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Ch. 3 It's A Dream its A Dream Boy You're Gonna Wake Up
(ADAM)
I was taking my time getting dressed on this lazy Saturday morning. Mom was out running errands with friends, Dad was at the office working. Drew and I had no plans today, so far, the plan was to be lazy and play video games. Eli had plans with Clare today since she wasn't working at co-op like last Saturday. Bianca and the rest of the Bright Sparks were at Connor's for an all-day practice. Their first competition was this week. Owen, I heard from both Dallas and Drew, was going out with Jane today. Dallas had a date later, but as far as I knew was still asleep. Drew was currently taking a shower, we'd both had breakfast already. If Dallas was not up by the time we were both dressed, we were going to go downstairs and start playing video games anyway.
Just as I'm securing my compression vest I'm startled by a calamitous sound from the washroom. I run out of my room and try to open the washroom door, but it's locked.
"Drew?" I call knocking on the door. I wait a few seconds, get no response and I just know something is wrong. I turn and run downstairs to the basement door, taking the steps three at a time. "DALLAS GET UP HERE NOW," I yell down and then run back upstairs.
I try running into the door with my shoulder, that only succeeds in hurting my shoulder. There's a key for this door, somewhere, I just don't know where it ended up. Before I came out as Adam I made Dad get a door handle with a stronger lock to keep anyone from getting in. It's not a lock I can just open with a quarter or one of Mom's hair pins.
"Fuck, where's the fire?" Dallas asks as he runs upstairs, in boxers only, so he jumped right out of bed.
"I heard a loud noise from the washroom and Drew's not answering," I tell Dallas.
"Drew, Drew open the door Buddy," Dallas call knocking on the door. We wait a few seconds, when all we hear is silence Dallas gently pushes me out of the way. "Stand back," he says before kicking the door in.
Later I'll tell him how impressive that was, for now I'm horrified to see my brother on the washroom floor! Drew's unconscious, laying half in the shower, the shower curtain partially pulled down. Worst of all, at least to me at this moment, is the very large bump on his forehead half in his hairline.
"Drew!" I rush over to him, checking for a pulse and thank goodness he has one.
"I'm calling 911," Dallas says running downstairs.
I'm afraid to move him, I know he at least hit his head, maybe wrenched his neck. "Drew," I call to him, my voice cracks with worry. I cautiously look him over to assess any other injuries, the only thing visible is the bump on his head.
"Is he breathing?" Dallas questions. He has the phone to his ear and must be on with 911.
I hold my fingers by his nose and feel a shallow breath, still it means he's breathing and that's a relief. "Yes," I nod.
Dallas relays the information, then describes how Drew is lying and how we found him. I look at Drew helplessly, I want to help, to do something, but I'm afraid to touch him and inadvertently make it worse.
"Here, stay on the phone with 911 and keep an eye on Drew. The ambulance is on the way, I'm going to throw on some clothes," Dallas says giving me the phone and running downstairs.
"I'm afraid to move him," I tell the 911 operator.
"Unless he's struggling to breath or his heart stops don't move him. The ambulance will be there any minute," she tells me.
"Why won't he wake up?"
"I'm sure he'll be okay, your friend said he had a bump on the head?"
"Yeah, a big one."
"A bump is actually a good sign. I'm sure he'll wake up once his body is ready, try not to worry. The ambulance should be there now," she says just as I hear the front door open.
"This way, hurry," Dallas insists. I hear him running up the stairs followed by some other people.
"They are, I hear them."
"Okay, I'm going to hang up now, they'll take it from here."
I hang up with the operator just as Dallas appears in the doorway, he then moves out of the way so that the EMTs can get in. I get up and exit the washroom giving them room to get to Drew.
"Get shoes on, I'll grab Drew's keys and we'll follow them to the hospital," Dallas says to me.
I nod and run into my room, throwing on a sweatshirt and shoes, then grab my phone. They're carrying Drew down the stairs on the gurney just as I come out. Dallas and I run out and get in Drew's car, while he starts driving I call Mom.
"Hi Adam."
"Drew's in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, I think he fell getting out of the shower and hit his head," I tell her in the calmest voice I can right now.
"Toronto Western?" Mom asks.
"Yes."
"I'll call Dad and meet you there," Mom replies and hangs up.
