The Fourth Moon

Chapter 3

Luna's POV
I don't remember seeing anything, but I could hear it all, feel it all. The emotions around me were so intense. Every drop of sadness, every ounce of fear was multiplied by a thousand. I knew with a single breath if someone was afraid, and with one more, relieved. I couldn't control it. It happened to everyone. As I was wheeled through the halls of the hospital, I sensed it everywhere. The sick and the healthy, the young and the old. No one was protected from what I was learning about them. Margret in room C120 was angry that her sons were fighting about who gets the house if she dies. Charles in B260 was at peace knowing that his wife was waiting for him at the side of the bed. No matter what I do, what I think about, they keep flooding in.  I was feeling like I was going to burst when it all got quiet. I thought I was in control. Then it hit me, I was alone. No one was waiting for me. After what felt like forever, I could sense the eager people trying to get into my room. I could tell it was Rachel and Lance. Their worry was overwhelming. For a long time, it was all I sensed. They were truly scared. After I heard them talking, it was calm. I could tell Rachel was hyperventilating at first. Her emotions got really intense. What I didn't know, was that she likes Lance, and that Lance likes her, too. He was able to calm her, better than I ever have. They felt feelings of love when they glanced at each other. Their passion for each other was beautiful and inspiring. So inspiring, that it made me want to find that kind of passion for another person. Obviously I'm passionate about my love for my brother and best friend, but to love somebody that way is a different feeling. I can tell now. I was eager to find it. It was beautiful. I wanted to see and to move again. I wanted to find love. I didn't know how much time had passed, but I knew it was too much. I wanted out. It felt like I was trying to wake up for hours. Then I heard him. Lance. He needed me. His need to see me again helped me push through the black cloud that was storming in my brain. I sat up straight. I was out. But the emotions kept coming. I threw my hand to my head in pain. It felt like someone had whacked my head with a sledge hammer. I squeezed my eyes tight in hopes that it would go away. I opened them again, and I felt okay. I felt like me again.
"Luna! You're okay!" Rachel attacked me with a hug. I loved every second of it. I was hungry for love now. I was hunting for it.
"You're blinking and moving and, and, and..." Lance took a deep, shaky breath. "... you're okay. You're really okay."
"Yeah. I guess I am. What happened?" Rachel talked nonstop for what felt like hours about the tests they put me through that had inconclusive results. I didn't realize that they cared about me that much. As I'm listening, I look over to Lance. He's staring at Rachel with a happy smirk on his face. Knowing how they feel about each other is another beautiful thing. But the only reason I know that, was because something happened to me that I can't explain.
"But the weirdest thing happened right before you woke up. You were glowing! It was almost the color of your eyes, right, Lance?" Rachel looked over at him and caught him staring. His face got as red as a lobster in no time at all.
"Uh... yeah. It was like the color of your eyes. Then you shot up strait and you whipped open your eyes. Which at that point, were not your natural aqua color."
"What do you mean 'not my natural color'? Eyes don't just change color..."
"But yours did, Luna. They were bright green. Then you squeezed your eyes tight and blinked a couple times and they were blue again." Lance sounded concerned as he said that.
"Are you sure it wasn't like a weird reflection from the lights?"
"The lights are off, Luna..." now Rachel was concerned. And when they're both concerned, I'm terrified.
"Okay. I don't know what happened to my body, but weird stuff was happening when I was unconscious, too."
"What kind of weird stuff, Loon? I'm your brother and Rachel is your best friend. You can tell us anything." As I was explaining to them my weird experience with everyone's emotions, I was drawn to what Lance had said. He called me Loon. No one has called me that since our parents died. Our dad would call me that when I did something that scared him because I was being 'loony'. No matter how emotional we got, Lance had still never called me Loon. It has been 10 years. I don't know what had happened exactly, but I did know one thing. Nothing would be the same as it was this past morning.