Birthmarked

14-Echo

I awoke in pain, throbbing, twisting, searing pain that ran throughout my body. My head hurt the worse, and my back throbbed, as if I had cut it open again.

I turned over and sank down lower into the sheets. What was this?

I closed my eyes again, quivering slightly as a wave of pain swept through me.

I awoke again with warm hands against my forehead and quiet voices in my ear.

"She's getting sicker," a voice like wind chimes and bells said in an almost sing song voice I recognized as Isra's. It was so sweet and musical I wanted to hear her speak again. It was like a light in the middle of all my darkness.

I tried to smile but my lips didn't exactly work. Someone placed their hand on my forehead. "Penny? Are you okay? Can you open your eyes?"

I thought about it and then tried it. It was harder than it should have been. First, I had to find them!

I moved my head toward the direction I assumed the voice was coming from. "Isra," I said tiredly. "Please, keep singing." I found my eyelids then, and opened them to look into her violet eyes. She gave me a gentle smile and nodded.

She sat beside me and began in a quiet voice. It was the most beautiful and enchanting sound that had ever met my ears. Her voice shot through two octaves and dropped down again, lacing in and out of notes the way professionals only dreamed of being able to do. I did not recognize the language of the song; it didn't sound like anything of this world.

Isra slid her hand in mine. She stopped momentarily to say, "Sleep, Penny. You'll feel better when you wake up."

She began to sing again, her voice a little deeper, the song a little more somber. It made my eyelids feel heavy again. No, I didn't want to sleep. But it was all involuntary. As Isra's song came to an end, my consciousness began to slip away.

When I awoke again, it was quiet. My pain was gone, though it seemed my headache would never fully go away. It remained a dull ache behind my eyes.

"Hey."

I gasped loudly, turning all the way around to see who could be in the room with me.

Edon stood from the window seat and made his way towards the bed. He took my hand. "How are you?"

I leaned back against the pillow. "I don't know. I feel fine now, but there's no telling how I'll feel later. I'm guessing they told you everything."

He shrugged. "More or less."

"Did you take it better than I did?"

He gave me a wry grin. "I can only imagine how you took that news. Nothing surprises me much these days. Besides, it would explain everything."

"Everything?" I questioned. He shrugged and changed the subject. "You wanna get out of here?"

I snorted. "Like they'd ever let me leave."

"What if I told you they would and that I'd protect you from any ole scary angel," he waggled his fingers at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "And how are you going to do that? They seem pretty anal about this whole protecting me thing."

He smiled mischievously. "I have a plan." He pulled on my hand. "Come on, get dressed. I want to show you something."

Twenty minutes later, dressed in a simple, black t-shirt and a pair of jeans, I was sitting on an old abandoned bridge in downtown Hillsboro.

"You know, I've seen this view before."

Edon shook his head. "Not like this."

"I know your other girlfriend's thought this was romantic and all, but what was the real reason you brought me out here?"