Tala Prophecy: The Complete Series Read online

  “She’s in pain, but the nurse gave her something,” Dad said.

  Doctor Carter nodded and scribbled on the chart. “She’s been through quite an ordeal and lost a lot of blood, so we’re going to have to keep her a few more days for observation. An infection set in on her back, so that’s slowing down her healing. We have antibiotics in her IV.”

  “Thank you, doctor. We need to get back to Colorado soon. We have plans to make,” Mom said.

  “Plans? What plans?” Reagan asked. Her eyes were getting heavier and her mouth was dry.

  “Honey, we need to make funeral plans for your brother.” Dad turned to the doctor. “Please let us know when Reagan is well enough to travel.”

  “Will do. Again, I’m sorry about your son.”

  Reagan wanted to ask more questions, but the black hole of medication consumed her.

  ↄↄↄↄↄ

  Screaming.

  It echoed through her brain. Darkness consumed her. She moved, sightless, straining toward the screaming that was getting fainter with each second. A powerful punch knocked her to the ground. Pain seared in her back and arm. She felt heaviness on top of her. Then she heard something. Was it a gunshot? She turned her head and stared into golden eyes, mesmerized. That’s all she could make out. Whatever it was scampered away, and Reagan was left with nothing but darkness and pain.

  ↄↄↄↄↄ

  Reagan jolted upright in the hospital bed. Everything about the dream seemed so real. Am I hallucinating? She knew a lot of pain meds had side effects. Adjusting to the darkness of the room, she took in her surroundings. To her right, she saw her mom starting to sit up from her position on the fold out chair.

  “Honey, it’s just a dream. It’s okay. I’m here.” Mom rubbed Reagan’s arm as she leaned back onto the bed. “You’ve been having a lot of nightmares. The doctor says between your trauma and the drugs—”

  Reagan interrupted, “What happened that night, Mom? I remember bits and pieces. Or I think I do. It all happened so fast, and it was so dark.”

  “It’s late. Let’s talk about it in the morning. Your dad will be back then. I’ll call the nurse to give you something to help you sleep.”

  “I don’t want so much medicine. I don’t want to be knocked out all the time.”

  “I know, honey, but you need it right now. Let’s get through tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Mom said, leaning in close and pushing her daughter’s hair back off her sweat-soaked forehead. “I’ll get the nurse and be right back.”

  Reagan needed to use the bathroom. Have I gotten up and done that yet? She couldn’t remember. She sat up, pulled back the covers, and gently maneuvered her legs over the side of the bed. The room started to spin, so she sat still for a moment. Determined, she put one hand on the machine with her IV bag and started to stand.

  “Reagan!” Mom rushed over.

  “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “This is the first time you’ve been up, so let me help you.”

  When they got to the bathroom door, Reagan said, “I think I’m okay. I’ll call you if I need anything.” She slipped into the bathroom and turned on the light, squinting when the brightness took over the room.

  She looked in the mirror. Slowly, her face came into focus. Still bruised and battered, she almost didn’t recognize herself. Her uncovered arm looked fine. With a stiff, aching back, she turned to see the damage. Like her arm, it was bandaged. What the hell did this to me?

  Stumbling back into the room, her mom rushed to help again. A nurse, one Reagan didn’t recognize, came over to help as well. “Here you go. This should help you sleep,” said the nurse as she pushed more medicine into the IV tubing.

  I don’t want to sleep. I want to remember. Reagan’s body begged her to scream and fight. Still, as much as she was dying to fill in the gaps, she was also terrified to remember.

  ↄↄↄↄↄ

  Waking required so much energy, she wondered if she could do it. The dreams were intense; pulling her into the darkness. The screams and gunshot were deafening, and each time she woke she was left with the vision of intense golden eyes.

  “Morning. How are you doing?” The woman was obviously a nurse, but not one that had been in the room before. Reagan had yet to wake to a familiar face other than her mom or dad. Neither of them seemed to be around.

  “Where are my parents?”

  “I think they stepped out for some coffee. Your doctor is supposed to be here later to remove your bandages and check out how you’re healing. How’s the pain this morning?”

