Madison.
It was a nightmare I couldn’t stop—a horrible rendition ofGroundhog Day. Over and over. There was no escape as the fire in the cabin’s hearth grew hotter. Madison laughed. Not a soft song but a cold and cruel cackle.
I couldn’t take it anymore. “Make it stop.”
“Van?”
My name. I heard my name.
“Julia,” I said, my mouth as dry as cotton.
“It’s me, Van. Liv. I’m here.”
Blinking my eyes, I turned toward the voice.
A strange mixture of disappointment and happiness brewed within me. “Liv? Where’s Julia?” I stared up at the suspended ceiling as the drab walls came into view. “Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital, Van.”
Hospital.
Trying to sit up, I again took in the world around me. It seemed that my efforts to move were futile; not only was my energy nonexistent, but I was also connected to tubes and wires in places I could and couldn’t see. Laying my head against the pillow, I exhaled. Every inch of me hurt. “Why am I in the hospital?” I turned toward Liv. “Where’s Julia?”
Her hand came to my forehead as she appeared closer. “You’re still burning up.”
Burning up.
The fire in the cabin.
Liv continued speaking, “The doctors said it would be best for you to get well before you’re overwhelmed with information.”
My voice was scratchy and not my own. “I don’t give a fuck…” I paused to catch my breath. “…what the doctors said.”
I blinked and Liv was gone.
Had she been a dream too?
Time passed.
Seconds. Minutes. Days. Years—slipping away.
Alone.
Adrift on ice, I floated in Lake Superior.
The din of voices penetrated my isolation, growing louder. I blinked once and then again. There were people—so many people. Men and women, all dressed similarly, their clothes in different colors and all with blue hands.
“Donovan.”
I closed my eyes. Maybe this was a dream too and if I waited, they’d go away.
“Donovan.”
I heard Liv’s voice. “He was awake.”
A woman spoke as my blanket moved and cool air assaulted my body. Pain and nausea. Agonizing tenderness. “Fuck,” I growled, curling from the touch as my eyes opened.
“There you are,” a woman in all blue said.