For the first few minutes after waking, I couldn’t understand why everyone was staring at me.
My mother was crying.
My father looked like he’d aged ten years.
Nurys had both hands covering her mouth.
Cam stood beside her, staring at me like he was afraid that if he blinked, I’d disappear.
Parker was crying too.
Kennedy had tears running down her cheeks.
And Conrad…
Conrad was standing at the foot of my bed.
He wasn’t crying.
He just looked completely stunned.
I tried to sit up.
My body immediately protested.
A sharp ache travelled through my chest, and I gasped.
“Easy.”
A voice came from beside me.
A nurse.
She gently pushed me back against the pillow.
“Don’t try to sit up yet.”
I frowned.
“Where am I?”
“Bailey Falls Emergency Clinic.”
I looked around.
White walls.
Medical equipment.
An IV in my arm.
A monitor beside my bed.
My throat felt raw.
My chest felt heavy.
I swallowed.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered immediately.
I looked at my mother.
“Mum?”
She broke down crying again.
My father stepped closer.
“You were in an accident.”
“What accident?”
He looked at the doctor.
The doctor approached my bed.
“Destiny, do you know what day it is?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Do you know what month it is?”
I hesitated.
“September?”
The doctor exchanged a look with my parents.
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
He pulled a chair closer.
“Destiny, you’ve been unconscious for almost a month.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“You were admitted after a near-drowning incident.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You were found unconscious in the school’s swimming pool.”
My heart began pounding.
“No.”
“Destiny—”
“No, I remember.”
The room went quiet.
“I remember the forest.”
My mother looked at my father.
“The woods?”
I nodded frantically.
“Yes.
We went into the woods looking for Emily and the others.”
Nobody said anything.
I continued.
“There was something there.”
My breathing became faster.
“A creature.”
The doctor raised his hands gently.
“You’re safe now.”
“No!”
I grabbed my mother’s hand.
“I remember!”
She squeezed mine.
“I remember everything.”
But even as I said it…
The memories were already beginning to blur.
The forest.
The trees.
The creature.
The chase.
The fall.
Then…
Water.
I closed my eyes.
A flash came back.
The swimming pool.
Emily.
The tarp.
Her screaming.
My hands grabbing hers.
The weight of the cover wrapping around me.
My throat closing.
Water filling my mouth.
My lungs burning.
I couldn’t breathe.
I started coughing.
The monitor beside me began beeping faster.
“She’s getting distressed,” the nurse said.
The doctor immediately stepped closer.
“Destiny, breathe slowly.”
I tried.
My chest hurt.
“What happened to me?”
The doctor looked at my parents before answering.
“During the sleepover, Emily fell into the swimming pool.”
I stared at him.
“You went in after her.”
I nodded slowly.
“I remember.”
“She had become trapped beneath the pool cover.
You managed to get her free, but the cover became wrapped around you.”
My fingers tightened around the blanket.
“It covered your face and neck,” he continued.
“You were unable to get back to the surface.”
I swallowed.
“How long?”
The doctor paused.
“We can’t know the exact amount of time.”
“How long?”
“Several minutes.”
My blood ran cold.
“Several?”
“Long enough for you to become severely oxygen-deprived.”
I stared at him.
“You aspirated a significant amount of water.
When you were pulled from the pool, you weren’t breathing normally.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“You had no effective breathing and no meaningful response when emergency responders arrived,” the doctor continued.
“They performed resuscitation and were eventually able to restore your circulation.”
I looked down at my hands.
They were trembling.
“Then why…”
I looked at the IV.
“Why am I here?”
“Because your lungs were badly affected by the aspiration, and your brain had been deprived of oxygen.”
The room suddenly felt too small.
“You were placed on mechanical ventilation and transferred for intensive care,” he said.
“You remained unconscious.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty-seven days.”
Twenty-seven.
My mouth went dry.
“You mean…”
“Almost four weeks.”
I stared at the ceiling.
Four weeks.
I’d lost almost an entire month.
And somehow…
The forest felt more real than anything else.
Later that afternoon, the doctor finally allowed my family some time alone with me.
I looked around at everyone.
“How’s Emily?”
Parker looked at me.
“She’s okay.”
Relief flooded through me.
“She survived?”
“Yeah.”
I closed my eyes.
Thank God.
At least something good had come from everything.
Then the door opened.
Emily walked inside.
My heart skipped.
