In My Dreams It's Me And You

“Nathalie! Come on, Nat! Wake up!”

“But I am awake…”

I was standing in the middle of a crowd as I heard Chloe’s voice cry out my name, pushing my way through the masses until I found her on the floor, hunched over something I couldn’t see.

“Chloe? What are you doing? I’m here,”I said as I walked round to look at her, my expression falling instantly as I saw the tears falling down her cheeks as she looked sorrowfully up at the man that approached. He crouched down beside Chloe with a look of worry etched upon his face, his chocolate eyes echoing a hidden guilt.

“Is she alright? She just appeared out of no where, I couldn’t stop…” He stammered as a shake began to develop across his body, the hand of what must have been one of his friend’s curling over his shoulder. Others soon emerged and began to pull him away as he began to echo Chloe’s tears when she gave no reply. It was only after he allowed himself to be taken away that I finally saw what she was protecting.

Me.

It looked as if I was just sleeping there in the middle of the road, my hair fanned out behind me as Chloe held my head in her lap, muttering frantically in a bid to wake me up. They said people sometimes had out of body experiences, but this was just ridiculous. I couldn’t be dead. I was only 22- surely I couldn’t… could I?

I tried to shake Chloe’s shoulder to make her look up at me but my hand just slipped straight through her body, just like…
--

“Can I leave this here? I know she would want it for when she wakes up.”

“Sure, just lean it up against her bed.”

“Thanks.”

The conversation ended there as I heard footsteps approach me, feeling a small peck on my forehead as they curled their fingers in mine. It must have been Chloe, since the perfume I could smell was the one I got her for her birthday, and she had worn it ever since.

“Hey babe. I just thought I would drop your guitar over, thought you might like to play it soon,” Chloe murmured as she squeezed my fingers tightly, something wet falling against my arm. She laughed quietly as she wiped the spot on my arm, freeing her hand from mine as she stepped back. “Wake up soon, okay? I need my drinking buddy back.”

I heard her footsteps disappear just as I managed to pry my eyes open, allowing me to just catch a glimpse of her blonde hair before the door fell shut behind her.

‘This must be a hospital,’ I thought as I looked around, taking some comfort in the fact I was in my own private room and not with a load of other people in the ward. It wasn’t that I was anti-social, just more of the fact I hated hospitals, and at least being on my own made it feel a little bit less like one.

I instantly regretted pushing myself up to a sitting position as I was greeted with a pain tearing at my chest, my hand clutching at the layers of bandages that bound my torso. It didn’t help the sudden queasy feeling that came over me as the hand I had moved happened to be the one connected to an IV drip, the sheer thought of the needle sticking into my skin making my head spin.

How I hate hospitals.

After a few painful minutes of experimental movement I slowly managed a seated potion that didn’t anger my chest, grimacing slightly as the sigh I exhaled brought more pain than I thought it would. I hazarded a guess that the impact must have broken a couple of my ribs since even breathing lightly seemed to hurt, but it wasn’t like they could do anything about it other than drown me in pain medication. I found that out when I fell down the stairs last year after trying to take every single bag of Chloe’s shopping and mine up the stairs all at once for a dare.

As I looked dismally around the private room I was staying in I decided it must have been in one of the luxury rooms in the hospital considering that it had additions other rooms or wards would not have, one example being the fact I was in a double bed that was a lot nicer than the one I had at home and the additional one in the corner that I assume was for overnight visitors. I realised that Chloe must have stayed over at some point since the covers were all crumpled up at the bottom of the bed, the sheet still providing a faint mark of where the last person had lain. One of the things I liked most about the room was the fact instead of a wall there was a large window spanning the space and with the curtains tied up on either side it allowed the room to be illuminated in sunlight. That and it also made the hospital feel a bit more at home, and not agitate my fear of them as much.

Even better than the view happened to be the object that Chloe was talking about to the nurse before I got up, the distinct shape and silver sun insignia printed upon the case confirming that inside was none other than my custom, which I hadn’t even been able to properly play yet. However since I couldn’t really move I dedicated my time to the view instead, allowing just my thoughts to entertain me.

For some time I stared out of that window until a man opened the door and walked inside, his hair ruffled in a way it looked like he had just woken up while his clothes did not seem much better. He clasped a cup of coffee in his hand and was blowing gently on it until the moment he noticed I was awake, the mixture of confusion and shock playing their features providing no end of amusement for me. I then realised it was probably him that had used the bed and not Chloe, and that it was not actually a nurse she was talking to but him. It was nice to think someone was concerned for me, but considering I didn’t even know the man I was a bit apprehensive, but since he seemed to have frozen from shock I decided to be the first to speak.

“Are you alright?” I asked, my eyebrows rising as his coffee cup nearly fell from his grasp and resulted in a quick setting down on the side. He didn’t respond so instead I gestured to the leather chair next to me- this being one of the luxuries I had- and smiled warmly as he sat down to try and ease the tension.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He chuckled as he looked up at me. A sudden sense of familiarity striking me as I saw the warm, chocolate eyes he had. It annoyed me to think that I couldn’t place them to a name, which luckily I didn’t need to end up asking for. “I’m Brian, by the way.”

