What’s that, off in the distance around the bend? Is that another train? I could see it through the window, and I could even see people inside. It must be a passenger train like this one. Something was wrong. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but it just didn’t seem right. My heart was beating and I was breathing hard. I could see smoke rising from the train. It was hit by a car; no, it’s a white pickup truck. The truck seemed to go through the crossing stop light. It hit the last car on the train. It stinks of fire and smoke. People are screaming and trying to get out. It was so hot. I couldn’t see anything, but I could smell the smoke. I could feel pain. I felt the wet blood on my face.
“Tess, Tess, what are you doing? You were moaning and touching your forehead. Are you all right, dear?” Aunt Amy was leaning in and peering at me with concern on her face. She was shaking my arm.
I hastily looked around. What was happening? I saw a horrific train crash and people getting injured. It was awful. But everything is fine here. The train is rolling along. Eve and Annie are asleep. I had a bad nightmare. That’s all it was. I have to calm myself. My hand is trembling, so I grab hold of it. I looked over at my aunt and smiled feebly before answering, “I’m OK, Auntie, it was just a crazy train dream. You know that I have a rather vivid imagination.”
“OK dear, if you’re sure. Here, have some chocolate. I brought your favorite.” My aunt pulled a Caramello bar out of her purse with a little grin and handed it to me.
“Yummm…, a Caramello bar. It IS my favorite! Thank you, Auntie,” I answered while unwrapping the chocolate caramel combo and popping pieces into my mouth. I felt the deliciously smooth chocolate/caramel melt on my tongue. It made me feel better. It always does.
I sat there staring at the trees, buildings, and houses whiz by. It was mesmerizing. My worried mind started shooting off in all directions. What will it be like in Connecticut? I heard that people are snootier in Connecticut than in Colorado. Isn’t Connecticut a rich state? Are all the kids there rich snobs? Will we fit in? What will the high school be like? I know it’s much bigger than our old one. Will kids there like me? I wondered what Grandma was like. I knew that Aunt Amy had some trouble with Grandma Edwina a long time ago. I think Grandma hated Frank. I agreed with her there. Maybe she was OK. I heard that Grandma’s house was really cool. Each of us could still have our own bedrooms. I couldn’t wait to see it.
I smelled that stinky smoke smell again. It pulled me out of my trance. I looked around. Everything was OK here. Passengers were just reading or sleeping. My heartbeat picked up and I started feeling breathless. I still smelled smoke. I could feel a storm of panic seep from the center of my body right through to ends of my toes. Something was very wrong here. I had to go and do something, RIGHT NOW.
“Something isn’t right. We have to get out of here! Don’t you smell it?” I cried out to my aunt.
Annie and Eve both opened their eyes and stared at me, like I was an alien from Mars. My aunt looked at me and said, “What are you talking about, Tess? I don’t smell anything. Are you still upset?” She pulled her glasses down to look at me, closely.
I thought about how I sounded. And really, I didn’t understand why I had an urge to leave, so how would I expect them to understand? I paused for a second and told myself to get a grip. I turned to my aunt and cousins and said with a slightly shaky voice, “Actually, I’m just really hungry right now. I feel like I could faint. Could we go and get some food before it gets too crowded in the dining car? We should leave now because it will get crowded soon. It’s near breakfast time.” I smiled as pleasantly as I could manage.
“OK, we can go. Give me a minute to gather my purse and things,” Aunt Amy answered, still looking at me like I was a little crazy. I wanted to get them all moving quickly, so I hurriedly grabbed purses and backpacks and started down the aisle. They had no choice but to follow me out of the car. The dining car was closer to the front of the train. It took us a little while to get there. I walked all of the way to the end of the dining car and took the last table. I dumped everything in the seat and sat down. I took a couple of deep breaths and started feeling better. I told myself that everything would be all right, now.
“There’s room for Beauty Queen’s carrier over here,” I pointed under the table.
Eve answered blithely, “I didn’t bring Beauty Queen. She was sleeping and I figured, why should we disturb her? She’s freaking out enough as it is.”