The ambulance pulls into the ambulance bay, we have to pull around to the parking lot, but Dallas lets me out at the emergency entrance and says he'll meet me inside. I run in and tell the reception nurse that I'm here with the boy brought in by the ambulance. She tells me to have a seat and someone will be with me shortly. I sit down and shortly decide that the ER needs to look up the definition of shortly. Dallas comes in and sits with me, while we're still waiting for someone to come talk to us both Mom and Dad show up. Mom tries to get an update and the nurse tells her to wait. While we continue to wait Dallas and I tell Mom and Dad everything that happened this morning, from the time I heard the crash in the washroom to me calling Mom on the way to the hospital. Very much not a short time later a doctor comes out and speaks to the reception nurse, and she points to me.
"I'm Dr. Martinez, you're Drew's family?"
"Yes," Mom nods.
"He's awake and doing well except that he doesn't remember the fall or anything just before it. He's got a nasty bump and a grade three concussion, I've sent him to imaging to be sure there's no swelling or other injuries that might be an issue. You can see him as soon as he's back. From what I've been able to piece together, both from what Drew and the EMTs told me, it sounds like he tripped or slipped getting out of the shower. On the way down probably whacked his head on the corner of the vanity. Even if the imaging shows no swelling or anything else I'm going to keep him here overnight for observation. Head injuries can be tricky and sometimes symptoms won't come on for several hours. There's some forms you'll need to fill out, the reception nurse will give you what you need. I'll have someone come get you when Drew is back in his room."
"Thank you Doctor," Dad says.
The doctor leaves, Mom goes to talk to the nurse and I go back to waiting. Mom's done filling out forms by the time an orderly tells us we can see Drew now. He's awake and sitting up in the bed, an ice pack wrapped to his head where the bump was. He's a bit pale, looks tired, but other than that he looks okay. The lights have been dimmed in his room, the bright lights must have been bothering his eyes.
"Don't scare me like that," I scold him while hugging him gently.
"Sorry, I don't actually remember what happened," Drew apologizes. Mom and Dad hug him, Dallas smiles at him and then Dr. Martinez comes in.
"Good news, no swelling at all, just the bump. We're still keeping you until tomorrow Drew, for observation and to make sure you rest. Let's do one more cognitive test before I kick your visitors out so you can rest, can you tell me who all the people in the room are?" Dr. Martinez asks.
"My mom and dad, my brother Adam, and our hockey player Dallas," Drew replies. Mom nods to let the doctor know he's correct.
"Very good, I'll give you a few minutes with your family. We'll keep you here for rest and observation, and as long as everything looks good, and you're feeling pretty good tomorrow, we'll send you home. However, I'm going to recommend that you stay home and rest for at least the next three to four days as well. No school, no TV, no reading, that was quite the knock to the noggin you took, and it will take a few days for it to start to get better. The best thing will be just to rest, sleep when you can get it since you'll be woken up regularly," Dr. Martinez tells all of us.
"Can we bring you anything Drew or do anything for you?" Dad asks.
"Yeah, Adam call B and tell her what happened, but not to come visit. Tell her I'm okay, and there's no reason for her to come down to the hospital. Then call Clare, let her know I won't be going to work for a few days, so she won't be able to ride with me in the afternoons. Oh Mom, I guess you better call Martin and let him know I won't be in for a few days," Drew says. Even that much seems to be taxing on him and I can see he's beginning to fade.
"Alright, Drew needs to rest now, you can come see him tomorrow and we'll be in touch," the doctor says shooing us out of the room.
"We'll take care of it Son, get some rest now," Dad tells him.
"I'll give you a pamphlet and go over some things you need to know about concussions. We also need you to sign the forms to have Drew admitted for the night. I'll have them contact you right away if anything changes with Drew's condition, but with some rest and a few days to heal, and some precautions after that, he should be just fine," the doctor tells my parents after closing the door to Drew's room.
"You boys head on home," Dad says.
Dallas and I leave the hospital and he drives us back home in Drew's car. When we get home Dallas goes to the kitchen and I go up to my room. I don't have Bianca's number, and I don't really want to tell her that Drew is in the hospital, so I call Clare first.
"Hi Adam," she answers cheerily. I hear Eli talking and Dead Handin the background. I think they're at his place.
"Hey, I just called to tell you that you won't be able to ride with Drew to co-op after school. Not for a few days anyway, he's in the hospital with a concussion."
"Oh my gosh, is he okay?"
"Yeah, the doc said he should be fine. He's being kept in the hospital overnight for observation, and he should come home tomorrow. The doc said he had to take it easy for a few days though. No school, he can't even watch TV, just rest."
