"Can you give him something?" the other man asked. "He's going to hurt himself if he keeps that up."
"I already gave him enough Demerol to knock out a horse."
"Thorazine?" the man asked.
"You a doctor?"
"No, a drug rep."
The paramedic chuckled. "I've got something. Let's get him out of this ditch first."
Blythe felt herself lifted on a gurney and carried from the wreckage. She felt a warm trickle in her vein as the paramedic gave her an injection through the IV tube. Her body convulsed, the branch jerking wildly.
"What's happening?" The drug rep said.
"I don't know," the paramedic replied. "I don't know. Hang in there, fella! Give me a hand here!"
Once again, Blythe felt the tug on her psyche and she flew into the sky. This time, she didn't stop and hover. Instead, she continued flying high, into the clouds, up and up until the sun filled her vision. With a contented sigh, she looked down at herself.
The body was decidedly male, wearing faded gray jeans, black skater shoes and a red and black plaid flannel shirt over a black T-shirt. There was no branch protruding from the chest. With no weight to hold her, she swooped and swirled through the air, until an unmistakable tug pulled her down again. She tried to control her descent, but it was too fast. The landing was harder this time. When she came down, she was in the ambulance. The paramedic held the paddles in his hands.
"I've got a pulse. Hang in there, fella. We're almost home."
Light in her eyes woke Blythe from a sound sleep. The technicians hovered over her, trying not to show their worry.
"You feel okay?" her buddy said.
Blythe tried to focus on her name tag. Sandy, was etched in white on a royal blue background.
"It happened again."
"What happened?" Sandy helped her sit up.
"Another dream."
"Is that what it was?" Sandy's eyes held panic. "I never saw anything like it. All of a sudden, it went wild. Different colors flashing across the screen. We thought we'd broken the machine."
"What's happening to me?"
"Nothing I ever saw before," Sandy replied. "The doctor will go over these shortly. She may want more tests."
"She's gonna want more tests," the other tech said. "I guarantee."
Paul was waiting for her when she came out to the hall. Elam stood next to him, hands in his pockets, worried expression on his handsome face. Unable to contain his concern, he helped her sit in the wheelchair.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I think. Where's my dad?"
"In the waiting room. I told him I'd come down and check on you. You've been here over an hour. Usually, this is thirty minutes or less. You had us freaked, babe."
Blythe smiled at him. She hardly knew him, but she liked his warm, protective streak. That, and the fact he called her babe, made her think of Alec. They weren't a bit alike in looks. Alec had russet hair and hazel eyes. Elam was blond and blue eyed. But they both had a similar, athletic, broad shouldered build.
"Swimmer's shoulders," she mused.
Elam frowned, brow furrowed. "Huh?"
"You're a swimmer," she said, feeling his muscular arm.
"Yeah. Um—"
"Sorry. For a minute you reminded me of someone else." She turned her head away, blinking back tears.
"You mean Alec? Your fiancé?"
"How do you know his name?" She wasn't angry, merely curious.
"Your dad told me. We've been talking a lot. He's a great guy. Very concerned about you."
"So are you." She reached up to touch his cheek.
Elam squatted by the chair. He brushed her hair from her face, his ocean blue eyes meeting her coffee brown ones. Blythe saw so much there. He did care, deeply. It was strange to have someone she barely knew, worry about her.
"I will follow you into the dark," she whispered.
"Death Cab for Cutie? You're quoting song lyrics?" He looked around helplessly.
"It was our song, mine and Alec's." She buried her face in her hands. "I'm losing it. I'm going crazy, aren't I? I keep getting things mixed up in my mind."
"You're not going crazy," Elam assured her. "We'll figure this out. Dr. Waverly is really good. She's the best neurologist in the state."
"I've probably got a tumor or a brain injury, or something."
"You don't have either of those things," Dr. Waverly said from behind her. "Something strange is going on, but your films are clear. I think it's more likely that you're experiencing something far different."
©2022 Dellani Oakes
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