Chapter Four

My hands hit the beam as I do a layout. The motion of being upside down makes me dizzy and I try to orient myself. I practice doing back pikes across the beam a few times before doing a standing Arabian into a back pike. I never have problems with this set before, but my foot misses the beam and I try to do a balance check but end up falling smashing into the mats on the floor. My whole-body flares with pain and I look up to the ceiling disoriented. Everything is blurry and overbearingly bright as I gaze at a few faces above me. Voices echo around me and I hear it, laughter. They are laughing at me for falling and hurting myself. The laughter continues to echo and multiply until I jolt awake and the entire left side of my body is throbbing.

Grabbing my glasses and looking at the clock on my bedside table, I see that it is barely five in the morning. Rubbing my eyes frustrated, I stand up and try to walk off the pain from the dream. Rather than trying to go back to bed I get up, I know there is no point in trying to sleep again, I am always wide awake after that nightmare. Instead, I opt to get ready for work.

"What are you doing up so early pumpkin?" My dad asks me as I pour myself a bowl of cereal. I see his glass of tea on the table and I toss him his morning orange.

"I had a bad dream and decided to just get up and get ready," I say through my bites of cereal.

"What was the dream about?" He asks worriedly.

"I just fell off the beam again," I say.

This wasn't the first time I have had this dream. It's a reoccurring nightmare that happens when my stress levels spike. Even though I didn't actually fall off the beam during that routine, my brain seems to amplify the scenario exponentially. I wash my dishes and kiss my dad on the cheek before heading out to work.

I arrive at the office over an hour before I am due to be there. I make my way up to the fifth floor and walk into our lab and pull the whiteboard to the middle of the room. I lay out all of our notes and start crunching the numbers that we didn't get too yesterday. I run through quite a few equations before I get to one that works. I transfer it to a different whiteboard and start working on the dimensions the staff should be and how much metal we will need. In the handgrips of the staff would be all of the wirings so that would need to be hallowed out.

I start drawing up a diagram of what kind of wiring we would need when someone clears their throat behind me. I spin around surprised; I didn't hear anyone enter! Turning my attention towards the door, I see Alexander standing there looking sharp in a dark blue suit and vibrant grey tie.

"Is something wrong?" I ask him, glancing at my watch. It is ten of eight.

"What are you doing here so early Aviva? The logs said that you swiped in over an hour again which means you were here before seven o'clock," Alexander says.

"Science never sleeps," I say with a coy smile before turning back around.

"That is an interesting diagram you have going, but we both know that it is flawed," Alexander says.

"It's the first one of many to be flawed. The wiring does not have enough room to exist or stretch without getting caught on anything else in the expansion of the metal," I say.

"But you have to start somewhere, correct?" Alexander asks looking at all my work.

"Exactly, Camila is also an electrical engineering major, so she can help me try to figure this out as the boys start working on the dimensions for the shield and how it will fold," I say.

"Wonderful," Alexander says pleased.

I start a second diagram and I hear everyone else walk in and Alexander is just standing there watching me work. Everyone puts their things down and I tell them what I think we should work on today and nobody seems to question me right now. Alexander slips out as we start working.

"Let me see what you have," Camila says. I step to the side and she picks up a marker and we start tackling it together.

"When did you get here?" Jayden asks me after we've been working for a while.

"Way too early, I couldn't sleep," I said with a shrug as we tweak the diagram again.

"Do you mind if I run and grab coffee? I didn't have time before work. I can pick something up for everyone," Jayden says.

"If you could get me decaf tea of some sort, I would appreciate that," I say handing him a few dollars.

"Black coffee for me," Camila says tossing him a five.

"Anyone else?"

"I'm good," the other guy's chorus and we all return to work.

Jayden eventually returns with our drinks and I sip on my tea as we continue to work. After a while, my heart starts to race, and my hands start shaking. I can feel sweat starting to form on my forehead and I can't write or draw properly anymore. I become acutely aware of the energy buzzing through my veins and I know my pupils have most likely become dilated. I try hard to focus on our work but the buzzing in the room is driving me crazy and I can't think straight.

"Hey Aviva, are you okay?" Camila asks me, and I shake my head.

"Jayden, what was in that tea?" I ask turning around.

The world starts to shift and break apart in front of my eyes. I go to push my glasses up my face, but they are firmly in their place. Panic courses through me and the world shifts back into place and I make pointed eye contact with Jayden never once relaxing. I don't normally have a reaction to plane decaf tea.

"It was just tea?" Jayden replies confused.

"Was it caffeinated?" I ask sharply as my heart beats rapidly.

"I'm not sure, why?" He asks before glancing down at my hands. They are violently trembling at this point.

"Avi the teabag says it's caffeinated," Camila says worried while carefully handing me the cup. I try to read the little tag, but my hands are shaking so hard that I can't hold it still.

The world shifts around me and I close my eyes as it breaks apart in molecules as if I wasn't wearing my glasses. I don't know if I have always had such an extreme sensitivity to caffeine, but I remember the one time I went and got a cup of coffee with Jacie, I thought I was going to die. Luckily tea generally has less caffeine than coffee once it is steeped.

