Page 80 of Shifted

So I did.

?

My head hurts. The beeping of a monitor woke me, and my eyelids burned from whatever light shined against them. I felt a weird, thin fabric in my hands, and the smell of sterilizer tickled my nose.

I was opening my eyes, scorching them with the burning beams of light. I was confused as I slowly looked around. I expected to be in a hospital bed, but I was in someone's bedroom. The walls of the place were logs, and as I turned my head over to view the window, it looked over the moon shined down on a lake across from the grass. Old frames of fish and cheesy quotes were on the walls, such as, “The lake is life.” I seemed to be in some type of log cabin, but this room was spacious rather than tiny. Looking down, I saw an old heart quilt that someone's grandmother must’ve made.

But then I looked at my arm as I felt discomfort and saw an IV. I winced as pain was felt in my stomach, and as I turned, a sharper pain could be felt. My shaking hand reached for the hem of my loose white t-shirt and lifted it to see the stitches that took the place of where the bullets once were.

I notice a lady in the corner with earphones in, sitting with her tablet reading something. "Excuse me," I whisper. I sit up slowly, and the nurse becomes more alert. She looks over at me and quickly removes her earphones. "How are you feeling, Angel?" she asks.

"Am I dead?" She began to laugh, something that wasn't a sign of comfort to me.

"You most definitely aren't dead; your surgery went well. Should I alert Mr. Brand that you've woken?" I nod my head slowly, and as she begins to walk away, I stop her.

"How long have I been asleep for?" I honestly might not want to know. Because the last time I checked I was going to a hospital, not some ranch by a lake.

"Eleven hours post-op, you've been recovering well. Especially with such extensive injuries as yours, the doctor should be in at any moment." She leaves the room, and as I stare at the clock, I notice the time. It's 2 a.m., and I wonder where or who my daughter is with.

I knew Maria had her, but I wondered if Theo was with her. Suppose she knew or thought her mother had died. Words she wouldn't understand for years, and she would continue to question Theo about what happened to her mother. Until suddenly, I'd become a faint memory of her.

The wooden door opened to Lucas and a woman with a white coat. She must've been the doctor. A look of relief was shared once Lucas saw me. "Mrs. Brand, how are you feeling?" Brand? Who the fuck was Mrs. Brand?

"Angel, this is Dr. Yui. She was your surgeon." I looked at her and now realized that I was Mrs. Brand.

"I'm just incredibly sore. I did take a few bullets, to be fair... When do you think I could get out of here?" Dr. Yui sat in the chair beside me with her clipboard. I was impatient now, only after a few moments. Theo and Joely needed to know I was okay, that I didn’t leave or abandon them.

"I'll run a physical, and you should be all set to head home." She couldn't be serious; I just took two bullets and surgery, and all I needed was a physical.

"I'm sorry... what?"

"You are incredibly lucky, Mrs. Brand, your husband here donated a lot of blood to you. With close monitoring, he should be able to take you home in a few hours—lots of rest and no sex or strenuous activities for a few weeks. You need to heal," she stood from the chair. "I'll give you both a moment." She left the room and I looked at Lucas with a million questions swirling in my mind.

"So, during the time in which I was shot, saved, died, and brought back to life, we got married?" He sank into the armchair beside me, laughing.

"Please, no offense, but I think we'd end up killing each other if we were married. I just didn't feel like telling the doctor your name. I knew she'd take the best care of you if she thought that you are my wife. Colleen is a friend from college. A hospital was not ideal for you." He pointed to the lake outside, "We are at Dr. Yui's house; she stitches up my friends sometimes. She's got her own practice in the city, but here, she takes private clients," He fiddled with a stuffed bear and waved it at me. My stomach churned at the sight of it. The bear reminded me of my daughter.

"I need a favor." He looked at me, confused.

"This one wasn't big enough?"

"Find out where Theo Jones lives." My heart raced, knowing he was out there grieving and processing. I needed to find him, and as a smirk grew on Lucas’s face, I was annoyed, "Just do it!"

"You want the pretty boy to know you're not dead? So why is Amartolós so special to you anyway? I didn't know I was brewing a romance!" He clutched his heart as he jested. A blush grew on his cheeks. But my face lacked any humor. It was just serious; he was probably traumatized and alone or with our child—the one who just got dumped on him after years of not even knowing about her.

"Lucas, Theo is Joely's father." As I admit the secret I’ve kept for years. I watched as the teddy bear dropped to the floor along with his jaw. He scoffed in disbelief. I couldn’t believe it either. This entire time, Amartolós was really the father of my child. It was a little bit terrifying, though, that the two people who created this wonderful child shared such psychopathic tendencies.

"Wait, hold on... What?!" I watched the color drain from his face in shock. I wouldn’t have believed it either, but the universe works in the most unique of ways. I had millions of questions to ask him and thoughts to share with him. For how long was he doing this, how long did he know me as Angel?

"He’s Bella's brother. I dated him secretly for years, and we broke up. I was pregnant, and I thought he was engaged and it was over. He was gone for years in Chicago, and I lived a life here in Boston.” I sighed, remembering it all, “He didn’t know about his child. We ended. I never knew he was Amartolós till I rescued him today.” my brain was trying to wrap this around my head, along with the two bullets in my abdomen and Lucas being my boss.

"Yesterday," He corrects.

"God, yeah—yesterday.” It had already been a day. I wondered if Theo had told Maria or Bella. I wondered if he had told them that I was gone and that he was Joely’s father after all this time. Because that’s what the will reads: “In the instance of Hope Mary Ellen’s Taylor death, the custody of Jolene Windsor Jones is appointed to her father Theodore Jones.” I wondered if it had already been looked over or if Theo even knew that he has full custody.

"I mean… Wow. I guess the universe does like to play games with you, Mrs. Brand," I laugh and then groan with a pinch of pain.

"Don't make me laugh; it hurts." He nodded quickly in understanding as he stared at me, worried. Dr. Yui came back into the room to check in on me. This time, she stood in gray sweats with her hair in a bun, less formal.

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