Claire:
"Holy mother of-" The moment the cold water hits my back is when my brain without a doubt snaps back to reality. My bare feet slip on the tile flooring of the shower, and I only just manage to maintain my balance.
With wide eyes, and uneven breathing from the scare, I shut the water off and wrap a towel around myself. Alright note to self. Don't get distracted in your thoughts while showering.
And here I thought that only dancing to the tune you're listening to could lead to near slip accidents in showers. I grumble out a string of random words before drying myself off and changing.
I brush out my shoulder length hair as I attempt to clear my thoughts. Ever since I woke up, apparently forty minutes ago, there's been this nagging feeling in the back of my head that something bad is going to happen.
Then again it might just be the nerves from being back home and having to actually start a job that's not at some department store. Although the last time I got this distracted in the morning I did end up with a volleyball to the face during gym class.
Finishing up, I take a deep breath and remind myself that the chances of getting hit in the face with a ball in gym are none since I'm no longer in high school.
Happy with that thought, I grab my stuff and head out. I pass by Scott's room but back trace and knock on his door. "Hey you better not make us late." I call out and knock a few more times.
When we were younger sometimes we'd accidentally miss the bus. As you can imagine with a younger asthmatic brother it wasn't exactly the highlight of the day having to watch him struggle as we walked to school.
"I won't, I won't." An agitated Scott answers from the other side of the door. I walk downstairs and to the kitchen to start making some breakfast. About ten minutes later Scott decides to finally come down to eat.
"Took you long enough, Smeagol." I joke, handing him a plate. He narrows his eyes while taking his spot across from me on the table.
"Is that from Star Wars?" He questions in a confused tone.
I let my head fall on the table, making sure not to land on my plate. "Oh my lanta, you haven't watched the Lord of the Rings either!" I exclaim, throwing my hands up in the air dramatically.
He rolls his eyes thinking I'm overreacting or whatnot. But I'm not seeing as how he hasn't even watched Star Wars either -- or many good movies now that I think of it.
"So how's the school year been going anything interesting happen yet?" I ask, wanting to change the subject from the lack of geekyness from my younger brother.
He tenses up slightly before shrugging his shoulders. "Nope, nothing besides the usual."
I rub my arm instantly feeling bad. I've Skype with him and mom almost everyday since I left. And well, since he started highschool last year he's told me how he gets compared with me.
It's completely unfair and honestly very annoying when they say rude things to him like that.
"Sorry about that, shorty. I know I would hate that." He smiles, accepting my apology, but it's not exactly like we've ever gotten into a big fight with each other before. We just always get along seeing as how we've always been close and tell each other everything.
Finishing up I take my stuff to the sink as he heads off to get his backpack.
"I'll wait in the car." I yell, grabbing my things and heading outside.
I stop and look at the 1967 Chevy Camaro parked on the street. Normally not my first choice in a car, like at all, but hey I got it very cheap a few years back.
And the word cheap when your a med student is like the equivalent of getting to eat french fries without any of the cons...not that there is any.
"You know that's not really a girl car right." Scott comments from besides me. I look at the house then back at him, confused. Either I've been daydreaming for a while now, or he Olympic speed sprinted out here.
"Should I take offense to that?" I question, ignoring my need to ask him how he got to his room and down so quickly.
"I'm just kidding." He laughs and makes his way to the passenger seat.
I throw my arms up defeat, only earning a laugh in response.
"So how's your asthma doing?" I question in the midst of our drive. This whole time I haven't seen him use his inhaler once, and he usually does about every ten seconds.
"Funny thing about that." He mumbles scratching the back of his neck. "It's actually gone."
"Really." I say in disbelief. Well that's extremely odd to say the least. I mean he had pretty bad asthma and for it to have just disappeared it seems somewhat...unnatural.
"Well that's great so I'm assuming you're going to be playing in a lacrosse game this year." His eyes light up at the mention of the sport. From what I remember in the video links that he's sent me, the sport is as aggressive as a honey badger.
"Ya I'm first line this year." He informs me happily. I smile, even though I'd rather have him play something that involves less concussions.
"Well I'll have to see it to believe it, because lets face it kid you can be a bit of a dork."
"Says the nerd who graduated from high school when she was thirteen." He fires back with a grin on his face.
I try to keep my glare but the ends of my mouth start going up. "Good point."
"Well here's the happiest place on earth." I jokingly state, pulling into the front of the school.
"Thanks Claire." He says, opening the passenger door. "Oh and I don't need a ride after I'll get one from Stiles."
