"Aly?"
I looked back at Suzie and Deryk, and tried to smile, but my chin trembled. "Why are you guys here?"
"You texted during supper, remember?" She darted her eyes between me and my mother, looking scared. "So that we could hang out after the show?"
I don't remember.
I looked around. It had been but a few minutes of their arrival, but the was already fog cleared and we were meters away from our car sitting on the left. Patting the ground, I found the keys only a foot away and pressed the button. The headlights flashed, and the doors unlocked. Click. Just like that. Like we'd never been lost, and nothing had happened.
It had, though, and my mother's injuries was proof.
As bad as that was, it meant I wasn't imagining everything that had happened.
I bent and tried to help my mother to her feet, but the pain in her ankle had become too much. She crumbled to the ground and I couldn't catch her, only managing to fall first to soften the blow. Rolling, I moved to crouch at her feet, and groaned. Her skin was crimson and raw, swollen so large, not even the hem of her pants could be lowered.
"What happened?" Suzie looked horrified.
Deryk looked... I couldn't place it. Blank. Suddenly, I wanted Mike, Gabe and Raffy. They may have terrified me, but not as much as the shadow that had brutalized my mother. Would it have gotten this far if I hadn't pushed them away, allowed one of 'my boys' to stay with me at all times while the other two fought whatever that shadow was? Or was the shadow present because they hadn't been able to fulfil their self-proclaimed promise to keep me protected from the dangers chasing me?
"I don't..." I shook my head, unsure of how to explain, or even if they would believe me if I tried.
I grimaced as my mother screamed when I hooked my finger into the edge of her sock after wiggling off her shoe, but I had to do it. The blue tinging her red skin meant no circulation, and until I could get her to the hospital, it was all I could do to help.
"Oh, my God, Aly," Suzie said, leaning forward and bending at the waist to get a better look. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't. Know." Gritting my teeth, I looked up at them both, narrowing my eyes. Explanations could be figured out later, and I, for one, needed one. Soon. But right now? My mother needed help.
"Do you want these in the car?" Suzie held up our bags.
I shook my head. "No. I want you to burn them."
She started opening the top of the bag. "But—"
"Seriously. Burn them to ash, Suzie. I never want to see them again." I moved my fingers to pull the sock off my mother's other foot and she passed out. Throwing the sock to the side, I bent down, pulling her arm around my shoulders, and tried to stand.
"Aly, what are you do—"
"Not now, Suzie." I glanced at Deryk, unable to stand more than halfway on my own. "A little help?" I asked so I could get her in the car.
He stepped forward, cradling my mother in his arms, and I was free to open the back door to our car. Throwing my keys to Deryk, I slid in after my mother, holding her head in my lap, and Suzie rounded to jump in the passenger side. I looked out the back window as Deryk drove us away but couldn't see the shadow anymore. Just Deryk's car, abandoned with the headlights on and both front doors hanging wide open.
"Keep the interior light on," I ordered, and looked down to my mother, hoping that they would think I wanted to be able to keep my eye on her. I did, but even more, I wanted to keep the darkness at bay.
Not being able to see it didn't mean it wasn't there, and I felt it watching, waiting.
*****
For the next twenty minutes, I couldn't breathe. Every inhale was a choke I held onto until I felt faint, like the sound would keep me from making sure my mother continued to breathe, and each exhale gasped as it was released. She still hadn't stirred, not even to moan. My heart pounded in my ears, overriding all thought, and I couldn't look away to miss the rise and fall of her chest.
So still, so silent. My mother looked dead.
"Can't you drive faster?" I yelled without looking up. "We aren't in a school zone, Deryk!"
He looked into the backseat using the rear-view mirror just long enough so that, when I glanced up for a second, he held my gaze before once again focusing on the road. "I'm trying."
"It's Hidden Springs, not Los Angeles," I said. "It doesn't even take this long to go from one side of the town to the other, let alone to the middle."
"There's a construction detour, Aly," Suzie said, twisting in her seat to look back. "We had to backtrack."
"Just hurry." Sighing, feeling like what we were doing wouldn't be enough, I added, "Please." No need to lay blame where it didn't belong—that was my burden to bear alone.
Less than five minutes later, we pulled into the ambulance bay, and I opened the door before the car came to a full stop. "Get my mother," I called over my shoulder to Deryk, and ran to the doors on the right-hand-side, but they wouldn't open. Restricted. I slapped the glass with my palm, trying to get someone's attention.
A nurse who looked ten years past retirement came around the corner and paused. She looked to the triage desk and back to me, and then came to the other side of the door, crossing her arms over scrubs depicting dancing teddy bears.
