Chapter 14

Kara

I woke up to the sound of mechanical beeping accompanied with a pounding in my head. Opening my eyes a crack, I was met by an onslaught of sunlight shining through the thin pink curtains on the opposite side of the room.

Curiously, I looked around in an attempt to figure out where I was. I leaned up on one arm then immediately fell back onto my bed with a hiss.

Right. Broken arm.

Which meant I was in the hospital room.

Taking a moment to blink the sleep out of my eyes, I tried to remember everything that happened. My cheeks reddened as I remembered the moment I shared with Mick. Looking to my right, I saw that Mick was still there, face buried in his pillow.

Taking my good hand, I ran it through his hair. I smiled at the fact that he cared enough to lie to the paramedics in order to accompany me to the hospital.

With a glance at my cast covered arm, I started to contemplate all that had happened. I realized that I'd never actually broken anything, and I always thought that if I did, it would be because of a sports accident. Yet here I was, weak and in a hospital bed because I got attacked by a supposed to be dead man.

I've surprisingly been through weirder situations.

Okay, maybe not having my arm broken by a man who was thought to be rotting in hell kind of weird, but the kind of weird that is just plain stupid.

But why was Rufus Zeno after me of all people? There was nothing special about me... Right?

The words of the spirit echoed through my mind.

"You will find me when you find yourself."

Did that mean that maybe there was something different about me? I remember the first night I was in England, I felt like that spirit was inside of me, possessing me. Maybe I wasn't too far off with my assumption. I guess it could be possible that there is something special about me, why else would Zeno and the spirit be after me?

Could it be possible that the spirit was just another form of myself, trying to be discovered? I guess it could be. Or I could just be seriously schizophrenic.

With a sigh, I shook my head as if to clear it of my thoughts. However, inhaling deeply appeared to be quite difficult with a fractured rib, resulting in me letting out another hiss of pain.

Beside me, Mick stirred. As I looked down at him, he raised his head and rubbed his eyes. With a yawn, he met my gaze.

"Hey you." he said, smiling.

"Hey yourself," I replied. "Did you sleep okay?" I asked, concerned. He shrugged and gave a half smile.

"As good as I could have in a chair in the hospital." He said. I frowned.

"Sorry..." I told him, giving him a weak smile. His gaze hardened.

"I'm not blaming you. Don't for one second think that this is your fault." He said, bringing a hand up to touch the side of my face. He examined my neck, brushing his fingers against the bruises that had formed there. "Don't ever apologize. I swear, if I ever come across that bastard who attacked you..." He trailed off, but the message was quite clear. Lifting my good hand to entwine it with his, I offered him a small smile.

"It's okay Mick, I'm all right." I assured. He shook his head as though I wasn't getting the point.

"But you could have not been! Whoever that guy was... I don't think you're the kind of girl who can just get beat up at random. He would have had to be targeting you. Which means you may just be lucky to be alive." He growled, his hand clenching mine in frustration.

"Mick," I warned. "I already have one useless arm. Please don't break my other hand." He looked down at our now joined hands.

"Sorry..." He mumbled, releasing his grip. I smiled and ran my now free hand up and down his arm.

"It's okay, I forgive you." I teased lightly. He leaned forward and I met him halfway, extinguishing the distance between us. He kissed me gently, being careful to make sure I didn't hurt myself. As the kiss deepened, we suddenly became aware of an excessive amount of squealing coming from the doorway. Looking up, we saw Amber practically jumping up and down, the rest of the house standing behind her.

"Omg! That was so totally adorable! I should have brought my camera. Why didn't I bring my camera?! I need to start your couple scrapbook right away. I'm already so behind! What else did I miss? Tell. Me. Everything!" She chirped before Patricia came up behind her and smacked her upside the head.

"Leave them alone, Barbie!" She barked, before turning back towards us with a look that said "what the hell happened in the past 12 hours that I wasn't aware of?"

I blushed and leaned back onto the bed, still grasping Mick's hand.

"Hey Kara!" Said Nina, stepping into the room. "The doctor called and said you were doing much better so Mr. Sweet gave us the morning off to come visit you! How are you feeling?"

"I feel just peachy," I said with a wink. "Well... More like a bruised peach." I corrected to myself, holding up my arm and examining it.

"I can't believe what happened," Amber said. "That had to be so scary! We're all just so glad that you're okay!"

"Thanks Ambs, I feel a lot better now that most of the shock has worn off." I replied. "And thank you everyone for coming to see me." I added with a smile.

"It's no problem!" Joy piped up. "We were really worried about you!" She said as Trudy entered the room.

"Oh hello dear," she cooed, bustling up to me. "I just spoke with the doctor. He wants to run some quick checks and you should be ready to go home by tomorrow."

"Thanks Trudy," I replied with a smile. "It would be great to go home soon."

Mick

For the next hour, Kara conversed with the members of Anubis house. Amber continued babbling on about the different thoughts that were running through her head while Nina and Eddie talked to Kara about American baseball teams.

"The Phillies are so much better than the Yankees." Kara stated with a yawn. Maybe it was time for everyone to leave so that she could get some more rest. Thankfully, just as Eddie was about to retort to Kara's claim, Trudy spoke the exact words that were on my mind.

"Come now dearies, I think we've had quite a long enough visit. Kara needs some rest, and you lot need to get to school!" She said, beginning to usher out Joy and Patricia.

"But Trudy! I have so much more that I have to tell my BAF!" Amber complained.

"What more could you possibly have to say?" Eddie asked. "She's only been away from the house for one night!"

"Eddie is right dear, and Kara has been through quite a bit in the last few hours. She needs to be left alone for a little while. You'll see her when she comes home." Trudy offered with a smile. Amber huffed.

"Fine..." She sighed, turning to leave the room. Kara smiled and shot a thankful glance at Trudy. Returning the smile, the housemother nodded and left behind the rest of the students.

"You should go back to the house and get some decent sleep Mick." She said, turning to me. I shook my head.

"Uh uh, I'm not leaving." I stated. As she went to argue, I put a hand over her mouth. "Nope!" I said, popping the "p". She rolled her eyes.

"Miiiick," she whined as I removed my hand.

"Sleep." I told her.

"But I'm not tired!" She protested, attempting in vain to hide a yawn. I smirked.

"If you're not tired, then why are you yawning?" I asked.

"Yawning is just a reaction of the respiratory system when your body fails to take in enough oxygen to oxygenate your blood." She mumbled, rolling onto her side, facing me.

"You're cute when you get all nerdy." I said with a smile. She blushed.

"It's just common knowledge..." She said.

"Well, I didn't know it."

"You would if you actually paid attention in class." She muttered sarcastically, pulling the thin hospital sheet up to her chin.

"Wha..? I pay attention!" I exclaimed. She chuckled, wiggling herself deeper into the thin mattress.

"Whatever you say..." She breathed, her eye lids drooping. Deciding it best to not reply and let her sleep, I leaned back in my chair and watched Kara as she drifted off. My lighthearted expression morphed into a frown as I contemplated her situation.

She'd only been here for a week and already she'd been welcomed into the Scooby Gang, excelling in her classes, plagued by nightmares, and attacked by a psycho! Seriously, what the hell?

Then there was my dream...

The crazy floating lady was telling me all about some of said gang's "adventures". As much as I told myself that there was no way they could be true, somehow I just knew that my dream was no ordinary nightmare. What was also strange is the fact that I'd been unaware of these goings on until this year, after Kara arrived and had nightmares of her own.

With a sigh, I leaned back and ran a hand through my hair.

I determined it was time I had a chat with the other residents of Anubis house.