"No problem, I'm sure Jake will let me take the truck. Tell Drew I hope he feels better."
"I will, I gotta call Bianca, and go find her number in my brother's phone."
"Eli has her number I think," Clare replies.
"Who's number?" I hear Eli ask from the background.
"Bianca's," Clare tells him.
"Oh, yeah I have that, I'll text it to Adam. What's going on?" Eli asks.
"Eli's texting you the number, I'll tell him what happened. Let us know if you need anything," Clare says.
"Thanks Clare, I'll see you guys Monday."
I hang up with Clare just as I get the text from Eli. After a deep breath, and saving Bianca's number to my phone, I call her.
"Hi Adam," she answers just as cheerily as Clare.
"Hi Adam," I hear K.C. and Connor call.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Drew gave me your number in case I needed it. What's up?"
"Don't freak out, but Drew's in the hospital. He hit his head and they're keeping him overnight for observation. He's awake though, he has a concussion, but the doctor said he'd be okay. They'll release him tomorrow and he'll need to rest for a few days. Drew wanted me to let you know, and to tell you not to go see him, he'll be resting today, and they even kicked us out. You can come by tomorrow when he gets home probably. I doubt Mom will let you stay very long, Doc said he wasn't even supposed to watch TV."
"Thanks for letting me know, will you call me tomorrow when he comes home?" Bianca requests.
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks Adam, talk to you later," she replies and hangs up.
Since Mom and Dad aren't home yet I look up The Interpreter and find a number to call. After listening to an automated voice for a few minutes, and then talking to a secretary I get transferred to Martin's desk. I leave a message for him about what happened, and that Drew won't be in. Then I go into Dad's home office, he keeps a copy of all his numbers in an address book, it's the backup to his backup, he tells us he can't be too careful, and he can't ever lose a number. I find a cell number for Martin and call it. He picks up, so I pretty much repeat the message I just left for him and tell him I left a message on his work voicemail. He asks a few questions, tells me to tell Drew to take his time coming back and we hang up just as I hear the front door opening.
"I called everyone already, including Martin," I tell my parents as I come down the stairs.
"Thanks Adam," Mom smiles.
"Don't worry your brother will be just fine, some rest in the hospital, a few days of rest at home and he'll be back to his old self," Dad assures me.
"Hey, I have a date soon, but I can cancel if…" Dallas is saying when Mom interrupts him.
"No, you go on your date Dallas, no reason for you to wait around here."
Dallas grins and goes back downstairs to get ready for his date. Mom and Dad go to the kitchen talking about when Drew might be at home alone in the next few days, and things the doctor said. Having nothing to do, and feeling a bit helpless with Drew in the hospital, I keep myself busy by cleaning up the mess in the washroom. I'm nearly done when my phone rings, I look at the display and see that it's Eli.
"Hey Eli."
"Hey, Clare and I are gonna grab something to eat at The Dot, want to come?"
"Sure, being a third wheel sounds better than hanging out here trying not to think about Drew in the hospital."
"Shut up, you know you're not a third wheel. I have Dad's car we'll come get you in twenty minutes," Eli says before hanging up. I slip my phone into my pocket and go downstairs.
"Eli's coming to pick me up, I'm going to The Dot with him and Clare," I tell my parents.
"Good idea, you should get out with your friends," Mom smiles.
"Oh, we need a new washroom door, Dallas kicked that one in to get to Drew and it broke," I inform them.
"I'll go pick one up from the hardware store," Dad says, "I'll have it fixed by the time you get home."
When Eli pulls up a short time later I grab my coat and call goodbye to my parents. I greet my friends as I get into the backseat and Eli starts driving. The Dot's only a couple blocks away and it only takes a couple minutes to get there.
"So, how'd your brother end up in the hospital?" Eli asks as we sit down.
"We're not sure, and he doesn't remember. Based on how I found him, the doctor's assessment and what the EMTs told the doctor, it looks like he tripped getting out of the shower. They think he hit his head on the vanity, he had a terrible bump on his head, grade three concussion. It was really scary, but he'll be okay."
"I'm glad to hear it Adam," Clare smiles.
"Yeah, when I saw him unconscious on the washroom floor my heart stopped for a moment."
"That's probably how he felt seeing you shot last year," Eli comments.
"Let's hope none of us see something like that again, that was terrifying," Clare says hugging me.