  The word conjured feelings. Although the pain wasn’t overwhelming, it never quite let her out of its grasp.

  “It’s not too bad,” Reagan lied, hoping to avoid more questions or more medicine.

  “Do you think you need some more pain medication? You’re due for more shortly.”

  Reagan didn’t want to live the rest of her days in a drug-induced state. Plus, she needed a break from the dreams. “No, I’m good. I’ll let you know.”

  “I’ll ask your mom and dad, too.”

  Reagan knew what her parents would do. “I know my pain!” she screamed, unable to stop the outburst.

  “Sweetie, you’re under eighteen, so we need to consult them. Share your feelings with them. I’m sure they’ll listen.”

  As if they were summoned, both of them walked in the door; coffee in hand. “Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, I was just talking to your daughter about pain medication. She says she’s okay.”

  “Then let’s wait,” Dad said. “It’s her call.”

  Reagan wanted to jump up and hug him. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Okay. The doctor will be in soon. He’s going to remove the bandages and check out her wounds to see if the infection is clearing up.” The nurse finished checking Reagan’s vitals then left the room.

  A moment of awkward silence took over the space. Reagan knew she needed to ask some questions before the doctor came in or before somebody forced her to take more medicine. “Mom, Dad, I want to talk about that night. I need to try and remember what happened. I have images—” She didn’t get a chance to finish.

  “What do you remember?” Dad narrowed his eyes at her.

  Reagan stalled, trying to command her brain to give up the secrets held there.

  “I know it’s hard. Just tell us everything you remember,” Mom said.

  “I took some Benadryl to get to sleep. The next thing I remember is hearing someone scream. I looked to see if Sam was still with me in the tent. He wasn’t. I heard it again, so I came out of the tent to see what was wrong.” She hesitated, unable to shake the memory of the sound. “I couldn’t see anything. It was so dark.”

  Reagan didn’t realize she’d started crying until her mom sat on the bed and lifted a hand to wipe way the tears. “It’s okay, sweetie. Don’t force it. It’s okay.” She kept repeating the last words as she laid her head on Reagan’s chest.

  “Something hit me from behind, and I fell down. Then I felt pain. That’s all I remember until I woke up here.” Should I tell them about the eerie golden eyes? She wished she knew the difference between what really happened and the images from her dreams.

  “We think the same animal tried to get you, too,” Dad said.

  “Wait, I also heard a gunshot; or I think I did,” Reagan added.

  “Your dad heard the screaming, too,” Mom began. “He grabbed his gun and told me to stay in the tent. I shouldn’t have.”

  “Susie, there’s nothing more you could’ve done. I should’ve checked the kids’ tent before running off. I didn’t know Reagan was still there.” He stopped, and seemed to be collecting himself. “I fired a warning shot, hoping to scare away whatever it was. When I came back to the site, I saw you on the ground. By then, your mother had come out.”

  “I checked the tent, hoping Sam was still in there. Hoping the screaming was an animal or something. Hoping he . . .” Mom couldn’t continue.

  A knock on the door made Reagan almost
jump out of her skin.

  “Sorry to interrupt. I’m just stopping by to check on Reagan,” the doctor said, edging his way over to her side. “How are you, young lady?”

  Reagan didn’t want to focus on herself, on anything she was feeling, when her brother was dead. Thoughts of what he went through . . . “I’m okay.”

  “Let me be the judge of that. I’ll need to take off your bandages and check things out. I’ll get the nurse to come in.”

  “I’ll step out, sweetie, but I’ll be back,” Dad said. He looked at his wife. “I’ll call Jackie again and tell her what’s going on.”

  “Why don’t you wait until the doctor gives us some information? I know Mom is concerned, but she’ll want details about Sam’s funeral,” Mom said. “I can’t think about that just yet.”

  Dad nodded and left the room. Her hand came to her face, probably wiping tears away, before she turned back to Reagan and the doctor.

  “Reagan, we’re going to start with your arm.”

  Reagan watched the slow process with dread and anticipation. The nurse lifted Reagan’s arm and unrolled a section of the bandages, repeating the steps several times until they fell away. Next, the gauze was removed.

