Dying In Disguise (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 15

I didn't remember.

I could barely remember anything from yesterday. The sun was too hot on my eyelids, and too bright when I opened them. God, it was so bright it hurt my head. I yanked my palm free from beneath the covers and pressed it to my forehead. But, the fast jerky movements only made it worse. It felt like something was pressing against the walls of my cranium.

"Mom!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for the pressure to stop. I'd gotten headaches before, but this felt more like a migraine. Not that I'd ever had one, so I was roughly basing the diagnosis on what I'd read.

My head was pounding.

"Mom!"

I tried and failed to open my eyes again. I couldn't see anything, but these black dots. They scattered about my vision, darting back and forth whenever I lifted my eyelids.

I heard movement in the room. A draft of air rushed in as the doorknob hit the wall.

"Honey," Mom's voice was at my side. "What's the matter?"

"My head," it took a lot for me to say another word. "I-I can't see..."
I felt something cold on my head. Her hand.

"Kelsi you're burning up." She felt along my face. "You stay right here."
Not that I had a choice. God, it hurt. What was happening? I'd never had a headache so bad. When I opened my eyes, the dots had disappeared but everything still looked too bright. All I could do was squint at the walls.

"Take this," Mom was back, walking towards me with a bottle of Advil in one hand and a bottled water in the other. She unscrewed the cap for me and placed two tablets in my hands. I took them willingly, and took a swig of the water. Now that my vision was clearing, I saw that she was already dressed for work, in a pair of black slacks with a matching blazer. I'd overslept. Her eyes found mine from beneath her frames, and even as I looked away, I knew her gaze hadn't shifted. "Do you want me to give Dr. Richardson a call?"

I shook my head no since my mouth was full of water. I continued to down the bottle as she talked.

"Well, we need to do something about this. First, you're leaving school early, and now you're getting headaches. I just wanna make sure you're alright."

I swallowed.

"I'm fine Mom." She reached forward and swept a sweaty strand from my face.

"I don't think you should go in today. It's already late and Sherri's about to leave for the bus. Let me go heat you up some breakfast."

My hand reached out before I could stop it. I lessened the harsh reaction by clasping hers, and interlocking fingers.

"That's okay," I forced a smile through the pain, "I don't wanna slow you down."

"No, you need to eat something. I think that may be part of the problem."

There was no need to even try and argue out of this one. If it came down to it, I'd eat right in front of her. After all, she had to leave at some point. She'd never know what I'd do afterwards.

"Yeah," I said with a smile, "Maybe that's it."

Something moved by the door, and now that the pain was subsiding, I knew it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. Like the dots.

"Bus is here."

As soon as her voice registered, I buried myself further under the covers and turned over. Mom craned her neck and stood up.

"Go on, Sher. Your sister won't be going in today."

I flinched at the word, sister, refraining from correcting her. Everyone could play the game as a happy family all they wanted but they knew well enough that we weren't. Pretending didn't get us anywhere. All it did was serve as reminders that her sister was in foster care miles away from this place. Because the only people that she actually matters to, and took her in despite the damage that she carried along with her, were only temporary. Apparently we didn't deserve her gratitude.