"Agreed," Eli and I say together and Clare giggles.
(DREW)
"I'll be back in a couple of hours, three at the most. If you're feeling bad at all and you need me to come home call me right away," Mom says peeking into my room.
"I'll be fine Mom."
"Right away Andrew, don't forget you have a follow up appointment this afternoon."
"I remember, and I promise I'll call you right away if I'm feeling bad."
"I love you, I'll see you in a couple hours," Mom smiles before she closes my door again.
It's Wednesday afternoon, my fourth day of dull dull dull resting. My night in the hospital was miserable, all my time in the hospital was miserable, mostly because every time I tried to sleep I was woken up. They did release me to come home on Sunday, but I had a headache and some vertigo. I haven't been allowed to do anything but lie in bed all week. I can't stand to listen to loud music, so I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks. The only people I've seen or even really talked to all week have been my parents and Adam. Mom didn't want me doing anything, which meant no visitors, including Bianca, not even Dallas has been allowed in for more than a couple minutes. I'd spoke to Bianca on the phone a few times, texted her a few times, but that was it.
My first couple days home it had been enough just to lie in bed with soft music or an audiobook playing. Actually, Adam had thought of the audiobooks, my brain isn't much for company hours on end, mostly I'd think of sports or girls, neither of which is very restful. Still I was starting to go stir crazy and was getting very lonely., I was hoping the doctor would say I could go back to school. Even for a half day, I wasn't allowed to work the rest of the week, but a half day at school sounded great right now. Which shows how desperate I was getting.
I wanted to see my friends, see people besides my parents and Adam. I wanted to talk to Owen and find out how things were going with Jane, see my own girlfriend. I wanted to talk to Clare, ask her how co-op was going, about Asher. She likes to talk about Asher, so it's not usually hard to get information from her. I've been really worried about her at co-op with him and no one watching them. Not that I'm ever there with her in the mornings, but as far as I can tell they're busy in the mornings and she's busy at her desk. It's the afternoons that worry me. When the office is quiet and he's leaning over her desk purely (at least from what I've seen) as an excuse to look down her shirt. And worse when he takes her with him on assignment, when they are totally alone together. She doesn't see it, the way he looks at her, the way he seems to find excuses for them to be alone. I can't decide if she doesn't want to see it or is she just that naïve? I know Clare's smart, but maybe she's too close to the situation to see what's really going on.
I wonder if I should talk to Eli about it? Not everything, not tell him how worried I am because I just can't see Eli reacting well. I don't think I'm smart enough to find a way to talk to Eli and tell him my suspicions without telling him. Besides if Eli gets all possessive and jealous I don't want to be the cause of their relationship breaking up, but there's got to be something I can do.
Now that I'm thinking about Clare at co-op and got myself all worried I feel the need to talk to her. To check in and make sure she's okay. In a way, I feel like I failed her by not being there to keep an eye on her and Asher, by not taking her when she needed to go after school. She'd be at co-op now, I grab my phone and text her.
Drew: Hey.
It takes several minutes for her to get back to me.
Clare: Shouldn't you be resting?
Drew: Texting is not a strenuous activity.
Clare: How do you feel?
Drew: Mostly bored. Haven't had a headache or been dizzy for a couple of days. I might be able to return to school tomorrow, at least for half days.
Clare: That's great Drew.
Drew: Yeah, never thought I'd be looking forward to getting back to school. How's co-op? Sorry, I haven't been there to give you a ride in the afternoon.
Clare: That's okay, I only went in Tuesday afternoon and Jake let me take the truck. You just get rest and get better, don't worry about me. Co-op has been great as always, Asher continues to be an amazing mentor. When are you returning to work?
Drew: Hopefully, next week.
Clare: I hope so too. Get better Drew, rest that head so that you can come back to school.
I set my phone down, I don't exactly feel better having talked to Clare. I do feel tired now though, I close my eyes and fall asleep listening to the music I have playing. A deep enough sleep to dream; I'm at The Interpreter watching Clare with Asher. Only I'm cut off from them, enclosed in a glass office I can't get out of. He's telling her something and she's smiling, her eyes gazing at him with admiration. Then he tells her to take off her top, and she says okay! I start pounding on the glass, screaming at her not to, that he can't do that, but she can't hear me. Then off comes her bra, Asher licks his lips, drooling over her breasts as he takes on characteristics of a wolf, like in the old cartoons. I'm watching Clare topless, watching Asher reach for her breasts, I'm banging on the glass, looking for something to break it. I need to get to her, to save her from him, I won't let him touch her!
