Page 13 of See Through

I lightly slap his arm. “You’re an idiot. Here I was, all worried about you, and you’re cracking jokes.”

“You were worried about me?”

“Of course I was. When I saw you on the ground, I—” I can’t think about the emotions that flooded my body when I saw him. He didn’t even move when I called his name the first time.

“Hey, look at me,” he whispers, squeezing my hand as my eyes pierce his. “I’m fine. I’m okay.”

I nod. “It’s all my fault. I enticed the spirits, and look where it got you.”

“It’s not your fault. I didn’t drink enough water, and I should have eaten more before. This wasn’t the work of spirits or whatever you think it was. There’s a perfectly explainable reason for why I passed out...”

“There are three scratches on your back that say otherwise.”

His eyes widen, and I can tell he doesn’t believe me, so I grab my phone and show him the picture I took before the paramedics came. “Can you explain that?”

“No, I can’t.”

“That’s what I thought, nerd.”

His hand goes to his chest. “Way to strike me while I’m down, Aubs. Here I am, lying in this hospital bed, and you’re calling me names?”

“Yeah, I am,” I giggle. “And I’m gonna do it all night because you’re not allowed out of my sight.”

“You make that sound like a punishment, but what I’m hearing is music to my ears.”

I can’t help the way my face burns at his nonchalant flirting, and I reach for his arm to smack it, but he dodges it and giggles at me.

I know he doesn’t mean anything by it, but it might be another hour or two before we get out of here, so I sit back in my chair and make myself comfortable with my journal as I watch my best friend stare at me like I’m the one he should be worrying about right now.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I’m shaking as I wake up, my head pounding as I try to recover from the nightmare I was having. I try to reorient myself as best I can, but I can’t for the life of me remember how I got back home.

I feel the sheets tighten in between my knuckles, the soft fabric grounding me to something as I try and fail to catch my breath.

Wind. So much wind. Rain pouring down my face as I hide, barely being able to run a foot forward. I’m all alone. I hear sirens, and they’re all I can focus on as I hide. Lightning strikes a few hundred feet away, and I’m lost, confused, terrified. I’m alone, and nobody is around to help me.

Get it together, Dean.

I hear rain tapping against the window, and, a few seconds of terror later, a loud clap of thunder shakes my apartment. I can barely see anything. My place is pitch black, and I’m frozen where I sit, unable to move how I was when I was a kid stuck in that storm.

Lightning illuminates my room, and all of a sudden, there’s someone in front of me, two hands on my face as pink hair comes into my vision.

“It’s okay.” She caresses my cheeks, her hands soft and warm. “It’ll pass.”

“W-What are you doing here?”

“I’m making sure you’re okay. The doctors told me to watch over you tonight, remember?”

It all comes back to me. The investigation. The scratches. The hospital. Aubrey getting hurt and me passing out. I didn’t think it was storming, though.

“The storm started before you fell asleep.”

“I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

Her hands are still against my cheek; if I couldn’t feel her touch against my skin, I’d think I was dreaming.

“I’ll go get you some water.”