My Múirn Beatha Dán Chapter: It's You

If tomorrow never comes,

I would want just one thing.

I would tell it to the stars and the sun,

I would write for the world to see.

And it's you

The light changes when you're in the room.

Oh, it's you

----It's You by Michelle Branch

My head ached like nothing I had ever felt before. I cracked open one eye, but soon regretted doing so when white light made my head pound harder. Oh God, I needed some aspirin or something to dull the pain. Distantly I wondered why I had such a bad headache. But then I remembered what had happened with the car. I heard someone screaming, but I knew it was from my memory.

Grudgingly, I opened both eyes and peeked around, trying to ignore the blazing white light burning into my eyes. I didn't have to try for very long however, because the light was blocked out by whoever it was who had decided to throw themselves on me in a huge hug at that moment. I groaned. My body ached all over.

"Mary Grace, I think you're hurting Morgan." My dad's voice came floating over to where I lay, presumably on a hospital bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry Morgan," Mom said, letting go of me and taking a few steps away from the bed. "I was just so happy to see that you're awake."

"How's Mary K.?" were the first words out of my mouth.

"She's...fine, Morgan," said Dad, sounded kind of confused. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"Wasn't she hurt at all in the accident?"

Mom and Dad exchanged looks. After a moment, Mom said, "Morgan, Mary K. got a ride from Jaycee and her mother after school yesterday. You were alone in the car when you got in the accident."

"What?" I said stupidly. That didn't make sense. "I saw her in the car with me right before...well, right before the crash!"

"Morgan, that isn't possible," Dad told me softly. "Mary K. called me at work after school yesterday to tell me that she was getting a ride with Jaycee. She couldn't find you, so she wanted to make sure that someone knew where she was going to be."

"Oh" was all I could say. I knew that I'd seen Mary Kathleen in Das Boot with me; I remembered her talking to me. But here were my parents, saying that I was wrong, that my sister hadn't been with me.

After another long moment of silence, my dad tried to change the subject by saying, "Hunter was here earlier." Mom went tight-lipped, and I grimaced.

"Oh really?" I said as casually as I could manage.

"He asked us to call him when you were awake," Mom continued. "We haven't had the chance yet, but I suppose we should probably go and do that now, shouldn't we, Sean?"

Dad nodded. "Well, Morgan, your mom and I have to head back to work, but we'll be back later, with Mary K. Hope you feel better." He leaned down to kiss my forehead gently.

"Thanks. See you later." I smiled up at them both, until they left the room. Then my smile faded into a frown as I tried to figure out the whole Mary K-wasn't-in-the-accident thing. It was just too weird; I could've sworn that I had seen and talked to my sister that afternoon in my car.

Right in the middle of my battle with my logical senses, someone knocked on my door, and when I looked up, my breath caught in my throat. It was Hunter, and he was staring right at me.

"Can I come in?" he asked. I nodded weakly, not looking forward to the conversation we were probably going to have; it would probably include the kiss we shared on Saturday. He came over and stood next to my bed.

"You must think I'm crazy," I said, trying to sit up. Hunter helped me into a sitting position and put some pillows behind my back for support.

"Why would I think that?" he asked, staring down at me. His gaze was making me feel uncomfortable; I was starting to fidget.

"Because I told you that Mary K. was with me right before, well you know..." I trailed away, looking down at my hands. "And she wasn't, apparently."

"That was an illusion, Morgan."

"Oh. Well that makes me feel stupid." I laughed nervously.

"It shouldn't," Hunter told me sternly. "It was one of Cal's illusions. And it was Selene's spell that caused you to fall asleep. I took it off of you, but it took a while. The spell was very complex, which is how I knew it was one of Selene's."

"Right." I swallowed and slowly raised my eyes to his. He didn't smile, but then he rarely ever did, so that was okay. "So the sleeping spell really is gone, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, well, I should probably rest now---"

"Morgan." Just hearing Hunter say my name caused a shiver to go down my spine, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "We need to talk about Saturday."

Damn. "What's there to talk about? We kissed, big deal, right? It was nothing."

"Are you sure it was nothing?" he asked dubiously. We both knew he was right; the kiss did mean something, but it didn't mean that I was ready to admit that just yet.

I swallowed and looked down. "Hunter, I'm not sure what that kiss was even about, let alone what it meant. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Morgan," Hunter surprised me by saying. "I was the one who kissed you."
"Yeah, but it's not like I pushed you away, either," I reminded him. "No one is really at fault for what happened. I don't want you feeling guilty for something as small as kissing me, especially since I kissed you back."

"Morgan, I---"

"Listen to me Hunter, what happened between us wasn't a bad thing. It's just---It's too early for me. I mean, Cal and I only broke-up a week ago. I'm not ready for another relationship quite yet. I'm sorry."

Hunter stroked my cheek before gently saying, "I can wait, Morgan. I'm a very patient person."

I smiled ever so slightly up at him, and I received a rare smile in return. He nodded down at me, said, "I'll be back," and then he was gone, and I was left with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.