Chapter 4 - The Awakening
Rachel sprinted down the long, brightly lit corridor, completely ignoring the nurses telling her to slow down.
Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest as she reached Room 412.
She pushed the door open, her hands shaking violently against the metal handle.
The room was filled with the rhythmic beeping of advanced medical machinery and the hiss of oxygen.
Thomas was lying in the hospital bed, propped up by a mountain of white pillows.
His skin was still horrifyingly pale, but his chest was rising and falling on its own.
The thick breathing tube had been removed, leaving an ugly red bruise across his mouth.
Rachel rushed to the side of the bed and fell to her knees, grabbing his cold hand.
"Tom? Oh my god, Tom, you're back," she sobbed, burying her face into his blanket.
Slowly, incredibly slowly, Thomas turned his head to look down at his crying wife.
His eyes, which used to be a warm, vibrant hazel, now looked dull, glassy, and strangely empty.
He did not squeeze her hand back, nor did he offer a comforting smile.
He simply stared at her as if she were a complete stranger who had wandered into his room.
"Where is she?" Thomas spoke, his voice sounding like dry leaves scraping across concrete.
Rachel looked up, deeply confused by the cold, raspy tone of his once-gentle voice.
"Who, honey? Are you asking for Lorraine?" Rachel asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Madison," he whispered, his glassy eyes darting frantically toward the closed door of the room.
"I need to see Madison right now."
Rachel felt a sudden, inexplicable chill run down her spine at the sheer intensity of his demand.
"She's in the waiting room with Lorraine, it's the middle of the night, Tom."
Suddenly, Thomas sat straight up in the bed, tearing several medical wires from his chest.
The heart monitor began to beep frantically, signaling an emergency.
"Bring her to me," he commanded, his voice suddenly echoing with unnatural strength.
Rachel backed away from the bed, terrified by the wild, desperate look on her husband's face.
This was not the calm, loving father and husband she had mourned for two days.
Something deeply fundamentally wrong had happened to him while he was trapped in the dark.
Before Rachel could press the nurse call button, the heavy room door creaked open.
Little Madison stood in the doorway, holding her favorite stuffed rabbit tightly in her arms.
Thomas immediately stopped struggling against the medical wires and fell completely still.
A terrifyingly unnatural smile slowly stretched across his pale, bruised face.
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"Come here, little bird," Thomas whispered to his daughter.
Madison walked toward the bed without a single moment of hesitation.
