THE DREAM
Chapter 1- The Dream
AN: This is my first GW fanfic. After reading a few forums and some of the recent storylines, this idea popped into my head and I couldn't help myself. I'm somewhat of a newcomer to the show, but now I'm hooked. So, I hope you all enjoy this fic and I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon.
Melinda had been feeling a bit strange lately. In fact, she hadn't seen any ghosts in almost two months. Instead, she had been having the same strange dream every night.
She was surrounded by a field of flowers. There was a soft breeze blowing and she could her children playing. A little girl was running towards her happily and reached out for her to pick her up. As the little girl grew closer, the sky went dark and she saw Gabe come from out of nowhere, following the little girl, his pace growing quicker until he was right behind her. The girl stopped, standing in between Melinda and Gabe. She turned around and looked at the man behind her and then back at Melinda. Every other time she had had the dream, she would hear Gabe say, "Say goodbye, Melinda," As he grabbed the little girl. "Mommy!!!" the girl screamed as she reached out to Melinda. A black cloud would suddenly cover both the girl and Gabe (who had a smirk across his face as if this was exactly what he wanted) and then she would wake up. But this time was different. Melinda knew that if she didn't get to the girl first, Gabe would take her. It was her dream, after all, so she could control what happened. She knew what she had to do. She ran over and swooped up the little girl into her arms. As the two came together a bright light flashed and surrounded them, and Gabe disappeared along with darkness.
"Talk about weird," she whispered as she woke and sat up in the bed. Jim was still sleeping soundly so she tried not to wake him as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen and poured herself some water from the fridge. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and was relieved to see Jim coming around the corner. She missed helping the ghosts, but she would never miss how much they frightened her by showing up out of nowhere.
"Hey, I heard you get up," he said as he walked over to her and kissed her softly, "You had the dream again?"
"Yeah, it was different this time. It's just so frustrating. I just wish I knew what it meant. And why I haven't been seeing any ghosts for two months," she replied, sounding defeated.
"Maybe they're on vacation." She rolled her eyes at his remark and made her way over to the sink to rinse out the glass. He walked behind her and put his arms around her.
"Mel, I'm sorry. But you can't blame me for being a little bit happy that my wife isn't being stalked by ghosts with who knows what kind of powers," Jim replied comfortingly. She wiped a tear from her eyes and turned around toward him.
"I know, but it's who I am. There was a time when I thought I had lost all of my powers and that was only for a short time. It's been two months and I feel like I've lost everything that I am, without the ghosts I'm just another girl living a boring life, helping no one but myself. Like I have no purpose," Melinda tried to keep her composure but failed miserably. She broke down in his arms.
"Hey, hey, hey..shh, You are so much more than just another girl. You are a wonderful person, Mel. There is nothing you wouldn't do for other people. You were willing to sacrifice everything just to save those kids, and they weren't ghosts. I love you Mel, with or without the ghosts." He let her cry in his arms for several minutes until he felt her slowly pull away and wipe the tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry for getting so upset," she said as she wiped the remaining tears off her cheek.
"You don't have to apologize." He pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the forehead.
He took her hand and led her up to their bedroom and into the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and was soon fast asleep, she suddenly realized how tired she was and let herself drift off to sleep. When she woke up she turned over and felt the empty bed beside her. She looked at the clock which read 10:30. Sitting up slowly, she ignored the queezy feeling in her stomach when she saw the note on the nightstand beside her. Jim had called in and let Delia know she was coming in late. She decided she better call Jim and let him know that she was up. She picked up her phone and pushed the speed dial. The phone rang a few times until he answered.
"Hey Mel," he said happily, "You okay?"
"Yeah." She decided there was no need to worry him over a little nausea. After all, it was probably just from everything going on.
"Good. Oh, Sorry Mel, I have to go, but I'll see you at home tonight. Love you," Jim replied as one of his coworkers signaled to him that they had an emergency.
"I love you too and be careful."
"I will."
