Psychic Visions 08-Now You See Her... (14 page)

“Why? I’ve always had good hearing, just not crazy good at anything else.”

“Except that you appear to be able to help stabilize her energy. Help ground her.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Dean thought about what ground meant. “Unless it’s something everyone can do.”

“No, you calm her down. She doesn’t spark or have bits and pieces flare off her body when you are holding onto her.”

“If true, that would be odd and disturbing. It’s not like I can sit here and hold her hand all day.”

Stefan laughed. “If only…”

“Yeah, I wish.” Dean grinned. “Now if that were to keep a hand on her in a bed…”

Now Stefan really laughed. “Trust you to think of that.”

“Hey, if you weren’t a newly in love male, you’d be thinking of it too. Besides Tia looks like she could use a little loving.”

Stefan’s tone turned serious. “I think she could use a lot of it. I can’t see that anything in her history was easy. Or kind.”

“Was she abused?”

“Not sexually. At least I don’t believe so. But she was kept in the study and given many tests, so abused in that way, yes. Not being allowed to go to a normal school, have friends, birthday parties, yes again. But that wasn’t her whole life. She was living a normal childhood so she understood how the world worked and knew what it was like to go to school and have family and friends originally. But that all changed when she was put into this program. Since she escaped, she’s been on the run, and there is nothing normal about that either.”

Dean sighed. “Do we know if there was ever a missing person’s report put out on her? I’m trying to work this from the cop angle, and none of it makes any sense. She shouldn’t have been put into a program like this, and neither should her parents have abandoned her to it.”

“
Shoulds
in this world aren’t going to make a bit of difference. When her family ditched her, she didn’t have a support system. It was up to her to make it through that mess on her own.”

“Not fair.” Actually, plain shitty.

“No. But she’s not alone. There are many people in trouble in one form or another all over the world who, like her, have no one to help them. There’s nothing fair about any of it.”

He started to walk away.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Home to my beautiful Celina.” Stefan turned and smiled. “Keeping those we love close is the saving grace for all of us.”

“And in Tia’s case?” Dean stood there hating to think of abandoning her. “She has no one.” He couldn’t leave her, but neither could he stay to be with her. She was a sad case. Surely, that’s why his heartstrings were being tugged. Surely.

“She needs all the love she can get.” Stefan kept walking. “I’ll be back in the morning. Or in the night if something major happens to her. Call me if you need me. Although I’ll probably know beforehand.”

“How?” Dean asked, only Stefan was too far down the hallway to hear him. Damn.

Dean walked back to the door that was between him and Tia. He opened it and peered in. His jaw fell open.

There was a beautiful glowing light in Tia’s room, hovering over the bed, over Tia. The light was thin and easy to see through, but it pulsed with power. He’d never seen anything like it. He wanted to go in and touch it, take pictures of it, experience whatever it was. But it was there for Tia. He let his glance slide over to the beautiful woman. Her body was relaxed and her face, well, she was smiling in sheer joy.

Whatever was happening was making her happy. Making her feel good.

Damn this was odd.

Just when he’d decided to slip inside and sit down to watch, a wave of that green energy slid toward him and the door slammed closed in front of him.

Well, as a message that was pretty clear. As to what he’d seen and thought he understood about reality – that was as clear as mud.

T
ia’s world was
a kaleidoscope of color. Heat. Visuals she’d never seen before. And pain. But a pain she didn’t understand. It held a muted quality to it. As if someone had shoved cotton batting between her and it. Nice in a way, but there was always that sense that if she moved wrong, did something in an off way, that pain would rise up and there wouldn’t be enough cotton batting in the world to stop it.

At the same time, some of her was hot and some of her was cold, as if there was a wall between parts of her system.

There is.

She froze.

Who said that?

I did. Dr. Maddy.

And I’m here too, Tia,
said Stefan.

Where is here?
she asked in a low voice.

We’re speaking with you telepathically.

How could the three of them be having this conversation? Tia wanted to laugh but didn’t want to hurt the beautiful woman’s feelings. However, no matter how this sounded, there was no way any of this was clear.

There was a distant rumble in her head. Laughter. She smiled.

So what was that about a wall?
Stefan asked.

Not a wall so much as a short,
Dr. Maddy said.
You appear to have something in your belly region that is stopping the transmission of some electrical pathways.

Belly?
Tia asked cautiously.
Why would something there affect everywhere else?

It’s likely not in your belly as much as in your 3
^rd
chakra. In which case it would have the power to affect all the chakras in your body,
Dr. Maddy explained.

