When The Darkness Takes Over 3/3
Title: When The Darkness Takes Over
Author: Hollie_1201
Pairing: Emma Muller & Jennifer Hartmann.
Rating: PG
Summary: Read and find out.
Word Count: 1,853
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Authors Note: Totally unbeta-ed, please comment.
( Part 1) ( Part 2)
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I rush into the hospital and looked around, the smell of the cleaning detergent fills my senses and makes my head feel funny for a minute before I start heading for the reception bay. I try to keep calm as I walk up to the inquiry window and ask about Emma. After the nurse tells me what I need to know I head towards her room trying not to let my emotions get the better of me.
I round the corner, the panic inside of me almost at breaking point. I collide into someone, stumbling back a bit I look up and see tear-stained, crystal blue eyes.
“Maddie, sorry,” I manage to say, regaining my breath.
“It’s okay Jenny, how are you?” she asks me, touching my arm softly.
“I don’t know how I am. I keep going between feeling nothing, not registering my emotions to crying my eyes out. I feel numb yet everything hurts. How’s Emma and everyone else?”
Maddie wraps an arm around my shoulders and we start to walk down the corridor. “Emma is doing well; she was near the door when they found her. She inhaled a lot of smoke so they placed her in an induced coma for 2 days. She’s yet to wake up. Dad is awake and hating the hospital, he has some burns on his arms and chest which need to be cared for. Mum is healing, she ended up puncturing a lung which is now fixed but she needs to stay in for observation as she has a concussion.”
“How about Sammy and Chloe? Are they both okay?”
“Sammy is doing well, he got released yesterday and is staying with our grandparents,” I feel Maddie squeeze my shoulders a little tighter as she takes a deep breath in. “Chloe is still in intensive care, she ended up getting the worst injuries from the car crash and the doctors are only telling us that she’s stable and we won’t know anything else until she wakes up.”
Before I know it Maddie stops us outside of a single bedroom with the door closed. “This is Emma’s room, will you be okay in there by yourself or do you want me to come in with you?”
“I’ll be fine, Maddie,” I say squeezing her hand softly; holding eye contact with her, realising how tired she looks. Her eyes are blood shot and her hair is messy, she looks as though she hasn’t slept since everything happened.
“You should go get some rest, you look really tired. If anything happens I’ll let you know straight away,” I tell her, not giving her the chance to say she’s fine.
I watch her as she pulls a crumbled piece of paper from her pocket, she hands it to me and I take it.
“It’s everyone’s room numbers and my contact number down the bottom; you will inform me if anything happens straight away, won’t you?”
“Of course I will,” I tell her, giving her a quick hug before she starts to head for the exit.
I turn to the door and take a deep breath in as I close my eyes. I slowly open the door and open one eye at a time in anticipation of what I’m going to see. Emma looks as though she is sleeping; the sunlight peering through the clouds shines into the room and makes her look angelic.
I walk over to her and pull a chair up to her bedside. I brush away the soft blonde locks which have fallen across her face, kissing her softly on the forehead. I sit down and sink into the chair. I take her hand in mine and start to play with her fingers. My mind flashes back to the happy times I have spent with her; singing with our friends, dates at the park, cuddling in bed, talking into the early hours of the morning as if nothing else exists except for the two of us. My thoughts take a turn and start to think of the ‘what ifs’. What if the smoke alarm battery had died, what if Emma never woke up until it was too late. What if the fire had started in her bedroom, what if she wasn’t by the door when they found her, would the fireman have even bothered to try and save her?
I feel warm drops of water hit my arm and then I realise I’m crying. The pent up emotions start to cascade through me like a gushing waterfall pounding at the hard exterior of my being until I finally break. I cry freely, holding onto Emma’s hand and wishing that she would just wake up.
---
The darkness surrounds me; I hear the faint sounds of buzzing, people walking and trolleys being rolled down the hall. I try to move, open my eyes but I can’t. I feel paralysed, my whole body aches; the pain in my muscles comes in bursts as if they’re on fire. I try to think back to what I did which could cause so much pain but nothing registers in my mind. I try hard to think, my mind starts to protest as it’s foggy and just wants me to sleep more.
