The paramedic threw me a cautious glance from beneath his lashes as he inflated the blood pressure cuff surrounding my arm. The uncomfortable tightening sensation around my upper arm was similar to the one invading my chest.

"I'm not making this up," I protested meekly as I attempted to sink further into the ambulance's cot. The cot was startlingly comfortable, despite all the claims I had heard otherwise. Then again, I'm sure it would seem comfortable to me.

"I didn't say you were," the paramedic stated hesitantly while looking up from the meter on the blood pressure cuff long enough to throw me a puzzled glance. It was an improvement from the previous looks he had been shooting my way, which seemed to suggest I had grown fangs or another head.

In his defense, all of the cautious looks I had been receiving were probably warranted. I wouldn't expect most sane people to believe a story like mine either, which is probably why I shouldn't have blurted it out to the first person who asked me a simple question. I'm not sure if he recognized me or not, because I'm not entirely sure whether my face had been plastered all over the news or whether I had just unobtrusively slipped into oblivion. I didn't even know for how long I had been missing…

"We're almost there," a feminine voice from the front seat stated. Her tone did nothing to refute my assumption they just wanted to be rid of me and dump me onto somebody else. I can't say I really blamed them. I wouldn't want to be the one stuck with a case like mine either.

There were a million questions running through my mind at the moment. Since I was dreading the answers to pretty much all of them, I remained silent. I knew he thought I was crazy, and I wasn't too sure of my sanity at the moment either. What if it had all been a dream? What if none of it had really happened? I looked down at my hands and splayed my bare fingers out. There should have been something there to prove it wasn't all just a figment of my imagination, but there wasn't.

My vision blurred and tears threatened to start pouring out at any moment. I managed to get them under control, and realized I needed to focus on other things if I wanted to keep my cool. I pushed everything that had happened to the farthest recesses of my mind, and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. I looked straight ahead and through the back window at the horizon as I tried to get my mind onto different things. It's still autumn…but what year? I noted mentally. Like all of the other questions that had been forming in my mind, I didn't seek the answer to this one either. The view from the window in front of me was one full of rich, inviting colors. The scenery sped by in a blaze of warm shades that were heightened by the orange hues of dusk. This was normally my favorite time of day, and the warm rays of the setting sun usually served to calm me and make me feel at peace. Too bad I seemed immune to their effect at the moment.

The deafening silence in the ambulance was broken by a sudden whooshing noise as the paramedic released the pressure in the cuff. I jumped slightly at the unexpected noise, and noticed another questionable look on the man's face as he noticed my unease. It seemed like they had run out of questions to ask me for the time being. I guess there are only so many times a person can ask "Are you sure you didn't fall and bump your head?" before they get sick of hearing the same, undesirable answer. The awkward silence continued a few moments longer before it was broken by the voice of the paramedic.

"Now, I know you said you didn't take any drugs or medication before the…incident occurred," he began hesitantly. I could tell he was treading carefully, as if he were picking his way through a dangerous minefield rather than questioning a teenage girl. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you, but I just need to be absolutely sure that you aren't under the influence of anything,"

"No," I stated simply and quietly. That didn't seem to be the answer he was looking for.

"What about by accident? Could something have maybe gotten into your food?" I had to admire his efforts to come up with some conclusion as to why I might have been thinking what I was, but I was pretty sure he had already covered the question before. Maybe he was just hoping I was going to give a different answer the second time around.

"Now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't have added all those hallucinogens to my oatmeal for flavoring this morning," I mumbled sarcastically. The paramedic shot me a not-so-approving look, and I felt kind of guilty for giving him a hard time. "No," I began again with a small sigh, "like I said, I haven't had anything since breakfast." I dropped my gaze to the thin, scratchy blanket that was covering me and focused my attention on the loose thread I noticed in the corner. The paramedic let out a resigned sigh and decided to drop the subject.

"Okay, I just have one more question. Everybody hates it," he said while throwing his hands up somewhat defensively, "but I have to ask it. Is there any way you might be pregnant?"

"I-," I began hesitantly before stopping to search for the right answer. "I'm on the shot," I finally answered. The paramedic seemed to note my hesitation, and the fact that I hadn't actually given him an answer. He scrutinized me a while longer before reaching for the radio.

"I'm calling it in," the paramedic said to the driver. I awkwardly cleared my throat when a threatening lump started to form there. I took in the view of the ambulance from my position on the cot as I tried to focus on other things.

The ambulance was immaculately clean, and slightly threatening. I saw packages of gauze, bandages, and saline tucked tightly into the cabinets, as well as numerous blankets and towels. I even noticed a mound of stuffed animals residing on a shelf (talk about depressing). In another cabinet I noticed something that resembled restraints, and made a mental note that I should at least be grateful they hadn't used those on me.

My gaze had swept over the maroon, padded benches on the side, when an object caught my attention that caused all other thoughts to flee from my mind.

"What?" The paramedic's face wore a troubled expression as he halted the radio's progress towards his mouth. I must have made some sort of noise without realizing it.

"That book…" I said in a meek, strangled voice. The paramedic briefly looked down at the book and then back at me.

"Oh, that. Yeah, Patty usually sits back here on the cot and reads while I take care of all the work inside," he said with a small smile as he nodded his head towards the general direction of the driver, Patty. "I guess everybody's reading that thing nowadays," he said nonchalantly. I couldn't turn my attention away from it. The tears that I had been struggling to hold back suddenly began to overflow. I didn't need to be told what the book was about, because I knew its contents a little too well. So much for trying to focus on other things.

Since this is my first story, I would REALLY appreciate reviews and feedback, whether they be praise, constructive criticism, or just criticism. I'll try to update this story often :)