When I went out at night, the twins collected me and dropped me off at home, so I had only seen him a very small number of times. The times I had seen him, however, were unbelievably painful. He seemed desperate, frantic, but I just didn't trust him anymore.

I pulled myself off of the bed, staggering into the bathroom. I pulled off my t.shirt, the fabric making my burning  skin feel worse. Everything that touched me left my body covered in searing pain, making me light headed and nauseous. I stumbled into my shower, turning the temperature to the coldest setting.

I slid to the floor, tucking my knees into my face and crying. This was beyond painful. The ice cold water did nothing to help, and I started to scream in agony. My screams were mixed with sobs, wracking through my body and bellowing out. I wish I could just step out of my skin, find out how to stop it from burning.

I heard a knock on the bathroom door, Mum calling out and asking if I was okay. I felt a bit bad for waking her up, since it was something like four in the morning right now and she had work, but I couldn't keep the screams of pain in. This pain was so much worse than any other night in the last week.

"Mum." I sobbed, "Help."

She entered the bathroom, her eyes landing on me curled up under the cold water. She immediately looked for signs that I had tried to harm myself, but saw no injuries. She rushed towards me, turning off the water. My shorts were soaked, so she wrapped a towel around me and cradled me close to her.

"Let's get you to A&E." She whispered, helping me off the floor of the shower.

She grabbed a random hoodie off of my desk, taking it with us to the car. I stayed with the towel wrapped around me, crying hysterically. It hurt so bad. She helped me into the passenger seat, plugging me in and speeding off to the walk-in centre. Since it was such a small town, the nearest hospital was a while away.

I writhed in pain in the passenger seat, trying to push the towel off of me because it was burning my skin. Everything was burning my skin. She pulled up to the car park, rushing round to my door and swinging it open. She wrapped the towel back around me, grabbing the hoodie and unplugging me from the car.

I tried to push her hands off, since they were causing red hot searing pain, but she held on tighter, taking me inside. The receptionist gasped when she saw me, which wasn't a good sign. She called somebody, getting a wheelchair for me to collapse into. I felt feverish; the sweat was pouring off me in waves.

"What's happening to him?" My mum cried, trying to get a response as the nurse wheeled me off to a medical room.

The nurse explained that he couldn't know for sure yet and that they had to get me to a doctor quickly. He then asked about how my mum found me, whether I had taken anything to her knowledge and what my symptoms were.

"I'm burning." I moaned, "It burns."

"Cameron? Can you hear me? Have you taken something?" The nurse asked, shining a light in my eyes.