"I-fine-Nick," I gritted my teeth.
"No, you are not. Let me pour you a cup of coffee," he said sweetly, softly and softly. He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back to the table. His hand touched my sexy skin and it burned like fire.
"Go away, Nick! Leave me alone. Go find a bridesmaid or two. Drink some champagne. Only a fool will waste a perfect hotel room on me. I sneered and slapped him on the shoulder. What I should do is to force him to effectively push him away from me.
When he looked at me, his eyes became dull, looking at me as if I were some kind of new creature he had just discovered. The hiss is gone. He nodded abruptly.
Sorry, Nick, this is what I should say, but I didn't. I was still mad at him somehow. Instead, I said, "You probably shouldn't get something like that" in a half-hearted, inferior way, like I didn't really want it, and he really deserves it.
"No," he said. "I may not know."
The expressionless Nick packed all the point-and-shoot cameras, table by table, and tied the belt around his wrist with a rope. He walked with me to the side of the car, pulling my cart and all the equipment, while I was walking staggeringly, while trying to keep a distance of two steps ahead of him. He even carefully put my equipment in after I opened the trunk. Why? Because the fucking Nick Erickson is a good guy, I just want to be alone now, away from him and other people, especially him. I twisted my fingers, clenched my fists, and let go of my hands, all to make the blood flow and stop the crazy tingling sensation.
The monsoon rain hit us from the side, and we were soaked within seconds of leaving the building. We use umbrellas and plastic basins to protect cameras and equipment. Everything else was sacrificed, including my perfect clothes, which are now saturated and transparent.
My shorts and vest are folded on the back seat of my old hatchback. My flip-flops were dragged next to them. Despite the downpour, I took off my belt and put on flip-flops. It's really hard to treat the clutch.
Nick stood there with his hands in his pockets, soaked and silent. His shirt clung to his chest and arms. I really don't want this to happen between us. I feel as if I have damaged something-an important thing. Out of fear of what shit I might say or do next, I avoid making eye contact with him. Now that my equipment is installed and I am going to leave, I must say something, or my friendship with Nick will be over.
I walked to him and swallowed hard.
"Forgive me," I said. I have never seen him so serious. "I can't feel myself. I'm just sick. I want to go home, lie down and sleep forever."
"Of course. He said, but the look on his face tells me that this is not the case.
He turned and walked back to the hotel.
I stood in the rain, blinking at the wind and water.
I really want to get into a hole and cry, but maybe that's all in the back seat. My head is banging, and every part of my body hurts. Once again, I felt as if I had the experience of being out of my body—the earlier déjà vu feeling came back, with every breath, every drop of cold rain fell on my skin, this feeling More and more intense. I tried to shake it, but it became more and more tense.
I watched Nick walk back to the hotel. He didn't look back.
As soon as he left my sight, the deja vu feeling turned into a deja vu monster. This feeling has claws, it pierced my body from the ground through the bottom of my flip-flops.
The tingling sensation that I had never felt before suddenly appeared on my feet, and my feet were numb, as if my feet were already asleep, but the situation got worse, I cried and screamed, and it got worse. The pain continues to crawl in and out, like the roots of a tree longing for a connection. I was captured, caught. Hold the ground tightly like a tree, like a tree, I can't move.
The unbearable pain knocked me to the ground until my hands and knees were numb. The tingling sensation moved away from my feet, throbbed in my knees, grabbed into my groin, and wrapped a hot band of anger around my abdomen. I can hardly breathe.
Then my hand started to tingle. Then the pain came to my arms. Two painful bands, one from my hand and the other from my foot, moved together somewhere in the middle. Where? My lungs? my heart? If I let it go that far, I know I won't be able to breathe, but I can't seem to do anything except the sidewalk where the unfortunate heat and vomiting are everywhere. Time and time again, until there is nothing in my stomach.
I can't stand up. I can't run anymore. I can't cry.
I raised my head in tears and saw the silhouette of someone approaching me. It's Diez, with an umbrella in one hand and champagne in the other. Our eyes met and her eyes were frightened. What did she say to me. Her mouth moved, but I couldn't hear her because of thunder sounding in my ears. We looked at her intently, the pain seemed to be relieved enough to make me staggering to my feet, until she turned and ran away, and I found myself lying on the ground again, hands and knees.
I threw up again. This time it was blood. I collapsed beside me. The rain was heavy and urgent, and there was nowhere to go. There was at least two inches of rain in the parking lot, and I fell into a deep cold puddle. I can't lift my face out of the water. Even if the rain is cold, every part of my body is burning. I feel like I'm on fire. My heart pounded involuntarily. I'm dying. I am very sure. If my heart didn't explode, I would drown in this damn puddle.
