Can You Keep a Secret?

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Robert and Ellie stood over Jenny’s hospital bed, gazing mournfully at their daughter. It had been two weeks and she was still unconscious. Lewis had come to a day after the incident with apparently no memory of anything that had happened. For the entire term. They had been suspicious for a short time but Jess had insisted that it seemed real and they had had bigger things to worry about. Talks about the relative secrecy of their world had started again, more and more people becoming against the idea of sharing their secret.

But above all else, they had watched over their younger daughter, willing her back into the conscious world. Jess had been in to see her, as had Jake and Alex but she had not so much as stirred. Jess had stayed at her side for an hour the first day, trying to wake her but not even their twin bond could break through the fog encasing her now. The only person who hadn’t been to visit, in fact, was Lewis. It was what convinced her parents that he was telling the truth about his amnesia.

Robert sighed and turned away as his mobile phone began to ring. Everyone was constantly calling these days, demanding to speak with him or see him. This time was no different, someone needing their help to settle petty arguments over whether they were letting people back into the clique that was the Wiccan world. They both cast a final look over Jenny’s lifeless form before disappearing, leaving her still unaware of what was happening.

Jess watched her parents leave with a mixture of guilt and relief. She had been working for the past two weeks to convince them that Lewis was innocent of knowing anything about them. She had known, instinctively, that she shouldn’t tell her parents about how Lewis had intruded on her mind and demanded her help, even if he hadn’t said not to tell anyone. She had even kept it from Alex, who was just as anxious for Jenny to wake up as she was. When she was sure the coast was clear, she motioned for Lewis to get a move on.

Lewis took a deep breath before stepping into the private room. The last time he had seen Jenny, they had both been a little distracted, what with the impending doom of Adam and his family. Adam appeared to be getting off with a warning, although his parents weren’t as lucky. Lewis realised he was distracting himself and gave a mental shove to get into the room. He had tried to prepare for what it would be like to see her, lying prone on the bed, but it still hit him like a gut-punch.

She was still beautiful, her long brown hair laid out on the pillow and her arms by her side. She was getting too thin, her muscles turning to atrophy with disuse and it pained him to see her that way. He took a deep breath, dropping a hand onto her own, much smaller one. Her skin was soft and only slightly warmer than dead. He brushed a hand up her arm, feeling his own anxiety mounting into the familiar electricity in his veins.

“Jenny…” he was whispering, dread making him cautious. He didn’t want to break the spell of her presence, even if he wasn’t sure if she was still there. He sat next to her, his mind trying to latch onto hers but he couldn’t find it. Not wanting to quit, he closed his eyes and delved deeper into himself, trying to relive that day and find their connection. He had felt it, something bigger and brighter than himself, something that felt right. Jenny, he thought to her, feeling something tug back.

Excited, he pursued the tiny spark, his hand moving up and down her arm subconsciously. Something stirred inside her, a force that made his hand and arm tingle from contact with her. He pressed harder, his mind forcing open the tiny crevice that had begun to open underneath his probing. She was there, he knew it: she had to be. Slowly, she yielded to him, her mind breaking into the present. She was confused but Lewis didn’t care because she was there. She was okay.

Jess felt the first stirring of her twin awakening, a tiny bud of awareness that re-rooted itself in her head. She focused on it, forgetting that she was meant to be Lewis’ lookout, thinking only about her sister coming back to her. She could feel Jenny’s confusion, felt her own sagging relief as she stopped being scared of losing her twin. She only managed to tear herself away when someone stood over her.