"I wasn't offering a ride." I retort in a serious tone but the smile on my face shows I'm only joking.
Scott gets out and turns with a smile as shuts the door. "Ass."
"Love you too, shorty. Now move or I'll run you over." I wave before driving out on the road again.
I pull into the hospital parking lot, after panicking from the nerves and almost driving back home. Alright Claire here goes nothing.
I smile as the seemingly kind older woman looks up from the computer at the front desk. But in that same moment I feel my brain snap through her own to see a variety of memories.
I hurriedly blink, stopping myself from prying any further. It annoys/scares/creeps me out in those two seconds when someone's life story flashes before my eyes.
The odd 'trick' happens randomly since I don't really know how to control it. Or even what it is.
"Hello, you must be Claire McCall." She smiles kindly. Not in the slightest bit aware of all the moments in her past that I just saw.
"Yes nice to meet you." I reply, taking the badge and coat she's handing me. As I said before it's like I'm gone for only two seconds so no one ever notices, thankfully.
"Follow me I'll take you to your office." She says, standing up and walking over to me.
"My name is Eleanor by the way." She tells me as she leads the way down the hall. "You know your mother has been talking about you for awhile now." The smile grows on her face.
"How embarrassing." I respond while attempting to laugh it off. If she brought out the baby pictures it's going to go from slightly embarrassing to full blown mortifying.
"Here you go." She opens the door to a nice sized room that has a plaque with Dr. Claire McCall written on it by the door.
I walk in and look around before turning to her and smiling. She returns the gesture before speaking. "Your pager is on your desk. Always keep that and your id badge with you, and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask."
"Thanks again." I answer before she closes the door. I glance down at the pager before letting it fall into one of my coat pockets. No sooner then the fossil lands at the bottom that it starts to beep.
"Okay Claire time to put all those countless hours of morning lectures and straight black coffee to work." I quietly coach myself as I head out of my office.
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The day's gone by pretty quickly. Luckily I always had something to do whether it be a case of food poisoning were I almost got thrown up on, or a broken finger from a kid trying to jump his bike over a couple of trash cans.
Now I'm heading down to the last patient I need to check in the extensive care unit. I have to speak with their nurse and make sure the patient is comfortable.
The simple white door is similar to the rest apart from the number etched out on the small plaque. Taking the medical folder from its spot next to the door I quickly glance over it.
My eyes widen when I recognize the last name on the folder. Then again it'd be hard to find someone in this town that doesn't know what happened to the Hale family six years ago.
It was such a horrible thing that happened to them, but besides Laura I never really spoke to anyone in the family.
I knock on the door before entering the room. His chair is facing the window, but even from the door I can see the evident burn marks on his face.
"Hello, Peter. I'm Dr. McCall." I greet warmly, walking over to stand in front of his chair.
He doesn't respond but I already expect that from what his medical report said. "I just need to do a quick checkup to make sure everything is fine--"
The clipboard falls from my grip, not bothering to process the thought to fumble for it, it collides with the ground. My eyes with out a doubt dilate and I feel my breathing become labored when I take a step back.
Unfortunately my back hits the wall behind me, leaving behind an unwelcoming feeling of being trapped to settle into the pit of my stomach after what I just saw.
Before I can even mumble a word -- a cold hand is gripping my neck tightly. "What did you see?" He demands in a quiet yet threatening voice.
A million questions try to surface over the pounding in my head from the lack of oxygen. But the only one that manages to do so is how he even figured out that I saw something.
I gasp for air and swing my arms in a feeble attempt to pry his hands off my neck. Peter's eyes light up with amusement at my struggle before releasing enough of his grip to let me breathe.
"I s-saw what you a-are." The fear that's nestled into my tone doesn't even begin to describe how much I'm experiencing at the moment. Okay this is the moment when someone jumps out and says 'ha you just got punked.'
But as the seconds agonizingly tick by, no one jumps out. Instead Peter fully releases his grip with a look of new found interest in his cold blue eyes.
"How?" He questions, taking a seat back in his chair. My hands latch onto the window edge behind me in hopes of trying to take in everything. I didn't see much except him turning into something with red eyes.
"I see people's past sometimes." I answer in a somewhat calmer voice. The death grip I have on the windowsill is the only thing keeping me from passing out of fear. Trust me I've seen it happen before.
He nods to himself, almost as if he's confirming some thought that he's having. "The way I see it Claire is that you have two options."
