Heather
And now she’d used my full na. Only I could manage to get in trouble for being hurt.
"I hope this doesn’t an..." She paused for a second, and my heart started to pound. "We’re going to have to talk to Presley Dawson when we get back from the ergency room. This could be really bad, Haze."
That was so not cool. "Mom. Seriously. It’s fine."
"No. It’s really not. You’re a minor."
"Only for like a few more weeks! And he’s only two years older than . That’s like nothing. Let’s not make a national disaster out of this. He was really nice. I’m not even sure how it happened. He seed pretty shocked. He apologized and everything." I don’t know why I was defending him.
Mom sat there quietly, waiting for to continue.
It wasn’t embarrassnt anymore. I was mad. Furious even. Those people at the party had been flat out rude to . For no reason. It wasn’t even sothing I could bla on my weirdness. I was physically hurt, bleeding, and they kicked out. Not even an "are you okay" or "do you need so ice for that" before they shoved out the door.
I willed myself not to cry. "I wanted to have friends and go to parties like everyone else. Not be Freaky Heather who sits at ho on the weekends reading books and watching TV with her parents. Begging her brother to hang out with her."
Mom sat down next to , holding my good side. "I know it’s hard, but you’re here for a reason. You have to have faith in God and in yourself. If there is anything I’m sure of, it’s that you’re ant to do sothing great with your gifts."
I snorted. "Right. Because these ’gifts’ are so useful for oh, I don’t know, nothing."
She kissed my forehead, and her guilt surged through before she could block it.
I felt like a real jerk for not being nicer about what she said. But I couldn’t get my hopes up that one day I’d find my curse was useful.
"This is my fault. I’ve kept you away from my side of the family for too long. You are ant for sothing."
What the hell was she talking about?
"I have sothing to tell you later. First, let’s get you to the hospital." She started for the door.
"Mom," I called after her. "I’m sorry. Thank you for taking care of ."
"Anything for my baby."
I’d make it up to her. Tomorrow. When my shoulder
wasn’t hurting so bad. Sliding on my sweatpants and flip-flops took all the energy I could muster.
I was so out of it that I nearly forgot my gloves. Number one place I didn’t want to have a vision: the ergency room. Talk about a minefield of pain and drama.
I grabbed a pair of white cotton ones that stopped halfway to my elbow.
West was waiting with my parents at the door by the ti I got down the stairs.
"Ready?" Dad’s arms were still folded in front of his chest. No hint of a smile on his face.
"Yeah, but I’m feeling a little—" Gray dots filled my vision. Then, there was nothing.
The car bounced over the gravel road, but I couldn’t muster the energy to lift my head. It took a second to make my eyes open. "What happened?" I was lying across the backseat in Dad’s SUV.
"You fainted, sweetheart." Mom brushed my hair out of my face. "We’re almost to the hospital."
"That’s good, I guess." A cold drop of sweat rolled down my forehead. My mom’s face spun in my vision, and I had to close my eyes to keep from throwing up.
When the car jerked to a stop, I nearly rolled off the seat.
"Dad’s going to carry you inside."
The world tilted as he lifted into his arms. Mom walked ahead of us to the front desk. The nurse stood as Mom started rattling off information. "My daughter has a very high fever. And we think she has infected scratches on her shoulder."
The nurse gave my mom a bored look as she snapped her gum. "How did your daughter get these scratches?"
"She was at a party last night, and a teacher from St. Francis’s—"
The nurse’s mouth fell open, and a ball of wet gum plopped onto the desk.
Gross.
She picked up the phone. "Stand by for a possible Code Black." The nurse slamd the receiver down, grabbed a clipboard, and ran around the counter. "Follow ."
Code Black? Code Blue was what they said on TV when soone was dying. Code Black better not an death. Because if I died from one asly kiss, I was going to freak out.
My nausea was back with a vengeance. I leaned my head into my father’s shoulder. He slled like a juicy steak.
A steak? Really, Heather?
I was already kinda crazy, but this fever was making full-on insane-o.
"You okay, sweetheart?"
"Yeah, Dad. Just a little queasy." And by little, I ant on the verge of hurling.
"Hang on for one more minute. Almost there."
I closed my eyes and my sense of sll strengthened.
Disinfectant stung my nostrils. Soone must have gone overboard with the bleach.
That was enough of overbearing slls for this girl. I tugged the top of my shirt over my nose.
Mom put the back of her hand to my forehead.
"You hanging in there?"
"Yup." Barely. "Where’s West?"
"Don’t worry about him."
Oh, no. That didn’t sound good. What was West up to? I hoped he wasn’t chasing down Brent.
Dad set down on the bed as the nurse slid the privacy curtains along the rail, hiding us from view. She snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. That sound made antsy. Any ti plastic gloves were involved, things were not going to be fun.
The nurse grabbed an electric thermoter from the small counter, and slid a plastic protector on the tip. "Do your ears hurt?" she said.
"No." Was she dense? What did a shoulder scratch have to do with my ears?
She shoved the thermoter in my right one. A screeching beep sliced into my head, and I jerked away from her.
Maybe they did hurt? I stuck my finger in my ear and wiggled, trying to get the sound out of my head. "Can you turn the volu down on that?"
The nurse gave an "are you nuts" look and then stuck the thermoter back in my ear. "Hold still."
I ground my teeth as a digital beeping pierced my eardrums.
"Don’t let this be what I think it is," she said so softly I could barely hear her.
What was her major malfunction? Weren’t nurses supposed to have seen it all and be calm in ergencies?
With a final series of screeching beeps, she glanced at the readout and cleared her throat. "108."
"That’s not right. She’d be dead if it were that high," Mom said.
The nurse grunted and searched a nearby tray. "I need to see the scratches."
"Who cares about the scratches? She has a fever of 108! Get a doctor," Dad said. He was standing guard at the end of the bed. He was so pissed that he was nearly vibrating with it.
"Sir, it’d be best if you could calm down."
Oh no she didn’t.
Mom put a restraining hand on Dad as he stepped toward the nurse. "She’s just doing her job."
The nurse cleared her throat. She had to know she’d stepped in it with her comnt. "The doctor is aware of her situation and is waiting on my assessnt."
Nope. She was an idiot. "I’m fine, Dad. Feeling much better. See." I smiled. He didn’t smile back. I must’ve looked worse than I felt.
Mom sighed. "They’re on the back of her left shoulder."
The nurse reached toward a tray of pointy objects. The tallic clang as she looked through them made shake. I bet there were needles on that tray.
"Please, stay calm. I’m only going to cut your shirt a little bit."
I tried, but with each snip of the scissors, my chest got a little bit tighter. She was going to say I needed stitches. I just knew it. My hands were so sweaty that the soft jersey gloves stuck to my skin. The stink of the nurse’s fear made even more anxious.
Wait. I could sll her fear?
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