Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(42)

“Her color is much better,” Gray announced. “I don’t want to disturb her while she’s sleeping.”

Just then she bolted upright, shuddering with pain and panic. With her hand to her chest, she took big gulps of air. “You scared me.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Eagle said as he neared her. “How are you feeling?”

She pulled her knees up closer to her chest and murmured, “Cold.”

He grabbed another blanket from the stack off on the side and tossed it to her. She smiled and tucked it up close to her neck.

“Were you always cold before you got hurt?” Gray asked.

She raised her gaze to him. Eagle couldn’t help but notice the shuttered look on her face. She shook her head. “Not that I remember.”

He nodded. “I’m Gray, by the way. The retired doctor who helped fix you up. Do you remember me?”

“Yes, slightly.”

“Good. I came to check up on you. I need to look at that head wound and check over the rest of you. You were pretty badly hurt, young lady.”

“I’m doing much better.” She relaxed. As if realizing there was no getting out of it, she slowly sat up, dropped the blankets, and said, “Maybe you could do it fast, so I can warm up again.”

Eagle helped her out of her sweatshirt. She was wearing a sports bra and one strap had folded the bandage on her shoulder over. He should’ve helped her get dressed. Inside, he cursed himself. She needed help to do the simplest things as she was still injured. But she hadn’t complained all day. He admired that.

*

Stefan woke in the morning. Instead of feeling rested and calm, his mind soared through the sky. It was frayed, unraveling outward. First he was in a jungle, and then the scene switched to a rain forest and thereafter to a mountaintop. He didn’t know what in hell was going on, but he couldn’t seem to ground himself to one reality. Like there was no ground. As if his silver life cord floated in the sky around him, disconnected from everything and yet … connected to every bit of the world.

Birds flew at his side; tigers roamed below. He could hear the cry of other birds and other animals. They were one with him, and he was one with them, racing across the fields, climbing up the mountains, jumping from hillside to valley. He’d never seen anything like this. But layers and layers of different geographical areas overlaid each other as he stared in surprise. He glanced to the left to see the ocean and trees swimming together.

It made no sense. He sat up slowly and looked down at his bed. Instead of the cloud he expected to see, he found a tree branch—big and thick, like from an ancient banyan tree. He reached down, so sure the branch was solid, and yet his hand went right through it. He touched where the bedpost should be, trying to keep his rational mind solid and forward thinking.

His mind knew the bedpost was there, but his eyes couldn’t see it, and his hand couldn’t find it. He stood and walked, only to find he was in the air. As he glanced down at the ocean, he swooped down lower, his feet now above the water. He frowned and sank lower. The water came to his knees. What bizarre magic was this? He turned around and realized, although it felt fantastic, he seemed on overload. Energy and sparks flew off him constantly.

This wasn’t a good thing. More and more and more animals raced toward him. They whispered through him, around him—hiding him, lying on him, smothering him—and then suddenly he was gone.

“Stefan?” The voice came through the energy around him.

“Tabitha?”

“Yes. I’m here.”

“Where’s here?” he asked softly. “I feel like I no longer exist. That the only part of me that’s real and true is the pieces that each of these animals carry with them.”

“You’re scaring me, Stefan. Remember to stay grounded.”

“I think it’s too late for that. I feel lost. I don’t know what’s happened.”

“We have to get you back. Hold out your hand.”

He stretched out what he thought was his hand. But, as he stared at it, he saw it was a wing. A big eagle’s wing. “Bizarre and yet so wonderful. It’s glorious out here.”

“Stefan!”

He struggled to return, listening to the voice.

“Follow my voice. Reach for me.”

“Why?” he asked simply. “This is beautiful. Why change it?”

“Celina. Have you forgotten her?”

He tilted his face to the sun. “How can I ever forget her? She’s the love of my life.”

“Are you expecting her to live alone, to understand you chose this disassociation over her?”

“And yet there is this connection,” he murmured, “to everything else.” He struggled as he sorted through the different realities in front of him. But Celina’s face forever in his heart slid into the forefront of his consciousness.

She laughed, reached up, and kissed him on the forehead. “Do what you must. Know that I’m always with you.”

He smiled. “It’s okay, Tabitha. Celina says it’s okay to leave.”

“No,” Tabitha said in a stern voice.

He felt that tone. It was a shock, but it was bigger than that. It slipped through time; it slipped through whatever wormhole he was caught in. The animals disappeared. The world around him steadied. He opened his eyes to his bedroom, and standing over him was an ethereal form. He gazed at Tabitha for a long moment with a sense of disappointment and loss.