Freefall

Thirteenth Chapter

I could feel him staring at me. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel him leaning forward, eyes wide, just watching me.

"That's enough!" I exclaimed, my eyes popping open. "I can't concentrate with you staring at me like I'm some sort of zoo exhibit."

"No luck, then?" he asked.

I stared him down, refusing to answer what I deemed a stupid question.

"But I can't leave you alone with Elliott out there somewhere," Malcolm protested.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but light was beginning to make its way into the room. That combined with the lamp, made it feel as if it was the middle of the day. However, I felt brain dead. Malcolm expecting me to be able to find this conscious and wake it with a snap of my fingers wasn't helping.

"Then wait in the hallway, but I can't do it with you in here."

Malcolm leaned back, appearing to be debating whether he should fight me on this or not. With a sigh, he stood up.

"Fine. I'll be right outside the room. If you need anything, just call for me."

I watched him leave the room and then stared at the closed door. Now what?

If I did believe Malcolm, and I had said that I did, then an alternate-universe-Meg was trapped in my mind, and I had to find her. It sounded crazy, and I had no idea how I was supposed to go about doing such a thing. Earlier, I hadn't even been able to concentrate. I wasn't sure Malcolm was really the problem, either.

My whole body ached dully. Last night's ordeal hadn't really done much damage, but it had left its mark on my bones. I looked around the room, trying to find a distraction. I had never been a patient in a hospital before, and the stay had me wondering if I really wanted to work in this place. That was crazy, though, I told myself, because I had med school all lined up for the fall.

If I lived through this.

That was enough of a jolt for me to start seriously considering the task set before me. I wanted to laugh aloud at the absurdity of it, but I couldn't. This was real.

With a sigh, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. What the heck was I looking for? I really had no idea what I was supposed to do. Maybe I should've asked Malcolm for some tips on conscious-finding. If I called him in, though, he would probably refuse to leave again.

My thoughts were scattered. I had to focus. It was easier said than done. My mind jumped to the preposterous idea of giving up on med school to my potential insanity to Lisa's recent visit. Up until now, I had mostly blocked that memory out. I winced at the reminder. That had been a real doozy of a fight. I was going to have to patch that up if I ever wanted to see my nephews again.

Lisa had essentially accused me of being a selfish waste of our parent's money. I had always thought that I'd shown my gratitude. After all, I was extremely grateful for their financial support of my dream. However, even after four years of school, Lisa's belief that my ambitions to be a doctor were still just a whim stung. I had worked hard to get this far, and I intended to keep working. The fact that she didn't see that hurt.

After taking into account the fact that everyone seemed to think Lisa was perfect and I was something of a slob didn't help. Especially coming from Mom and Dad. I always felt like I could never be first at anything, never the best. I guess it took falling off a building to realize things were more of a mess than I had thought.

Since the weekend had ended, Mom hadn't really had a chance to visit. Maybe we had more to discuss than either of us thought. I didn't relish the idea of bringing some of this up, but I didn't want a rift to exist between me and my sister, and it seemed I'd need my mom's help to fix it.