I WOKE UP with a throbbing pain in my head with Mom by my bed with her eyes closed, praying the rosary. I took a look around.
I was lying in a curtained cubicle and my arm was attached to an IV from a needle in my wrist.
"M...mom?"
Mom quickly opened her eyes. "Hey, you're awake. How are you feeling?" She lovingly brushed my forehead.
"What happened?"
"You fainted, Ani. I'm going to get the doctor." She leaned over to kiss my forehead and walked out the cubicle, leaving me by myself.
How did I end up here? I growled in panic, struggling to sit up. Of all places, why did they take me to the hospital? This is the playground of the dead, for Pete's sake.
I shifted my position so I could be more comfortable and to my horror, I saw a ghost sitting on the bed, its back to me.
I swallowed nervously when the ghost stretched herself out next to me. It was a female spirit about twelve years of age. She was dressed in a hospital gown. Her eyes were wide and it looked as though her entire body had gone very white.
I started praying in my head that this thing would leave me alone and go away but instead, she lifted her hand as if she was going to touch my face. A choked scream ripped through my throat as her palm came dangerously near my cheek.
"Don't touch me!" I jolted up, ripping the IV out of my arm. I jumped off the bed and ran towards the door. To my surprise, the ghost was already at the doorway. "Why won't you just leave me alone?"
My yell scared the passing nurses and patients confined inside the room. My mom came rushing in with people in scrub suits and long white coats. I looked vaguely at them. I could see their lips moving but I didn't hear them. They sounded so distant.
All I could hear was voices of dead people beaming inside my head. They are slowly moving closer, coming from every direction. I felt like there was something pulling me from inside, inside my body. Some of the spirits, though, were just standing from a distance. Their anguished sound evoked an unexpected pity from me but I wouldn't let them touch me.
"Leave me alone!" I took a few staggering steps back, but a sudden wave of nausea stopped me from walking.
"Honey, just go back to bed and try to get some rest," Mom pleaded, grabbing onto my shoulder.
"Mom, please don't let them come near me." I started crying and dropped on the floor. Then I saw nothing but spirits and heard nothing but whispers. They flocked to me. The pain felt so real. My mouth opened in a silent scream as I writhed in pain.
"Ani, what's going on? Ani?" Mom's voice was fading. "Doc, help my daughter, please!"
The nurses scrambled to help me up. "I have to get out of here." I stood up and pushed them away. Surprisingly, they stumbled back and fell over the floor.
I rushed over to the door and out into the hallway. I ran through the hallways and dashed past a crowd of nurses. My footsteps echoed throughout the halls as I tried to get out of the hospital. But I couldn't find my way out and I was just running around in circles, always ending up in the same corridor.
My ghostly vision seemed so real and they're consuming my waking thoughts.
I grimaced with every step I took as the ghosts passed through me. One by one.
Someone grabbed my arm and I snapped out of my panic attack.
Suddenly, the ghosts were gone. My vision cleared up and I started to become more aware of my surroundings again.
"Alex?" Tears rushed out from my eyes, and I pulled him away and forced him to run with me, not letting go of his hand.
"Why are you running? What's going on?"
I didn't answer. I just dragged him along faster and faster. We didn't stop, not until we were far enough from the hospital. Finally, after what seemed like forever, we stopped running when we reached the school. We plopped down on the school's football field, gasping for breath.
Alex turned to me. "Are you okay? What was that all about?"
"Yeah, I'm fine now. I'm... I'm sorry..." I choked out. We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"We're far enough. You can let go of my hand now."
"Sorry." I looked up, suddenly embarrassed.
"Can you tell me what's going on?" He stared at me, waiting for an explanation.
I averted my eyes to the ground. "You won't understand." I shook my head in frustration.
"Try me," he insisted. When I said nothing, he scooted a little closer. "Promise, I won't judge you."
"Promise?"
"Promise." His eyes had sincerity in them that made it difficult for me not to believe him.
I drew in a deep breath. "Alex, I see things. I've been crossing back and forth into this world and to another. When I say I see things, I'm not just referring to dead people. They are the last thing that I want to see. Alex, they are the reason why Iā¦" I paused and sighed in frustration. I, myself, couldn't believe what I was saying.
"Go on," he encouraged. "You have every right to freak out."
I didn't expect such seriousness and eagerness from him.
"As I get older the world seems like responding to me differently. I've had dreams rewinding through my life. I see myself live different lives. I feel everything someone else feels ā the hurt, the joy, the anger, the grief or the pain becomes mine. Sometimes I think I'm going crazy."
"Have you ever noticed flashes of light, shadows, and movements in your peripheral vision? Do you hear your name being called, voices, humming in your ears?" His voice sounded different. It was calm and soothing.
"Since I was five."
"We're not alone in this world, Ani. It is often in our darkest moments, we get a glimpse of deeper understanding."
I frowned, Alex was speaking kind of strange.
"When I see dead people, humans or monsters or whatever they are, I knew they'd come for me and will do everything to pass through me."
Alex stared at me before he replied, "I know."