Don't Drop Your Mask

“Can’t you just tell me who brought me here? At least?”

“No. You need to sleep.”

“First name?”

She sighed. “It was your fiancé.”

I looked taken aback. Slowly, the events of two nights ago started trickling into my memory.

The nurse left the room, and I muttered, “but he’s not my fiancé.” Didn’t they check to see if I had a ring? See some credentials?

She left the window open like I asked, and the curtains blew upwards with every gust of wind that blew. I guess my ‘fiance’ had gone back to my house and brought some blankets from home for me.

I closed my eyes and blocked out the light peeking in through the spaces between the curtains. I breathed in deeply and tried to ignore the throbbing headache before my pain medication started kicking in.

I slowly drifted off to a restless sleep.

I awoke from an awful nightmare. I was breathing heavily and my heart was racing. I was having a flashback. I tried to slow my breathing and calmed myself down. I realized that my hand was really warm. With my pain medication, I usually couldn’t feel my hands or feet too well, but my right hand was definitely warm. And someone else was breathing.

My heart started racing again, and the air in the room turned foggy. My head was swimming, and I started to have a panic attack. I was crying and shaking, and then the other person in the room who was holding my hand jumped up and put their hands on my shoulders.

“Shh—Layla, it’s me.”

I trashed around the best I could and he enveloped my body in a hug. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.” His breathing became unsteady as mine started to calm down again.

After a minute or two, I managed to speak. “Thank you,” I said.

“I’m so sorry. I should have been there sooner. Look at what a mess I’ve caused.”

I tried to shake my head to tell him it wasn’t his fault, because my voice wasn’t working.

“What if I had been a little later? He could have… Layla I’m so, so sorry.” I squeezed him as tightly as I could.

I managed to muster up something inside me, and told him, “it wasn’t your fault. Not at all. Don’t blame yourself for this. You saved me.”

He pulled away and grabbed my right hand between both of his. My left one had a cord coming out of it that beeped along with my heart beat. I closed my eyes as he played with my fingers. “Are you sleeping well?”

I shrugged. “It’s been fine.”

He looked at my guiltily. “You were having nightmares when I got here,” he said quietly.

I bit my lip. “So you’re my fiancé, now, huh?” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

He laughed a little. “Well, I needed to get on the ambulance.”

“The nurse won’t tell me your name.”

He smiled. “Good! My identity is still a secret,” he said.

“You’re such a dork. You should just tell me your name!”

“But it would take away all of my appeal. I know how much girls like that mystery stuff.”

“Well, I’m feeling the knowledge thing right now. I’ll give you a kiss?”

He thought about it. “I’ll consider it.”

I laughed. “I’m not falling for that again.”

“Well, maybe this time, it depends on how good the kiss is. I mean, if it’s just a little kiss, I’m not going to tell. But if I’m falling out of my seat, you’re getting my name, birthday, and social security number.”

I laughed at him. I caught his eyes in the moonlight. Probably a streetlight, but it sounds more romantic to say moonlight. Our expressions got serious and I licked my lips. Our faces got closer and I closed my eyes. His lips met mine softly, at first. The kiss deepened, but it was still gentle. He put more of his weight on the bed and laid over top of me.

His hand reached up and brushed my face lightly, and then a loud noise cracked down the hallway and he fell on the floor.

He pulled himself up, and we heard footsteps coming down the hallway at an alarming rate. The lights in the hallway started turning on closer to my door.

“Go!” I whispered harshly.

He looked unsure for a minute, pecked me on the lips, and bolted out the window.

My door opened as I watched his figure retreating. A doctor asked me if everything was okay.

“I was just dreaming.”

“Do you need more medicine? You dreamed very loudly.”

“I think I’ll be fine, thank you,” I said. For the next hour, I stared out the window, expecting him to come back. Daylight started seeping in through the curtains and the noise on the street picked up. I sighed and rolled over.