317 words (1 minute read)

Dreams Stay Dreams

Jackie’s eyes sleepily creep open as the sounds of birds begin to chirp from the window on her left. Her arm rises ever so fragile as it reaches for the adjuster button for her bed. As she presses firmly against the button, the weight of the bed on her back becomes more noticeable as she sits up, the force of the bed helping her refrain from any volunteer movement that could cause her pain. Slowly, as she examines room, she pictured each person who was looking down at her as if she wasn’t the same little girl they raised and grew up with. All the faint memories of last night drifted back as she watched the moments reoccur in front of her. She clenched her fists as her eyes settled back to the window. Her eyes shut tightly as she tried to remember what happened a couple weeks ago. Jackie examined the emptiness of her mind as if looking for filing cabinets containing every memory ever created was on standby for recollection. She hoped it would help her located the document that was the memories of the incident, but the further she looked, the more her eyes would create sensational stars that would overwhelm the lack of light from behind her eye lids. Finally, the tension of her eyes were released as her eyebrows released pressure from her forehead. She let out a soft sigh and opened her eyes to discover someone shutting the window. The person turns around, revealing the face of Dr. Andrews. He gives a sincere smile as he walks over to the monitor.

"I thought the breeze would’ve cooled you down, but the temperature’s dropped lower than it was forecasted." He grabs the clipboard from the end of the bed and checks the stats.

"You’re looking good." He looks up at her.

"Doctor, you’re lucky my father didn’t hear you."