  The doctor pulled his glasses down off his bald head and examined Reagan’s arm. “Amazing. It looks great. You’re a quick healer. You might have some faint scarring, but that’s not bad considering. Let’s check out your back. Will you sit up for me?”

  She did as she was asked and removed her hospital gown. These coverings went all the way around her. As the last of them came off, Reagan crooked her arm over her front to feel less exposed. She was glad her dad stepped out.

  “The infection appears to be gone, and the healing is nothing short of remarkable.”

  Mom stepped around to see, and put her hand over her mouth. Reagan tried to read her mother’s expression, but it was clouded by tears. It was time for Reagan to see for herself. “Doctor, do you mind if I go take a look?”

  “Sure. Then, you’ll need to let the nurse wash it down and apply some lighter bandages. After that, she’ll need to take some blood for more testing. But you look great,” the doctor said, patting her on the shoulder.

  “When can we head back home?” Mom asked.

  “I think she’ll be good to go in a couple of days; maybe tomorrow. Can I speak to you outside for a moment?”

  Before following him out into the hall, Mom leaned down to kiss Reagan’s forehead. “I’ll be right back. I’ll help you get into the bathroom when the nurse is done drawing blood. Please don’t try and do it by yourself.”

  Reagan watched as the doctor and her mom walked out into the hall. What did he need to say to her? The prick of a needle jolted Reagan back to the present.

  “Sorry, did I startle you?” the nurse asked. “I thought you were with me.”

  “No, I’m fine; just a lot on my mind.”

  “You’ve been through quite an ordeal, so that’s expected. Do you remember the night nurse when you came in?”

  Reagan concentrated, forcing her mind to conjure up the missing pieces. “No. Why?”

  “That’s the only time you settled down. He must’ve been a visiting nurse or maybe he was with the ambulance team, because I haven’t seen him before. Or since. Still, he seemed to calm you. ” The nurse put a Band-Aid on Reagan’s arm. “He wouldn’t have calmed me. No Ma’am. A looker like that would have got my blood pumping and made me wish I was twenty years younger.” With a wink and a wave, the nurse left.

  For the first time, Reagan had a chance to look around the stark hospital room. There were some flowers and a card. She couldn’t quite reach them from her bed, so she swung her legs over. Still hooked up to the IV, getting around was difficult.

  “Reagan, I asked you to wait for me. We don’t want you getting lightheaded or anything,” Mom said, coming back into the room.

  “Who sent the flowers?” Reagan asked, curiosity winning over pain.

  “Dex, of course. We saw he kept texting you, so we called him. Didn’t want him to worry. We called Aspen and Serena, too. Everyone sends their love and best wishes. You’ll see them soon.”

  At the funeral. The words hung in the air, but nobody said them.

  Reagan was determined to peek at the marred skin on her back. She only had a faint idea of how bad it might look based on the pain radiating from it. Not to mention the vivid feelings from the dreams that plagued her. She tried to shake off the images bombarding her mind.

  With a hand from her mom, Reagan stood up and maneuvered to the bathroom. She was handed a mirror, and her hospital gown was pulled back. Ridges ran down the length of her back, five or six streaks across. It wasn’t as red as she thought it would be, but the doctor did say it was healing well. Still, the sight made her shudder. If this is what she looked like after a mere run in with the animal, she couldn’t bear to think about what happened to her brother. She looked up to see her mom’s face.

  “It really is looking better. Doc says he thinks we can go home later tomorrow. But he wants us to keep a close eye on you, and take you to your regular doctor,” Mom said as she covered Reagan back up with the hospital gown. “Dad and I know you’ve been having some awful dreams and are having a tough time sleeping. Doc is also sending you home with some sleeping pills and pain meds.”

  “I don’t want them.”

  “I know, but it’s a precaution.”

  “Will we have the funeral right away?” Reagan asked. She could only avoid the subject for so long.

  Mom took Reagan’s arm with one hand and the IV machine with the other. The two women walked back to the hospital bed. Each step seemed an eternity, and Reagan wondered if her mother was going to avoid the question entirely.

