178 - Sleep
*She’s in a really deep sleep. But just like when you’re asleep, you have different stages. Sometimes you are aware of what’s happening around you. Sometimes you don’t even know where you are. Think of it as like a roller coaster. There’s peaks and valleys. The valleys she’s in now, is a deeper sleep. The peaks are a light sleep. – Critter to Mitch*
Camille had felt bad, her head pounding and she assumed it was due to stress. She remembered taking some ibuprofen, acetaminophen…. Something and the headache lessened. As soon as she was done with the updates on the website for the Cookie Jar, she was going to get in bed with her husband and go to sleep.
Grabbing one of her hoodies, she pulled it on, certain that the air had been turned down too low before they headed upstairs. Once she was in bed with Darkness, she would be warm enough, there was no reason to traipse downstairs just to check the thermostat. As she was finishing up the website, an email came through from Trevor to check his changes in the payroll app for Ryder’s company.
After releasing the website to go live again, she wrapped herself up in the blanket and pulled up the coding program. She took two more pills of whatever was in top drawer and after taking her glasses off, laid her head down on the desk. Maybe if she wasn’t looking at the screen, her headache would go away a little faster.
She must have dozed off because there was a little drool on her face and pooling on the desk. Using a cleaning wipe, she cleaned up the mess, finished off her bottle of water and pulled her glasses back on. With the blanket tucked around her legs, she dug into the coding that Trev had sent.
Reading through the programming a second time, the chills really set in, and she started shivering. As soon as she was done with this, she was going to go to bed. Maybe she will sleep for the next three days. Chuckling at that thought, she started coughing.
“Cam, baby,” Darkness touched her shoulder.
“I feel so cold,” she said shivering and then coughed some more.
He grabbed her phone and messed with it as she finished her edits. Whatever he was doing, he finished it just as she sent a message to Trevor that she had made a few corrections. Darkness grabbed a fresh bottle of water out of her little refrigerator.
“Baby, I need you to drink this,” he took the lid off and handed it to her.
She accepted the bottle and took a drink as he walked out of her office. Camille didn’t know where he was going, but the cold water felt wonderful on her throat. Quickly, she downed the rest of the bottle and laid her head back down.
Everything after that was through a fog.
Several times, there was the sensation of being carried. The sounds of a hospital penetrated her thoughts. But it wasn’t a hospital. Similar, but something was off.
The distinct feeling of a catheter being put in made her complain. No one listened to her, and the tubing was taped to her thigh.
At some point the chills went away and she was finally able to warm up. There were more voices that came in and out. Camille was certain that she was dreaming or hallucinating because she was certain that she heard her mom.
“Mom…”
She tried to say it. Wasn’t sure if she actually did say it, or anything actually. The hallucination was nice; she even imagined her mother’s perfume. Jasmine and cedarwood would always be associated with Sid Johanson.
At some point, she was certain that she heard Critter. That was obviously a hallucination. Why would Critter be here.
“Because I’m a nurse, silly girl,” Critter told her. “Just sleep and get to feeling better.”
When she imagined her brother telling her that, she quit trying to claw her way out of the dark that would sometimes surround her. It was comfortable here. It was calm and soothing.
Nicki came into her hallucinations. She held Camille’s hand and told her to get better. Her young voice penetrated the dark as she read *The Great Gatsby to her adoptive mother. Hearing her daughter read one of her favorite books, soothed Camille and lulled her back into a restful and healing sleep.
Darkness cuddled her and encouraged her to get better. He would murmur sweet endearments to her in English and Creole. She was pretty sure that he was the one that gave her the occasional cool sponge bath.
Rosie came by a time or two. She was certain it was Rosie that she heard when Tink growled loudly. The feisty nurse told him that she was not impressed and a moment later, the dog was moving off the bed.
Camille’s need to wake up changed when the worried voice of her youngest son finally penetrated the dark that she was drifting in. It was the first time that she had heard his voice. Fear laced it and she could no longer float in the nothingness of deep sleep.
She wasn’t sure how long it took her to find her way out of the dark. It pulled her back down a few more times causing her to have to start her fight once again. Each time that she heard Mitch, he was more worried, and she fought harder to wake up.
Her sleep became restless and finally, she felt the change of what was coming through the IV. If she had ever been asked to explain what it felt like, Camille was not certain that she could. The vitamins and other medicines in what she dubbed the wake-up juice felt different. It was like there was a boost of energy that flowed into her.
Eventually her eyes fluttered open and she found herself looking at her mother’s familiar blue-green eyes. Her mouth was parched, and Camille tried to speak.
“None of that, little girl,” Sid said as she picked up an insulated travel mug with a straw. “I’m sure you know the process, small sips.”
It was a process that she knew well. Far too well. She took several small sips, swirling them around in her mouth. Her mouth felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton and then a dragon had burned the cotton.
“Teeth…”
“I’m sure you need to brush your teeth,” Sid gave a small laugh. “Let’s get the catheter out first.”
“Mitch…”
“He’ll be fine once he can see you’re feeling better. So, catheter and complete sentences.”
There was a light knock on the door and Candi poked her head inside the room. “Critter said that there were somethings on his sister he did not need to see.”
Sid laughed, “Which is why he always left when she got Mezcal.”
“Wow, yeah.” It was Candi’s turn to laugh before she walked Camille through the catheter being removed.
“Hate… that…”
“I know,” Sid kissed her temple. “Go brush your teeth and take a shower, wash that nasty hair.”
“How long…?”
“Six days, little girl,” her mom told her.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
