Stone Cold

Night of the Comet

Chapter Two: Night of the Comet

*~*~*~*

Brigs' lips formed a small, but tight, smile as she wandered through the halls of the hospital the next afternoon. It hadn't even been an hour after her phone call with Garrett that she had been bombarded with next after next from Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline. All three of them had been in shock and worried after Matt's sister, Vicki, had been found bleeding in the woods after being attacked by an animal. 

Brigs Turner and Vicki Donovan were by no means friends. The older of the two had always been put off by the Donovan woman's persistent drug and alcohol use. When Brigs had first moved to town she had tried to help Vicki leave the path of self-destruction that she had laid out in front of herself, but to avail. Ever since then, though the pair often worked the same shifts at the Grill, they would rarely share more than a handful of words with one another. 

Still, she refused to let the years of tension that had formed between them stop her from visiting Vicki at the hospital. So the moment her shift had ended at the Grill she had made a beeline for the hospital. 

"Brigs?" At the sound of her name the woman in question spun around on her heel, finding herself spotting the younger Donovan sibling making his way down the hall. 

"Matt," her once tight smile softened into one of sympathy as the blonde haired teen caught up with her. Once he was close enough she didn't hesitate to pull him into a hug, not failing to notice the bags under his eyes. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright," he cleared his throat as he took a small step back. His brows furrowed at the sight of the tawny haired woman standing before him, not having expected to see her there. "What're you doing here?"

"I stopped by to check in on Vicki. The girls told me what happened last night," she explained as they continued down the hall together. However, as they went she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them. "I know I might not be her favorite person, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to worry about her. She's a nice girl."

"Thanks," Matt shot the Turner woman a thankful smile. He wasn't an idiot, he knew about all the crude whispers that the people in town shared about his older sister. He knew that they thought she was nothing more than a train wreck and a junkie, but he knew that his sister was more than that. He knew that she was capable of great things but had simply lost her way. He was happy to know that at least one more person in town saw something in Vicki-- something good. 

"Are you sure this is her room?" Brigs asked when Matt led the way into what appeared to be an empty hospital room. The bed's sheets had been disheveled but there was no sign of the Donovan woman. 

"Yeah, I mean..." Matt began as he started to turn around only to jump at the sight of Vicki standing right behind them. "Whoa! Vick."

"Vicki, hi," Brigs' brows furrowed slightly as she noticed the far off look in Vicki's eyes, as if she weren't even really there with them. 

"Vick, it's Matt. Hey, what's wrong?" Matt asked as he reached out to touch her arm. The moment his hand came in contact with her skin though she started to scream, shouting for him to let her go.

"No! No!" Vicki screamed at the top of her lungs as she finally managed to get Matt off of her. 

"Nurse!" Matt shouted as he ran out of the room. Brigs hesitated for a moment, glancing between the hysterical woman in front of her and the empty doorway that Matt had just gone through.