“Nathalie, but call me Nat. Everyone does,” I replied, my thoughts trying to figure out who he was and why he would stay. “And I’ve been through worse. If anything I just hate that I'm in this place.”

“You don’t like hospitals, I'm guessing.”

“No. People die here,” I replied curtly, my eyes drifting over to the messed up bed on my left. “Did you stay here?”

“I did, hope I didn’t wake you. I sometimes snore,” he answered with a light laugh, running his hands through his hair to try and make it more presentable but ending up just making it worse. “I just went out to get some coffee and found you sitting there like you had been awake for ages. Your friend came by the way. Dropped off something for you.”

“Yeah, that was Chloe,” I said softly, my attention drawn suddenly to the card I hadn’t noticed until now sitting on the bedside table, a picture falling on my lap as I opened it and read what she had wrote.

Dear Nat,

You know, you are being very selfish staying here. Now who is meant to look after me when I go out drinking? Plus it’s no fun unless your there...

I miss you, babe.
Clo.

I picked up the picture and smiled at the faces grinning back at me, the miniature mountain we had made from empty shot glasses sitting happily on the table, proving exactly how drunk we were. This was taken at her birthday a few weeks ago- the shame being that neither of us could remember half of it. Only pictures could tell me and her of our shameful antics that night.

“There are also some clothes on the side for you, if you wanted to change at any point,” Brian added as he pointed to some clothes hanging off the end of my bed. He also used this as an excuse to lean over and steal a look at the photo I was holding. “You look like you were having fun.”

“I was,” I agreed as I handed him the photo, setting up the card on my bedside table with a smile. Chloe always knew how to put a smile on my face, no matter how gloomy I was. “That was at her birthday a few weeks ago. Basically it was an excuse to throw a huge house party and drink until we passed out. It was one of the better times there.”

He handed the photo back without replying and I leant it against the card with a sigh that I quickly regretted, the simple motion making my ribs remind me that they were in fact still broken, and making it clear that it was still very painful.

“How come you stayed here last night?” I quietly asked as I wrapped my arms tightly around my chest to try and brace my ribs, the slight relief comforting me somewhat as I waited patiently for his answer. At first I didn’t think he was going to since he remained quiet for a few moments, but then he did.

“I had to see if you were alright.”

“How come?” I continued, just having to find out why he was here. I had seen all of Chloe’s friends and he wasn’t among them, plus I doubted that the rock type was for her. She was quite the girly-girl, which is what I blamed her obsession of shopping on.

“Well…” He began, his eyes seeming to drift around the room to look at anything but me, almost as if he was trying to avoid my gaze. He began to fumble with his hands as I waited for his answer, making me wonder if I should have asked at all. When he did decide to speak he spoke so quickly that I had a hard time keeping up, his head falling closer and closer to his knees as he went on. “I was the one that hit you. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying close enough attention and then you just appeared. I should have been looking…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I interrupted, cutting him off before he burned himself out. It must have been the right thing to say since it made him look back at me, even if it was with a look that implied I was a crazy person for saying that.

“How can you say something like that? I drove a car into you…” He said gloomily, his head once again falling to meet his hands. I watched him for a few moments until something suddenly came back to me, the dream of the crash reminding me of the man with the chocolate eyes.

“Were you wearing a fedora then?” I asked, the unexpected question calling the guilt-ridden male to look up at me again, but this time a look of confusion on his face.

“Yeah, I was. Why?” He now asked me, obviously curious as to how I know. But how was I supposed to tell him? It’s not like you could say you watched everything from a distance- that would really make him think you were crazy. Best to just change the subject. Quickly.

“Just wondering, you seem like the sort of person who would wear them,” I lied, obviously not going to tell him how. “Anyway, don’t you have somewhere to go? Friends… or..?” I added, not really knowing what answer I wanted. A part of me didn’t want him to go, but whether it was because I didn’t want to be on my own in the hospital or because I liked his company I couldn't say.

“Well me and my mates are down for a while just to chill out, so I’m sure they don’t mind me hanging out here for a while to see if you’re alright. They were all worried about you as well, but I said I would stay so they could go out drinking and whatever else they do,” he answered. Hearing that just made me feel horribly guilty at the fact he was stuck here with me, and not actually spending his vacation doing enjoyable things. “Zacky wanted to stay here as well, but when I told him I was not going to share a bed he decided to stay at his own place.”

“Sounds like he misses you,” I chucked, dropping my gaze to the sheets as I began playing with them. It was strange to think a couple of complete strangers would care this much about me, especially not when a guy decided to accidentally knock me down a flight of stairs at the mall and then not even offer to help me up after. “You don’t have to stick around because of me. I’m fine; I’ll probably be out soon.”

Brian glanced down at my hands for a few moments before stretching and yawning upon the chair, crossing his arms behind his head before leaning back and closing his eyes.

“I think I’ll stay here for a while. It’s nicer here than back at mine anyway.”

I watched him for a few moments before I saw his posture slowly relax; the faint sounds of breathing telling me he had already fell asleep. He did look pretty tired when I first saw him; it looked like he hadn’t slept at all for the last few nights. At least now he was.

“Thank you,” I murmured as I slowly eased myself back to try and sleep myself, only just seeing the faint smile flicker on his lips before I fell into unconsciousness again.