Aftermath

Ch 101: Option Three

Kota

"Kota?" Victor was shaking me. "Kota, you need to wake up. Everything's fine."

I bolted upright, willing my breathing and heart rate to slow down to normal. Just a stupid nightmare. Nothing more than that. 

Silently, I counted to fifty, then took a deep breath. The linens were jerked all around me, as though I had been thrashing about. Oh, no. "Did I hurt anyone?"  It had happened several times in the past; I had even hit my mother once, though I hadn't hurt her. Regardless, it had been devastating.

"No. It probably helps that you're still wearing that sling." Victor handed me a glass of water. "Are you okay?"

I took a few sips, then handed it back to him. This has got to stop. Somehow, I thought it had stopped; I hadn't had a nightmare for several days, but then, I had been keeping late nights as a result of being arrested and then kidnapped. "Where's Sang?"

Victor looked startled, then said. "She must be in the bathroom."

For that, I was thankful. I got up, and though I was only using one arm, the two of us were able to fix the linens enough for the remaining few hours of sleep. 

"Do you remember what you were dreaming?" Victor questioned. 

I thought for a few seconds. "Usually I have some idea, but I don't this time around. Ethan, I think." My father had a starring role, of course, but there had been something else that I couldn't quite identify. "Why?"

"You were mumbling something." With a long yawn, Victor got back into bed. "Something about how you had to do something or everyone would be hurt." He gave me a woeful glance. "I thought you might be remembering the bombing."

I've got to do something, or we're all going to die.

I reflected again, then shook my head. "Maybe I was. But all I remember is Ethan was there, and obviously he wasn't in the school cafeteria that day." But then, Lily had theorized that Ethan was a stand-in for all the negativity I had been facing. Perhaps she was right. 

"Just a thought," Victor said. "You want to go back to sleep?"

I weighed the idea, then decided to brush my teeth and give myself that reset. I moved to the side of the bed, then glanced at the bathroom door. "Sang's not in the bathroom; the light is off."

"I don't know." Victor sat up again. "Luke, Gabriel, and Nathan are gone too. They even put the pullout back under the bed."

Déjà vu. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm going to brush my teeth." I went into my bathroom and progressed through my ritual. If the nightmares continued, I was going to wear out my toothbrush.  

I was midway through the process when Victor came in behind me, looking worried. "I thought they might be making breakfast, but I can't find them anywhere," he said.

 "Did you check the yard?" I asked through a mouth of toothpaste. I doubted they had gone far since Owen had renewed his dictate about leaving me alone, and for all practical purposes, Victor was on sick leave too. 

Bewildered, Victor left again. 

I quickly finished my task, and when I was done, I felt much better. I switched off the bathroom light and went back into the dimly lit bedroom. 

Victor came back in. "When did North give hours?" he asked. "And why?"

"No idea." I went to the window seat. "You'd be more likely to know than I would."

"What does that mean?"

"It means there are quite a few things I haven't been privy to lately." I pulled the blinds aside and peeked outside. As expected, they were all in a line, doing a set of jumping jacks, all except Sang; as before, she was off to the side with towels and water.