Kate
Rushing through a red light, Jillian and I zip across town to the hospital. I squeeze my promise ring Jarrod gave me only a few weeks ago. It's a simple silver band with an emerald stone, but it means more to me than anything. I feel the stone cut into my palm. The pressure of its weight is comforting. Jillian parks crookedly in spot and we hop out and vault across the lot to the front doors.
As soon as we walk through, I am hit with the cool air and smell of freshly bleached floors. The waiting room is empty except for a tall handsome doctor who has a grave look on his face.
"Are you Jarrod's girlfriend?" he asks softly.
A lump rises in my throat…
"Yes," I gulp already feeling tears prick my tired eyes.
"I must warn you before you go in…" he says then pauses with a long sigh.
"What's wrong with the young man?" Jillian asks pushing for an answer.
"He's had a bad reaction to his medication. We're thinking it's Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. It's pretty serious," he says, running a hand through his short blonde curls.
"What is that?" Jillian and I say at the same time.
"It's a life-threatening skin condition. It's a form of toxic epidermal necrolysis which causes the top layer of skin, the epidermis, to detach from the lower layers of skin. It makes the body susceptible for infection… I'm very sorry. He may have to stay in the hospital for a very long time. We're doing everything we can for him," the doctor says squeezing my forearm gently.
And then I do it. I drop my purse onto the floor and fall to my knees, and wail with a long horrid scream. Jillian kneels before me with her arms around my shoulders, her tears hitting the back of my neck.
I shuffle into the hospital room, making sure to study my feet. I'm afraid of what I'll see when I look upon his comatose body. As I draw nearer to his bed, I somehow summon the courage to raise my gaze. Shock. Pure waves of fear permeate my body and rise from my spine to the core of my heart. Jared is covered with red lesions, bruises, and oozing sores. Some of his hair has thinned and his eyebrows are hardly existent. He looks as if he has been burned by a tragic fire that continues to burn him now.
The nurse offers me some sanitized gloves so that I can gingerly clutch his hand without spreading an infection. Tears slip down my cheeks as I sob quietly and take the gloves from her. I hurriedly pull them on and sit in a plastic chair, pulling it to his bedside. The nurse leaves to give us privacy. Jillian sits across from me and opens a book of spells. I grasp his hand softly, entwining my fingers with his. I close my eyes and use my powers to sift through the caverns of his mind, trying to sense the emotions within him.
A great and terrible sadness overwhelms me. It's as if he is immersed in a lake of hopelessness, drowning. I push further and sense something else… strength. A quiet flickering strength like the light of a candle illuminates my passage into his mind. Peace dries my tears. This is something to hold on to.
"What are you sensing, my dear?" asks Jillian.
"Fear…hopelessness…strength," I muster as I pull myself out of his mind.
"Lie down on this couch right here," says Jillian gesturing to the awful floral thing, "I want to do another hypnosis on you. Maybe we can find some clues as to what's going on."
Within a few minutes, I am in a deep trance and the world is quiet. Darkness. I am nothing, floating freely in space. Mind blank. But then it comes, rolling in great waves that crash against my being. Redwoods. Earth is flying, spinning wildly under my feet as the trees blur beside me. I'm running far, fast, and free and when I look to the side, I see him. I see Jarrod. He smiles at me curiously, trying to figure out who I am. The attraction of me reflects in his perfect evergreen irises. But then we stop at the cliff. There is a valley of death before us. Rotting dead trees litter the valley and surround a dark sinister castle I have seen before.
Suddenly we are overcome by a whipping wind. Our bodies are pelted with dirt, stones, and a stinging… oh, horrible stabs of… I look down and scream. Wasps. Red poisonous wasps are covering us like the Red Sea. And then I see him. Rhauk. His foot is pressing the back of Jarrod's head, Jarrod's face pushed flat against the ground.
"Welcome back, my dear!" Rhauk laughs menacingly as he presses Jarrod's face deeper into the mud.
"But I thought you were dead! We defeated you! How can this be?" I cry out, backing away from him.
"The child, my dear. Our child has reignited the curse. I am still very much alive, you see. At least in this dream realm," He utters with smug satisfaction, placing a hand on his hip, "and there is nothing you can do about it."
"Kate! Kate!" Jillian cries shaking me.
I float back from the darkness and open my eyes. White ceiling. I lift my hands. Ten fingers.
"What did you see my dear?"
"Jarrod… his syndrome," I whisper groggily.
"What about it, Kate?"
"They are from the wasps. His flesh manifestation… it was from the wasps. But, but why is his manifestation not going away?" I sob as I crush the pillow against my chest.
"Tell me what happened. What did you see, Kate?" Jillian asks pulling me close to her.
"Jarrod and I were running through the woods. We saw Rhauk's castle. And then there was a wind. We were hit with rocks and dirt and then we were being stung by wasps. The sores on Jarrod now, they look just like what happened to us in this dream! It's the same lesions!" I cry then pause, taking a deep breath.
"Then what happened?" Jillian urges, rubbing my back.
"Rhauk appeared. He was pressing Jarrod's face into the mud with his foot. He told me that because I'm pregnant that that reignited the curse! He said that he was very much alive, but through the dreams…"
"The curse is active again, my dear. That's why Jarrod got into that accident. The syndrome he has now is all because of the curse. It's a flesh manifestation of what is happening to him in the dream realm. I don't know why it's much stronger now. Your manifestation only lasted a few seconds, his I'm afraid… will be permanent till we vanquish this horrible curse once again!"
"It's because I'm pregnant," I whisper, "we have to…"
"I know," Jillian weeps softly.
She takes a long time to collect herself then continues…
"I would never want something like abortion to happen to you. But we have to kill the baby Kate. It's the only way to save Jarrod and defeat Rhauk again."
"I know, but I'm scared…" I sob.
"Visiting hours are over," a nurse says interrupting us.
I walk over to Jarrod and give his hand a squeeze.
"I'll always fight for you," I whisper, begging him to hear me.
.