Strange Nights ( Dr Strange #1)

Chapter 9 : Life & Death

 Her head and chest were throbbing. So hard and fast that it felt like once the lungs would collapse, the heart would finally be able to force its way out of the ribcage. There was no moment of air anymore. The burning sensation flared from her chest, tingling each cell before turning them numb. She tried to fight it, move her arms and legs but it was too powerful to be overpowered. Once her arms and legs were numb, relief surged from them. Y/N wasn't fighting anymore, the numbness, the relief. It would be over soon. She was oddly happy. She was happy to die finally. The fear that she had always felt was nowhere to be found. It felt calming not to be torn limb by limb by zombies. It felt pacific not to be jolted inside a car that rolled over on the road before plunging into the water. It felt quiet not to be waiting for bullets to plunge through when gunshots and screams echoed around. It felt peaceful to go numb. This was an easier death than the others she had nearly faced.

Y/N felt a jiggle. The numbness that was centripetally devouring her torso stopped in its tracks. Another jolt. Then another. It was retreating now. No, no, no... Don't go away.

"Wake up!" a voice, wild with anxiety ordered. She felt a cruel jolt of pain when she was shaken again.

"Open your eyes," a voice urged. It was different from the previous one, oddly calm. She had a faint sensation of shifting of gravity. A cold gush of air whipped away the burning, the numbness. No! Her insides cried.

"She's breathing. She'll come around," the calm silvery voice asserted.

No! No! No! Once again she was denied. Once again she was close to dying. She wanted to get over this. She begged every force in the universe to let her die. Not to be so cruel as to snatch it away after letting her taste it so many times.

"Open your eyes," the silver voice once again pleaded. She had to look then. Find out what was trying to extend her life. With a tremendous effort, she raised her hands protectively to shield her face before light flooded in. "She'll be okay," he spoke again.

Y/N realised that she was still. No more tremors. The surface wasn't vertical anymore. Her eyes fluttering open could finally see his perfect face, twisted in agony and fear, yet the grey eyes that stared at her were strangely calm.

A warm hand nudged her, and her head automatically whirled in its direction. "Oww..," she groaned, pained at her sudden movement. "Don't agitate her," Stephen chastised the other man.

"The ambulance will be here soon," a female voice informed. Wait, why? Then a realisation hit her like an angry wave. JANET. The crash. The killer. She whipped my eyes open again.

"Y/N? Can you move?" Stephen asked as his fingers hovered around her shoulder. "Yes," she coaxed. He slid his arm around and gently got her seated, her back resting against his chest. Her eyes scanned the darkness to register Wanda and Bucky.

"Where's Janet?"

"She's still unconscious, lying in our car, has hit her head a little harder than you but she'll be okay," Wanda answered.

"O-okay," She shuttered, her lips trembling from the cold. "Where is t-the man?"

Three pairs of eyes stared blankly at Y/N.

"Which man?" Bucky spoke out loud.

"He came out of nowhere. He—"

Stephen felt her mind trying to net her thoughts and funnel them into words. The memories were unclear. Something about a guy jumping on the car, sliding across the hood.

"He jumped in front of the car!"

But there was no foreign scent he could pick upon. He looked at Wanda and she shook her head in conformation. "There wasn't a soul around when we found you," Stephen spoke, more confused.

Y/N opened her mouth, but Wanda cut her off. "It must be a deer. She must have lost control and crashed the car into the tree." She stared perplexedly at the car wreck behind Bucky. No smashed passenger's side window. She closed her eyes. When she reopened them, the window was still intact.

Her mind flashed back to the lethal eyes. No, the lethal smile. Looking at the car now, it seemed impossible. No, it seemed crazy. But she had seen his fist punch through the glass and had felt his fingernails bite into her shoulder. No, no, no... He choked her.

Stephen realised the harder Y/N tried to recall, the more she couldn't. The details were fading.

Was he tall? Short? Thin? Bulky? Had he said anything? She couldn't remember. And was frightened.

Stephen tried a calming spell when she was considering passing the whole thing off as hitting a deer. She wanted to tell him but didn't want to sound crazy, either. He would never ignore it no matter how crazy it was.

Crazy it was. Y/N came to herself with a start. Was I considering denying it had happened? She knew something had hit the car. But what happened after might be a hallucination.

Then it hit him. A faint smell of lemons. It was too light and very easy to overlook. He had to search the place. Y/N wasn't making things up after all.

Y/N didn't make it a habit to frequent hospitals. She hated them as much as Jane hated country music. To her, they smelled of death and disinfectant. She almost died of humiliation when Matt entered the emergency room yelling her name in panic. She was very much thankful to Rachael and Wanda for shoving Bucky and Matt out of the room and saving her from further embarrassment.

After tons of poking, prodding, and half a dozen X-rays, nothing was broken. Not even a concussion! She felt completely fine yet they hadn't let her leave. Rachael had told her that she had to talk to a doctor first. Y/N argued that Stephen had examined her on the spot and had told her that she was okay but Rachael wasn't satisfied. Little did she know when she grimaced and laid down on the bed, closing her eyes, that Stephen had asked Rachael to keep Y/N and Matt busy in the hospital while he checked the house.

"Are you sleeping?" a sweet voice asked. Y/N opened my eyes to watch Wanda sit by her side. A few seconds after Bucky and Matt were made to wait outside; she had left to check on Janet who didn't return after being wheeled away for the tests.

"How's Janet?"

"Nothing's broken. She has a concussion and sprained wrists. Her head is aching too much. Dizzy and nauseous. Would be spending the night here." She answered in one breath. Y/N let out a breath, relieved that it wasn't anything serious. Wanda offered her a polite smile. "Are you staying here tonight?"

"Nope. I get to leave as soon as I talk to another doctor since Dr Rochester's verdict isn't enough for her." She chuckled. She knew why Y/N was being held. "She hates us much more than Tony hates Steve?"

"Tony?"

"Anthony," Wanda grimaced, correcting herself. But it didn't matter, did it? Sooner or later, Y/N would know the truth about them- once Stephen would turn her into their kind.

"Why? What went wrong?" Once the words left her mouth, Y/N felt like Wanda was going to say something like it was none of my business or simply shrug her shoulders. Instead, Wanda peeked above her shoulder and then drew her stool closer to the bed.

She was more than happy to find Y/N interested in their family. However, she had to keep things simple for the time being. "We- our families used to be just one big family. Some of us- especially me did stuff that brought us some trouble. Steve backed us, so there was a clash of opinions between him and Tony. But after Steve found Buck, things between him and Tony went very ugly and Steve's family left New York. We hadn't met them until two years back when we moved into Rockport."

"Oh," was all Y/N could respond to. What did she mean by 'Steve found Buck'? Wasn't he a part of the family like Rachael had said? Before she could prey any further a doctor walked in. He was blond with blue tired-looking eyes and pale, though not as pale as Wanda and her family. Y/N guessed he must be the one Rachael was talking about, who came in after Dr Bruce left. So that made him Dr Alington.

After the usual interrogation, he seemed satisfied enough to give her the green signal for home. She was so happy that she jumped out of the bed too quickly to lose her balance. Wanda caught her at once and steadied her. Dr Alington eyed her suspiciously, unsure whether to let her go or put her beside Janet.

"I am fine," she assured him before Wanda spun her and paced across the hall.