Shifted

Chapter 19: Briony Can Shift

I woke up feeling as though my head were about to split in two. A dark, unfamiliar room greeted me when I opened my eyes. I sat up and gently rubbed my temples as though it would literally keep my head in one piece. A hand dropped from my shoulder as I sat, and I looked down to see Addison on the bed beside me. As her hand hit the pillow, she woke up too.

"Briony, finally," she breathed, sitting up so we were eye to eye. Her aura was melancholy and her eyes reflected the feeling. I could feel her sadness wrapping around me, engulfing me in grief. I effortlessly engaged with her aura, overtaking it with my own soft blue and made hers indifferent. Her eyes raised slightly and her aura's grip on me slipped away.

"Have I been out long?" I asked, looking around to find there were rails on the bed and rhythmic beeping behind us. I was hooked up to three different IV drips and a blood pressure cuff hung from my arm.

"Five days, you were fully out. For the past day you've been in and out of consciousness," she muttered. "Briony, you scared us to death. Would you care to explain what the hell you were doing that close to the edge?"

"Close to the edge? How did I fall?" I asked, confused.

"You don't remember?" she questioned.

"I just remember Charlie. We went out to get some fresh air and we were looking at the little village in the valley. Then everything is just black, gone."

Addie just stared at me blankly, as if she didn't know what to say.

"What?" I asked. Addie just continued to look at me, not willing to speak up. "What?" I repeated, raising my voice. She still wouldn't spill so I swiftly dropped the walls blocking her thoughts.

To my horror, I was bombarded with images of flashing blue lights and blood-curdling screams. Then I saw Charlie, blood dripping from his head and ears, his chest unmoving. Next, her memories fast-forwarded to a casket, familiar and unfamiliar faces flashed past. Dillon, our sisters, Maeve, Raine, Declan all dressed in black, most faces twisted in sadness and grief. Her mind whirled through the burial, then traveled back to the hospital. All of this happened while I slept, unaware.

"No!" I gasped in utter shock as I pulled the thin, white sheets up to my neck, sinking fresh tears into the fabric. I tried to catch my breath unsuccessfully and attempted to wash the images from my mind. My stomach churned and I grasped at my throat as if it would help me breathe.

My head pounded mercilessly. I reached my hand up to my forehead where I felt gauze taped down just above my right eye. The memory of Charlie wiping the blood from my eye as he began to walk me back to the pub flashed through my mind. The familiar sound of blood rushed through my ears, always a precursor to vomiting.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I groaned. Addie quickly handed me a small wastebasket that I proceeded to empty the limited contents of my stomach into. In between the consistent fits of retching, Addie undimmed the lights slightly and I saw Charlotte and Eleanor's faces emerge from under woven blankets on the small sofa in the back of the room. They looked at me sympathetically as I put the basket back on the floor. A nurse quietly came in and helped me get to the bathroom and took my vitals before slipping back out the door.

Charlotte unraveled herself from the blanket and came to wrap her arm around me. I leaned my head on her shoulder and let the inevitable tears fall.

Out of muscle memory, I reached for my necklace for comfort and had a mini heart attack when I realized it was gone. I frantically patted my chest, searching.

"Where is my necklace?" I cried.

"Oh, I've got it. They wanted to take it off you when the ambulance came, I made sure to snag it," Addie said, producing it from her pocket. I breathed a sigh of relief as I clasped it back around my neck again. I'd worn it for so much of my life now, I just felt different without it.