"This is the emergency door, young lady," she said, scowling. "Vehicles aren't allowed to park—"
"This is an emergency!" I pointed behind me. "My mom—"
"Only ambulance personnel bring patients through here," she said, and pointed to my left where an identical set of doors were located not ten feet away. "That is where walk-in patients enter to register, and then take their turn."
"Take my turn?" I narrowed my eyes at her and then blew out my breath and smacked the glass. Turning, I sprinted to the other door, which opened automatically, mumbling under my breath, "Hospitals not taking a patient? Wait my turn?"
I grabbed the first empty wheelchair and turned around to go back, but Deryk appeared at the doors with my mother in his arms and Suzie at his side. He stepped forward, shifting so he wouldn't drop her, and placed her in the chair. I grabbed the handles and turned, almost running as I pushed it inside.
"I'm going to go park..." Deryk's voice faded as he left, and Suzie speed-walked with me to the registration desk.
"He doesn't mesh well with hospitals," she said, shrugging.
I rolled my eyes, opening my mouth to speak, but was interrupted before a single word escaped.
"Hospitalization number?" The nurse who wouldn't let me in looked up, smiling smugly.
"I don't have it," I said, darting my eyes to Suzie, who shrugged. "Just help her."
"We'll need identification—"
"Help her!" I repeated, gesturing to my mother's slumped form. "Can't you see she's unconscious?"
"I'm sorry, but—"
"Suzie?" I asked, narrowing my gaze on the nurse. "Can you call my father, please? Tell him what's going on and that we need her medical info, and why."
"You mean that the hag won't get your mother help?"
I nodded, exhaling. "Yes."
"Got it." She hurried away, pulling her phone from her pocket.
"You can wait over there," the nurse said, and sighed. "I'll put your mother on the list."
Looking up, I almost laughed at the sign on the door leading into the emergency room. "Yeah, because that's what I'm going to do." I turned my mother's chair and headed to the door. "Patients are seen according to severity, not in the order of arrival, right? That's what the sign says."
"There are other patients."
"With that? Stomach aches?" I rolled my eyes. "My mother is unconscious, lady. She is the most severe."
I pulled on the handle of the door, but it was locked. An older doctor stood beside a young red-headed nurse, both of them leaning over the counter opposite the door to read a chart. I slapped the glass, yelling, "Hey!" and they looked up. The doctor turned, startled, and his eyes darted between me, my mother, and the nurse. He looked back to the nurse to say something, and then came to the door as the girl went through another set of doors down the hall.
"Is there a problem here, Iris?" he asked, poking his head through the crack he created, not big enough for me to pass.
She flicked her grey eyes to me, but I spoke before she had the chance to open her mouth. "My mother is unconscious. She passed out because she was in pain." I hope that's all it is. Bending down, I lifted her pants higher to show him her ankles, which had become more swollen on the way to the hospital. "It's on her neck, too."
"Dr. Ramsay, this girl parked in the ambulance bay, doesn't have medical—"
"No." I shook my head. "We rushed here and tried to go in the first door we saw, but she wouldn't let us, and then told us we need hospitalization numbers to register and that we had to wait behind the others." Holding the doctor's gaze, I said, "This is my mother and she's unconscious. My friend is calling my dad."
My mother groaned, the first sound since she'd passed out, and I felt a sliver of hope that she would be okay. We all turned to her, but it didn't happen again. My hope whittled away to reveal my fear, gutting me until I was hollow.
Dr. Ramsay opened the door wider, holding it with his back, and gestured for me to step through. "What happened?" he asked, rushing ahead to get us through another set of doors, and then gestured to an examination room on our right.
"I—" Oh, God. What do I say? "I don't know."
He waved over two orderlies who seemed more fit to be bouncers than hospital personnel, and then narrowed his gaze on me. "You weren't with her?"
"Y-yes." I nodded, licking my lips. "But I don't know what happened." Or how, though the why was become clearer. "One minute we were walking, trying to figure out where we parked, and the next..."
My gaze fell to my mother as the two orderlies transferred her from the chair to the bed. Another moan passed her lips, seeming reflexive given the pain being moved must've caused, but then her eyes began to flutter beneath her eyelids.
"The next?"
I shifted, refocusing on Dr. Ramsay while the orderlies left, and a nurse entered with a monitor on wheels. "She fell down screaming."
"You didn't see anything?"
