I had a dream, a very long and horrible one. I was laid in a coffin, with a white cloth draped over my body and I saw my parent weeping by the side. My dad was supporting my mom with one hand and the other was holding the handkerchief he used to wipe his tears from time to time.
But I wasn't dead, I was very much alive and was breathing just fine, there was nothing wrong with me! I disgustingly removed the material from my body and stood up, but that didn't seem to change anything.
"Dadd!" I tried to call as I moved closer to him, but he didn't flinch.
Maybe my voice wasn't loud enough? Yes that must be it.
"Dad!!" I yelled again as I moved to grab his hands only to be met with thin air. I could see he was still standing in the same spot, right in front of me and never even left for a minute.
I became confused and started to question my eyesight as I stood dumbfounded in front of him like a plastic doll. It felt like a hologram, that I could only see but could not touch. I did everything I could just for him to notice my presence, but it was to no avail. "Dad! There is nothing wrong with me, see? I am awake dad. Look at me am right here in front of you. Am not dead dad look at me"! I moved to my mom and did the same, but it was all pointless. She couldn't hear me too. I became really desperate, to the point that I started crying. I wanted to console them, tell them they needed not to cry, anything but the pain they are going through will do. I hated to see them in pain. I really wanted to tell them that, but they just couldn't hear me.
Devastated and lost in my thoughts, I accidentally knocked into someone and that person turned out to be Lisa. But she didn't even notice, just like the others. Her cries were the loudest, and she kept ranting on how I was a bad person and left her alone. "Lisa, Lisa Lisa you look like a toad when you cry." I mocked as I tried to reached out to wipe her tears. "Wipe those tears. See look at me nothing is wrong. You know I would never leave you alone right? Come on look at me!!" I started crying when I heard no response from her too.
I felt so lonely, no one could hear my voice, see me, touch me, or even feel me. My cries started getting louder, and I kept walking before I stopped when I passed by Edward. He was sat quietly in a corner, as he played with a picture of me, a wide smile hanging on his lips. I stood rooted in front of him and decided to try my luck.
"Why are you looking at me like that? You are making me want to kiss you!" He teased, and for the first time, I wasn't repulsed by it. I was instead very happy when I found out that he could see me. He knows am not dead! He knows I am alive! My heart burned with newfound hope and I almost ran into his embrace. However, I managed to force my emotions down and asked.
"Can you see me?" my voice was very low and almost inaudible as I was careful not to shatter my hope too soon.
"Why wouldn't I? Of course, I know you aren't dead. Wife!! Come here, give me a hug. And a kiss too" He pulled me in for a hug and was about to kiss me when I stopped him. It was all strange, everything.
Suddenly I was dead, while I actually am not, and now I was Edward's wife? Like come on this isn't real. It can't be.
I tried to disentangle myself from his embrace, but instead, his grip only became tighter, and I found myself with nowhere to go, in his weird embrace.
"What did you just call me? Wife?" I decided to make do with this position too as I posed my question to him. However, I wasn't prepared for his next response.
"Are you seriously trying to deny me? Wife? Of course, you're mine. Ooh, see this wedding ring remember our wedding vows? Or should I remind you? Wait don't tell me you've been seeing that Marcus recently" He held his chest in shock as he accused.
"You can't. You are not allowed to cheat on me, neither are you allowed to leave me. The kids won't let you try such anyways. I was worried for nothing" He kept babbling more meaningless nonsense and kept repeating that I was his wife, and we had kids. I became utterly confused and couldn't wrap my head around the facts. Well pigs must be flying now, I thought.
His words kept sounding in my ears and funnily enough, it all felt like a comedy. No, like a movie, because I was sure such couldn't happen in real life. However, a humorous dream like that was the last thing I needed in this condition.
...
The waft smell of formaldehyde was the first thing I was greeted with when I woke up, and I didn't need to be told to know I was in a hospital. I removed the blanket from my body and yawned as I tried to sit up. Instead, I was met with an intense pain in my abdomen the moment I tried to sit up, I clutched my stomach as I moaned in pain.
I think my movement was so big as it awoke my sleeping mom and the look she had when she saw me was surreal. Before I could tell what was happening, I was trapped in her hug and she started sobbing. I patted her back as I tried to console her, but the tears just kept falling.
As much as I would have loved to maintain the rare position, there was nothing I could do about it as the pain in my stomach became unbearable that I was forced to tap on her back to tell her to free me.
As if she hadn't cried minutes before, she hurriedly wiped her tears with her sleeves as she sniffed
"Are you okay? Do you feel hurt anywhere? Wait I'll call the doctor." without waiting for my reply, she went out to call the doctor and within minutes, she came inside with the doctor in tow.
I hated the smell, the color, the drugs extremely everything about hospitals and I didn't want to spend another minute in here. As the doctor placed his stethoscope on my chest and did his checkup, I looked in the distance as I recollected every ghastly torture Tristan put me through.
He asked some questions to which I answered half-heartedly and just when I thought I was going to spend the entire day answering questions, he stopped and instructed the nurse to change my drip. He told me to get enough rest and not try to stand up or walk or do any activities for the next few days and I nodded. My mom grabbed my hand in hers as she sobbed, and I reached out my hands to pet her.
My mom was an extremely strong woman, in fact one of the strongest people I know but time over time, the only times I had seen her cry was because of me. I promised myself to listen to her rules from now on and was even thinking of selling my bike. Of course, I didn't blame it for my accident, but if I had heeded by her words and had not taken it out, then this wouldn't have happened.
I smiled uncomfortably and lied down on my back. My lips were cracked, I felt that the moment I woke up and my tongue felt bland. But I didn't want to worry my mom, so I just smiled and held her tighter.
"Am fine mom" I managed to make out in a coarse voice, and she stared at my eyes, as if trying to check if I was lying or not, and I had to keep my smile plastered on my face.
When her face became devoid of doubts, I finally managed to let it down and faced the other side of the bed, where she couldn't see me wincing in pain.
"I want to get some rest mom, you should sleep too." Her eyes were already puffy and swollen, and I knew it was a result of her cries. However, I didn't expose her and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.
I felt the bed shift after what felt like thirty minutes, she must have thought I had fallen asleep, and I heard her retreating footsteps. I hated to see her like this, the broken woman she had become. I wanted to ask her why she was the only one here. Where was dad and the other, but I couldn't. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep thought.
Apart from my mom, the next person I was worried about was Edward, I knew he was the one who rescued me and I wondered how he was doing. Was he alright? Did Tristan hurt him? Why isn't he here? The questions kept popping in the back of my head and I found myself unable to fall asleep.