The Awakening
Gabbie opens her eyes in the sterile hospital room, the heavy fog of the sedatives finally lifting from her mind. Her neck hurts but she tries to look around. “Good morning, guapa”. It’s Cármen, she sits by her bedside. “How are you feeling?” she asks. Gabbie tries to reply but her body is still too weak. “Just relax for now, Gabs. The doctor told me you might feel a little weak and possibly dizzy for the first thirty to sixty minutes as they used pretty heavy sedatives. But he is very optimistic. In two to three days you might even go home already!”, Cármen tells her excitedly. Gabbie tries to smile but she fails. She holds out her hand for Cármen to grab. they hold hands while Gabbie fades back to sleep.
What feels like a quick five minute nap, Gabbie wakes up. This time she is able to move more freely. She pulls away the blanket and slowly sits up straight. She looks around her, but Cármen is nowhere to be found. “Cármen? Where are you?”, she slowly whispers in the air. She can hear someone in the bathroom of the hospital room flushing the toilet. They move closer to the room and they slowly pull down the handle on the door. It moves so slowly, Gabbie starts to wonder if she’s awake, if this is a dream, or if the kidnapper is in the bathroom and they’re now here to take her back into the forest, or… worse? The door opens super slowly with an almost deafening screeching sound. A hand appears around the edge of the door. “Cármen! You scared me!”, Gabbie yells. Cármen appears from the bathroom, one hand on the door, other hand on her phone. Her face is pale and drawn. She walks so slowly, she’s about to trip over. “Cármen? What’s going on?”, Gabbie asks while trying to figure out what is going on. “Cármen, please, reply, what is going on?!”, she asks in a very direct tone. But Cármen does not reply.
Cármen slowly walks over to the end of the bed, she holds on to the bed, slowly shuffles to the bedside where she sat before and slowly sits down on the chair. “I’m so sorry Gabbie, I am so sorry…” Cármen almost whispers before she breaks down in tears. Gabbie looks helpless, she is unsure what happened and is completely wired up to the heart monitors, medicine and other fluids which enter her body. Gabbie tries to reach for Cármen’s hand, but she pulls away. With a pale face, red and teary eyes she looks at her. “No, Gabs, no. I am sorry, I cannot burden you with this, you just woke up, you’ve had a hell of a night, hell even days. I cannot. Just rest, I will catch you up later” she tells, while she wipes her nose with her sleeve. She gets up and walks to the end of Gabbie’s hospital bed. “I will be back later tonight, Gabs”, she tells while she blows a kiss. “No! Wait… Cármen, please, what is going on? Do not leave me in the dark, please…”, Gabbie quickly yells. Cármen stands still, turns her head and shakes her head. “No Gabs, I might tell you tonight, but not now. It might be nothing, I’m going to head home, grab a shower, and I really need to eat something. I’m getting paranoid over nothing, I’m sure. Do not worry, Gabbie”, Cármen assures her, while winking at her. She slowly walks out of the room. Gabbie slowly drifts back asleep.
“Gabbie? Gabs? Gabbie please!”. Gabbie slowly opens her eyes. “God, finally! I don’t have much time Gabs, I am not allowed here, the nurses will come inside any minute now, I am sure of this. I told you before that it was probably nothing, that I am just being paranoid” she almost yells in one breath. “Cármen, you’re scaring me, what the hell is going on?!” Gabbie replies while she sits up straight in her hospital bed in no time. Cármen grabs her phone, hesitates for a second or two and holds out her phone for Gabbie to see. It’s a horrifying image of Angéla. The panic in Cármen’s eyes tell Gabbie everything she needs to know: the nightmare did not stay in the forest, and the people who took her family are now hunting her friends.