Clipped Wings

Only Broken

I wake up to someone tapping my shoulder. I groan, "why can't I just sleep in a little?"

A vaguely familiar voice answers, "because you've got to go home, Mr. Lambert."

I open my eyes and see a blonde nurse standing in front of me, Paige. She scoffs, "it hasn't even been a week since you were last here, you know."

I narrow my eyes distrustfully, "how long have I been asleep? So help me if you say two weeks." The last sentence comes out as more of a snarl.

"Only six hours," she crosses her arms.

"Oh," I nod, then I look down at my hand. A thick bandage is wrapped around it, and I bite my lip. "Sorry."

She shrugs, "I've gotten over it. Do you have a way to get home?"

"Is the sheriff still here?" I ask.

"No, but I think he left your car. You can ask the front desk for your keys."

"Thanks," I mutter. I grab my coat from the edge of the bed and put it on. I zip it up, but as I look in the mirror I notice that my wings have gotten so big that the coat barely covers them, and I'm left with a large bulge on my back.

Paige gives me a sympathetic look, then says, "I know you attacked me, but the drugs the doctor gave you caused strong mood swings, and you've had a rough couple months." I look down at my feet, I feel pretty guilty. She continues, "I can see it in your eyes, you're sorry. Don't worry, I forgive you. I've heard from so many people that you're the nicest guy, but even the best people have hard times." She takes a deep breath, "what I'm trying to say is that, if you need help getting through some of these rough times, I'd be willing to help."

I blush and give her a smile, "I-I," I don't know what to say. "Thank you, Paige, really. That actually means a lot."

She smiles back, "of course. I love your music, by the way. I looked it up a couple nights ago. Your voice is amazing."

My face grows even warmer, "thanks." I nod, then I open the door, waving goodbye to her. I tightly squeeze my wings to my back like I have so many times before, and I go to the front desk.

An older woman looks up at me from her computer, "may I help you?"

"Um yeah," I say, "did a man drop off some car keys here?"

She nods, "the sheriff? Yeah, he did. Do you have a name?"

"Lambert, he would have left them under that name, I think."

She hands me the keys, "here you go, Mr. Lambert. Have a safe ride home."

The sky is black as I leave the hospital, I hadn't realized how late it was. I check the time on my phone, it's 11:23. I get in my car and drive home, the radio turned up high. My house's porch lights are off, but I can see light shining through the windows. I open the door, and walk in, but there's no one in sight. I plop down on my couch, plugging earbuds into my phone and turning the volume up high, letting the music rush over me. I loose track of time, escaping from reality, running from the world.

***

I look down to the weight on my lap and find a cute blond man looking up at me. Tommy.

"Adam," he leans in to my chest. I'm confused, but he seems so sure.

"Tommy...?" my voice trails off into a question.

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" he looks hurt, and glances away from me.

"No, no, that's not what I meant." I reach towards him, but he starts to drift away from me. He continues drifting until he is about ten feet away, then the look of hurt on his face turns into a sneer. I run to catch up to him, but cold metal bars separate us. I'm in a cage.

I ram myself against the sides of the cage, and Tommy laughs, "this is where you belong. Not on a couch, not with the people you love, but in a cage, a zoo. You're an animal, you can't be trusted, and it was stupid you you to think you could be loved. You're a freak, Adam, a monster."

Suddenly, people surround me from all around. The laugh and point, as if I were an entertaining zoo exhibit. I cower, covering my face with my hands and wrapping my wings around me. I shiver and squeeze my eyes shut tight and try to escape from it all...

***

I jolt upwards, accidentally yanking the earbuds out of my ears. My hair is plastered to my forehead, my clothes sticking to me, and I'm covered in cold sweat.

"It was just a dream," I tell myself, trembling, "just a dream."

"Is something wrong?" Tommy walks into the room. He looks healthy as ever.

"Just a bad dream. You're feeling better, I take it?"

Tommy smiles and nods, "yeah, tons. They told me what you did, by the way. Nice of you to give me your blood, but what you did was stupid. Victoria didn't have to give any of hers away, you gave too much." He crosses his arms and looks at me like a scolding mother would her child.

"I know," I look down, "I don't know what happened, one moment I was fine, and the next..." I don't make eye contact.

"Hey, hey," he comes up to me, crouching down low so that I look directly at him. "We'll get you through this, okay? You have problems right now, a lot of problems, but you're only broken, not lost. There's still a chance to fix you." He pulls me into an embrace, and I close my eyes and take comfort in his words.

You're only broken, not lost. There's still a chance to fix you...

**A/N: Another page, another new chapter. I would do anything, just to have you (insert a clever three syllable phrase here because I'm unable to come up with one that goes with Another Lonely Night). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and vote. Or if you just wanna chat that's fine too. If you have suggestions, feel free to share them, if I like it, I may put it into consideration ^~^ **