Shelby woke in a cold sweat and tried to get her bearings. She knew that it was another prophecy, but she didn't want to draw this one. Her hands moved on their own as she grabbed pencils and paper. Cameron was passed out next to her and she was glad that this hadn't woken him. This was a prophecy that she felt he did not need to be awake for, for whatever reason.
She felt time slip away as she drew and drew and drew. She added colors she would never normally used, framing a scene that she could not make out. She felt her hands throwing papers away, obviously not content with what she was drawing. She desperately wanted to pull out of this prophecy, she wanted to hold it off until she was alone, but it had too hard of a grip on her. She felt hands on her shoulders and knew that Cameron must be awake, she wished he could pull her out of these the way that Tommy could with Kimberly. As much as he wanted to help her, he'd never been able to do that.
She felt herself crash back into her body and she looked at the picture in her hands and she stilled. One glance around the room let her know that she was alone and she hastily grabbed the drawings, pushing this one to the bottom. She knew what it meant, it was something that had been at the corners of her prophecies for months. She had just finally seen it fully today.
"Oh good, you're out of it. Here's some breakfast," Cameron said as he slid a plate in front of her and she saw the concern on his face. How did she tell him? How did she explain to him what she kept seeing? Could she even break it to him? "You okay?"
"This one hurt," Shelby responded as she looked at the breakfast he had thrown together and she reached over, seeking some form of connection. It was one of the things that brought her back to this world the fastest when she had hard visions. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. It's the latest fad that Patrick wanted to try," Cameron said as she looked over at the food and gave him a confused look. "Paleo? I don't remember the name of it this time."
"Neither of us had to cook- so I'll take it," Shelby whispered as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and went back to get ready for his day. She glanced over to see a pair of scrubs tossed out of the closet and she laughed. He always made sure to take care of her, especially on mornings where he woke up to find her with pages scattered around her.
"Oh Cam…I hope this isn't this world," Shelby whispered as she looked at the drawing again and really took it in. She had drawn herself with the Oliver twins, protecting them against something. That was not what concerned her the most, it was the next image- where she shielded them with her body and she knew that the injuries she received were fatal. Identifying three worlds made her hopeful, but the twins ground a lot of those hopes to a halt. They'd seen no evidence that Kimberly and Tommy had twins in any other world. They'd seen no evidence that Kim and Tommy were even together in one of them. She shoved the papers in her bookbag, intent on destroying them. If this prophecy was true, she was not going to share the worry with those that she loved. She was just going to love them a bit more.
"Hey Tommy- you got a minute?" Rebekah asked as she walked into his office at the college and he nodded. Rebekah closed the door behind her as she sat down across from him and pulled out her laptop. She had his full attention, even if she didn't want it. "I know you'd rather me do this at the…center…but I just finished up and…"
"No, this is fine. Want me to call Kim?" Tommy asked as Rebekah grimaced and Tommy let out a laugh. "That would be a no."
"You're fine. She scares the living shit out of me," Rebekah stated as she logged in to her database and pulled up her notes. Tommy watched her as he couldn't believe that Rebekah was that scared of Kim, most people never realized how deadly she could be. They only saw the carefully crafted persona that told everyone the morning news. "So they are seeing three distinct worlds. I know she had a bit of a freak out about dying, right?"
"A bit," Tommy concurred as Rebekah scrolled down in her notes and he waited quietly. He wanted to be able to help his wife and reassure her, but he couldn't give her false hope.
"My analysis indicates that she may be hyper connected to Thomas Trueheart's world right now. She's seen a bit about this world, but a lot of it really seems to be Thomas' or another world. A world that I…that I don't think we've ever been contacted about," Rebekah said as Tommy let out a sigh of relief. They already knew that she didn't make it in Thomas' world and it explained a lot. "It doesn't mean that she won't die, but she's not seeing it and neither is Shelby."
"What's that look for?" Tommy said as he watched Rebekah sink into herself. "Rebekah."
"Shelby…neither Kim nor Shelby see Shelby in the future. Kim isn't seeing herself in the future of this world, but Shelby is. A lot. I don't know what to make of it," Rebekah said as Tommy let out a groan as he stood up, put his glasses on, and leaned over her shoulder to read her findings. Her research was thorough and her conclusions seemed sound, but he had no idea how to deal with this. Did they confront her? Did they just let this ride out and hope that she was hiding personal prophecies because it felt like too much to share? Did they bring Cam in on this? "I…I also think she's hiding things from us."
"I was worried about that," Tommy muttered as he shook his head. "I have to talk with Kim about this, but…I don't know. It's up to her if she wants the rangers to know what she's seen."
"It's not going to protect them Tommy if what she saw…if what she is seeing…" Rebekah trailed off as she shook her head. "I don't like the idea of keeping secrets."
"Neither do I, but I've learned over the years that if you try to push something like this, it just gets worse. If you can upload that to our system, I'd appreciate it," Tommy said as Rebekah closed her laptop and stood to face him. "I know. I'll see what I can do."
AN: I hope you're enjoying this story! Please leave your thoughts (good, bad, otherwise) as a review! Also- thank you to everyone that has reviewed so far- it really means the world to me to hear from you. I do try to DM folks back who comment- it's the best I can do until decides that we can do inline replies.
