Why couldn’t I remember what happened to me? I had meant to say what happened, but my speech came out slurred and stilted.

At that point, I didn’t think it would be the best idea to attempt to get out of bed. I tried to move them and found it hurt too much. One of my arms was encased in a plaster cast and I couldn’t see under the covers placed over me, hiding my legs from view. Looking down, I found myself practically immobilised in the bed. Turning my head, I could see I was in a room surrounded by machines, but it wasn’t a hospital. The beeping remained, reminding me my heart was beating. My chest rose and fell at a steady, more natural pace. The sudden rush to an alert state had my eyes flicking open. People who could tell me what was going on and why I was stuck in my body, unable to get out. Only there was nothing for me there but the swamp and vines holding me down in the water. There was a minute more where I wanted to talk, wanted to tell them to let me out, but then I drifted off again into oblivion. Just go back to sleep now,” a different voice told me, soothing me from the inside out. Let me breathe.Ī hand landed on my head, stroking my hair back.

The beeping sound increased with my heart rate spiking as panic constricted my chest. There was something in my mouth preventing me from talking. He had a heart-shaped face and a lopsided smile along with a head of light brown hair. My eyes flew open and remained unblinking for a long moment, staring up at the white ceiling. It was alien to me in so many ways, but somehow, I recognised it as words… a voice. They moved a fraction, stroking across the soft material below me. However long it took, I didn’t know, but my fingers twitched. Whoever was out there needed to know I was awake but trapped in my own body. The only thing I knew was that I needed it. Wanted to come back to the world even though I couldn’t remember why or what it held for me. The rise and fall of my chest was too clinical, too perfectly paced. It took me a long minute to realise I wasn’t breathing on my own. I wanted to open my eyes, but my lids were heavy and uncooperative. And the noise was connected to it.Īwareness of my surroundings bled back into my consciousness.

The way it drummed in my ears, echoing the beat in my chest.

It was all a blur, a haze of images I didn’t recognise. Only… I had no clue what it was I was fighting for. To find my way back to whatever I’d left behind. My mind was a swamp filled with vegetation and things tangling around my legs, preventing me from surfacing.

Chaos by sarah bailey