Life Is But A Dream

“Close your eyes,” she whispered. “I have a surprise for you.”

She took him by the hand and led him toward the bedroom. Jacob smiled widely in anticipation of what she had in store for him.

“No peeking,” she teased.

He wouldn’t dare.

She let go of his hand and left him standing in the middle of the room.

“Allison?”

Something was wrong. He could feel it on his skin, a sudden chill of dread. He opened his eyes and found himself not in the bedroom but downstairs in the family room. And Allison was nowhere to be found.

“Allison?”

There was a sharp smell of gas, and worry drove Jacob forward into the kitchen. There he found Allison sprawled on the floor, unconscious. He rushed to her side and leaned in close to her face, checking for signs of life. There were none. He reached behind her head to pick Allison up and felt something warm and wet on his hand. When he took a closer look, it was unmistakably blood.

From behind. Her voice. “Surprise.”

• • •

He woke up with a start, pulling the sheets that lay across his chest as he hunched forward. His breathing was hard, and rivulets of sweat beaded his forehead.

• • •

Next to him, Caroline stirred when the air suddenly cooled around her body. She shifted to reach around Jacob to grab the bed sheet he oftentimes kept to himself. When her hand felt the empty space where Jacob had been sleeping, Carrie raised her head and heard ragged breathing. She moved her hands over the bed until they met Jacob’s back. Positioning herself behind him, she slid her arms around his sides and embraced him. Trying to calm him down, Carrie smoothed back Jacob’s wet hair and nestled her chin on his shoulder.

“Same dream?” she asked, her whisper caressing his ear.

“No. Different.”

Carrie had always worried about Jacob’s dreams. He had never stopped dreaming about Allison, particularly about the day of her accident. He felt guilty for not being there when it happened. He felt guilty that he couldn’t do anything to help her. And, worst of all, he felt guilty that he was not with Allison and was instead with her. This was not how Carrie imagined things would be between them. Not after all she had done for him. Not after all that had happened. But that wouldn’t stop her from loving him.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Jacob stood up and wrested himself from Carrie’s grasp.

“No,” he said. “I have to go see her.”

“Now?”

Jacob turned on the lamp on the dresser then took out a clean shirt from a drawer.

“It can wait ‘til tomorrow.”

“No,” he said. “It can’t”

• • •

Jacob sat next to Allison, stroking her long, sable hair. The left side of her face and her left arm were covered with hypertrophic scars that she suffered from the fire. Regardless, she still looked beautiful. He realized that her hair had gotten longer since the last time he paid her a visit. He pursed his lips at his negligence.

Her hospital room was dimly lit. Visiting hours had long been over, but since Carrie was the resident psychiatrist, Jacob had gotten to know the staff pretty well. They never turned him away when he wanted to see Allison.

“You scared me,” a voice said from the doorway. Jacob turned to see Nurse Nancy Smithson holding her hand to her chest. “Kinda late for a visit, don’tcha think?”

“I know, but I haven’t seen Allison in awhile.”

Nancy’s face softened as she took a few more steps into the room.

“She misses you, you know. She’s always got this glow when you’re around.”

She leaned in closer to Allison.

“See?”

Allison looked serene, at peace. Jacob wondered what thoughts lay behind her tranquil facade.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Nancy said as she backed up and left the room.

Jacob held Allison’s left hand, which had an intravenous catheter leading out of one of its veins.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been here much lately. Things with Carrie …”