Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 13

"Hadley?" one of my sisters asked, her voice trembling. She patted my cheek, and I groaned and swatted her hands away. "Come on. Open your eyes. Please?"

I furrowed my brows in confusion and opened my eyes to see that my sisters were crowded around me with my head on Gwen's lap. My head pounded like someone took a hammer to it, and I was feeling uncomfortable.

"Hadley?" my youngest sister asked, her eyes wide with fear. There were tears in them, and I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. "Are you ok?"

I smiled and nodded my head. "Uh... ya," I said, shifting until I was sitting up. "I am fine. I just..." I rubbed my eyes and shook my head, feeling drained. "Come on, let's go get the schedules and stuff."

Gwen grabbed my arm and pulled me back to a seating position when I went to stand. "No," she said sternly. "Liam went to get the school nurse. If he says that you are fine, then you can stand up."

I scowled. "But, I am," I said. "I do not need a nurse." And, I can't tell him what had really happened, I thought, frowning. I don't even understand it myself.

"You are going to be checked out by the nurse, and if he says that you need to go.home. Then, you'll go home."

I scowled but didn't reply. My head still pounded like someone took a hammer and started to pound on it, but other than that, I felt fine. "What happened anyway?" I asked, trying to get myself not to think of the pain.

"You touched the symbol near the front office door and just stood still with a glazed look on your eyes," Lacey said. "You didn't say anything, but you were mouthing words."

"Like..?" I asked.

She shrugged. "How would I know? I don't read lips."

I bit back a scowl because I knew that she actually could. I could still remember what had happened, and I couldn't help but wonder if that Vanar was the same Vanar in the round pen.

"She is right here, Doctor Wilson," Liam said before going over to us. He was pulling a man with familiar gray eyes toward me. Worry filled his face, and he had his lips pressed in a firm line. "I don't know what happened, but it w-" He stopped in his tracks, and the old man almost ran into him if he hadn't stopped. "Hadley?" he asked, and I pulled my gaze away from the old man and to him. "You're alive."

"Of course, she is alive. Do you mean to say that she is awake?" the old man asked. He patted Liam gently before moving over to me and knelt by my side.

I shifted away from him, uncomfortably. I was nervous around doctors because most of them had tried to prescribe me stuff that I didn't need, and it didn't help that I had been to a lot of doctors because of the many injuries I had received.

"It is alright," the old man said, smiling. He bowed his head ever so slightly that I would have missed it. "I will not hurt you, Young One."

"Like I had told my sisters, I am fine," I said. "I just had a small anxiety attack, which is normal for me."

Gwen scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That was not an anxiety attack. I know what your anxiety attacks look like, and that was not it."

I scowled up at my sister but didn't reply when I felt him start to reach for me. Automatically, my whole body grew rigid as I looked at him, my heart pounding in my chest.

Dr. Wilson stopped reaching for me and placed his hand back at his side. Sympathy filled his eyes, and I had a feeling that he had seen or known what had happened to me, what I was hiding.

"Breath, Hadley," Gwen said, rubbing my back. "He's not going to hurt you."

"That's right Pr-er, what is your name, Dear?"

"Hadley," I said, giving him a weird look. I really wanted to know what he was about to call me, but he looked like he wasn't going to. "Hadley McCormick."

"Dr. Anthony Wilson," he said, holding his hand out to me. "It is a pleasure to meet you finally."

Hesitantly, I placed my hand in his and shook it. "It's nice to meet you, too?"

He chuckled but turned serious. "Now, what happened?" he asked, taking his hand out of mine and getting out a notebook and a pen.

"Uh... I had a panic attack coming in? I am fine now, though. Can I go get my class schedule and go to class?"

"That wasn't a panic attack," Gwen said, scowling at me. She looked at Dr. Wilson. "She had this weird look in her eyes and then touched the insignia by the door."

Dr. Wilson looked at me with knowledge in his eyes and nodded his head. "Ah," he said. "I know just what you need."

I gave him a weird look as he reached into his small bag. "What do you mean?" I asked. "What happened?"

Dr. Wilson shrugged his shoulder, a small smirk appearing on his face. He didn't say a word, and my sister huffed in annoyance. "Here," he said, handing me something that looked like pain medication. "That should help with the headache."

"Thanks..?" I asked, cautiously taking it from him. I gave him a weird look as I placed it in my mouth and took the bottle of water that one of my sisters had offered me. I drank the bottle and felt better, surprisingly quick.

"What happened to her?" Gwen asked, finally letting me stand.

"She had a small panic attack about starting school," Dr. Wilson said, standing with the help of Liam. "It caused her a small headache." His voice was soothing and almost spell-like. He sounded calm, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was soothing them.

"Why did she touch the insignia?" Izzy asked.

"Well, to get good luck, of course," Dr. Wilson said. "You haven't met Headmaster Renes yet, have you? He is... quite the character. His bark is worse than his bite."

Liam snorted. He glanced at me, and I didn't meet his gaze. "It's true," he said. "Headmaster Renes is... not the friendliest person ever."

"I guess... we are going to need all the luck that thing can offer, then," Gwen said. "But, are you sure that she is fine and that she shouldn't go home?"

Dr. Wilson nodded. "I am sure that she is fine. She needs to take it easy, and if the school does become stressful, then she should go home." He patted Liam's shoulder. "Now, Liam lad, help an old man to his office since you rudely took him away without his cane, now would you?"

"Oh, yes, yes, of course." He looked at me. "I will see you around?"

"I guess," I replied coldly, and he winced. "Thanks, Doc, for everything."

Dr. Wilson smiled and winked. "My pleasure," he said. "If you need anything else, then just let me know."

I nodded my head and watched them leave before looking at my siblings. "Well, I guess we should talk to this... Headmaster. We are late as it is." I looked around and noticed that there wasn't anyone else in the hallways before us.

"Great," Jen groaned. "Just what I needed, to be late on the first day of class."

"Well, you didn't have to stay," I said softly, feeling guilty that they were late because of me.

"Of course we did," Jen said. "You're our sister. We will do anything for you."

"Except dying," Nina said, grinning innocently. "We won't die for you."