Into the Aether_Part One(31)

“I told you! I was playing a game and got hurt. That’s it!” She was almost yelling.

Soft footsteps approached them. Afraid that Greg had actually sent her mother, she looked down and let her hair cover her face.

Cybil parted the curtain to see Lara sitting on the bed, seemingly despondent, with Dr. Seyfried giving her a stern look. He looked at Cybil, and angled his head toward Lara with his eyebrows raised. Something was up.

“Lara, I don’t feel any broken ribs and I very much doubt that anything has been ruptured. If it had, you wouldn’t have been able to make it here on your own power. I’m going to leave you with Nurse Forsyth here to answer a few follow-up questions.” Whenever Dr. Seyfried used the this term, it meant there was more happening than what the patient was saying. Cybil had read about the bruising in Lara’s chart, and then she recalled the heated discussion she saw earlier between Lara and the boy in the car. She gave the doctor a quick nod. They both had the same thought: abuse.

Dr. Seyfried left the curtained area. Taking a seat on the bed, Cybil said, “Hi, Lara. Please call me Cybil.” Lara continued to avoid eye contact. “I think we both know you didn’t get those bruises from playing dodgeball.” Cybil spoke in a soft, soothing voice. Lara continued sitting there, still not saying anything. Pursing her lips together, Cybil continued, “Did that boy hurt you? The one in the car?”

Lara let out a soft chortle. “No. He’s not like that,” she said. Sniffling, Lara brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

“Then what happened? Your parents?”

“You wouldn’t believe me.”

Cybil lightly placed her hand on top of Lara’s.

“Sweetie, I’m an ER nurse. You have no idea the things I’ve seen.”

“Would you believe I was attacked by a giant inkblot monster?”

Cybil considered this for a moment. “Well, that’s a new one. Where’d you get that from?”

“Just something from a dream.” Lifting her head to face Cybil, Lara brushed her messy brown hair out of her face.

Cybil looked into Lara’s puffy eyes. With a start, she stood up from the bed. Memories flooded back to Cybil: Lara in the mirror, a knife pressed to her wrist. She had screamed at her, begging her not to do it, and Lara had said, “Cut down the road, not across it...” Lost in thought, Cybil absently traced the pattern of the knife on her own wrist.

“What?” Lara asked.

“I saw you in a dream,” Cybil blurted out. She immediately regretted saying this and clapped a hand over her mouth. She had never spoken to anyone about her ‘future dreams’; she couldn’t just tell a patient.

Lara’s eyes were wide. “You can do the dream thing too?” The two women stared at each other for several seconds. “When was I in your dream?” asked Lara.

“Last night. You were in a mirror, about to commit suicide. I screamed and you saw me for a moment before the mirror exploded,” Cybil said.

Lara shook her head. “I don’t remember that.”

“Why would you remember it? It hasn’t happened yet.”

“Hasn’t happened yet? I can slip into other people’s dreams, not see the future,” Lara said.

They looked at each other again in silence before a cold realization dawned on both of them. “You can go into other people’s dreams?” Cybil asked.

“You can see the future?” Lara questioned.

“What are you?” they both asked simultaneously.

“You’re accusing me of what?!” yelled a female voice several rooms over. Both Cybil and Lara looked toward the sound.

“And that would be my mom,” Lara said, her stomach sinking. She cursed Greg under her breath while grabbing her textbook and backpack. Before Cybil could say anything, Lara hopped off the bed and flung open the curtain to see her mother storming into the ER.

“Lara, are you okay?” Linda asked, gently placing her hand on Lara’s face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit tenderized.”

“Mrs. Warner, we’re not done,” called Dr. Seyfried from directly behind her.

Spinning on her heel to face the doctor, Linda nearly shouted, “Listen to me, you arrogant, spoiled, little man. I have never hurt my daughter. If you continue this-this witch hunt, I’m going to take your stethoscope and shove it right up your—”

“Mom!” Lara yelled, the blood rushing to her face. “My mother has never hurt me. Greg has never hurt me. No one has hurt me!” Lara dropped her backpack and stepped between her mother and the doctor, her arms outstretched. “I just want to go home.”

Dr. Seyfried looked toward Cybil. Following his gaze, Lara watched her give a reluctant nod. He gave an annoyed grunt and stepped aside. Grabbing Lara by the wrist, Linda power walked out of the ER.

“You’re lucky if I don’t press charges!” Linda said to Dr. Seyfried.

“Lara!” Cybil yelled out. Lara looked back at her. “We need to talk.”

“No,” Lara replied, shaking her head. “No, we don’t.”

Linda and Lara walked out of the Emergency Room and into the lobby of the hospital. When he saw them, Jeff called out from the admissions desk, “Ms. Warner!” Both women turned around and looked at him. “There was an issue with your insurance card,” he said, lowering his voice. Lara looked to her mother, who had closed her eyes, an anguished look on her face.