Biting my lip, I shook my head and looked back to my mother. She was still moaning, and her hand began to twitch. Crossing my arms, I faced Dr. Ramsay, taking a deep breath, and said, "My dad is on his way and my mother is in pain, which means he'll be demanding to know what this place is doing to help her. After dealing with Iris, I have nothing good to say, so why don't you go help her and change that?"
"I can help her better if I know what's happened."
"And I told you I don't know."
He held my gaze for another minute, but I didn't blink. It wasn't a lie. There was no way to know what happened when I had no clue how it was possible. So how would I ever explain it? Denial was easier, especially if I believed it. Otherwise, I would have to admit why—the shadow had come for me, and now my mother was here.
"Stay here while I examine your mom."
"Yeah." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not leaving, don't worry."
He nodded, looking over my shoulder. "Julie? I need bloodwork done over here." He glanced down once more before entering the room, and repeated, "Stay here."
I leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms and ankles, and watched as my mother was tested and poked, and her injuries, which seemed like they were still swelling, were swabbed. Confusion set in and more tests were ordered, all while my mother showed signs of becoming more aware. Maybe she could explain everything.
"Alyssa?"
Turning as my father entered the emergency room with Iris playing tour guide, I saw his gaze circle the room, pausing at every doorway. Nobody sat at the desk in the center of the chaos, everyone overworked, and the beds were filled. At least it made sense why Iris was so bitchy—being close to retirement and dealing with so many sick people would make anyone cranky.
But understanding didn't excuse her, and I was still telling my father.
"Dad," I called as his eyes moved past my doorway and stepped back so he could see me while Dr. Ramsay snuck past, chart in hand. I followed him with my eyes as he went to the middle desk and started marking the chart, and then darted my gaze back to my father.
"Aly." The diameter of his eyes decreased, and he ran over, pulling me into a tight hug that stole my breath. He stroked my hair, squeezing tighter, and then pulled away, leaving his hands on my shoulders. "What?" He shook his head.
"Where's Suzie?"
He looked up, over my shoulder, and his eyes widened when an orderly stepped out of the way and my mother came back into view. He looked back at me, shaking his head. "I sent her and Deryk home in your car."
There goes my escape.
He lifted his gaze again. "What happened, Aly?"
Looking to the floor, I shook my head. "I don't know."
"What?"
"I don't—"
"Don't touch me!"
I lifted my head, meeting my father's gaze, and then we both looked into the room. My heart stopped functioning and my lungs pushed all the breath from my body. The world flew into fast forward, but I was frozen, like someone had hit me with a water gun filled with liquid nitrogen.
"No, no, no, no... No!" My mother thrashed in the bed, her hands and feet hitting the rails as she tried aiming for the nurse with a blood pressure cuff in her hands. "I said don't touch me!"
The nurse, wide-eyed and shaky, dropped the cuff and stepped back, just out of reach. Looking as though she was about to cry, she edged back another step, folding her body into itself when she could back up no more, and then leaned over to press a huge red button on the wall.
"Don't touch me. Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"
Dr. Ramsay ran to the doorway, calling for two orderlies over his shoulder as soon as he saw my mother. He pushed past us, eyeing the nurse. "What did you do?"
"N-nothing." She shook her head, her lips trembling.
"Light," my mother said. "No light. So dark. Don't touch me! No, no, no!" She rolled her head from side to side. "No light. No."
Dr. Ramsay ordered for sedation. My father stepped forward, his mouth hanging, but the orderlies pushed him back. They went to the bed, one on each side, and began securing restraints, pausing only for a moment before wrapping them around her swollen ankles.
"Don't touch me!"
My hand flew to my mouth, a sob escaping, and my father wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
"No light."
"Go tell Julie we'll need to test for drugs," Dr. Ramsay told the nurse, and she hurried out of the room, casting scared, I-don't-want-to-catch-the-crazy looks over her shoulder. He turned, placed a syringe into a vial, and drew out a dose of clear medicine. Gesturing to the orderlies to hold my mother's arms down, he leaned forward to find a vein instead of injecting it into her IV port.
"No! Don't touch me! No." She thrashed again, over and over, but the effort began to fade. "No light. No light. No."
My father looked away, blinking rapidly. Dr. Ramsay stood, nodding at the orderlies, and they left. I watched as my mother stopped jerking, her voice dying. Her head rolled to the side, facing us, and even though she probably didn't see, I felt the blame in her open gaze. She blinked slowly. Once, twice... Her eyes closed on the third repetition, but didn't open again.
Dr. Ramsay came to stand in front of us, looking at me, and my father followed his gaze. "Now do you want to tell me what happened?"
I swallowed, blinking back tears.
There was nothing I could say.