"I have an extreme sensitivity to caffeine, why do you think I asked for decaf?" I snap out frustrated. I need to go home, now.

I walk over and try to grab my bag off of the table, but it falls out of my shaking hands. I reach again and grab it and sling it over my shoulder. I glance at Camila and she is on her phone. She asks for my address and I recite it without even having to think.

"I'll walk you downstairs," Camila says.

She grabs her ID and puts a hand on my arm, and we walk out of the room. We get in the elevator and my vision continues to flicker in and out. I don't even notice that there is someone else in the elevator until someone says my name.

"Aviva? Can you hear me?" A male voice calls out to me.

I realize that I am now sitting on the floor with my head on my knees. I look up and see Alexander kneeling down over me and I shake my head trying to get the fog that has taken over my brain to go away. The world shifts in and out of focus but eventually I manage to get my mind to focus for more than a moment.

"Jayden went to go and get coffee and she specifically asked for decaf tea and the idiot gave her caffeine. She said she has an extreme sensitivity to caffeine, that's why she's on the floor most likely..." Camila says softly.

I could see her holding the elevator door open and a security guard walks in and hits the hold and lock on the door so that it stays open. I shift my focus back to Alexander and I could see the worry in his eyes before the world breaks apart again. I close my eyes and let out a sigh.

"Can someone just please help me to the car?" I ask sounding defeated.

I put my hand out and Alexander pulls me to my feet. I take a moment to steady myself and he helps me through the lobby and the security officer keeps people out of our way. Once we reach outside the world completely dissolves into atoms and everything turns into unintelligible masses. I hear Alexander telling people to move. Eventually, I am carefully guided into something cooler than the outside air. There is a slam and I know the car door has been closed.

"You have the address, right?" His voice asks, and I turn my head to the side confused. The other door in the car slams shut and somebody sits beside me.

"Yes, I do, is either of you Camila?" The driver asks confused.

"Camila is my friend, she called the ride for me," I say and my words sounding slightly off.

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine," Alexander says, and the cab goes silent.

I don't know how long the ride took but it feels like a century and a half. I don't know why Alexander is even in the car with me. He has a company to run after all; he doesn't need to be babysitting me. The car comes to a stop and the driver says something. I open my eyes and the world is temporarily normal. Opening my door, a hand grabs my arm and helps me out of the car.

"You didn't need to come with me; I can take care of myself," I say trying to pull away and nearly tripping over the curb.

Alexander carefully lets go of me but tries to guide me into my building. I hit the button once we are in the elevator and I feel myself being pulled up ten floors. The doors open, and I push myself off the wall and force myself to walk slowly down the hallway. I stop at my door and dig around blindly for my keys. I couldn't help the annoyed sigh that slips through my teeth as I can't see anymore nor, can I find my keys. Alexander gently takes my bag from me and roots around in it until he pulls out my key chain. He hands my bag back to me and I unlock the door.

"Thank you, you didn't need to do this, and I apologize for being agitated," I say leaning heavily against the door frame.

"Of course I did, you were barely conscious when I found you in the elevator. I certainly wasn't going to stick you in a car and pray that you managed to get to your destination," Alexander says stubbornly. I don't have the energy to debate this with him

"Yeah, thanks again," I say before walking into my apartment and closing the door behind me. I turn the lock after a few tries. Stumbling to the couch I can't see anything. I toss my glasses on the coffee table and fall onto the couch and pass out.

Waking up a few hours later I am much less shaky and once I put my glasses on, I can see normally again. My heart rate has returned to a more normal beat and I am not quite as disoriented as I was before. Checking the clock and see that it is almost five o'clock. I grab the blanket off the back of the couch and curl up with the television on in the background. I am surprised when my dad walks through the door at half-past six.

"Your home early," I mumble sitting up.

"I received a call from your work at lunch saying that you were accidentally given caffeine this morning and you had to be taken home?" My dad asks confused. He undoes his tie and comes and sits next to me. I wonder who called him.

"Yeah it was an accident, I am fine now," I say resting on my dad's shoulder.

"You are beyond drained Aviva," he says stroking my hair.

"Yeah, caffeine has that effect on me. I slept most of the day away," I mumble.

"I'll make dinner quickly and then help you to bed," he says before getting up.

I lay back down on the couch and sleep until my dad gently shakes me away. I am helped to the kitchen and I pick at the food on my plate before I eventually almost face plant into my dinner. I can feel my feet on the hardwood floors but have no control over my body at this point. I fall into something soft and curl up. Something warm is pulled over me and my glasses are taken off my face.

"I love you," I mumble.

There is a warm presence next to me, but it doesn't feel like my dad. There is a softness that feels like a warm gust of air crossing my skin. I think about my mom for a few minutes before my thoughts slowly start to drift away from me.

"I'm sorry I let you down," I mumble thinking of yesterday.

The world swirls in warm oranges and soft browns for a while as my entire body falls back into a deep sleep. My mind stays alert a little while longer and thoughts of my mom and dad drift through my head. Slowly gray consumes my vision and the tones of gray eventually shift to black and I fall back into an unconscious state.