Hmmm. Chakras. Sounded like something out of a bad movie. Kind of like herself.
So can this thing be removed?

We hope so, but so far we haven’t been able to identify it. It’s not physical like a foreign object, nor is it organic to your body like a tumor.

So…what does that leave for options?
she asked.

Dr. Maddy, her voice slow and thoughtful, said,
I’m not sure but I think it is energy. Someone has placed energy at a specific spot in your system, and they are still attached somehow. Maybe even yanking your chain at will.

What?
she cried out, barely hearing their slight groans.
Sorry,
she said, toning down her voice.
Are you saying someone has done this on purpose? If so, why?

That’s what we need to find out,
Stefan said smoothly.
And for that we have to go back into your history a bit.

No,
she said absently.
You need to find the asshole who attacked me and knocked me out for six weeks. He’s the one who likely did this to me.

That’s possible but this seems old. There’s got to be a reason why it’s affecting you now, but I suspect it was placed into your system when you were much younger. And probably when you had no idea.

Of course I had no idea
, she said.
I’d never have allowed it.

What about a long time ago when you were first involved in all those tests? You knew some were done while you were asleep, right?

Yes
, she said, her memories opening up to those nightmares.
A terrible time in my life.

And what if this person implanted this energy back then?
Stefan asked.

Only from one moment to the next, he was gone. So was Dr. Maddy.

She was alone. The voices in her head were gone.

She might have slammed a door in front of them – she kinda felt that way, but the abruptness of it all made her wonder.

She’d never done anything like that before. But the thought of someone having implanted energy what…an energy bomb? In her system a long time ago was damn scary. As scary as those shitty years she’d lived at that “hospital.” Hospital, my ass. It had been a secret testing facility, and that’s all she knew. Except she hadn’t been alone.

There’d been other victims with her.

Faded names and faces filled her mind as she remembered a very aggressive male who hadn’t wanted anything to do with the doctors. They’d done something to him to make him more agreeable. It had worked, she recalled. Considering he’d scared the bejeesus out of her, she’d been delighted with the change. It was only now she had to wonder what they had done. But she didn’t want to remember. It had been years since she thought of the other people in her group. They’d all left over time until, at the end, she’d been the only one still there. Either she wasn’t a success and hadn’t been released or she was the only one without family. The others had all been moved out of the institute while she’d been locked up. She’d done her best to avoid even letting the memories surface.

And in the back of her mind was always the worry the damn doctors had done something else to her. Something irreversible. Something irreparable. Something permanent.

Why?

And why her? She’d never done anything to anyone. She’d been a child. An innocent child who’d turned into a wary and very streetwise teenager. Now an adult, she could look back that long road and wonder that she’d made it at all. And where did she go from here.

Oh wait, she couldn’t go anywhere. Because those assholes from her horrible childhood were still yanking her chain.

*

Dean slumped in
the hallway, head leaning back against the wall, eyes closed.

“Dean?”

At the woman’s voice, his eyes flew open and he bolted to his feet.

“Easy, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Dr. Maddy said gently.

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” he muttered, giving himself a shake. “How is she?”

“She’s holding. But there’s definitely a mystery surrounding her condition.” She hesitated for a moment, and then said, “You’re in law enforcement, correct?”

Not sure where she was going with this, he nodded. “I am.”

“Is it possible for you to track the studies she was put into when she was a child? I could use the names of the doctors involved. It might give me an idea of what was done and why.” She smiled apologetically. “Normally I’d ask my partner to chase the information down, but he’s out of town.”

“That’s fine. I can search her history and see what I can come up with.” He looked around. “Is she staying here for tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll go to the office and start searching right away.” He said goodbye and took off, glad to have a clear job to do. A nuts and bolts type of job. His kind of job. This damn fairy dust was hard to be around.

T
ia slipped out
of bed and walked to the doorway. The place was unlike any hospital she’d ever been in, and she’d been in more than a few. She’d been in way too many all through her young years.

There was carpeting on the floors, beautiful paintings on the walls and some wall hangings that appeared to be hand stitched. She glanced back at her bed and realized it had real blankets on it, handmade quilts. How could this be?

Taking the opportunity she turned left, tugging her housecoat over her shoulders, and walked down a few doorways. Bedrooms lined each side of the hallway, small but complete and lived in. Most of the occupants were middle-aged adults. One held a child who sat cross legged on her bed, a puzzle spread out in front of her.

Tia smiled down at her. She wondered if she should speak, but the child looked absorbed in what she was doing. That was fine by her. She was too upset and out of sorts to do so anyway.