Page 7 of One Last Wish

“Are you sure about that? If I need to sort out an intervention, I will!” Jeez, she was such a drama queen at times. “Why are you smirking,nothingis funny about this! You could havedied!”

“But I didn’t, which means we can move the fuck on!” It was almost two in the morning. I was exhausted. “I’m going to bed. You can reprimand me more in the morning.” Evelyn gave me a look but didn’t say anything.

I didn’t even get changed. After collapsing onto my bed, I passed out within minutes.

My dreams began to replay the bridge scene over and over. Between Evelyn’s screams and my hand slipping, I felt myself fallingdownwards.Even my dreams made no sense. If I was falling down, how did I end up on myback?

––––––––

“YOU WON’T WORK IT OUT. Forget it!” That familiar male voice called to me. “You’ll drive yourself crazy. Forget it andlive, Alora.” It was a soft plea.

“What if this life isn’t enough?” I asked the voice. “I don’t belong anywhere! I’m lost.”

“Lost? Is that what you think you are? You have people around you who care. You don’t fit in because youchooseto be an outsider.” That was bullshit! “You could have a fulfilled life if you opened your eyes.”

“I don’t fit in because I’mdifferent!”

“You think so highly of yourself. You choose to push people away. Your loneliness is on you. You could be the same as everyone else if you let people in.”

“Look, asshole! I don’t know who the fuck you are, but get the hell out of my head...or dream! Whatever the hell this is!” Was I really arguing with a voice in my dream?

A soft laugh. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“For what? Annoying the fuck out of me?”

“You’ll understand one day.” The male voice chuckled as a whisper of dark mist touched my forehead.

––––––––

IJUMPED, SITTING UPin bed and reaching for my head. Shit! That feltreal! I could still feel the coolness of the shadow, which had felt like a soft caress. Now might be the time to check myself into the mental ward. Was my brain malfunctioning? This was getting out of hand.

––––––––

EVELYN DIDN’T SPEAKto me at all on Sunday. By Monday morning, I was getting one word answers, at least.

“Did you want a coffee?” I asked her while we were both eating breakfast.

“Yeah.”

“Have you got early lectures this morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you still think I’m a reckless asshole?”

“YES!” Great! This was going to take longer to sort out than I thought. I didn’t have the energy right now, though. Looking at the time, I was running late for work.

Grabbing my work hoodie, I threw it on over my head. “We’ll talk about this later, okay?”

“You’re going towork? What if you have a concussion?”

“What else would I be doing at this time of the morning?” I pointed out. “I told you, I didn’t hit my head. I’m fine. I don’t have a single bruise on me.”

“If you get any headaches, let Theo take you to the hospital, okay?”

Shit!“Evelyn, please tell me you didn’t?” I groaned, knowing fully well that shehad. On the few nights out with Theo, I knew they’d exchanged numbers. I couldn’t believe she’d told him, though. Theo would be on my case all day.

“What? I need someone to keep an eye on you. Theo was the best option.”

---