Forewarned (BEING REWRITTEN)

Things Get Weird(er)

'Don't die on me kid.' I remembered a voice saying. Was it a dream? One of the doctors talking to me? I wasn't sure. 'Spent too much time on you for that.'

I vaguely remembered opening my eyes and seeing a whirl of motion around me. White coats, blank faces, white walls, hazy shades of color, all with the glow of befuddling light surrounding them. The smell of antiseptic shocked my senses as I inhaled. A murmur of voices that might as well have been in elvish wafted through the air.

I could just barely feel a pinch before I faded back into sleep.

It felt like two seconds later when I dimly heard the steady beeping and a soft voice whisper. "He's waking. Get the dragon."

"He's already on the bed," another voice called, this one deeper. Male. "We can't seem to keep him away." His tone was amused.

Where was I? What... my brain was sluggish to piece these words together and what they meant.

"He's phasing again!" The nurse said sharply and I felt rough hands clamp on my wrists, making me open my eyes a little to the burning light. "There we go... don't phase on us again," I could vaguely see the nurses' hazy dark outline with my blurry vision. She looked like a pregnant pear. I was so tired.

"Stay with us." The man agreed. "Turn the light a little brighter!" he called to someone else.

My sluggish brain finally realized that they had the lights on bright trying to prevent me from shadow travelling. "No-no." A hoarse, croaking voice that I couldn't even identify burped out. "I'm here." I stifled a groan as I felt the words shred my throat.

"Light bad!" A courageous growl put a hint of a smile on my face. "No light!" I was surprised at the demanding tone of that tiny voice.

The hands released their grip on me, thankfully before I could lose feeling in my fingers. "Turn down the lights," the burly man agreed and I sighed in relief as I felt a sensation like soothing cold lotion on my skin and exhaled in relief. Great job nurses! Burn your shadow patient! As I exhaled, I felt a slight sting in my side. Stitches. "Wh-wha?" My voice croaked like a bullfrog.

"Wow look at this," a man whispered and he whipped off my sheets to reveal my bare torso. His cold finger traced my stitches in the darkness. "It's healing at an accelerated rate. I've.. never seen anything like it."

The other nurses crowded around me, lowering their masks to reveal their gaping mouths. Was I some sort of freak to them now? I suddenly felt like a fish in the aquarium, stuck in a tank for children to gape and point at. Caedmon growled and crawled on my chest, obstructing their view of my stitches. He growled at them, his arched body making it clear he wanted them to back off.

"Give the kid some room," General Landin barked to the nurses. I sighed in relief as they backed off. He walked closer. "You.. idiots," he said when he saw the burns that were quickly fading in the darkness. His golden eyes smoldered angrily. "Why did you have the lights on? I told you very distinctly he's a shadow dragon Rider," he growled. One of his eyes twitched.

"I'm sorry sir," One of the nurses said quickly. "We've never had a shadow dragon before and whenever the lights got too dim he'd start to phase in his sleep."

I listened quietly as General Landin shook his head. "It was most likely the darn dragon trying to take him away from the fumbling fingers of you idiots! Get out of here before you're fired." He said. Well, not as nicely as I put it.

The nurses all scrambled out, almost tripping over their white lab coats. Somehow, this made a ghost of a smile reach my lips.

General Landin slowly sat on the edge of my bed and took off his little cap, pressing it to his chest. Then he looked me in the eyes,  his yellow eyes pulsing with color like little rainbows were trapped inside. "Justin, I am sorry for the treatment you received here. I should have been here earlier to check on you." His apology was earnest and I tried to be angry at him still but I was so relieved to be in a dark room that I couldn't stay angry.