When she had hung up the phone she made her way into the bathroom. She felt a little dizzy, but assumed it was just from being tired. She finished getting ready and then made her way to the antique shop. She opened the front door and was glad to hear the familiar bells ring as she entered. Delia was helping a customer but smiled at her when she came in. Melinda returned the gesture and motioned that she was going in the back. A new shipment had just come in and she had to sort through it. It was good to have something to occupy her mind with. She set her things down and went over and opened the box and began taking out its contents, writing each item on the inventory. She still couldn't shake the slight dizziness and queasy feeling that was growing worse as the morning wore on. She continued working to get her mind off of everything and stayed in the back most of the day, sorting through the inventory. Once she had sorted through the items, she realized that she had been back there nearly six hours. She needed a break from the dark lighting and decided to take some of the items out to put price tags on them.
"Is everything alright?" Delia asked worriedly as the customer she was helping made their purchase and walked out the door.
"Darn, I thought I was doing a pretty good job hiding how awful I felt," Melinda replied with a weak smile.
"I know there's something wrong when you've barely said anything to me this whole morning and you look like you haven't slept in days."
"I had a rough night last night. I'm probably just tired." Melinda wiped the sweat that was developing on her forehead and realized how warm it felt. Delia looked at her unconvinced that she was telling her the whole story, but not wanting to pursue it considering her "gift".
"I'm okay. I'm just feeling a little under the weather today." Melinda wrote the price and placed the tag on the lamp. Delia looked at the price she had just written.
"If you're okay, why are you pricing this lamp for 3600 dollars?" Delia asked with a small smile.
"Okay, I'm not okay. I'm dizzy, nauseous, and I feel like I haven't slept in a month," Melinda replied, "Not to mention the annoying headache and backache that has been bothering me for the past week. And this dream that I keep having, every night it's the same one. I just can't figure out what all of this is about."
"How long have you been having these symptoms?"
"I've had a few scattered every now and then for the past two weeks, but they are all of the sudden full-blown today," Melinda said, wiping her forehead once again.
"Hmm, well it sounds a lot like the flu, but it also…well, never mind, it's probably just the flu."
"Yeah you're probably right. It's probably the flu," Melinda said confused at what Delia meant. She went in the back to get more of the stock to price when she suddenly realized what Delia was trying to say.
"That would explain a lot," she whispered quietly to herself. She kept working, but couldn't concentrate the rest of the day, especially not after her realization. She just kept thinking about all the possibilities and the same one kept coming back to her mind. Yes, it could be a ghost. But then again, she hadn't seen a ghost in two months. If it was the flu, then why was she having that dream every single night. It just didn't make since. Only one explanation fit. She looked at her watch and decided she should just go home. Jim was going to be there soon anyways. She came out front, keys and purse in hand.
"Delia, can you lock up?" Melinda asked, squinting at the change in lighting from the back to out front.
"Sure. Go home and get some rest, alright," Delia said worriedly.
"Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea. Have a good night," she replied as she walked out the door. She drove home and went inside, setting everything on the table in the hall. Taking off her jacket, she decided that the couch was much closer than going all the way upstairs. She slipped off her shoes and the soft pillows agains the armrest looked more welcoming by the second. The drive home had actually made her feel a lot worse. She suddenly felt nauseous and rushed back to the bathroom, losing all of the lunch that she had eaten earlier. The wave of nausea had done nothing to make her feel better. In fact, she felt ten times worse. She went back to the couch and fell fast asleep as soon as she laid her head on the armrest and closed her eyes. In what seemed like minutes, she woke in their bedroom upstairs. Grabbing the bedpost to steady herself, she made her way out of the room and to the stairway. She slowly made her way down the stairs, hanging onto the handrail the whole way down so she didn't trip. She began to realize that the nap hadn't done much for the dizziness. Jim saw her come around the corner and trip on one of the stairs and catch herself. He got up quickly to help her, realizing her unsteadiness.
"Mel, is everything alright?" He asked worriedly as he took her hand in his and helped her down the last few steps.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little dizzy," she replied as she held onto his arm for support. The look on her face told him something completely opposite though.
"That seemed like more than a little dizzy. You almost fell all the way down the stairway."
"Maybe I should sit down," she said, feeling like she was about to faint. He led her over to the couch, and she let go of the tight grasp she had on his arm.
"I'll be right back," he replied as he quickly rushed out to the truck and got his supplies. He came back in and knelt down next to her and pulled out his stethoscope.
" Lay back for me Mel. I'm just going to check everything and make sure I don't need to take you to the hospital alright?" He waited for her to put up a fight but she didn't, which made him worry even more.
"Ok." She was not going to fight him on this, she was even worried herself.
