Part 1
A large field of flowers tickled Shelby's and Chris's ankles as they ran threw the large field. Chris wrapped Shelby in a hug, as she smiled into his shoulder. The sun was shinning and they were both happy. It was perfect. Chris released Shelby letting go of her waist and stepping backwards. Shelby looked confused as she watched him back away from her. "Chris?" Shelby asked faintly.
"Good-bye Shelby." He said disappearing into a puff of smoke.
"Chris, don't go, you can't" Shelby cried running towards his disappearing figure. She lunged for him falling to the hard ground. "Don't go." She cried as she rolled onto her back looking at her surrounds, which was a large black room. "Were am I?" Shelby asked herself as she started to get up as a large spear flew down perching her in the heart. "NOOOOO HELP" she screamed falling to the ground once again.
"HELP" screamed Shelby as she trashed around in her hospital bed. "Peter, Scott help" she demanded. Shelby looked around the room gasping for breath. "Man why I'm I always having nightmares?" she asked sliding out of bed. Shelby weakly walked over to the door looking down at the ground. She noticed a piece of yellow notebook paper lying on the floor. She bent down picking it up walking back over to her bed. She slid back into bed flipping the piece of paper over. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped as she started at the horrible words written on the paper. Shelby started rocking back and forth holding her knees to her chest. The paper dropped from her hands fluttering to the ground face up. The words on the paper were the words Shelby hoped she would have never had to read, but she did and she knew it was all over.
"Miranda phone." Called Sophie as she handed the phone over to a bubbly Miranda.
"Who is it Sophie?" asked Miranda as she laughed back at the group and placed the phone to her ear. "Mom?" Miranda asked into the phone.
"Miranda I want you to come home. It's not the same without you and I also have some good news." Her mother said.
"You want me to come home really? What's the good news tell me, tell me please." Miranda said starting to jump up and down.
"Your physiologist called me a few hours ago and he has reported that you're ready to come home and that you only needed to stay at Mount Horizon's for a little while and then you would be able to return home." Her mother beamed into the phone.
"That's great, I can't wait to get back to my old life thanks mom. I can't wait to see dad and everyone from school. I love you mother, I love you so much." Miranda said smiling at Sophie.
Sophie had not been able to hear all of their conversation but new it had to be good from the look on Miranda's face. Peter walked up placing his strong hands on Sophie's shoulders. "Hey Soph, everything okay?" Peter asked looking at Sophie and Miranda.
"Yes everything is great." Sophie said kissing Peter on the cheek. "I need to talk to you later, I'll meet you in your office at around six okay?" asked Sophie hugging Miranda and walking away.
"Miranda may I ask why there is a lovely smile across your face, not that I'm complaining." Peter chuckled walking across the room towards Miranda.
"I get to go home. I get to go home." Miranda said still clutching the phone; her gaze focused on the wooden floor.
"Your mother is allowing you to come home. Are you sure about this? I mean you've made so much progress and you have not given me one problem since you've been here so I give you my permission to go home but it has to be okay with you, you make your decisions, not your mom and not me." Peter said smiling at Miranda and patting her on the back leaving her to think.
Daisy dropped her face into her pillow looking back up and then down again. She was so worried about Shelby. She knew if Chris did die that she would be crushed and she would never be the same. She could hurt herself. Daisy hated the fact that she had slept with David, how was she going to tell her best friend? Like this? 'Hey Shel guess what I slept with David, so what's new?' that would never work. Daisy sighed slinging her pillow across the room. "I hate myself, I hate my life." Daisy said to herself as she clutched her hair pulling a few stands out and dropping them to the floor.
"Daisy?" called a voice.
"Who is it?" Daisy called back whipping a tear from her cheek.
"Scott."
"Come on in Scott." Daisy called again sitting up.
"Hey, have you heard from Shelby? She's been gone a few weeks now and she has not really called me." Scott said sounding hurt. "She loves Chris, that's why she ran, to be with him I know it." Scott said sitting on the bed across from Daisy's.
"Scott that's not why. And yes she loves Chris but she'll never ever love anyone not even Chris like she loves you." Daisy said sitting next to Scott. "Maybe you to just need some time apart, you know away from one another. A lot is going on in Shelby's head right now and I think she needs her space that all." Daisy said walking to Shelby's night side desk and flipping threw a book not reading anything on the pages.