I totally lost it. I stood up and screamed at Eve, “What’s wrong with you? You were supposed to be responsible for Beauty. Don’t you know what’s going to happen?”
Eve just sat there with her mouth open. She was stunned. I pointed at her and shouted, “Now, I have to go back and get her. There’s no way I’m gonna leave her back there!”
As I ran through the dining car, I noticed that no one was talking. They were all staring at me. I guess I caused a scene. Well, it couldn’t be helped. I had to get Beauty Queen away from there. Maybe I should tell the other people in that car to leave. But why would they listen? I wouldn’t know what to say to them. I can’t explain it to myself. I might just be a crazy lunatic. Maybe nothing will happen anyway. But, deep down I don’t believe that. I KNOW something will happen. I don’t know what or how, but I know it’s most likely bad. That smoke stink was still in my head. It was getting stronger.
I kept tearing through the cars, trying to get there as fast as possible. As soon as I got to our seats, I grabbed the cat carrier. Beauty Queen was awake and howling like a screaming banshee. We got to the end of our car and I pushed the button that slams the door open between the cars. The last thing I heard was a huge BANG. I remember thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that was the door opening’. I felt a sharp stab of pain in my forehead and saw colors whirling around, and then I entered the great void.
6. Colors
I feel pain. I hear whispering. Where am I?
“Mom, I think I saw her move a little.”
I feel a light touch. My head feels so tight. I’m thirsty. I finally open my eyes a crack. Stabbing pain and bright lights. Slam, the eyes shut.
“Mom, Mom, I think she’s waking up.”
“Tess, dear, how are you feeling?” Aunt Amy strokes my arm.
My faint voice whispers, “Auntie, can you turn the lights down?”
“Of course, Tess. Would you like a drink?” asks my aunt.
“Yes, please,” I murmur. I feel a straw poke my lips and I take a sip. I slowly open my eyes a tiny bit. Still bright, but bearable. Aunt Amy comes into my view. She looks so upset. I reach my hand out to her and whisper, “I’m OK.”
I open my eyes more and turn to her. What? She has strange colors around her. Eve comes over, “I’m so sorry, Tess. It’s all my fault.” More colors swirling around. It’s giving me a headache.
“It’s OK, Evie,” I breathe out. “Still love you.” I feel like joking more, but I’m so tired. “How’s kitty?”
“Beauty Queen was protected by her cat carrier. It’s lucky we got her a metal one,” my aunt remarks.
I find can’t keep my eyes open for long. By now, the colors are pulsing around everyone. I reach up to touch my achy head. “Auntie, what’s wrong with me? My head feels terrible and it’s all wrapped up. What happened?”
Aunt Amy exchanges looks with the girls before she answers. “Tess, they operated on you. A small piece of metal pierced your head and they had to surgically extract it. So far, so good.” She holds my hand and smiles at me. There’s a bright pink haze surrounding her. It’s disorienting.
“I’m so sleepy.” I close my eyes.
7. After Effects
Within a couple of days, I was feeling better. I still had some strange symptoms, but what would you expect after having had a hole punched into your forehead? I was freaked out when I learned what happened, but I’m alive and kicking which is more than could be said for some others on the train.
As soon as I was feeling better, I asked my cousins exactly what ha
ppened. My nightmare/premonition turned out to be correct. A large white pick-up truck went through the railway crossing and crashed into the last car on the train. A fire broke out. The young man in the pick-up was instantly killed, along with two passengers in the train. Several other passengers were injured.
“Tessie, what I don’t understand is how you knew something bad was going to happen. How did you know?” queried Annie.
“What?” I asked.
Eve glared at me, “Tess, you knew something. You rushed us out of there, and then you went berserk trying to get Beauty Queen.”
I didn’t know what to tell them. If I told them that I dreamed the entire event, they would think I was crazy. So how would I explain myself?
“Tess, are you gonna tell us?” Annie demanded.
I gave them the most innocent look I could manage. It wasn’t too hard considering how pitiful I looked, with my head wrapped in a giant bandage. “I really didn’t know anything. I was starving, so I bugged you guys to get some food. Then, I just didn’t want to leave Beauty Queen all by herself. You know how crazy she gets when she thinks she’s being ignored.”
