Dr Tara Campbell

31.2. I am…

[Follows all HERE]

Tara knew that dragging tiredness from the last time she was sick enough to fall into a diabetic coma. Her body feeling like it was trapped in a wrap of wet sheets and the inability to keep her eyes open, even if she felt like she had slept for months. Lifting her head, her hands, rolling over in bed… it all felt like she was zapping the very last of her lifetime energy supply. She would never get used to the machines, either. That beeping reminded her too much and too starkly of when Lachlan was shot. The IVs always stung in her hand, too. She should be happy. She should be ecstatic. It should be the happiest time of her life. But she was miserable.

( She swallowed, trying to wet her throat which felt constantly dry now and opened her eyes again... )


Word Count | 799

6.1 Paranoid

I’ve never really been a paranoid person, until I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. Of course, it all happened so quickly that I didn’t actually realise I had reason to be paranoid before it was too late. I don’t even remember exactly what the woman said, but I know she was taunting Lachie about me. Lachie was trying to protect me from the minute his shooter appeared before us, but even then at the point, he didn’t realise she had been stalking him for weeks.

And then before I knew it, he was in my arms covered in blood and all I could think to do was scream for help. Everything beyond that is a blur. I don’t remember it. I don’t want to remember it. Living with the memory of his blood covering my hands and soaking my shirt is enough. I can still feel it… and smell it… like it happened just yesterday. And I remember how when I checked for his pulse, there was barely a flicker against my finger and then it was gone.

What am I paranoid about? Losing my husband. Feeling for that pulse again and the flicker dying on me. I still wake up screaming from horrific nightmares about the shooting and check for his pulse. I fear one day I’m going to do that and feel nothing. I’m constantly waiting at every turn for someone to take him from me. Every day that lingers through his recuperation and he continues to suffer pain and heartache from his injuries is another day I think that I’m going to step around another corner of horror and next time we won’t be so lucky.

But if it’s happened and it’s really been our living nightmare, it is really paranoia running through me… or anticipation?


Muse | Dr Tara Brennan-Campbell
Fandom | House M.D. (Original Character)
Words | 303