The Rede Breaker

Chapter 9: The Curious Mind of Dr. Tereso

The soft chirps of a heart rate monitor pulls me back into the real world.

My head is on fire. It hurts to open my eyes. The florescent light attacks my vision.

I am greeted with a hospital room as I sit up in the bed. I am hooked up to a heart rate monitor. Sierra is passed out on the ugly blue sofa under the window on the right side of the room while Eric is snoring in the chair next to me.

The television directly ahead of me is turned to a basketball game. Underneath the television, my last name as well as the name Tereso are written on a whiteboard. The board is filled with numbers I don't quite understand.

My mind is awash with thoughts and images, mostly of the night Ria attacked us. I press further to remember the events before that. I recall being in the forest and running for my life, but it's all fuzzy. It hurts to think about it.

Eric snores loudly and I swat him across the chest. He coughs himself away. Without warning, he latches onto me, embracing me. My shoulder burns as his grip tightens.

As he pulls away, he looks me over.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"My head is killing me. How'd I get here?"

Eric takes a moment to explain that I was brought in a couple of hours ago by a hiker. The hiker stated that he found me after I took a tumble down the side of the hill. The bystander brought me to the hospital and left before Eric and Sierra arrived.

Eric begins to hit me with theories until he is interrupted by a knock at the door. A blonde head peeks in the door and I am relieved to see Archer. He slides through the crack as Sierra sits up on the sofa. She hugs me much the same as Eric did.

"You're awake! We were starting to worry." Archer says. "Can we have the room? I'd like to examine him."

Eric is hesitant until Sierra asks him to go to the cafeteria with her. They leave me with Archer, who unwraps the stethoscope from around his neck.

Archer in his white coat with a stethoscope is a sight to see. White coats make men infinitely more attractive for some reason. He needs no help in that area. He uses the stethoscope to check my breathing.

I try to steady my breathing as much as possible but his cologne invades my senses. He smells like expensive cologne, maybe sandal wood.

He finishes with the stethoscope and uses a flashlight to look into my eyes and ears before writing something on his clipboard.

"What day is it?" He asks.

"Is that a trick question?"

Archer stops writing to look at me. He isn't being playful. The white coat turns him into a stickler, apparently.

"Wednesday. Before you ask, it's September."

"Great. I'm not going to insult you by asking your name. What's your age and what city do you live in?"

"Are these standard questions?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Thirty and Prophecy Cove."

"Good, Good."

"That would be in Massachusetts, a few miles outside of Salem, Dr. Tereso."

Archer smiles as he writes something on the chart. "Well, you're still a little spitfire, aren't you?"

"Is that your professional opinion?"

"How exactly did you fall down the hill, Mr. Royce? The people who brought you in said your car was at the park. You were a little far from the trails."

"The people who brought me in? Who was that exactly. I should write them a card."

Archer, under duress, explains that Kaiden Michaels and another member of the Reserve, Finn, were the ones to bring me into the hospital. It sparks the recognition in my mind of seeing Kaiden's naked torso and hearing Finn's name at the bottom of the hill.

It comes back in waves that I was running from a werewolf in the woods. I strayed too far from the trails because I was running from the wolf. I find it fortuitous and suspicious that Kaiden and Finn happened upon me.

"So, you were hiking the trail and fell off the side of the hill?" Archer asks.

"Is that what you want to put down on the clipboard?"

Archer grins. "Something you want to tell me?"

"Off the medical record, yes. I was attacked."

"By?"

"A werewolf. I think. I've never seen one but it was the size of a bear. I was being chased and was a little slow on a ward."

"You're lucky to be alive. I sense you're no stranger to death."

"Why would you say that?"

"You were chased by a werewolf and fell off a cliff. Yet, you're telling me with fascination in your eyes. By the way, how are you feeling?"

"My head hurts. I couldn't really remember any of this until you mentioned Kaiden. But I'm okay now."

Archer sits the clipboard on the bed next to me and sits at the edge. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"The first time we met, you did something to my mind, brought back memories. You're psychic, right?"

I squirm. His questions about my powers are par for the course, after all, who meets a psychic every day? It brings with it a lot of old baggage. Most people who are so enthusiastic about my powers end up trying to use me for them.

"You have a powerful gift. You made me remember things I thought were lost." Archer says.

The images I saw did not seem like they were very good memories. Perhaps he saw something I did not. A good chunk of the memories were arguments, but some were just moments with others who look very similar to him, his family.

"Feel free to say no if I'm overstepping, but can you do it again?" He asks.

The request is small in comparison to him saving my life. I gesture for him to move closer. I place my hands on his temples and instruct him to close his eyes. I close my eyes, too, imaging a flow of images in his mind.

The images wash over us as new images appear. The sounds of happiness accompany the images. He is pulling pleasant memories.

A strange feeling creeps in as my mouth suddenly goes dry. Darker images replace the light, happy images. A man with frizzled blonde hair and a dirt-smudged face fades into darkness. My vision replaces the image with blood. An earth-shattering scream fills my ears.

I pull my hands away from his temples. Before either of us can say another word, Eric and Sierra enter the room. The two are caught off guard with Archer sitting so close. Archer jumps to his feet and grabs his clipboard before leaving.

Sierra questions me with an accusatory tone. I do not have the energy or brainpower to make up a lie and so I tell her I will divulge what happened later. I'm not sure what I saw.

Not really.