The Woman In The Woods by J A Baker

Author:J A Baker [Baker, J A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2023-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

25

My eyes snap open. I’m aware that something is wrong, that my surroundings are unfamiliar. Everything hurts when I attempt to pull myself upright from whatever it is I’m lying on, my body resisting and slumping back down. I’m not at home in bed, or on the sofa. It’s a different sensation, the surface beneath me not like any of my own furnishings. It has a leather-like feel to it. A sticky vinyl texture that forces me to sit up.

I think about my medication, its side effects, the worry of being transported to hospital. A pain ricochets through my head, pounding behind my eyes and making me woozy as I shift about and move. Dust motes swirl in the dim light that is filtering in from a nearby window. A hand is placed on my arm, heavy fingers pressing me back down. Then a voice, soft and comforting.

‘Don’t try to sit up. You need to rest. The ambulance is on its way.’

Panic cuts me in half.

An ambulance. No hospital. No more doctors.

‘I’m fine.’

I’m not fine. I feel anything but fine. Sickness swills in my stomach. My throat is tight and painful. My head hurts like hell. I am anything but fine but the last thing I want is to be taken away by a team of medics and ferried into the hospital where specialists will prod and poke at me, shining lights in my eyes and sticking needles in my arms, discussing what is best for me. Making decisions about my body and my illness when all I want is to just go home. I need to see Whisky, to let him out. He’ll be ready for a feed and a walk. A lump is wedged at the back of my throat. Tears burn at my eyes. I visualise my cottage, the daylight slowly vanishing, leaving Whisky plunged into darkness, and want to open my mouth and scream that I need to be left alone.

‘You need to rest up.’ I recognise Alicia’s voice, a quiet and gentle sound, reassuringly familiar in a frightening and unfamiliar place.

I feel her strength, the pressure of her fingers on my shoulders as she tries to pull me back into a lying position. I resist and carefully remove her hands, realising where I am.

‘Honestly, I feel loads better.’ As I’m saying it, the whole sorry debacle comes flooding back to me. I don’t feel better but I do need to go home. ‘My dog,’ I say, swinging my legs off the makeshift couch I’m lying on. ‘I need to take him out for a walk.’ I think about the distance to where the hire car is parked on the other side of town. It’s not far at all. I made it this morning in just over five minutes but with a swimming head and weak legs it may as well be on the other side of the world.

‘I really think you should stay here and get checked over. That was quite a hit you took on your head when you passed out.

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