I wake suddenly to lips pressed against mine, my eyes shoot open with a gasp. For a brief second, in that haze of coming out of the dream my mind says it's Clare kissing me. She was just in my dream, topless even, my dream brought her here. Or so my brain tells me as I'm adjusting back to reality. It isn't Clare of course, it's my girlfriend, hovering over me, her lips slightly parted, her sweater drooping open to show me her cleavage.
"What are you doing here?" I question, my voice rough as I'm not entirely awake yet.
"Came to see you, it's been days," Bianca replies lying down next to me.
"I know that, I'm not that stupid. I mean shouldn't you be at school? You'll get in trouble for ditching and you've been doing so well."
"It's lunch, and I wanted to see you. And apparently," she says in a tone laced with lust, and a bit devilish as her fingers graze lightly over the bulge in my jeans, "you wanted to see me. Were you dreaming about me?"
"Yes," I crack out as she kisses my neck. I'm not about to tell her that I was dreaming of Clare topless and that got me hot, not going to tell my girlfriend I was dreaming about another girl at all.
Bianca continues kissing along my neck, my collarbone. Her long fingers pull my shirt up and gently graze over my stomach. She kisses my jaw while her fingers begin drawing a line from my bellybutton to my jeans, I can't help but release a moan. I feel Bianca smile when her lips next touch down to kiss my skin, her nails grazing just under the waistband of my jeans. I shiver slightly, the bulge in my jeans feeling horribly constrained now. Right as her fingers grip the button, ready to open them my door opens. Bianca jumps away from me, and my erection goes down real fast at the sight of my angry mother.
"Bianca," Mom snaps sharply and I see Bianca flinch slightly. "Drew needs to rest, what you were doing was not restful. You can see him tomorrow if he's able to return to school, where you should be getting back to."
"Yeah, bye Drew," Bianca says quietly. I can hear the shame in her voice. She exits so fast you'd think Mom was holding a gun to her.
"We leave in twenty minutes Drew," Mom tells me. Her voice is shrill, growling and disappointed. I just nod and close my eyes, trying to respond to her now is pointless. I just hope after twenty minutes of calming down she won't want to kill us anymore.
Mom closes the door loudly and I spend fifteen minutes lying there with my eyes closed. My brain is all confused now, it's starting to hurt thinking about Bianca, and Clare, and Asher, and that despite the bad dream I got turned on by Clare's breasts. Only, I've never seen her breasts, so they really weren't her breasts. To keep from getting a headache I start thinking about sports. It's one of the only things I'm good at. I start replaying the championship football game in my head and the winning touchdown I scored. Five minutes before we're due to leave I get up and get my shoes on, then go to the washroom to check my hair.
The drive to the doctor's office is silent, Mom doesn't say anything about it, but she's still pretty pissed. My follow-up isn't at the hospital, but Dr. Martinez's office. Mom tells the receptionist I'm here and we have to wait a short time before a nurse takes me back to an exam room. She asks a few questions, takes my vitals and then leaves. A few minutes later Dr. Martinez comes in.
"Hi Drew, how have you been feeling these last few days?"
"Bored," I reply.
"Andrew, be serious," Mom scolds.
"Any headaches, dizziness, nausea?" Dr. Martinez inquires.
"A mild headache yesterday, none of the others since Monday."
"Good, that bump is looking better. I'm going to look in your eyes and then have you follow the penlight," he tells me. He does that, feels around my head and asks a few more questions. "You're doing very well Drew, you can return to school tomorrow. Just half days for the rest of the week, if you do okay with that and take it easy this weekend you can return to full days Monday. If you feel up to it you can return to work Monday as well, light duty though, I can write you a note if you need one. And no strenuous activity for at least another week. That means no sports, heavy lifting, exercise or sex," he says. Mom shoots me a look when he says sex.
"I got it Doc, I'll take it easy, but I'm ready to go back to school."
"I know you've been bored, but you still need to be careful and that means taking cues from your body. If you feel dizzy, get vertigo or headaches then you should rest. If they persist or get worse come in and see me or go to the emergency room. With your history of head injuries, it's possible that there will be lasting after effects," the doctor cautions me.
Mom shoots me another look, but at least she doesn't say anything while we're in the doctor's office. "Thank you Doctor, I'll be keeping a close eye on him for the next couple of weeks. What about driving? Will he be okay driving?" Mom questions.
