Burn My Paranoia One Last Time

12. Missing Link

"Carmen! Carmen! Oh thank god," Shelby let out a sigh of relief when her friend finally opened her eyes.

"Ugh.. it's so bright in here," Carmen shielded her face from the glaring ceiling lights. That's when she realized her whole fist was wrapped in bulky bandage wraps.

"Oh Carmen, I was so worried," Amber stopped her pacing and walked up to the bed, sharing a worried expression with Shelby. "What do you last remember?"

"Uh.. I was.. walking with Shelby on the West Wing.. and I think a window cracked?"

"You said Rain before you passed out," Shelby reminded her in a low voice. "Did you see her?"

Carmen's memory flashed back to that disturbing image of her father frothing at the mouth just after seeing Rain's reflection on the pane of glass.

She held back the urge to vomit and pushed the memory away. "That's what I wanted to tell you," she breathed fast, rushing to get out the words she couldn't earlier. "I know why I'm dreaming her life! My dad was friends with her in high school, he must have known what happened to her. He must have known something!"

"C-Carmen," Amber stuttered, her eyes going wide.

"Yes Amber, I know you won't believe me without evidence so look at my camera! It's in my purse. Rain Wilson is showing me her life through dreams because my dad is the link. He's the link that psychic told us about— No Amber don't try to calm me down," she pushed her hands away. "I know what I'm saying. It all makes sense now—"

Carmen's jaw dropped upon seeing the stranger in the room.

Hayden stared back awkwardly and feigned a cough. "I should.. uh.. get going. I'm glad your friend is doing goo.. is awake now."

He raised his hand goodbye and paused besides Amber just before going out the door. "Here uh.. you can just take these."

"Oh—" Amber had no choice but to grab the box of cosmic brownies. "Uh Thank you," she barely managed to say after he had left.

Oh just perfect, he probably thinks we're a bunch of freaks now, Amber thought to herself. Peering into the box at the last couple of brownies, she wondered why she even cared about what he thought. They'd only just met today. He was probably hoping to get that thing all the guys want, anyway. She would've been foolish to continue playing along.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he was right there," Carmen sunk into her shoulders with guilt.

"No please, don't worry. I dodged a bullet there," Amber smiled faintly, glancing at the empty doorway.

"Amber~! Who was that cutie?" Shelby sing sang, grinning wide and arching her eyebrows with interest.

"No one," Amber rolled her eyes and shrugged. "He's just a classmate. Anyway, what's all this about a link, Carm?"

"On second thought, we should probably talk about this somewhere else."

"Ooh, we should go to my place after school! It's been ages since I've had people over," Shelby gushed.

"As if!" Carmen and Amber glanced at each other knowingly and laughed out loud.

"Ok ok, besides the dudes... Those don't really count. I want my girls to come over for once!" Shelby slid her arms around them and brought them close. "Whaddaya say, you both down? I'll just tell my mom we're working on a school project or whatever, she'll totally believe it!"