The Dawn will Break

Chapter Five

Sunlight flooded the car, catching the stack of rings on Skye's right hand. With narrowed eyes, she watched a kaleidoscope of colour splash across the dashboard. The dappled hues reminded her of something.

"Is it too hot in here? Want me to turn up the AC?" Aunt Judy's voice was overly cheery. She'd arrived for Skye's discharge that morning, traded a sugary Frappuccino for her niece's duffel bag, and together they left room 431 without looking back.

"I'm fine, thanks Aunt J."

It wasn't exactly a lie. Fine was relative, wasn't it? She was fine compared to what she had been.

They stopped to see Skye's mom on their way out of the hospital. She looked smaller than Skye remembered. A pale blue wisp of halo gently cradled her blonde head as it rested against the pillow. Reaching out to grasp her mother's hand, Skye's heart stumbled in her chest.

Bridget's delicate features were pinched, and her bandaged leg rested atop the blankets. She spoke in sighs, but her smile was radiant when she learned Skye was going home — or as close to home as the Brody's cottage would be for now.

Clucking and fussing over her sister, Aunt Judy procured a new stack of magazines from her bag, cleared the bedside table of clutter, and draped a soft throw on the end of the bed.

The longer Judy fussed, the paler her halo grew. Skye watched its transformation quietly, stealing glances at its progress between snippets of conversation. A burnished gold when Skye first spotted her that morning, it was dove-grey by the time they left.

The doctors were vague when Skye asked how long her symptoms would last. They'd advised her to adjust by focusing on people's eyes, their expressions, their speech. In other words, be patient, relax and let her screwed-up vision run its course.

Easy for them to say.

When someone's halo morphed — when the colors bloomed, bleached, paled or blazed — it was hard to look away.

The rays around Aunt Judy's head remained pale until they passed the outskirts of town. Then, with each passing mile, the further they travelled away from Reese Memorial, the more flaxen they became.

Skye rubbed her eyes. Maybe she was just tired. She'd have traded anything to break free from the awkward in-between space she inhabited. Narrowly escaping her violent "before", she was still worlds away from a resolved "after".

I mean, how do you get closure from a nightmare step-dad who almost — scratch that — who DID kill you, but somehow your boyfriend — actually, scratch that, too — the guy you care about but don't have a label for — somehow brings you back from the dead, but you haven't talked about it yet?

'Cause telling anyone would make you crazy or damaged — though, let's face it, you kind of are — and talking about it with HIM would just make everything REAL. And THAT would DEFINITELY mean you're crazy and/or damaged.

So, nope. Closure's not happening anytime soon.
Scratch it all out, Skye. Just scratch it out.

Slumping down in her seat, she sighed.

As they merged onto the highway, the scenery beyond Skye's window transformed into lusher vistas, wide grassy fields, and glimpses of lake. Rich greens, yellows and blues blurred together as they picked up speed.

Aunt Judy flipped on the radio, settling on a station she liked. As notes filled the car, she started to sing. The tone of her aunt's voice reminded Skye of her mother, so she sighed again.

"Damn it, I love this song," Judy turned the volume up a few more notches, cleared her throat and launch into the chorus. Peering over at the driver's seat to catch her concert-for-one, Skye stopped, transfixed by what she saw.

The shade and color of her aunt's halo was shifting in real-time as the notes left her throat. From pale yellow, it bled into ochre, then warmed into a deep gold, like it was responding — no, breathing — along with the music.

What the ...?

Hands on the wheel, eyes on the road, Judy's pipes soared. She was giving it her all, singing like she was in the car alone. As her voice climbed, higher and higher, her halo glowed.

A slow breath leaked through Skye's lips, like air seeping from an old balloon.

Are the colors ... responding to ... how she feels?

A roster of images skipped across Skye's mind — the shifting purple halo atop her nurse's head; the butter-yellow curve that kissed Shelby's curls; the downy blue orb surrounding her mother's skull, and the grey-to-gold magic of Aunt Judy's crown.

A droplet of sweat slipped down her neck and she wiped it away with an absent-minded hand.

What. The. Hell.

"Skye, honey, I'm going to stop at Fletcher's to pick up a few things, ok?" Singing had obviously calmed Judy's nerves. Her tone was light and calm again. "I won't be long."

"Oh ... yeah, sure, Aunt J. No problem." Squirming in her seat, Skye bit the inside of her lip and swallowed hard.

Flicking on her blinker, Judy steered the car down a leafy laneway, humming as she drove. Through the trees, Skye saw a pointed roof appear, followed by the Victorian curiosity that was Fletcher's Country Gift Shop and Store.

Only a few weeks had passed since she'd sat at a picnic table out back, eating ice cream and trading carefree laughs with Will, Josh and Shelby. Looking back, those weeks felt more like a lifetime.

Aunt Judy pulled into a parking spot, its lines painted with kitschy candy cane stripes, and pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head.

"Wanna come in?"

"No thanks, Aunt J." Skye shook her head and looked down at her lap. "I'm kind of tired. I'll just stay here if that's ok."

"Of course, honey." Judy's forehead wrinkled and she reached out to nudge Skye's hair from her eyes. "I'll turn down the windows for you — I won't be long. Promise."

Skye smiled gratefully and leaned back in her seat while Judy hurried up the emporium's front steps.

A seed of realization was unfurling inside her brain. Now that she'd thought it, she couldn't unthink it.

This isn't a side effect.

It's not normal.

What's wrong with me?

Sparrows trilled outside her window as she wrung her hands.

The transient colors of the sun's rays bouncing off her rings had reminded her of something. That something was Will's halo.

***
Wow. That took FOREVER to write. If you're still reading (is anybody out there???) please let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback on this chapter. Where do you think Skye's realization will take her next?