She looked exactly as I remembered her.
Red hair.
Freckles.
Green eyes.
She smiled.
“Hi, Destiny.”
I smiled back.
“Hey.”
She walked toward my bed.
“I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For saving me.”
She reached into her pocket.
Then she pulled out a small silver bracelet.
My stomach tightened.
“I’ve had this since I was little,” she said.
She placed it carefully in my palm.
“I want you to have it.”
I stared at the bracelet.
It felt strangely familiar.
“Why?”
“Because you saved my life.”
She smiled.
“And I wanted you to have something that reminded you.”
I looked at her.
“Of what?”
She tilted her head.
“That you came back for me.”
Something about the way she said it made the hairs on my arms stand.
But I didn’t know why.
Over the next few days, everything began falling into place.
According to everyone else, the sleepover had happened almost a month ago.
The deaths?
They had apparently been a horrible misunderstanding involving older incidents in nearby towns.
The curfew had been lifted.
Bailey Falls was safe.
Normal.
And the forest?
Everyone told me I’d probably dreamed most of it.
The doctors explained that prolonged unconsciousness could produce vivid dreams and hallucinations.
I believed them.
Because what other explanation was there?
I’d been unconscious for twenty-seven days.
My brain had been deprived of oxygen.
Of course I’d dreamed.
Of course I’d mixed things up.
Of course Harold and Charity weren’t real.
Of course the creature wasn’t real.
It was all just a nightmare.
Or at least…
That’s what I told myself.
A week after I woke up, I was finally strong enough to walk around without assistance.
That’s when Conrad came to visit me.
He leaned against the doorway.
“Hey, Dee.”
I smiled.
“Hey.”
He walked inside.
“You look better.”
“I feel better.”
He nodded.
There was an awkward silence.
Then he grinned.
“So…”
I narrowed my eyes.
“So?”
“You seriously don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
He laughed.
“The booze.”
I frowned.
“What booze?”
“The booze you smuggled into the sleepover.”
I stared at him.
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
Parker, who was sitting beside me, burst out laughing.
Kennedy shook her head.
“She was completely wasted.”
I looked between them.
“I don’t drink.”
Conrad laughed.
“Apparently you did that night.”
“What happened?”
His grin widened.
“You kissed me.”
My entire face heated.
“What?”
“Under the bleachers.”
I stared at him.
“You are lying.”
“I’m not.”
Parker started laughing harder.
“You really don’t remember?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Conrad sat on the edge of the chair beside my bed.
“You were drunk.”
“And?”
“You kissed me.”
I stared at him.
“And?”
He smiled.
“I kissed you back.”
Something strange fluttered inside my stomach.
Then he added,
“And then we made out.”
My eyes widened.
“We what?”
“Made out.”
“With you?”
He laughed.
“Yes, with me.”
I covered my face.
“Oh my God.”
He laughed.
“And that’s how you ended up near the pool.”
I slowly lowered my hands.
“What?”
“You were looking for Emily.”
My heart stopped.
“What happened?”
“She fell into the pool.”
I remembered.
Water.
The tarp.
Emily screaming.
My lungs burning.
“You went after her,” Conrad continued.
“You got her out.”
“And me?”
His smile disappeared.
“You got caught underneath the cover.”
My chest tightened.
“You were under there for several minutes.”
I looked down at my hands.
“And then?”
“You almost died.”
Silence.
I swallowed.
“But I saved Emily.”
He nodded.
“Yeah.”
He smiled.
“You saved her.”
I looked at the bracelet around my wrist.
The silver one Emily had given me.
Something about it felt familiar.
Almost like I’d seen it before.
But I couldn’t remember where.
I looked back at Conrad.
“So…”
He raised an eyebrow.
“So?”
I hesitated.
“Did I really kiss you?”
His grin returned.
“Unfortunately for you…”
He leaned closer.
“You did.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re never letting me forget this, are you?”
“Absolutely not.”
He laughed.
And for some reason…
I laughed too.
The room felt warm.
Safe.
Normal.
For the first time since waking up…
I felt happy.
I didn’t know it yet, but that was exactly what it wanted.
Because every memory I accepted…
Every person I trusted…
Every moment of happiness I began to believe in…
Was another thread tying me deeper into the reality it had created.
And somewhere beyond the walls of Bailey Falls Emergency Clinic…
The forest was still waiting.
But Destiny didn’t know that.
Not Yet….