The cause of suffering is that the unbounded Self is overshadowed by the world. - Patanjali

(Answers to comments are at the bottom:)

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A rushing sound dominated Aeron's head, and a biting pain snapped into existence in the left side of his face. He felt sharp pieces of something digging into his body as he lay prostrate on the concrete. A small cry caught his attention - Keala? He struggled to open his eyes.

He was surrounded by fire. Wreckage from parts of the car peppered the pavement, and broken glass was everywhere. He winced as he realized that it was what was digging into his skin.

A women's shriek sounded behind him, but he could not move to see what was happening. Then another BOOM deafened him, and he closed his eyes as he was thrown back into the darkness.

Aeron woke to the sound of beeping monitors and hushed voices. He lay still on his cot, almost afraid that if he opened his eyes he would find himself still lying in that parking lot, surrounded by burning wreckage.

A strange smell made its way to his nostrils - like alcohol wipes and cleaner and baby powder. He wrinkled his nose - ugh. The scents screamed hospital. Aeron hated hospitals. He hated blood and he hated the claustrophobia that he always got when he was locked in a room and he especially hated needles. Just the word caused him to wince. He wasn't exactly sure where he'd gotten his phobia of needles and hospitals in general - nobody in his family had anything against them. It was just him, as with so many other things. Aeron sighed and opened his eyes.

Two nurses conferred quietly in a corner while another nurse checked his vital signs on a screen near his bed. When she saw that he was awake, she smiled brightly, stood up, and walked over to him. Her name tag read Debbie. "How are you feeling?" she asked in an overly cheerful voice.

Aeron rubbed his eyes and noticed that an IV was sticking into his right arm. He quickly looked away. "I'm fine, I guess," he muttered. "What happened?" His memory of the accident was foggy, dulled by the painkiller. Debbie shot a quick look at one of her coworkers in the corner, who sauntered over. Her high stiletto heels created an obnoxious tapping sound as she walked, almost as annoying as her voice when she opened her fire-engine red lips to speak. "Honey, you can't ask those questions right now. I'm sure that the doctor will tell you all you need to know as soon as he gets here."

"Which would be when?" Aeron pressed.

The irritating nurse looked at him, examined her fire-engine red nails, and said finally, "Any time now, honey. You just rest." She placed her hands with their stick-on nails that looked as if they'd been dipped in blood on his shoulders and pushed him into a lying position. Then she straightened her tight black skirt and tripped out of his room and down the hallway. He could hear her heels scraping against the floor even after the door had swung shut behind her.

Debbie shot him an apologetic look before hurrying after the fire-engine red nurse. Aeron sighed in relief. Man, she was weird. The nurse that had remained in his room gave him an odd look, and he realized that he'd said it out loud. But a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed him, and all of a sudden, he was too tired to care. He laid back on his pillows again and fell into a deep sleep.

Aeron woke up twice that night.

The first time, he'd just awoken from a dream where he was trapped in a burning building with Keala. They'd found the exit only to realize that Amy was still trapped in the building. As they turned to go back for her, the building collapsed. Aeron woke shaking and sweating. An awful foreboding lodged itself in Aeron's gut and wouldn't be shaken. He asked the nurse if the doctor had come yet - he hadn't.

The second time, the room was empty. The window was completely dark; the only light source in the entire room was the crack between the partially open door and the frame. The nurse was gone.

Aeron stared at the door, certain that its opening had been the thing to wake him. But nobody materialized. After a minute of hard staring, Aeron's features suddenly relaxed and he laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. A small hand had wrapped itself around the doorframe, and a fearful nine-year-old face followed.

Aeron held his arms out, ignoring the tubes that connected him to random machines, and Keala ran into them. "What are you doing here, Kal?" Aeron asked incredulously.

"I ran away," Keala whispered, peeking at him under her long dark eyelashes. "I got scared." She buried her face in his chest and Aeron wrapped his arms securely around her, feeling gratified. Out of the thousands of people in this hospital, she'd come to him for comfort.

"What about your Dad?" he asked. "Isn't he with you? I saw him go by earlier." Aeron's mind flashed back to his uncle's face, moving past his door without even glancing in. Aeron had never been close to him, and Uncle Darrin had seemed especially distracted. With four boys plus Keala and a demanding job at the nearby car manufacturing plant, he didn't have time for a wayward nephew (by adoption he was technically his brother-in-law, but Aeron tried not to think about that too much). Aeron's grandparents (technically his adoptive parents, but Aeron tried not to think about that even more) had always said that Aeron and Darrin looked alike for some reason; all Aeron could see when he looked at Darrin was dark hair and a wide jaw and cornflower blue eyes and that constant serious expression, except when he was around Amy. That was the only time he smiled. He was nothing like Aeron, with his light blond hair and ice blue eyes and the constant sarcastic curl of his mouth. They'd never gotten along, anyway.

Keala looked a little forlorn. "He's sleeping."

"Have the doctors told you anything?" Aeron pressed.

Keala shook her head.

"Have you seen Aunt Amy yet?"

Keala shook her head again, more slowly this time. Aeron could see the fear slowly filling the small girl's eyes, and he instantly regretted his questions. There was no point in making Keala more scared than she already was.

"Kal, don't worry about it. I'm sure she's fine." Aeron lifted her chin and met her eyes. "Don't worry about it," he repeated. "Your mommy knows how to take care of herself."

Keala nodded and wrapped her arms around his stomach, burying her face in his shoulder. Aeron rubbed her back and held her close, doing all he could do to comfort her. But he was afraid that it wouldn't be enough.

Half an hour later, Aeron's grandparents burst into the room, followed by Darrin and his four boys. Amidst the hugging and shouting and the arrival of three nurses, two to occupy the youngest boys and the other to talk to Didi and Beni, Darrin stepped close to Aeron and looked forlornly at the sleeping youngster in his arms. "I'm sorry that she disturbed you," he said carefully in that strange thick accent of his. "I'm afraid she thought that I didn't have time…" he trailed off and stared at Keala sadly. There were dark circles like bruises under his eyes, and his hair and clothes were disheveled. There was a burden of sadness that hung over him like a thundercloud. Aeron felt a deep misgiving in his heart, and he stared at Darrin, trying to understand what had caused his uncle's sad state. Maybe… No. He shook the thought away impatiently, and instead gestured for his uncle to take Keala from him. "Careful," he said quietly as Darrin tentatively took his daughter in his arms and gave him a look of gratitude. He seemed to withdraw from his thundercloud a bit as he looked down at Keala's sweet face, and his mouth tolerated one small, quick smile. Then he was gone, and Aeron was swarmed by his cousins and the nurses and his grandparents, and happy smiles and long hugs and relieved tears were shared all around. But, just like Darrin, his grandparents had dark circles under their eyes and they carried a heaviness, a dark burden that he was aware of but could not comprehend. And the rest of the day, Aeron's sixth sense tormented him with a horrible premonition that he could not comprehend. And then he found out why.

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linhsong22: Oh thank you so much! Thank you for reading - I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Please tell me if there's anything you'd like me to fix or work on!

Team Foster-Secen: Yes I love cliffhangers ..until I'm reading a book and then I go INSANE! And my whole family knows it because I rant about it to anybody in sight XD Yes I know that chapter was short - hope this one made up for it :# I honestly wasn't planning on writing that chapter yet but I checked my email and I had comments telling me to hurry up and update so I wrote the next scene up real quick :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

iliveinalibrary: XD yes yes I'm glad you're into this enough to be freaking out about my cliffhangers... *evil cackle* Please totally feel free to edit my story - I'd love some feedback there!

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