Dreaming Of Coughing Up Blood Novels & Stories

Like I’ve been coughing for hours. Slowly, the room comes into focus. My bedroom. The familiar ceiling. The soft glow of morning light pushing through the curtains. Not a hospital. Just my room. Just a dream. Except it didn’t feel like a dream. Dreams fade when you wake up. This one didn’t. I still remember the blood. The panic. The moment my body simply stopped listening to me. I inhale and exhale slowly before forcing myself out of bed. My body feels heavy, but the dryness in my throat pushes me toward the kitchen. I need water. Badly.

The feeling rushed upwards, until I couldn’t hold it in. I lifted up from my bed quickly, nails dug into the edge of the bedframe. Warm wetness gushed out from my mouth as I coughed. It splashed right against the floor. The metallic taste of blood flooded my tongue, making me gag as dizziness washed over me. Wiping the back of my hand against my chin, my eyes hardened at the sight of the red patch—blood. The feeling squeezed me even more. I grabbed my chest— urgh. “What’s going on?”

As I raced through the forest, my morning routine to run the entire perimeter of the territory, I felt a stab of pain in my chest. Coughing, I slowed my run and shifted, leaning against a tree for support. Covering my mouth for another cough, I felt something wet against my hand. I pulled it away and my eyes widened. Blood.

Then I coughed. The cough hurt my throat, and I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my voice in case someone was listening. When I removed my hand, I saw a bloodstain on my palm. My vision was going from blurry to clear and blurry again. I wondered why I had blood in my cough. But before I could comprehend that, I coughed more vigorously, and blood pushed out of my throat. I panicked when I saw that, but before I knew it, I was vomiting, and it was blood all over me.

If anything, the throbbing in my head felt sharper. I pushed myself out of bed and dragged my feet to the bathroom, hoping cold water on my face would help. But halfway through, a cough hit me so hard I had to grip the sink. One cough. Two. Three—until I tasted metal. When I looked down, there it was. Blood.

I couldn't get it so I had to hold my chest to ease the cough but it wasn't working. I looked miserable. I felt miserable I am miserable. I felt something stuck in my throat as I tried coughing it out only to be met with blood on my hands. Tears welled up in my eyes as the fact that I'm dying seemed to sink in deeper than ever before. The wind blew but it didn't seem to blow away my problems. I struggled to get up, then used a tissue to clean up my hand and bloody mouth. My hand moved towards the glass of water on the table to have a sip but it only felt like I was drowning a glass of blood instead of the transparent liquid in my hand.

"My stomach, it hurts..." Nakoa gasps, hopping onto her feet. "What's going on?" Warmth suddenly floods my throat, tasting metallic before I cough it onto the ground, unable to control it. Looking down in horror, I see blood staining the gravel, now dripping down my chin. When I look up at Clea and Nakoa, their eyes are wide and their mouths are hanging open, as horrified and disgusted by the image of me coughing blood onto my feet.

I feel my ribs bust and a growl of pain vibrates hugely from my throat as I cough out blood. I fight the blackness creeping into my vision but that's nearly impossible as gravity takes effect, slamming my eyes close. . . TBC.

It feels like liquid fire expanding in my lungs, a sharp, tearing pressure that cuts off my airway entirely. A harsh, hacking cough rips violently through my throat. I jerk backward, breaking his grip as I instinctively bring my right hand up to cover my mouth, my body trembling from the sudden, agonizing spasm. The taste of heavy iron and copper instantly coats my tongue, warm and thick. I pull my hand away from my lips, my chest heaving as I look down into my palm in the dim twilight of the hallway. Blood. Thick, dark, metallic-smelling blood is dripping from my fingers, pooling in the creases of my skin and smearing across my palm.

The taste of blood filled his mouth. He looked down. He had coughed up blood.