The lights were screaming at her.  

Buzzing fluorescent lights on the ceiling above her head sounded like a million bees angrily attacking her as she lay on the bed.  The light burned into her retinas.  It hurt.  Everything hurt.  

Dana squinted and tried to turn her head away.  Her body felt like it was on fire as it lay on the gurney.  Yet, she also felt oddly cold.  Relentless shivers racked her body, sapping what little energy she had left.

She shifted her eyes away from the lights and looked up at the nurses and doctors surrounding her.  They all wore expressions of concern that did nothing to calm Dana’s nerves.  She writhed uncomfortably on the bed, but the worried-looking people held her arms down.  She struggled against them, but she was too weak for her actions to have any real effect.

Then, through her haze of pain and confusion, she heard a familiar voice.  Alice.  

“I’m right here, Dana… I’m right here!” she called from the hallway behind the gurney as Dana was wheeled away.  

Dana tried to look back at Alice, but she didn’t have the strength to turn enough to see her.  As she was wheeled away, she gathered all her energy and called back, “Don’t leave, Alice.  Please, don’t leave.”

“I won’t, Dana!” Alice replied, trying to sound reassuring, but feeling as though her knees would buckle if she took a step in any direction.  She watched helplessly as Dana was taken through a pair of doors at the end of the corridor.  Only when the doors had shut firmly, removing Dana from her sight, did Alice’s legs finally give out from under her.  Slowly, she crouched down in the middle of the corridor, feeling like a hole had just been punched in her stomach.

***

“Alice?” a low voice asked cautiously.  Alice lowered the hand that had been covering her eyes and looked up to see Shane’s concerned face staring down at her.  Feeling as though she was still moving in slow motion, she got up from her chair and let Shane envelop her in a firm hug.  The tears that she had kept at bay finally spilled over and slid down her face as she held onto her friend tightly.