Trinity

2

Shepherd bundled up against the cold as he exited the psychological branch of the hospital. He had time to visit his mom before work, so he trudged through the snow covered parking lot, against the biting wind, towards the medical branch on the other side. Light gray clouds covered the sky, blocking any hope of warmth from the afternoon sun. A few people quickly walked by here and there, most of their auras ruddy and boring, though one man had a nice shade of yellow surrounding him.

Soon after entering the hospital, Shepherd arrived at the door to his mother's room and opened it gently. 

"Hi, Mama," he whispered. The room was dark, but fairly warm, Shepherd noted. He went to open the window shutters on the far wall, letting a small amount of light in. Then, gently, he moved his mother's oxygen tube to the side so he could kiss her cheek. 

Her auburn hair was a bit messy from where the nurses had moved her, most likely for her afternoon bath, but it was a simple fix with the comb on her bedside table. As he finished brushing her hair Shepherd whispered, "You look so pretty today."

He routinely checked all the cords and tubes connected to her, making sure none of them were twisted or tangled. Her IV had been switched recently, that was good. She would need some more blankets tonight if the cold kept up. For now, Shepherd removed his jacket and placed it on top of her.

Taking the bedside chair, he sat for a time, gazing at her lifeless face. After a while he reached up onto the bed, placing his mother's hand in his. Nurse Jackie came in to check on things once or twice, but Shepherd barely noticed. The only constant sound in the room was the steady beeping of the monitor beside him.

It was odd, seeing his mother's aura. The aura itself was undoubtedly there, but it had no color. The only way Shepherd could see it was by the way it seemed to distort the colors around it, like heat waves, slowly shifting to the beat of the monitor.

After a half hour had passed, Shepherd's alarm went off on his phone. He stood and carefully removed his jacket from his mother, making a mental note to get her more blankets when he got back. 

"I've gotta go to work Mama," he said, "but I'll be back after. It's Saturday, so I'm gonna stay with you tonight."

Smiling slightly to himself, Shepherd opened his mother's bedside drawer, placing the stress ball from Dr. Thomas amongst the other items scattered within. 

There was an object in that drawer for every day that had passed since his mother's accident. Each of them had a story; one that Shepherd's mother wasn't awake to hear. One day, when she woke up, they would go through the items together. There would be hours full of stories, and laughing and happiness. Shepherd would say how much he'd missed her while she was gone. She would say how much she loved him, over and over again, and when the stories had all been told, Shepherd's mother would feel like she hadn't missed a thing.

One day, that dream would be a reality. The coma would be over, and everything would be back to normal. Shepherd clung to that dream as if it were the only thing seperating him from a dark, and infinite abyss. It was all he could think about as he worked his ten hour shift at the diner; all he thought about on the frigid walk back to the hospital, and all he dreamed about as he slept on the bedside chair next to his mother, whose hand he also clung to.

 * * *

Shepherd spent most of Sunday morning with his mother. Nurse Jackie had brought in some extra blankets for her the night before, which Shepard gently wrapped her in. 

"I'll grab some blankets for you too, Shep," Nurse Jackie had said, patting him on the back. She brought them in, and before he could object, covered him in them, tucking him into his bedside chair. He had blushed, his own aura turning a deep shade of violet. It was a sort of unspoken agreement amongst the hospital staff that Shepherd could stay with his mother whenever, and however long he wanted. For this, he couldn't have been more grateful.

After making sure his mother's IV had been switched again, Shepherd regretfully left her to the nurses' care, and headed for his apartment. He was determined to get the laundry done before work. It wasn't much of a goal, but if Dr. Thomas had said he should set standards for himself, then that's what he would do.

She had also said to have fun, Shepherd recalled. Maybe he would do some reading before bed tonight, that was always enjoyable.

Wow, Shepard thought, laughing to himself. If that's my idea of a good time...I need a girlfriend.

After six blocks of trudging through the snow, he reached the entrance to his complex. As he reached for the doorknob, a sudden burst of sound appeared from nowhere, making Shepherd jump in surprise. It was a shrill, and agonized scream, echoing through the air. He quickly turned in every direction, searching for the source of the noise. No one was on the street, at least not that Shepherd could see. It couldn't have been coming from any nearby buildings; the sound would've been muffled by the walls. Surely it was close by, but where? The screams were a girl's, possibly around Shepherd's age. She was growing louder, more panicked. Shepherd had to do something; he had to help her. 

There was a dark alleyway nearby, a possible source of the noise. Shepherd bolted towards it, kicking up snow as fear pumped adrenaline through his body. 

"Hold on!" he yelled. "I'm coming to help you!"

He slid into the alley, almost losing his balance. No one was there.

The shrieking grew louder still. Shepherd had to cover his ears as he searched about the dark passage. Where was she? Another alley led off to the left, further back. He sprinted towards it, ignoring the pain in his ears.

"Where are you?!" He screamed. "Tell me where you are!"

In a sudden burst, the howling grew louder still, bringing Shepherd to a halt. He kept pressing his hands against his ears, but the sound relentlessly pulsed through his head.

A hallucination! Shepherd thought. She's not real; she can't be real!

A wave of nausea came over him, his vision growing fuzzy. He grabbed the nearest wall to steady himself, but his knees began to buckle anyway. In the corners of his eyes, just out of sight, images flashed rapidly. A face...he saw a face...no, two faces. The terrible screams continued. He couldn't think. He couldn't breathe.

In a crescendo of sound, the girl cried out, yelling, "PLEASE! DON'T LET IT CONSUME ME!" 

And then, as quickly as the screams had come, they were gone. All was silent. Shepherd found himself on his back in the snow. The aura around his body had turned the color of dried blood, and shook as he gulped air. His vision took a long time to clear, and his stomach was still in knots.  Could the screams have been real? He had to make sure. Shepherd stood, shaky, regaining his composure. He began searching all of the intersecting alley ways, going farther and farther back until he'd traveled an entire block. Ten minutes passed without hearing or seeing a single soul. Shepherd shook frozen sweat from his dark brown hair, frustrated.

I'm insane, he thought. It's official. 

What kind of hallucination could cause that much chaos? What was he supposed to do now, squeeze a stress ball? Listen to an ambient mixtape?

Shepherd closed his eyes. You're okay, he told himself, but he hardly believed it. 

Eventually, he gave up, and finished the trip home, popping a double dosage of his meds when he arrived. They had to start working soon. If he freaked out like that at school...it was almost too stressful to think about. He'd be locked up in a mental institution for sure. Who would watch over his mother then? The thought made his chest tighten, his aura turning almost black. He needed to focus on something else.

Once the shock of the situation started to subside, Shepherd started on the laundry, determined to forget the entire incident. The day carried on rather normally and soon it was time to leave for work. After leaving the apartment, Shepherd reentered the dark side street from earlier and grabbed a rock from under the snow. He would put it in the drawer next to his mother's hospital bed, with all the other random items.

"Yeah, Mom will love this story," Shepherd sighed. "Sunday, December 12th, the day I tripped out in an alley way."