The Darkness under the Light

Confusion

*Ida's POV*

I wake up groggily on a table in my classroom. My clinic partner Jack, my professor, and a few other students are around me, checking my vitals and applying a few ice packs to my neck and head. I try to sit up but a sharp pain rings in my brain.

"What happened? Am I okay?" I ask groggily, rubbing my face with my hands.

"We think so. If you didn't wake up in a couple more minutes we were going to call an ambulance. You just hit the floor like a sack of bricks while taking my blood." Jack says to me with his monotone voice.

"Kinda funny that you passed out at the sight of blood, maybe you aren't in the right field." an older woman classmate says to me. The sky remark doesn't even process in my head yet. I can't focus on anything except the weight of my body.

I shrug my shoulders, I felt so devoid of energy. I take a cup of water given to me and sip it a bit until I can sit up all the way. Before I left for the day my professor called me into his office to inform me that I did well with the procedures, so he would let me pass this clinic, but I would need to sit in on the next round to ensure I could handle the sight of blood before continuing with my own clinics. Great, just what I needed, a wasted day to watch others. I thank him, pick up my bags and start the walk back to my dorm.

As I'm passing by Lily's building I look up to her window, her light was on and I considered asking for a ride this time. I just can't bring myself to bother, though. I just want to be home, now. Before I turn my head away I see another window's curtains flush open and a man's face appear. We accidentally lock eyes, so I turn quickly to begin walking, cheeks flushed. I think he was cute but that is the LAST thing on my mind. I do not need romance right now, I need to go home and collect myself. A minute of walking passes by before I hear the thuds of a person running behind me, so I shuffle to the side thinking maybe it was a jogger. Only a crazy person would jog in this heat, though.

"Hey!" a man's voice calls, close to me now. I turn my body behind me to look and it's the window man.

"Huh? I'm sorry, do I know you?" I ask with a polite yet firm tone.

This dude catches up to where I'm standing with a big breath of a huff. "Oh, no, I don't think we've ever met. I've seen you walking by sometimes and talk to my neighbor Lily, but I saw you looking up at my window today and I thought-"

"No, I was looking up at my friend's window to see if she was home, but your curtain moving caught my eye. I'm sorry if that was a creepy thing to do." I interrupt, my face now flushed a deep red. I'm starting to feel very sick again with the heat on my face.

"I can see you're a med student, what with your scrubs on. I'm a biology major, minoring in biomedical engineering. I'm surprised we haven't run into each other here yet!" the man says with a big friendly smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah. I'm only in my first year here." I respond, trying to focus on not spilling my guts all over this guy's shoes.

"My name's Mitchell by the way, well Mitch is what I get called around here." he says, eyes wide hoping for my name in response. He's practically beaming with energy.

"Ida" I say, a bit of chill in my tone now. I need to get home, and mister window guy isn't what I want right now. I can feel my knees start to buckle a bit, weakness spreading through me.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to help you get home?" Mitchell asks me tenderly, a hint of worry on his face. Who does this guy think he is, a knight in shining armor?

"No no, I just wanna get home. I'm tired is all." I state firmly, hands stuck out in front of me to deny the offer. I'm wobbling where I stand now, though, and I can feel the blood drain from my face as my body demands to pass out again.

Suddenly, he scoops me up into his arms bridal style. "Where do you live? You don't look okay at all." Mitchell asks forcefully. I don't even have the strength to fight back at this moment. Between the heat and my weakness right now, I'm nothing better than a bag of jello. I give him my address and as he carries me effortlessly, I drift off into a sleep.

----------

I wake up in my bed, my head filled with fog. I could barely even remember how I got here until his face popped in my mind.

"Hello?!" I call out with a panic, but there is no reply. I look around my smaller than a studio apartment dorm room. My bags are here, keys on the counter top, my cellphone, where's my phone? I look over my bedside table and there it was, but next to it a small note.

"Ida, I would've stayed to make sure you're alright but didn't think you'd wanna wake up to a guy in your place. Call me when you're feeling better, or if you need anything. -Mitchell ×××-×××× "

Ugh, fantastic, now a stranger knows where I live. He did get me home safe, though. I toss the note back down before I plop onto my bed again. My thoughts start coming back to me of the clinical today, the needles, the blood. The last thing I saw was Jack's vial of blood and I felt...weird... about it. It made me feel so hungry, like I've never seen food before. And the smell of iron, perhaps I need to eat more meat if that horrible smell actually seemed attractive to me. Maybe I'm anemic again? That wouldn't surprise me.

Standing up to walk to my mini fridge, of course I had nothing substantial in there. Just some drinks and yogurt. I would have to order out for tonight to feel well enough for tomorrow's class. Scrolling through my food ordering app, nothing stood out to me, so I just ordered a cheap burger. It took about fifteen minutes to arive, the smell was alluring enough so I dug in, or at least tried to. The first bite made me almost throw up, the taste close to rotting meat. Examining it, the meat was fine, well cooked and the correct color, none of the add ons were off either. I take a sip of the soda that came with and that too held the taste of rot. Unbelievable, I go to my snack stash and grab a fresh bag of chips, the same taste presented itself.

Frustrated, I run to my bathroom to wash my mouth out, but even through the intense burn of mouth wash I could still taste the rot. I fall down to my knees and clasp my face in my hands, hyper-ventilating now. My mind races back to class again, the blood. This all started with seeing blood! The thought made my stomach churn relentlessly. What is happening to me? Am I some kind of freak? I cannot go see another doctor who will just tell me I need my head checked like I'm some nut case. No, tomorrow I'll just go get some blood from a butcher or something. I'll try it and then get over this sick urge of mine, then, I can get on with my life. One step at a time...just one step at a time Ida.