Where am I? This has to be a hospital, why am I in a hospital? The smell of isopropyl alcohol and all other fumes from my trauma floor creates a medley strong enough to kill a full grown man. As I ponder and observe the environment, the world around me begins to readopt the fuzzy filter I’ve grown so accustomed to. Before I know it, blackness. Images flashing like light bulbs dance in my head. Were these memories or merely a dream? The answer to these questions, I do not know. A firey feeling fills my lungs as I sprint through the density of darkness of what I presume to be in the woods. With every step I take pain burns the ends of every neuron from the soles of my feet to the ends of the hair on my head. I feel panic rise in my chest like the waters of a flood, slowly but surely bound to cover my head. I hear the sounds of twigs snapping under my feet which are most definitely going to uncover my presence to whatever I’m running from. Just as quickly as the vision came, I was snapped back into reality with the harshness of a flashlight shining into my eyes. The commotion around me sounds as if I’m a million miles away, muffled and distant.

    “Ma’am, ma’am can you hear me? She’s waking back up.” 

    The world around me spins as I try to grasp where I am and what I’m doing once again, this is a vicious cycle that I can’t seem to break. I know I have to get out of here, I need to go home. Yet, the thing is, I couldn’t tell you where home was. Maybe I can figure that out on my journey. I don’t know where I’m going or how I’ll get there but I know one thing: I need to escape. As soon as I am alone every impulse in my body takes over. I can hear nothing other than my breathing and the beating of my heart as I rip the IV out of my arm. I unpeel the sticky pads from me as fast as humanly possible. Once that is done, I make a run for it. Down my empty corridor, I hang a sharp left and bolt down the steps. I seem to know the floorplan of this hospital like the back of my hand. Why is this so familiar? With every ounce of energy left in me, I throw the heavy, metal doors open. Holy sh*t, I just did that. However, my efforts can’t stop here. I see nothing in sight other than a dirt road for miles and miles of desert. The sun is beginning to sink so I know I have a limited amount of time. Finally, I’m getting somewhere. I’ve been walking for what feels like days when I hear the rumble of an engine and the sound of tires slowly crunching on gravel. The truck screeches to a stop, gosh they need to oil their brakes. How would I know what his car needs? A relatively large and friendly man emerges. 

    “Hey, darlin’ you look like ya need a ride, get in.” 

    “No I’m good but thank you, I’ve already made it quite a distance on my own”

    He grabs my arm leading me to the truck. In that moment, everything came flooding back. Suddenly, those dreams were no longer dreams, I remember everything. Being in his cabin, all of the horrible things I endured. It was my time to attack, he isn’t getting away with this.