The pain began to ease again. I looked up from the sidewalk and saw Nick sprinting wildly in the parking lot. Diez dropped the umbrella, her hair, makeup, and clothes were not paying attention, she almost followed his steps.
The closer Nick gets to him, the less pain and pressure become. He is very close to me now, I can hear his yelling, but I can't hear what he is talking about, just like it suddenly started, I was released. I felt a surge of adrenaline and fear, which was completely different from what I knew and could imagine.
Run! A voice screamed in my head, and I restrained the forced voice command. I didn't think about it or wait for Nick, so I climbed into the car from the sidewalk. I miraculously found the car key and inserted it into the ignition. go! go! go!
The car suddenly leaned forward, and I looked at the rearview mirror, Nick's expression seemed to be saying.
He was yelling, but all I could hear was the voice in his head—Run! Run! Run!
I want to stop. I thought, but no. I can not. I definitely can't. Before leaving the parking lot, I had put the small hatchback in fourth gear.
I am convinced.
Portland.
Out of the hotel parking lot, a turn, a turn, and on the highway, I was shaking and horrified, I thought nothing. I am in an autonomous driving state.
My fingers and toes started tingling again, and my arms and legs started to hurt. When I slowed down the accelerator, my teeth clenched tighter and the pain increased.
There is a small part of my mind, a small piece of it, wondering why I haven't thought, and have started trying to regain control.
I pushed my car to its limit, and the pain in my hands and feet began to ease. When I slowed down, the pain came back, and it got worse every time. The faster I drive, the better it feels.
Go ahead.
Go ahead.
Go ahead.
I don't know who or what I am escaping from, but I am escaping, and I know that, deep in my heart, this is a race of life. I either evade everything that pursues me, or I die.
I couldn't see the other side of the headlight, I drove it too fast, and I knew my speed and stormy night had ruined my reaction time. This is a dangerous road, but I left my common sense and vomit and my dignity in the hotel parking lot.
My phone rang. It lies on the passenger seat. I picked it up and looked at it.
Nick it flashed.
I threw it back on the seat.
The bell rang again.
Nick.
I laughed, my voice sounded distant and hollow. There was silence in the car, only the wheels on the road and the exhausted engine were spinning, and I pushed it to the maximum.
The phone rang again.
Nick.
"Stop calling!" I shouted hoarsely.
The pain of acupuncture needles came to my heart again. This time, no matter how fast I drove, it didn't retreat. My vision began to narrow.
The phone rang again.
"What?" I yelled at it. I had no intention of answering, but when I looked at it, it was not Nick, it was Ben. Instinctively, I reached out to grab it, and it slid across the seat. I turned suddenly. Someone honked the horn.
Oh shit.
I stretched my hand across the passenger seat. My fingers squirmed inch by inch, and at the same time I tried to lift my head, my eyes fixed on the road. Just when my fingertips were about to touch it, the phone's ringing stopped. Damn it. I slammed my palms against the steering wheel. Book.
The bell rang again.
I slowed down until the pain was almost excessive, and rushed to the phone. found it!
I opened it, pressed it to my ears, and accelerated the speed at the same time, hoping that the pain would be relieved.
"I'm here! I'm here! Wait a minute, please wait for me," I said into the phone, but that was not what I wanted to say at all.
"What? What? What's going on? Are you okay, Abby? What happened?" It was Nick.
"Please understand," I heard my voice say. Without my order, these words flew out of my mouth. my voice. Not what I said. "Please understand. I have to go. He needs me. You are wrong. He does love me. Please understand. It is unfair for you to let me stay. Cruel and unfair. He loves in the best way he knows. I. I am willing to do anything for him. I am willing to give my life for him. Russell, please understand me and don't come to me."
"Russell? Who is Russell?" Nick shouted from my phone.
His voice scared me back to reality.
"Nick?" I said. "Help me. I have something wrong. I think I'm going crazy."
"Where are you?"
"I'm on Route 6 to Portland," I shouted. The pain hit my hands and feet violently, and throbbed as my heart beat faster. I started to breathe quickly.
"Pull over," he said calmly and firmly. "I will come to pick you up. I'll be here soon."
"Please listen to me. I never thought of hurting you. I love you, you know I love you, but it's different. Please don't come. Please don't follow. He will be very angry with you. He will Killed you. Promise me. Don't come, "It's my voice again. I heard it, but it wasn't me. The small part of my brain where something terrible is happening burns up like DúLìrì fireworks and then explodes. I can feel the hot hiss behind my right eye.
"Oh, my goodness!" I cried out in pain. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)