"Ok, take a deep breath and let it out slowly." She complied and he soon took off the stethoscope.
"Heart rate looks ok."
"That's good," she smiled weakly.
"Very good." He replied and then took her temperature. He moved the hair out of her eyes while he was waiting for the thermometer to beep. He took it out and looked at the reading.
"102.1," he read aloud. He pulled out the blood pressure monitor.
"Last but not least," he said playfully as he set it up. He took it twice to make sure the reading was right. He let out a sigh as he took it off her arm put it back into his bag.
"What's the verdict?" She said through the throbbing headache she was having.
"You are going to the hospital. Your blood pressure and temperature are a little elevated and I'm a little worried," he replied as he zipped up the bag.
"Ok, let's go. I just want to know what's wrong." On all other occasions she would have fought him about this. She hated hospitals, but this time it was to help her, not put her away like the other times.
"Now I know for sure that you don't feel well. Not even a single argument about going to hospitals," he helped her up and she held onto him for support. Suddenly, she felt lightheaded and everything went black.
She heard doctors talking indistinctly around her and saw a bright light. She could feel her heart beating faster. She squinted and opened her eyes, realizing it was just the light above her head, not there to take her away from but to bring her back to reality.
She calmed down as she noticed Jim sitting next to her, holding her hand, asleep with his head on the hospital bed. She must have been somewhat conscious when she first arrived at the hospital because there were no doctors in the room now. She noticed that she felt a little bit better than she had earlier that day. She moved her hand slowly and Jim woke up and looked over at her.
"Mel, you're awake," he said happily.
"Yeah, well, I couldn't miss all the action."
"Seems like you're feeling better." He kissed her and pulled away with a smile.
"Much better actually. Still a little tired and nauseous, but not near as bad as earlier today."
"That's good." She noticed that he couldn't stop smiling at her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She replied with a laugh.
"I have a good reason. A man can't be happy that his wife is awake after fainting in his arms," Jim asked defensively.
"Oh he can be happy, but you're just giddy," she replied playfully.
"Hmm, well I guess you'll find out eventually. Look over there," he said as he motioned towards a machine on the other side of the bed. She followed his gaze and felt like her heart had jumped into her throat when she saw the screen beside the bed. She felt the tears rush to her eyes as she gently touched the screen. She was quiet for several seconds, trying to take it all in. She wiped a tear from her cheek and felt Jim kiss her hand softly.
"Told you I had a good reason," he whispered.
"Yeah, that's a pretty good reason," she chuckled slightly and looked back towards him trying to stop the tears. He wrapped his arms around her and held her. She pulled out of his embrace and kissed him as she laid back against the bed and looked back at the screen.
"I knew it. Somehow I knew it," Melinda said softly as she shook her head in disbelief.
"Maybe this explains the recent ghost hiatus."
"I'm not sure why, but I think you're right," Melinda replied. They heard a soft knock on the door and exchanged a quick glance. Jim went over and answered it while Melinda wiped the tears from her eyes. He opened the door to reveal a frazzled Delia.
"Melinda, thank God, you're alright," she said happily as she rushed over and hugged her. She pulled away when she saw the screen next to the bed.
"Is that what I think it is?" Delia asked with a smile.
"Blame it on woman's intuition, but you're little inkling was right," Melinda said happily.
"I knew it. I just knew it," Delia said as she hugged her again. Melinda laughed and welcomed the hug.
"Okay, well I'm sure you two would like some time alone, so I better be getting home," Delia said with a smile as she waved and walked out the door. Melinda and Jim both laughed as she left.
"I think she was more excited than the both of us."
"No way," Jim replied as he kissed her softly. She fell back and let him kiss her and hold her in his arms. "I'm so happy Jim," she said as she pulled away, "She's going to grow up with two great parents that love her no matter what."
"She?" Jim asked curiously.
"A mother knows these things," Melinda said with a smile.
"And what if you're wrong? The poor kid will have an identity crisis from the start," Jim said playfully.
"I'll take my chances."
"Alright, but don't blame me."
"I won't. Don't worry." Melinda yawned and could feel the excitement of the day getting to her.
"It's been a long day. What do you say we call it a night?"
"Sounds like a good idea," she said as she felt herself begin to drift off. He went over and turned out the lights and then came back over to her and got in the bed next to her, holding her in his arms as she placed her hand on top of his, both resting protectively over her stomach.