Trinity

5

It was 3 in the morning when Shepherd finally arrived at his mother's hospital room. The effects of the alcohol had completely worn off, leaving him colder than he was before. Nurse Jackie noticed and brought him some blankets.

Draping one over his shoulders, she asked, "Rough night?"

"You could say that."

She continued to examine him, a concerned expression on her face. "Who hit ya?" She gestured towards the bruise on his jaw.

"Don't worry about it," Shepherd replied. He felt guilty for not confiding in Nurse Jackie. She was only trying to help. He was tired though, and not in the mood to talk.

"I remember my first fight," Nurse Jackie continued. "Helga Patterson. Nasty girl. Cracked me in the head with a softball bat." She chuckled to herself, reminiscing. "You know what I said to her?"

"What?"

"Nothing. I was out cold. Didn't ya hear me? I was knocked in the head with a bat for God's sake."

Nurse Jackie burst into laughter, slapping Shepherd on the back. He couldn't help but smile. She then straightened the blankets covering his mother. To Shepherd's surprise, Nurse Jackie also picked up the comb on the bedside table and fixed his mother's hair; something he himself often did.

She had been caring his mother for over half a year now. What an odd bond the two must have. Once she had finished, she tucked Shepherd into the bedside chair.

"Keep rolling with the punches, Shep," She said softly, then exited the room.

It didn't take long for Shepherd to fall asleep.

He dreamed that he was on a barren landscape. The ground seemed to be made of black marble, with deep purple veins trailing through it. A light layer of fog rested over everything, obscuring Shepherd's vision.

All he could see was a faint light, glowing in the distance. It moved towards him, gliding across the nothingness. The fog began to clear as the light approached. Shepherd could see now that there were three glowing shapes, not just one. They shifted in front of him, taking the form of people.

The figure in the middle was a young girl, with ebony hair and dark gray skin. She held her hands out to either side of her. The other two figures pulled on her arms in a vicious tug of war.

The person on the right had a familiar face. Shepherd knew this boy. He went to school with him. The foreign exchange student; Itsuke. He had ahold of the girl with both hands, pulling her towards him with all his might. Sweat dripped from his jet black hair as he struggled, falling to the floor in beads before disappearing. A brilliant gray aura surrounded Itsuke, seeping from his skin towards the girl. It wrapped in tendrils around her arm, like vines clinging to a tree. The girl didn't move. She looked at Itsuke with longing, wanting to go towards him; wanting to be free, but the other figure prevented it.

To the left of the girl, with one arm outstretched, stood a man shrouded in black flames. He wasn't human; he couldn't have been. His eyes were dark pits and there were slits where his nostrils should've been. A demonic smile twisted his face.

Tendrils of the man's flame latched onto the girl, burning her flesh. They spread slowly across her body as Itsuke struggled to free her.

"Now, you will both burn," said the flaming man. His voice was odd; it was as if many people spoke at once in a deep chorus. Shepherd tried to look away, but an unknown force kept his eyes set on the scene.

"You will all burn," the man whispered. He turned towards Shepherd, gazing at him with two endless voids where his eyes should've been.

Shepherd wanted to run; to get as far away as possible, but he couldn't move. The flaming man's form shifted, multiplying into more figures. Each figure was on fire, but the flames were of different colors. Shepherd counted seven of them, each glaring at him with hideous hatred. They raised their hands, shooting out beams of terrible fire.

The beams connected with Shepherd's chest, burning him alive. He screamed out into the endless fog as the flames consumed him; turning him to nothing.

Shepherd bolted awake in the hospital room, gasping for air. Sweat covered his body, soaking into the blankets Nurse Jackie had given him.

What the hell was that? Shepherd thought. He'd had nightmares before, but this had felt different. Dr. Thomas had talked about lucid dreams; maybe it was one of those. Maybe it was a side effect of his medicine or something. Besides, he had been taking double doses lately, which was probably a bad idea.

"Strong..." said the girl in Shepherd's head.

Nope, Shepherd thought, definitely not a bad idea.

Wait, what time was it? Shepherd quickly checked the clock on his phone and cursed. He had fifteen minutes to get to work. He gathered his things, kissed his mother's cheek and wished the doctors farewell before bolting from the hospital.

* * *

The work day went by quickly, and Shepherd was able to land over a hundred dollars in tips. That was going to save his life once the medical insurance bills came. Simon had texted him at least ten times during his shift, but Shepherd ignored it. He wasn't in the mood to talk about what had happened the night before. Eventually he would have to face Simon, and probably Jake too, but that was for another day.

Tonight, Shepherd just wanted to be with his mother again; so he headed to the hospital after grabbing a bite to eat.

Freezing winds blew snow at him the entire walk, making his ears and fingertips go numb. It was a relief to finally reach the warmth of the hospital. As he entered his mother's floor, Shepherd heard a commotion, coming from her hall.

He hurried to her room, where the door stood open.

Surgeons and nurses were running in and out frantically, some carrying tools drenched in blood. Shepherd pushed his way through the crowd and into his mother's room. A consistent beep was sounding from her heart monitor, a flat line appearing on the screen.

"What's going on?" Shepherd yelled at the doctors. His mother's face was gaunt and ghostly white.

A surgeon with bloodied hands yelled at the surrounding nurses, "Get him out of here!"

One of the nurses was Nurse Jackie, who along with others pulled a struggling Shepherd away from the room.

"Let me go!" he shouted. " What the hell is going on?"

They sat him in a waiting room chair and held him down, not letting him move towards the door.

"Why are-" Shepherd began, but Nurse Jackie grabbed his face, turning his eyes towards her.

"Listen to me, Shep," she whispered, looking into his eyes; her own were glazed over with a lining of tears.

"They were forced to do surgery," She spoke through gritted teeth. There was a long pause. Shepherd had stopped wriggling.

"Why," he asked, fear twisting his insides.

Nurse Jackie inhaled a deep, shaky breath. She looked at her comrades, hopelessly. A doctor with blood stains on his shirt nodded to her, an air of purpose in his movement. Nurse Jackie nodded back, a tear escaping her eye. She looked at Shepherd again, her grip on his face softening.

"Your mother's brain...it shut down. She's dying, Shepherd."