“Yeah, right! There’s something missing with your explanation. You went crazy when you realized that Beauty Queen was in that last car.” Annie glowered at me as she added, “You’re not telling us something. I know it.”
I believed it was time for me to change the subject. Yawn . . . and put a hand over my mouth. I said sleepily, “Gee, I’m so tired. I think I need some shut eye.”
“By the way, before you fall to sleep again, Mom wants to talk with you. She’s in the hallway speaking with the doctors. I’ll go get her,” Annie announced before running out of the room.
I could feel a headache coming on again. It kicked in a little after I started seeing the colors. I see the colors all the time when people are in my room. I’m not sure if the colors gave me the headache, or if my anxiety did. What brought this on? It must have something to do with that hole in my head. Is this a mental disorder? Is it my annoyingly overactive imagination? Sometimes I have an eerie feeling that I’m living in a dream. It was very unsettling. I want to turn it off and feel normal again.
Aunt Amy came into the room (accompanied by the pink cloud). She was with a tall, geeky-looking doctor. Oh my, bright green with a flash of orange around his head. That was so strange. My aunt was wringing her hands, but when she saw me, she quickly dropped them and smiled. “You look so much better, Tessie. How’re you feeling?”
“I’m OK. I was wondering, do you know when they plan on taking the bandage off my head?” I asked.
“Those will come off tomorrow. Dr. Yang is here to speak with you, Tess.” Aunt Amy smiled at the guy in doctor garb.
He held out his hand to shake mine. “Hello, Tess. How are you feeling?”
He had a reserved smile. When I shook his hand, I politely looked him in the eye. I expected to see dutiful interest, but instead I saw bright energy and sharp intelligence. It was unexpected. “I’m doing all right,” I murmured while trying to ignore the colors flowing around him.
He sat down on the edge of my bed and he talked to me straight on, eye to eye, “Did your aunt explain what happened to you, Tess?”
“She said that a piece of sharp metal went into my head and that the doctors took it out,” I answered.
“Yes, a thin, sharp object penetrated your forehead, right about here.” As he said that, he pointed right between his own eyes and up a little. “Tomorrow morning we’ll be taking the bandage off. Do you have any questions about your injury?”
“I presume this piece of metal went into my brain. Isn’t that really bad, I mean, am I going to be able to do normal things?” I asked Dr. Yang pointedly.
He paused for a moment before answering, “That was a rather unusual head injury. Typically, when a person injures their frontal lobe, it is from extreme pressure on the front of their skull, due to something like a football injury or a car accident. The front of the skull is one of the toughest bones in your body. For that reason, a head injury due to penetration of the skull is rare. When it does occur, it usually has dire consequences for the individual. However, your penetration was not typical. It was caused by a long metal pin. If it had any affect at all, it would have been in a very tiny part of your brain. As of now, we have not seen any evidence of a problem.”
I let his words sink in for a minute and then I asked, “At what point will I know if I’m OK?”
Dr. Yang looked at me intently before answering, “This is an inexact science. We can’t say for sure; however, signs are looking good. You’ve passed some basic cognitive tests that we do on people who have undergone any kind of head injury. You’ve been conversing with family members, and you’ve been getting around a little. That’s a great start.”
I was eyeing Dr. Yang and what was going on around him, the bright green colors with the occasional orange flash, and I decided it was time to talk. I had to tell someone about seeing the colors and I didn’t want to worry Aunt Amy. Besides, my aunt wouldn’t know what was going on, even if I told her. She’d just get upset. My cousins were sitting a few feet away, half listening and talking at the same time. My aunt was standing by me holding my hand. I have to get rid of them before divulging my secret.
Dr. Yang narrowed his eyes at me. He was suspicious of something. What, can he read my mind? “Tess, is there something you need to tell me?”
“Yes, Dr. Yang, there is something I’d like to talk about with you; but, I’d rather tell you when we’re alone,” I said pointedly looking over at Aunt Amy and my cousins.