I wake to the feeling of something warm in my hand, the soft aroma of vanilla and rose fills my senses as images of Jenny fill my mind. We’re walking in the meadow, her hand in mine as our arms gently swing together, she leans in and whispers something in my ear, I giggle and turn to her. I can remember the feel of her lips on mine, soft and warm, giving me the feeling of being loved.
I feel a stray warm drop of water hit the back of my hand; I try to think what could cause it and then a muffled sound start to filter through my mind becoming clearer each passing second. The sounds I’m hearing is of someone crying, not just someone, my Jenny crying. My heart starts to ache as the sound of her hurting is too much for me. I try to move but I fail. I try again and I can feel my hand slightly squeezing her hand.
The sound of her crying stops suddenly. I listen intently as I hear her take in big breaths like she does when she’s trying to compose herself. Her grip on my hand is tighter than before. I think she is saying something but everything has gone muffled again. I pull all my energy together and listen to her as best I can.
“Emma, Emma, please wake up. Squeeze my hand, please,” she says, repeating herself.
I try my best and squeeze her hand slightly. A bright light invades my eye and I turn my head and mumble in protest.
“It looks like she is close to waking up, very close,” a man says who I’m guessing is a doctor.
“I hope she does wake soon, I miss her so much,” Jenny says as I feel how much she’s hurting.
“Jenny,” I think I say and I know I said it aloud when I feel her brushing my hair back, telling me to open my eyes.
I try my best to open them, everything seems fuzzy but the blue of Jenny’s eyes shines through giving me something to lock on to as the rest of the room starts to settle and become normal.
“Hello beautiful,” I hear her say, clear as a bell.
“Hi,” I manage to say before the doctor hands me a glass of water, telling me to ‘drink up’.
I slowly sip on the water as Jenny asks me all sorts of questions which I either nod or shake my head to.
After about ten minutes the doctor kindly asks Jenny to leave as he wants me to get some rest.
---
I close the door behind me and lean up against it. I put my hand into my pants pocket and pull out the piece of paper Maddie gave me. I start to walk away from the ward and head down to the courtyard. I pull my phone out and dial the number.
“Jenny, is everything okay?” I hear her ask only after two rings.
“Maddie, calm down, everything is fine. I just thought you might like to know that Emma is awake but she remembers nothing of the fire.”
“Oh God, it’s so good to know that she’s awake, I’ll be right in.”
The call is disconnected and I place my phone into my pocket before heading out to the front to wait for Maddie to arrive.
---
I lie in bed wide awake, I know the doctor told me to rest but I can’t. I try my hardest to think of what happened and how I ended up in here.
A soft knock at the door jolts me from my thoughts as I look up to see it opening and a lady with a serving tray walks over to me and places a plate of food in front of me on a little table. I thank her and wait until she leaves before taking the cover off.
I set it to one side and the steam coming from my food rouses me. Before I know it images of seeing the study on fire and the smoke wafting through the hallway fills my mind. I remember frantically trying to escape from it, tumbling down the stairs as I tried not to breathe it in.
My appetite disappears and I push the food away. I lie back and take in deep breaths as I process what my mind is remembering. It doesn’t take long before I realise how thankful I am to still be here.
I think I may have dozed off as I now look up to see both Jenny and Maddie standing over me.
I quickly sit up causing them both to move back slightly. I look to Maddie as my mind formulates a sentence I’ve been meaning to ask since I woke up.
“How’s Mum, Dad, Chloe and Sammy?” I ask, remembering the car crash they were involved in.
I watch as Maddie takes a seat on my bed. “Mum and Dad are doing well and will probably be released within the next week or so. Sammy is staying with our grandparents and Chloe is stable.”
“That’s good to hear,” I say, letting out the breath I didn’t realise I was holding.
“I think I’m going to leave you and Jenny alone for a while so I can go check on the others. I’ll come back in about an hour and tell you how they are,” Maddie says before exiting the room.
“Come here,” I say to Jenny once the door closes. I hold my arms out as she sits next to me and relaxes in my embrace.
“I was so scared,” I hear her say as she rests her head on my shoulder.
“I was too,” I truthfully reply as I hold her close to me, happy that those who I cherish most are still with me.
The end.