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“The ambulance is on the way,” my mom says back, her response sounding close as she paces over to us. Her outline is blurry. With her phone to her ear, she nods and answers a few questions with, “Yes. Yes, she’s breathing.”
Dad leans down to hug me.
The stings in the dream weren’t real, but the pain is. I feel like I’m on fire, and even the softest touch is miserable.
“The-the bees,” I groan. “Ow.”
“What?” Dad pulls back, looking confused.
“The bee stings. They’re all over me.”
He scans my arms and face. “It was just a nightmare. The pain must’ve worked its way into your dream. Where are you hurting?”
“Everywhere. The pins and needles are everywhere.” I let out a sob as the agony becomes too much.
Literally every cell of my body is flaring. Even the roots of my hair are throbbing.
It’s a struggle to lift my arm, but I manage to reach up to rub my temple. When I do, I notice something different. There’s no hair.
Letting out a distressed sound, I pat around on my scalp, feeling skin where there should be hair. My bald patches have expanded. When I grab a handful of my hair, I gently pull it away, and it isn’t attached to my head.
So much of it has fallen out overnight.
“Dad.” My voice breaks.
“I know.” He rubs my cheek as he gazes down at me with watery eyes. “I know, Hannah.”
I want to cry. My eyes want to produce tears, but they can’t seem to. They’re hot and dry. There’s a pressure behind them, and when I try to focus on the skylight, I realize the rectangle is fuzzy, and it’s not as bright as it normally is.
“I’m having trouble seeing,” I murmur. “I can’t see clearly.”
“All right.” I can tell my dad is trying to stay calm, taking deep breaths, but I’ve never heard him this shaken. “Don’t worry about that. Just focus on staying awake.”
A high-pitched sound causes a splitting sensation in my skull, and I wince. “My ears… There’s a ringing. It’s so loud.”
“That’s just the siren.” Dad gives me an unstable smile. “Help is on the way. I’m gonna carry you down the stairs, okay?” He glances behind him where the steps are. “It might be a little bumpy, but we’ve got to get you down from here.”
“’Kay.” I clench my teeth, preparing myself for how unpleasant it’s going to be to have any pressure put on my skin.
And it is unpleasant.
As my dad slips his arm under my neck and knees, twinges shoot out from the areas, making me cry out.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“I should be apologizing to you,” I grit out, attempting humor as he lifts me up. “Remember that time you gave me a piggyback ride when I was twelve, and you threw out your back? That’s going to happen again, and we’ll both be in the hospital.”
“Nonsense. You’re light as a feather.”
Sure, I’ve lost weight, but I’m still a grown woman. With barely contained grunts, my dad carries me over to the staircase.
It wouldn’t hurt if Ellister were carrying me. I know that for a fact. He’d be able to take all my pain away.
I’m about to ask where he is when my mom voices the question.
“Where the hell is Ellister?” She’s pacing back and forth on the cement floor when we get down to the bottom of the steps.
“I don’t know.” Dad goes straight for the open garage door, closer to the sound of the ambulance speeding up the lane. “He didn’t say anything to me about leaving.”