"Daisy, does she REALLY love me?" Scott asked walking up behind Daisy.
"Yes Scott she loves you more than anyone in the world. She loves you." Daisy said walking back over to her bed. "No that I've talked and listened to you, you have to do the same for me."
"Okay dais what is it?"
"What I'm I going to tell Shelby about David and I." Daisy asked.
"The truth." Scott said walking towards the door. "That's all you can tell her. The truth." Scott said walking out the door and into the warm night.
"Yea that was what I was afraid of." Daisy said hugging her arms around her body.
A cold breeze blew into an open hospital room window. The curtains lapped in the wind as the air grew cold and the room grew darker and darker by the minute. A dozen red roses sat on the bedside table along with a small white card written in pink ink. The bed was neatly made and the room was spotless from any dirt, remains or memories. A nurse walked by placing a new clipboard in the box hooked onto the glass door. A doctor and another nurse walked by stopping by the room to look into the glass window. The doctor shook his head and hung it low for a few seconds. The nurse's eyes dropped into two teardrop shapes as she wrapped her arms around herself and a file book that pressed into her hip. They stayed for only a few minutes talking amongst each other before walking on to the next room. There was a soft whimper from inside the room as Shelby looked up from the floor; she pulled herself into a ball clutching the side of the bed. A few more whimpers flew from her mouth as she pulled the neatly made sheets off the hospital bed. They fluttered to the floor surrounding Shelby's shaking body. She rocked around on the floor holding the sheets close to her face. The smell of fresh launder filled her nose as she breathed in the fresh dawn smell. She loved the smell of fresh sheets, the sheets that he had once slept in only a day ago. They had washed his sent out, his wonderful smell, his pillow sheets use to smell of his lightly perfumed shampoo. Shelby grabbed the vase of flowers bringing them down to her from the stand they were placed on only an hour ago. She rubbed the soft petals of the red roses pulling the card from its little metal stand it was so carefully placed on the day before. Shelby slid her nail under the gold tape breaking it and reading the words she had stitched in her head. 'I love you Chris, and I'm sorry.' Shelby read over and over repeating it to herself as she closed her eyes leaning against the bed. She pulled a rose from the glass vase twirling it around in her fingers. "He loved me, he loved me not" she repeated as she slowly pulled each petal of the rose off. After a few minutes she reached the last petal pulling it off and bringing it to her cheek. She brushed it against her cheek, smiling to herself. "He loves me." Shelby said dropping the stem and the last remaining petal to the floor.
There was a sharp knock at the door as a doctor walked in. " Shelby right?" asked the man as he pulled a pen from his pocket. "Your Chris's friend right?" he asked looking her in the eyes.
"Yes, um I was. I mean yea I'm." Shelby sniffed as she dried her eyes on her sleeve.
"Chris is in the ER this is expected to be his last few hours of…"
"I know." Interrupted Shelby. "I know he's dying, and these are his last few hours of life."
"Yes and even though he's not awake at the moment I know he'd like it if you would come and stay with him. You're all he could talk about when he was in this room. "Shelby's amazing, and I love her". That's what he always said to me or the nurses. You must be one special girl." The doctor said a slit smile spreading across his glum face.
"I'm not special doctor, I'm just me." Shelby said as she got up picking up the pieces of the flower. "Can I.um go see him?" Shelby quivered. "Where's, where's Peter?" She asked holding her cold hands on her hot neck.
"He was called back to horizon's a few hours ago. You were no were to be found so he decided it best to let you be alone to think. He wanted to know if you got his note." The doctor asked as he walked with Shelby out of the room.
"Yea I got it. I wish I hadn't. I mean I just had a dream were he left me, Chris left me and I was all-alone and I ended up dying without him. I feel cold and dark inside, empty. Completely empty." Shelby said stopping in the middle of the hallway. She stared down the long hall looking at the closed door to the ER room. "He's in there." She said to herself. "And he's dying." Shelby walked ahead of the doctor holding her arms around her body. She paced forward looking at nothing but the door.
"Shelby?" called the doctor. "Are you all right?"
"He loves me, he love me not." She said to herself in a faint whisper as she neared the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
