Brynn: Book Two

Chapter Three

Heather woke up to a loud conversation two people were having in the hallway. She groaned and opened the door.

"Would you two quit fighting? Milo, you have to --" She stopped and looked into the faces of two women. She could make out one of them to be Kaylie. The other one's face was so blurry, she couldn't tell. The woman was wearing an old hospital gown, and her dirty blonde hair looked like it hadn't been combed in years.

Heather blinked. The woman had the same eyes that she saw in the mirror.

"Heather?" Her heart caught in her throat and suddenly she couldn't breathe.

She was barely able to choke out a single word;

"Mom?!"

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The next three hours consisted of crying, talking, and more crying. Heather was so happy and angry at the same time.

"Why didn't you come back for me?"

"Oh, sweetie," Bailey's eyes teared up. "I tried. I swear, baby, I never stopped." She gulped. "It took me fifteen years, but I found you, didn't I?"

"Why were you yelling at Kaylie?"

"I needed to find Brynn. She was in the safe world, and the dart was--" Bailey sighed and smiled to herself. "You probably don't know what I'm talking about."

"Believe me," Heather laughed. "I know more than you think."

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Angie rubbed her eyes and looked at Brynn. She was fast asleep, and she hadn't woken up when she and Heather switched shifts. She wondered if she was okay.

Her stomach growled and she walked out the door. There was laughter and loud talking coming from Heather's room. She opened the door a crack but Heather wasn't paying attention. She was talking to a woman who bared a striking resemblance to her. It was most likely the mom she was talking about.

Angie closed the door. She turned around and screamed. Milo was standing just a foot away from her, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "Holy crap! You scared the living daylights out of me! What are you doing?"

He put a finger to his lips and shushed her. "Brynn's door is open. Is she still asleep?"

"I think so. Why?"

He gave her a hesitant smile and she groaned. "Milo, I can't let you in there. If she wakes up --"

"I'll cover my face with this." He held up his blanket and grinned. When she didn't laugh, he wiped the smile from his face and sighed. "Come on, Angie. I'm the only one out of this entire group that hasn't seen her yet. Even Grant has seen her, and he's said like, what, two words to her?"

"Milo, it's obvious that you like her, okay? I get it. But she's in a really bad place right now. She's confused, and scared, and --"

"I might be able to fix it!" he exclaimed.

"What?"

He took the blanket off of his shoulders and tossed it against the wall. "If she sees me, it might do the opposite of what Heather's saying it will do. Let me try. Please?"

Heather's door opened and her and her mother walked through it.

"What about me?" Heather smiled.

"Nothing." Milo exchanged a look with Angie and picked up his blanket.

"Milo? Is that you?" Heather's mom gasped. Milo looked up at her. "Bailey?" She took his face in her hands and laughed. "You're so handsome! The last time I saw you, you were only seven!"