Day 6: The Lights Go Down
I grappled at the armrests so frantically that I was sure I had ripped them from my chair. My eyes snapped open in terror; my heart tried to jump out of my chest, and I gasped for air.
“Whoa there. You okay?” Bruce asked.
I was confused and frightened when I looked at him. I swallowed hard, trying to regain my composure.
“Yeah, yeah. Bad dream.”
“Julie again?”
“No. Susan’s voice … and then—then I was dying. Or at least I thought I was dying.”
“I was about to wake you up anyway. You’ve been asleep for almost fourteen hours. You’ve missed three meals and the complimentary beverage truck a dozen times.”
“Are you serious? I’ve been sleeping that long?”
“I got about six hours myself.”
I rubbed the residual sleepiness from my eyes and glanced out the window. T
