Feverish dreams were the strangest things. They often made you feel like you were in some parallel universe where nothing made sense to you, yet they somehow made sense in that world. Penny's thoughts were a flurry of different things. She couldn't figure any of it out, only that she felt things from the real world and translated them into something awfully strange in her dream world.
For example, she had known the moment John had walked in the room. She had felt him there, had heard his voice. She could even see him, though her eyes were still closed. Yet, the Johnny she saw in her dreams wasn't Johnny at all. He felt like Johnny to her, but he didn't look like him at all. Were there two Johnny's? Was one of them the good Johnny and one the bad Johnny? Were they struggling with some crazy inner conflict, one to overpower the other in a constant battle of wits and strength? And how come that related so much to her?
She'd been going in and out of dream mode for the last few days. Her fever wasn't letting her get much social time in. She had seen glimpses of her boyfriend here and there, had spoken to him on several occasions, but she couldn't tell the difference between the real conversations with him and the ones she had in her dreams with him. Everything had sort of blended together, and as much as she tried, Penny was having a hard time fighting to keep both worlds separate. Johnny was right about her feverish dreams. They were not peaceful. She spent most of her time fighting off the part of her that was infected, and in a way, she was killing herself off in the process. How awfully she resembled the part of the Hero's Journey where one had to die in order to be reborn again.
She was awake now though, or mostly awake anyway. It had taken her some time, but she finally found her voice. She had been wanting to call John since he had gotten there, but it was only now that she had forced herself out of the darkness for a little while. "Is that you?" Her voice sounded hoarse, as if she hadn't used it in years. No doubt Annie wasn't going to want her doing duets with her any time soon. What a silly thing to think of at a time like this.