{Hi!!! I’m sooo sorry i haven’t been on here in like forever, I just wasn’t feeling very creative. I’ll try to keep up with it more though!}

It’s dark. There’s nothing. And I. Can’t. Breathe. With a violent gasp, I suck oxygen into my deprived lungs. Then I’m coughing, big, hacking coughs that rack my body. I attempt to pry my eyelids open, but I immediately slam them shut again when I’m confronted with a blinding light. Okay, I think. I can do it, just slower this time. At an almost imperceptiable pace, I inch my eyelids open, flinching as the lights sear into the depths of my soul. After what seems like hours, I can finally see…blurry blobs. My heart begins to beat faster. What if I’m blind? What if I’m dead? I feel a hand wrap around my wrist and a soothing voice reassure me.

“Breathe, Melanie. You’re okay, you’re safe.”

I blink a few more times and the blurs sharpen into objects. Carefully, I allow my head to flop to one side and look at who spoke. A woman in light blue scrubs leans over me with a sympathetic smile.

“I’m Nurse Lorraine and you’re in the emergency care unit at St. Rita’s Hospital,” she tells me.

My desert-dry lips separate. I try to make words come out, but I only hear a croak. Nurse Lorraine’s eyebrows furrow in concern as I try again to make words form.

“It’s alright. Should we try to sit up so you can sip a bit of water?” She asks, lifting a small plastic cup of water with a bendy straw off a side table.

I start to nod, but quickly put my head back down on the pillow when a sharp pain arcs through my skull. I hear a buzz and the top half of the bed begins to gently raise me upwards. I close my eyes and breathe deeply as the sudden change in position makes me horribly nauseous. Nurse Lorraine makes a sad noise and places a cool hand to my forehead. She clucks her tongue disapprovingly and holds the straw up to my lips. I close my lips over the straw and take a slow sip. The first trickle rushes down my throat and I start sucking the water down greedily. But before I’ve had enough, Nurse Lorraine takes the straw away. Next, she smooths some cherry flavored chapstick over my lips and instructs me to press them together.

“More…wat-water,” I ask in a raspy voice, rusty from disuse.

She smiles, genuine joy.

“I’m glad your talking but you can’t have anymore water now. You haven’t eaten for two days and too much will hurt your stomach.”

“What…what happened?” I wonder.

She compresses her lips together into a thin line.

“You have some friends outside worried about you. I think I’ll send them in,” she mumbles, clearly avoiding the subject.

I don’t even try to nod this time, I just lay limply on the hospital bed.

Not even a minute after Nurse Lorraine leaves, two girls come rushing into the room.

“Ohhhh Melanie we were so worried we didn’t know…”

“We hope your okay it was so stressful waiting out there and not knowing anything…”

Their words lap over each other and the cacophony makes my head hurt.

“Gia…Liv,” I manage to say.

Gia starts to cry and Liv places a hand over her mouth. My two best friends.

“Why-why am I here? What happened?”

Liv shifts uncomfortably.

“Um, what do you remember?”

I see flashes of memories dance through my mind. Tight dresses, pounding music, so so so many people. There were red Solo cups and that good, warm feeling. Bare feet on the floor and snacks raining like confetti. Laughter and smiles and so much fun.

“We…There was a party,” I say.

Gia nods slowly.

“Anything else?” She asks me.

I shake my head gently.

“Well,” Liv says hurriedly. “That’s all that matters.”

“But, why am I hurt? What… what happened to me?”

I’m pushing them at this point and their both visibly uncomfortable.

“I think the nurse should come check on you now,” Gia says and Liv quickly nods.

They blow kisses and practically run out of the room. Nurse Lorraine comes back in with a grin.

“Wasn’t it nice to see your friends?”

I struggle against the wires holding me down and machines beep in protest. Nurse Lorraine hurries over, begging me to stop wriggling.

“They won’t say what happened to me.”

Nurse Lorraine sighs and adjusts my IV. She swiftly replaces the bag dangling from the stand and starts to pump the liquid into my arm.

“Why am I here?” I push.

She glances at the bag, emptying slowly but surely. I start to feel heavy, like I’m melting into the bed. I want to fight the dark, but it’s so comfortable. Come on, Melanie, it says. Your safe with me, it tells me as it wraps me in its arms. My eyelids are. So. Heavy. My blinks slow and my eyes begin to close. I can’t form words and my body won’t listen to me. Nurse Lorraine places a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“Some things are better not to know.” She whispers.

The darkness pulls me into its embrace and I can’t escape. I’m sinking down, down, down. And it’s dark again. And there’s nothing.