I bite the inside of my cheek, desperately wanting this all to be a nightmare. At this point I'd rather have one then to be standing in front of Peter.
"Either you keep your mouth shut and help me when I ask." He holds up one hand. "Or I kill whoever is close to you." Peter concludes with both of his hands held up.
The tears are brimming in my eyes and I feel my heart feverishly pounding away in my chest, unsure of what to even say. My grip on the windowsill tightens, but I ignore the pain from where I can feel the indents forming.
I shut my eyes, wishing, and hoping again that this is all some weird dream I'm having because of a horror book that I might have read to late in the night.
Slowly opening my eyes I'm unfortunately only met with the cold stare of Peter as he waits for my response. Taking several deep, godzilla-like breaths, I feel my heartbeat start to go back to normal.
Somehow I also have managed to make up mind on what he said. A choice that I see as, no matter how crazy, the only right one.
"Okay, I'll help you." I agree with a still present quiver in my voice.
Slowly I release my grip and meet his gaze, in hopes that he doesn't think I'm lying. Because if I'm not crazy like I'm hoping...well then I don't want to get on his bad side.
His mouth raises from the non scared side of his face into a smirk as he reaches out to grab my clipboard from the floor. He hands it to me and I'm forced to take the few steps to be able to grab it.
"And remember, I'll be watching." The way he says it makes it seem like I'm already leaving the room. Which confuses me until the door opens.
A guy around my age, with dark hair, pale green eyes, a leather jacket, and a scowl on his face like nobody's business, enters the room. I blink a few times before realizing that I've been staring at him for what's most likely considered too long.
Quickly ducking my head down, I notice Peter all stiff again. "Alright Peter, I'll let your nurse know how you're doing." I pretend that I only just finished his check up.
Without another word I hurriedly make my way out of the room, not bothering to take a second look at the guy. If he's visiting Peter then he must be a Hale. Well hopefully Peter doesn't hurt or blackmail him too.
Walking down the hallway I can't help but feel an eerie stillness in the air. Almost like you think you're alone but you're really not. It's not like a 'oh my god I'm going to poo my pants' feeling but more like a 'I just got goosebumps that are going to last till the end of the week' feeling.
I turn my head around right as the door closes to Peter's room. But I only managed to see a glimpse of a leather jacket covered back. Turning my head I walk back to the regular side of the hospital.
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It's now around eight and I'm sitting in a chair in the hall attempting to look natural. Try as I might I can't keep my thoughts from wandering to Peter Hale and what he is.
I saw how he ended up in the hospital along with him killing someone. I couldn't see who before I stopped seeing anything all together.
"If you keep looking at the floor like that it's going to spontaneously combust." A voice chimes in, snapping me out of my morbid thoughts.
"Mother of God!" I yell, slipping off the hospital chair and falling ungracefully on the hard tiled floor. Christ, I'm not made for people just appearing out of nowhere, I think I'll puke out of fear next time.
"No. I doubt that she had to go to a parent teacher conference because he's failing chemistry." My mom responds, looking amused at my terrified expression. I glance around hoping nobody saw me fall, before getting off the floor.
"Don't be so hard on him. Maybe he's just got alot on his mind or something?" I suggest, defending Scott. He did say a friend of his got hurt yesterday, so maybe that's what has him so distracted.
She sighs but quickly gets a smile on her face again. "I saw you taking with Steven from the ER earlier."
"I know where this is going, so no I don't." I respond to her unspoken question. My mom seems to think that she needs to be a matchmaker for me, which yes, is as embarrassing as it sounds.
She opens her mouth to say something but my pager decides to go off. "I'll see you later mom." I say, not even glancing at my pager as I began to fast walk out of there.
"We'll finish this later." She calls from behind me.
Turning into another hall I have to move out of the way as a person is being rolled by. In a body bag.
"My first day and my first dead body." I mumble way to enthusiastically for me to admit. Yeesh, and to think that I only expected a broken arm to be the worst I see on my first day.
When my shift is finally over I don't even know how I get home, up the stairs, and into my bed without falling asleep at some point in the journey.
Finally letting myself drift off I can't help but think of one last thing. Which is pretty morbid since it involves the dead body I saw being wheeled on a gurney.
Anyway. I'm not sure why but I have this gut feeling that it's not a mountain lion that killed the man. Maybe I'm just letting what I think I saw cloud my judgment?
Who knows. But what I'm afraid of is that this might just be the beginning of a whole lot of trouble.