Ivy's Second Shadow

Chapter 13- Fainted...

My eyes opened as I watched the flickering tube lights above me. I was in a room which seemed to be in a hospital and my head felt like it was driving in a hurricane. I could feel ultraviolet flames burning through my body shuddering me to the bones. There were curtains lining the walls to the right and a few papers sprawling all over the sofa. The walls were in an oddly striking white color that flabbergasted me. How could anything be that bright? Moreover, there were a few things kept alongside which I couldn't really envision because everything was a little blurry as if my eyeballs were being washed in talcum powder. The brightness in my eyes had itched the cones in my retina. I looked around to see Kash looking at me from afar and then he squealed and exclaimed, "She's awake...she's alive...thank you God!"

He rushed towards skidding on his sneakers and he leaned towards me and kissed me. I could feel the lights in the hospital refract magical aurora lights in the air pressing his lips onto mine. My heavy head which was floating without gravity seemed to have touched the ground abruptly like everything was okay and back to the way everything's supposed to be.

"Ivy, you okay?" he asked pulling back.
"I feel awake," I said not knowing what to answer.
"My head's like not responding much. I feel pretty much numb."
"Okay...I'll call the doctor," he said as he opened the door and signaled somebody to come inside.

A young man in a sleek, white coat with a stethoscope hung around his neck like a metal snake came towards m. I saw his name tag pinned onto his shirt- Dr. Robins.

Dr. Robins looked at me scrutinizing me. He had a few report cards in his hand. He showed them to Kash and said, "Look, she seems perfectly okay but it is really odd that she fell down unconscious. I think that she might have been under some stress or something. And are you her brother or something because I need the contact details of your parents?."

"Well, I'm her boyfriend not her brother, doctor," Kash said glaring for a judgement like that.
"Ofcourse," the doctor gasped, "that's why you were kissing her like that."

"That's none of your business, doctor and why are you poking your nose in this?" Kash retorted.

"Ahem! Anyway, I'd say that she should relax and not stress because her health is alright," Dr. Robins said, "and I need her parents' contact details."

"If it's for paying the hospital bills, talk to me," Kash said.

"Is she alright?" A voice swept across the room redolent of concern. It was Miss Wilson.

"I'm her guardian, doctor!" she said with the wrinkles of worry on her forehead recoiling into fine, smooth skin dazzling like a diamond that anyone would die for that kind of skin. She must be using Korean skincare or something- I thought. I'll ask her the brand of her lotions later on. Do remind me that later on.

"Since you're her guardian, could you please fill the form?" he said as he handed over the form to her and said that he would be coming back in a minute or two.
"Take your time, doctor," Miss Wilson chimed as she closed the door and then rushed towards me.
"Ivy, you're experiencing the symptoms just like that website said," she said in a trepidation.
"So there's a ghost possessing her?" Kash ask incredulously.
"Yes," Miss Wilson said which was not really ear-friendly to hear because I didn't want to hear that.
"The ghost wants something from you. It's your second shadow," she said looking at my blanched face and my sweaty skin.
"But what does this shadow want? Neither I have opulent amounts of money nor do I have big connections and I'm a very plain person, to be honest, who just wants to get out of high school and go to the New York University," I said unleashing my tank of tears to cry.
"Don't cry, baby," Kash said as he patted me on the head.
Wait! He called me baby!!!! Yay! I cannot believe this. He called me "baby". I'm in love with his voice. It's like caffeine. So ADDICTING...OH MY MY!
Or did he just call me baby to address me as a crybaby.
Did he say that in a romantic way or in an irksome "you're a crybaby" way???
Ok, calm down. I'm possessed by some ghost. I need to deal with that first.

"That ghost will possess you to do crimes. That's what the website says," she said.

"I know that...But hold up, how did I land up in a hospital, why aren't you guys telling me that?"
I asked.

"Well, we were walking to the public library to find some information about your second shadow. But suddenly you passed out," she said.

"Yeah, it was pretty unexpected. So, tell me if you feel anything weird," Kash said.

"So I just fell on the middle of the road?" I asked.

"Well, you collapsed and as I was holding your hand, I was able to catch you," he said with a sigh of relief.

"Did anything else weird happen?" I asked trying to figure out all the symptoms.

"You were really quiet," he said.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked baffled by his assertion.

"I mean, you were not acting loquacious like you are," he said trying to find the right words.

"I don't talk a lot like an empty chatterbox," I protested.

"No, I didn't mean it that way," he said.

First, he called me a crybaby and now a chatterbox. If he does a hat-trick, I'm going to punch him, I swear.

"Anyway, I think that you should not go home," Miss Wilson suggested.

"What do you mean? My parents and Harry won't come to know that I'm not home? Of course," I bitterly remarked in despair.

"Who's Harry?" Miss Wilson interrogated.

"He's my pesky older brother," I replied wondering about why had she asked me that question. Was she just genuinely asking it as a question out of inquisitiveness or was something suspiciously weird going on?

"Why did you ask?" I questioned as my eyes narrowly spied on her countenance.

"Ask about?"

"Harry."

"Oh, I just asked because I had read that name on the back of some of the notes which the second shadow had sent you. You know, those notes with 'Votre deuxième ombre' written at the bottom. I had seen the name 'Harry' written on the other side of the notes," she said.

"So you're telling me that Harry is a ghost? My brother Harry...he's literally scared of the dark so how can he be a creature of the dark?" I asked her snorting at the fact that she'd even considered Harry as the ghost. And plus, there was no way that his handwriting was so lusciously cursive. Like NO WAY...

"My dear Ivy, didn't you pay attention in my English class? Don't you remember the protagonist in the story I had narrated? It's always those who look the dumbest, those underestimated, those unexpected people, those 'normal' people turning out to be the stellar emperors all along?" she said smirking with her eyebrows raised into a curve.

"So you're saying that it's my brother Harry?" I asked mockingly taking a sip of the icy water kept alongside on the table.

"I mean why was Harry written there?" she said biting her lips like a cold vampire ready to devour and consume each gallon's drop of blood she could get.

"Blimey!" Kash exclaimed sitting right between us hearing how our conversation was beginning to sound like a peculiarly childish conversation.

"Yeah, I mean it could be Harry Potter from Hogwarts," I said chuckling.

Kash nudged me as we all burst out laughing showing our teeth brandishing it under the glowing lights of the vividly white colored room.

"But where should I stay because they will discharge me any sooner since my reports are all good? I asked breaking the sound of our lungs exploding.

"Come on to my place," Kash said grinning with a huge smile stretched on his face like a jolly plaster stuck on a doll. But come on, how could I say to such a ravishing smile like that? I bet you would've fainted on seeing him smile like that. It's IRRESTIBLE. Something which he's a connoisseur at. THE ART OF LOOKING GOOD. He should write a book on that. I'm sure it will be a #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestseller. I'm manifesting for one!!!