  “Your dad has started some planning. We needed to let Nana know, and a few other family members. We’d hoped to have his body, but . . .”

  But instead you only have me?

  Reagan wondered if their family would ever be the same.

  Heading Home

  Reagan watched the beautiful scenery speed by as they headed out of the Yellowstone area of Wyoming and back home to Colorado. When they left a couple of weeks ago, she never thought they’d be heading back to her brother’s funeral.

  Yellowstone was supposed to be a great adventure, a time to enjoy family, and some time away from Dex. Reagan was hoping being away would make her miss him. Instead, she hadn’t thought much about him during their vacation—or during her recuperation at the hospital.

  Little was said during the car ride, and ten hours was a long time in silence. Reagan tried to focus on some downloaded shows on her iPad, but watching for too long gave her an intense headache. She didn’t want to mention this to her parents for fear they’d force some medication on her. More drugs wasn’t what she needed. Maybe if she hadn’t taken the Benadryl that night, she could’ve helped her brother.

  She tried to get back into reading the book she brought along for the trip, the book she was so excited to tear into: Shiver. So many of her friends loved it, and she was desperate to fall in love with a new series. But each time she picked it up, she found herself remembering those golden eyes.

  “Mom, do you mind if I download something on my iPad to read?” Reagan asked, grateful she’d downloaded the Kindle app before leaving on vacation.

  Reagan’s mom seemed surprised by sounds in the car; nobody had even bothered to turn on the radio. Pivoting to look back, she cracked a half smile. “Sure, honey. It might be a good time for something really light or different, don’t you think?”

  Reagan wondered if her mom could read minds. But, then again, Mom knew what Shiver was about since she’d already read the series and recommended it to Reagan. Scrolling through the many young adult options, Reagan decided to keep some conversation going and asked, “Any suggestions?”

  “Something by Sarah Dessen, maybe? Do you know her?”

  “I think so. I’ll look her up.” Reagan typed the author’s name int
o the search field of her Amazon app. “The Truth about Forever, have you heard of it?”

  “No, but I have heard my girlfriend, Brenda, say her daughter doesn’t like the paranormal stuff, and she loves Sarah Dessen. Try it. You might like it.”

  Reagan downloaded it, desperate for some distraction. Anything to fill the void of what seemed to be an endless car ride.

  ↄↄↄↄↄ

  Home. It felt different; less like home.

  Each footstep brought her closer to the front door, but it was like trudging through quicksand. She didn’t know if she could face walking in their house. The only person dragging her feet more than Reagan was her mother.

  Thanks to a few text messages in the last hour, Reagan knew Dex was waiting inside with Serena, Aspen and Nana. Reagan’s parents had entrusted him with the alarm code long ago. All of them wanted to welcome her home. Dex had offered to pick Nana up from the airport since she was going to get in before Reagan and her parents did.

  But one face stood out. “Nana! I’m so glad to see you,” Reagan said, rushing in for a hug.

  Nanook stepped in front of Nana and bared his teeth. “Nanook, it’s me,” Reagan said, leaning down to scratch his head. He backed away, tail tucked. “What’s wrong with him?” Reagan looked up at her dad.

  “Probably just too many people going in and out. I’ll put him outside,” Dad said, dragging Nanook away by the collar.

  Nana walked up and wrapped her arms around Reagan, holding firmly enough to convey love but not so tightly as to hurt her back. “Oh, Reagan, I’ve been so worried about you.”

  Reagan’s dad came back in and laid a hand on Nana’s shoulder. “Nice to see you, Jackie. Glad you arrived safely.” He turned to Dex, “Appreciate you picking her up.”

  Mom walked in, saw her mother, and burst into tears. “Mom, I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Reagan moved to the side to allow her mom access to Nana’s arms.

  “I’m so sorry, dear. So sorry,” Nana said, holding her daughter close.

  Still holding Nana’s hand, Reagan was startled when Dex’s arms wrapped around her from behind. “It’s good to see you.” She wanted to find comfort there, but she didn’t.