Aunt Amy immediately picked up on it. She initially appeared upset, but then she seemed to shake it off. She quickly stood up and said, “Girls, let’s go down to the hospital cafeteria and grab a bite to eat.”
Eve whined, “Aw, Mom, I want to hear how Tessie’s doing. Besides, the cafeteria food here stinks, blah.”
My aunt just ignored Eve. “We’ll be back in a bit. Would you like anything from the café, Tess?”
“No thanks, Auntie,” I replied. Eve and Annie reluctantly got up and followed Aunt Amy out the door.
“So, Tess,” Dr. Yang turned his sharp dark eyes back to me, “what would you like to tell me?”
I dropped the pretense of lightness and joy when Aunt Amy left the room. I was getting anxious about this vision problem. I looked into his eyes and quietly announced, “I see colors.”
He immediately looked intrigued. “Describe how you see colors.”
“I see them around people. Any time there are people here, I see colors around all of them. It started when I first woke up in the hospital and it hasn’t gone away. In fact, I see colors around you.”
“Are they different than the colors around others?” he asked, a bit taken aback.
“Oh, yes. I see a clear green color with some orange flashes. I see a pinkish color around my aunt. I tend to see blue/green around my cousins.”
“Really!” the doctor exclaimed. “Do you have any indication of what it means?”
“I think it just means that there’s something wrong with my head. That’s what it means,” I answered sarcastically. “What else could it be, Dr. Yang? I just want it to go away.”
“Let me think for a minute, Tess. I think I could have you speak with a psychiatrist here on staff, a Dr. Lee. She’s done research in the area of paranormal brain activity, which this may be related to. I have to admit that your symptoms are beyond my area of expertise.”
“You want me to speak to a shrink? They tend to be nuts themselves. I don’t think I’m willing to do that,” I declared.
“What? That’s no way to be, Tess. Psychiatrists are simply medical doctors who also undergo training in areas of mental health. Since this injury may have affected your brain in an unusual way, it would only be reasonable for you to talk to a psychiatrist. I might add that Dr. Lee is a highly esteemed colleague here at the hospital,” Dr. Yang patiently explained.
I have so man
y bad memories of talking to a shrink after my mom died. That guy was an idiot. I knew it, and I was only seven years old at the time. I knew he didn’t care about helping me. He just wanted to continue seeing me to make more money. What choice do I have now, though? I have to figure out what these colors mean and how I can stop them from invading my brain! “All right, all right, I’ll talk to the shrink,” I concurred.
Dr. Yang grinned at me. He was kind of cute, for a geek, when he smiled like that. “That’s a very wise decision, Tess. I’ll set you up with her as soon as possible. I realize that your family plans on continuing with your move as soon as you’re out of the hospital.”
“Yeah, we’re moving all the way to Connecticut,” I grumbled. May as well lap up all the sympathy that I can get from people.
“Actually, I went to college in Connecticut. It’s a very beautiful state. I’m sure that you’ll like it there,” he remarked with a wry smile. “By the way, when Dr. Lee comes in to talk to you, please don’t call her a shrink. Some people don’t take kindly to that.”
8. Shrink
Dr. Lee came in to see me late in the afternoon. Fortunately, my aunt and cousins had left the hospital for a breather. I’m not ready to explain this to them. It’s too weird.
I tried to get a read on Dr. Lee by looking into her eyes. Ever since I was young, I had a talent for sizing people up that way. When I’ve sensed something about a person’s character or personality, I’m usually right. At least it’s turned out that way, so far. If I’m off, it’s because someone’s true nature can be clouded by a strong emotion, such as immediate anger or joy. Anyway, I had some difficulty reading Dr. Lee because her professional façade turned her eyes into stone. That’s unfortunate. I find it easier to deal with people when I sense that I can trust them.
Dr. Lee was conservatively dressed with her hair tied back. She looked a little younger than Aunt Amy. She strode over to my bed with her hand extended. “Hello, Tessie. I’m Dr. Lee. Your staff doctor, Dr. Yang, asked me to stop by and talk with you as soon as possible.”
A Girl Beyond (War of the Witches Book 2) Page 3
