Renee stumbled, dazed. How long had she been dreaming? She didn’t know. She pinched herself, but she couldn’t wake up. She tried to scream, but the words were stuck in her throat. She could not speak. She could not wake up. The nightmare was stubborn; no matter how much she tried to will it away, it would not disappear. She was trapped.
Shards of glass dug into her hands. A wave of panic washed over her. Opening and closing her fists, she noticed her hands had gone numb. She gasped for air.  She couldn’t breathe.  
Before the nightmare, life had been good. In fact, it had been great. Having just graduated from high-school months before, the year had been one of firsts: The first car, the first dorm room, the first kiss. She had traveled 300 miles away from home to attend a private University. Renee had been one step closer to her goal of majoring in criminal justice. But then the dream had changed scenes dramatically.
She had gone to class one morning when her heart suddenly began to race. Renee had asked to see the school nurse, and when the nurse took her vitals. Her heart rate was at 200, 100 beats above the normal rate. She had been rushed to the emergency room, all the while being scared she was going to die.
“We’re going to run some tests,” the doctor had told her.
The results? Tachycardia, a medical condition where the heart beats too fast, but the cause was unknown. The doctors called her a medical mystery, because though she had a diagnosis, they could not find the cause.  Her heart tissue was normal and non-defective. Her blood levels were normal, and she wasn’t using drugs or smoking. Still, the episodes of tachycardia continued.
Now, it was happening again. She didn’t know why but she was afraid-afraid for her life. What if she collapsed? What if she was having a heart attack?  Renee’s thoughts were racing. She was trembling. She leaned against the wall to steady herself.
“Renee, are you okay?” A concerned friend had come around  the corner.
The room was  spinning, spinning…
“Renee?”
And then everything went black.