"Driving should be fine as long as you feel up to it. You haven't lost consciousness since hitting your head, so I wouldn't worry about that. If you're even the least bit unsure of your ability to drive safely then don't. Just remember to take the cues from your body, if you're feeling bad, getting dizzy or anything then rest. Don't push yourself too much or too fast it will just lead to more problems. Any other questions?" He asks. Mom and I shake our heads. "Alright, don't take this the wrong way, but I hope this is the last time I see either of you. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to call the office."
We say thanks, the doctor leaves, Mom and I get our coats on and go out to the car. It's silent for about a minute, but it's a tense silence and I'm wondering if I should break the silence.
"What history of head injuries Drew?" She asks through clenched teeth.
I release a heavy sigh as I sink into the seat a little more. I knew this was going to come out at some point. I'd hoped it wouldn't, that it would just be one of those things my parents never found out.
"After getting beat up by Vince's gang, when I was scared all the time and angry, and I wanted to move away, I started MMA fighting. At first, just learning some moves with Owen and Julian, but it wasn't enough after a while. I went to an underground fight, and got in the ring, I was knocked out. Julian and Katie said I was only out for a few seconds and I felt okay afterwards."
Mom is silent, her face like stone and I can't read her emotions. Her hands grip the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles are white. I hear Mom release a breath through her nose, it kind of whistles like a teapot, which is accurate because she's about to blow some steam.
"UNDERGROUND FIGHTS! HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS ANDREW! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! YOU'RE LUCKY ALL YOU GOT WAS KNOCKED OUT AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US! WAS IT KATIE'S INFLUENCE? I knew that girl was bad news," Mom growls ceasing from at least yelling again. "Drugs, clubs, pain pill addictions and to think she's actually better than Bianca. Honestly, that girl is worse than bad news. How can you even go out with her after what she did to your brother? Not to mention what she did to you, Vince never would have had a reason to go after you if not for that…"
"Mom," I cut her off sharply before she calls Bianca something that will piss me off, "I need to rest remember. Yell and lecture when I'm back at 100%, please."
"You're right, I'll save it. In bed the rest of the day, especially if you plan on attending school tomorrow. I'll call Principal Simpson when we get home to talk about you coming back. I'll take you and drop you off tomorrow and Friday, you can resume driving on Monday. No visitors afterschool," she says with finality and that's it.
We're silent for the rest of the drive and I lie down again as soon as we're home. I'm not super tired, but I manage to fall asleep again, and dream again.
The dream starts out with me and Katie together, I'm fighting and then Mom appears and tells Katie she's not good enough and Katie disappears. Mom vanishes and suddenly I see Bianca, she's in a tight sexy red dress, beckoning to me and I go to her practically drooling. Just as I get to her, Anson is there, he tries to take her, I hit him with a rock I have in my hands, and he's gone. Now Vince materializes from the shadows, says Bianca and I now belong to him, she cooperates. I refuse, and then his gang comes, we start to fight and while I'm fighting with his gang Vince shoots Adam. While I watch Adam bleed and I'm powerless the scene sort of blows away, Bianca is with me again, holding my arm, kissing my neck, wearing revealing clothing, each of her kisses leaving bright red lipstick prints on my skin. Then Mom is there, looking at Bianca with disapproval and almost hate. Mom is on the other side of me now, Bianca kissing my neck on one side, Mom whispering in my ear on the other. Whispering that Bianca is a bad influence, that she's a whore, that everything with Vince, that my head injuries, it's all her doing. While I feel the two of them pulling me apart I see Clare in the distance, at her desk at The Interpreter. It's just her and her desk, and then Asher steps out of the darkness, looking at her like a predator on the hunt. I watch as he touches her, as his hand on her shoulder slides down her chest and her smile fades. As his hand slips under her dress and he grabs her, pulling her down to the darkness with him she reaches for me. "DREW HELP," she screams. I can't get to her. I can't do anything. I watch her get swallowed by darkness with him as I'm held back by Bianca, with Mom still whispering in my ear.
My eyes shoot open, I'm breathing heavily, sweating a little. I tell myself it was just a dream, but it wasn't just a dream, it was all true in a way. I gotta talk to someone about Clare and Asher, am I seeing things that aren't there or is there really something to worry about?
Update soon picking up the following morning with Drew returning to school. Next to be updated is Alone on a School Night.