"Can you hear me?" a voice said. I groaned. I was in pain, a lot of pain.
"Is he awake?" another voice asked.
"He's responsive," the first replied. "But he seems pretty out of it."
"I'm awake," I tried to say, but all that came out was a cry because the pain made speaking impossible.
I don't know how long I was unconscious, but I do know that the longer I was awake, the worse the pain became.
"We'd better get him to the hospital stat," the second voice said. "I don't see any visible wounds, but something has to be seriously wrong for him to be in that much pain."
I agreed, but I had no more idea what was causing me the pain then they did. All I knew was that it was bad, very bad. My head didn't ache, throb or even pound. It simply exploded, over and over again.
"Why does all the weird shit always happen on Halloween?" the first voice asked.
"Don't ask me," the second replied. "Just be happy you're out here with him. Inside is gruesome. The smell alone was bad enough to make one of the younger cops vomit."
I heard what they were saying, but it was impossible to focus on their words. The pain was too intense. I could no longer control my cries.
"Let me give him something for the pain and then we'll move him," the first voice said.
'Thank you!' I cried, but the words were buried in my screams.
A few moments and an eternity of pain later, the pain dulled considerably. Now it only felt like two muscled bound men with twenty-pound sledgehammers were taking turns on my temples. I stopped crying out constantly. My throat felt raw. I lost track of things for a while, but never fully lost consciousness.
The ride to the hospital was one long, pain-fogged memory I hope never to fully recall. There were moments I wanted to die and get it over with, but then I would remember Annie and start fighting against the pain.
I'd only met her three short months ago, but from the first time our eyes met I knew she was the one. Annie was the love of my life. She was also three thousand miles away.
This business trip was my last scheduled one for my company for a while. I'd just received a promotion that finally raised me to a level where I needed to spend my time in the home office and not out on the road. It also came with a generous raise. Everything had come together at the right time.
I asked Annie to marry me the weekend before I left. It was the third month anniversary of our first date. She agreed without hesitation and made me the happiest man alive.
So, because of her I refused to die now. I rejected the thought that death would be better than living through the pain. It would make everything a waste. I abandoned all thoughts except one. I wanted to see Annie again. I would see Annie again!
The next twenty-four hours were a blur. My first coherent thought came toward the end of that time. I opened my eyes and there was my Annie, sitting in the chair next to my bed looking pale and frightened. I forced a smile despite the pain as I reached out and took her hand in mine. The pain didn't disappear, but I was finally able to fully control it. I could do that for Annie.
"Hey beautiful," I said hoarsely. Annie's smiled nervously. "You didn't think I'd ask you to marry me and die on you, did you?"
"Don't even joke about that!" she snapped, her fear obvious.
"Sorry," I said, squeezing her hand. She was crying as she leaned over and kissed my forehead.
"No, I'm sorry for overreacting," she said in a more controlled voice. "But you scared me."
"I'm fine," I promised her. She gave me a disbelieving look, so I quickly added, "Or I will be in time."
"Yes, you will," she smiled, but there was a certainly in her voice that was more promise and hope than knowledge. I smiled.
I dated a lot of women over the years and I thought I knew my type pretty well. Typically they were tall, beautiful and leggy. You know the type, every hair in place and a little more makeup than usual, but not too much. In short, the type that frequently became models. My own personal preference was brunettes, although I had dated some blonds over the years.
Annie was none of those. Her hair was red and a wild mass that she failed to tame no matter how much she tried. I'd never seen her put makeup on although I'm sure she did at least for special occasions. She stood only an inch or two over five feet tall. I'd say she was pixyish, but she wasn't particularly fragile looking.
Annie's hips and ass were wider than what was thought of as attractive these days, and her legs were a little more muscular than you would expect. Her breasts were full, but not too big or small. She had nice wide shoulders and an oddly attractive neck. The only truly impish thing about her other than her height was her smile. All in all, she made a surprisingly attractive package.
The odd part wasn't that she didn't look like my type. It was that she was so different from any other girl I met. She was one of the few truly real people I'd ever met. Annie was a good person through and through. I trusted her from the first moment we met, and for me that was a big deal. I can't really explain it. I looked at her lovingly.
"I hope this all wasn't a ploy just to get me out here to visit?" she asked, smiling. I knew she was just trying to lighten the mood and I appreciated the effort. I looked at her and felt a sudden pang of desire.
'I must love her,' I thought with an internal laugh. 'Otherwise I would never put up with her refusing to sleep with me for this long.'
Annie was younger than me, but not that much younger. It was an oddity for someone her age to be a virgin, but she insisted she was saving herself for her wedding night. A part of me thought that was silly, but another respected her for her commitment.
"No comment," I smiled, answering her question. We stayed like that for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company. I spent the time remembering how we met and fell in love.
"So, what happened?" Annie asked me, breaking me out of my thoughts. It was only then that I realized that the pain was starting to seriously subside. I smiled in relief.
"I don't honestly know. The last thing I remember was being at Jerry house," I replied. Jerry was an old friend and coworker. Annie met him the last time he was in town for a meeting. "He invited me to spend Halloween with his family. His wife Sally is an excellent cook and his kids are fun, so I took him up on the offer. It was Halloween after all."
"We just finished eating breakfast and I was in the living room having a good time watching the kids get into their costumes when we suddenly heard some screaming coming from his neighbor's house. Jerry and I ran outside."
"We went to the house and the front door flew open just as we got there," I continued. "A woman came running out with two kids. Jerry took one of them from her. The woman was crying and talking about her youngest who was still inside. I remember thinking that the house was on fire, but now I'm not sure. There was definitely a burning smell, but I couldn't place it. I still can't."
"What happened next?" Annie asked.
"I don't know," I replied. "I think I went inside, but I can't remember."
"You did," a female voice said from the door. I looked up and saw an African American woman standing there. She had the look of a police officer. "The house was on fire and you pulled the woman's youngest child and a nun from the house."
"A nun?" I asked in disbelief.
