Page 14 of Dark Visions (Strange Gifts #1)

Kane and Aislinn sat on the floor of his loft, empty pizza boxes littering the coffee table. They flipped through the book that Angela had provided them. The shrill of the doorbell made Aislinn jump in surprise, and Kane smiled at her.

“Yea,” he said into the system on his phone.

“It’s me, asshole!” said the deep voice.

Kane grinned and pushed a button. Aislinn looked nervous and moved to sit on the sofa, her legs carefully tucked beneath her.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s my friend Adam Thorn .”

“The doctor? He’s real?” Kane chuckled.

“Yes, he’s definitely real. I asked him to come by and make sure you were okay. No medical reasons for the headaches.”

She nodded and watched as he moved the pizza boxes to the countertops in the kitchen. When the elevator door opened, a tall, lean man stepped out. His coal black hair cut close to his head, strands of silver filtered throughout. His face was lean with hard angles, blue eyes gazing into the room, his nose long and narrow, leading to a strong mouth.

“Hey ass… oh, hello,” he said, averting his gaze to Aislinn.

“Hello,” she said tentatively.

He walked around Kane and held out a hand. Aislinn looked at the hand as if it were poison and then looked pleadingly at Kane.

“Brother, she probably shouldn’t do that right now.”

“No worries. I catch all kinds of stuff at the hospital, but I wash my hands every time.” He continued to hold out his hand, but Aislinn moved further into the cushions of the sofa.

“Adam, later, brother. I’ll explain everything.” Adam nodded, unsure if he liked Aislinn at that moment. Kane was his best friend, and he knew better than anyone did what he’d been through to survive.

“I’m sorry. I’m just…” Aislinn struggled for the words, tears filling her eyes, and Adam’s heart melted just a bit. She was frightened, and that pissed him off as a soldier, but there was something about her that made his skills as a doctor go on high alert.

“Adam, Aislinn has dreams. Dreams that are true.” He waited for his friend’s mind to catch up.

“You mean visions? Like you dream something, and it happens?” Aislinn nodded. “I see. And these visions, have you had one recently?” She nodded again. “What happens afterwards?”

“Debilitating headaches. I’m laid up for at least twenty-four hours, but sometimes longer. They occur usually within twenty-four to forty-eight hours after I touch someone or they touch me. I try to avoid touch,” she said with a blush.

“I see,” he said, grinning at her. He sat on the sofa near Aislinn but far enough away not to frighten her. “You wouldn’t happen to have your medical records with you?”

“No, sorry, I didn’t even think about that. I’ve had every test known to man done, though. No one has ever been able to find anything physically wrong.”

“I’m sure they haven’t, but my guess is you have a fracture.”

“A fracture? As in a broken bone?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “It’s more of a fracture in the psyche. When we look at people in dream states during scans in the lab, we often see a split that happens during violent dreams. We call it a fracture. It’s nearly invisible, but I would suspect that if this has been happening to you for a long time, the fracture would be highly visible.”

“I see,” she said quietly. “Well, I can tell you that I’ve had scans as early as just three years ago, and it was never seen.” Adam nodded, concern filling his face.

“I don’t really care about the nightmares right now, Adam,” said Kane. “I’m worried about the toll the headaches are taking on her body. It’s horrible to see, to feel.” He knew his friend was aware of his own ability and stared at his stern face.

“You felt it?” Kane nodded. “You two are definitely a pair.” He grinned at Kane and then at Aislinn, who looked pale and frail. “Are you experiencing anything right now, Aislinn?”

“No, I just, I’m worried that I will. We had to go back to the hospital today, and I worry that I touched something, someone that will make me have the vision again.”

“Hospital? Okay, explain.”

Kane proceeded to tell the whole story of how he and Aislinn had met. He left no detail out and even told him of their visit with Professor Brennan. Adam took copious notes, tapping away on his tablet. He asked Aislinn her date of birth and was surprised to learn that she was thirty-one. He would have guessed much younger. But the look in his friend’s eyes when she spoke told him all he needed to know.

Having spent eighteen months in rehab and more than twenty surgeries to get where he was today, Kane had endured enough pain. The joy that was filling the space between he and Aislinn was palpable, and Adam grinned to himself, knowing that his friend had fallen.

“So, this doctor killed the two people I heard about on the news? What were their names?”

“Wascom.”

“Yea, the Wascoms. Shit! You saw that?” Aislinn nodded. “Jesus, Aislinn, I’m so sorry. I read the reports, and the injuries were brutal.”

“I need to learn to control it, and for some reason, Kane seems to be able to help me. The headache subsided more quickly when he was near me. I was able to recover faster with him here.”

Adam nodded again, letting out a long slow breath.

“Well, I’m going to try and get all your medical records and tests, see what’s been done, and what I can use before we subject you to something else. You won’t have to go to a hospital. I have equipment at my practice. I’ll make sure it’s all sterilized and wiped down well before you come.”

Aislinn nodded again at him and graced him with a small, grateful smile.

“I guess, in all fairness, I should tell you that I’m different as well, Aislinn,” he said, grinning at his friend. Kane smiled back and nodded, sitting beside Aislinn, pulling her into his body.

“Different? Different how?”

“I wish I could explain it, but I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. I first noticed it as a child when a car hit my dog. I carried him all the way home but knew he was going to die. I saw the bleeding. I saw the trauma… on the inside.

“When someone is injured, when I’m working on a patient, surgery or no surgery, it’s as if I can see every function of their body. I know if their blood pressure is going to crash. I know if they’re going to bleed out. I know if the benign tumor they have will turn cancerous. I see everything in their body. I’m like my own fucking diagnosis machine.”

“Oh my, God! That’s awful!” Aislinn covered her mouth in horror and fear for Adam. She knew the burden it must be for him to carry the weight of his gift.

“Awful? Baby, he can diagnose people instantly,” said Kane.

“Yes, and tell them they’re going to die, know they’re going to die. He has to endure that pain without being able to scream it! I can’t imagine having that burden. I’m so sorry, Adam,” she said, reaching for his hand. It surprised both Kane and Adam that she allowed the physical connection to happen.

“Thank you, Aislinn. That’s exactly how I feel. I often have to step back from a patient and think about what’s best or not. I did it with this idiot,” he said, jerking a thumb toward Kane. “He was such a fucking mess when he got to the base hospital. I wasn’t sure what to attack first. I had to step away and then quickly step back.”

“Yea, but you saved my ass,” said Kane, grinning at him.

“I did, but not for your lack of trying.”

Kane laughed, and Aislinn could feel the camaraderie between the two men. It was good to see Kane laugh like this. She could imagine him with his hair shorter in that tight military cut. His uniform hugging his broad shoulders, joking with his men. She could see it so clearly.

“Okay, so you’ll take a look at her records and let us know what to do next?”

“Sure thing. Hey, also, I thought you should know I saw Flip the other day.”

“No shit! What the hell is he doing now?” asked Kane.

“I don’t know. I saw him on the street. He looked like death warmed over. His clothes were dirty, his hair greasy, looked like he’d lost a lot of weight. I couldn’t get him to respond to me. I called out to him like three times.”

“Maybe it wasn’t him,” said Kane.

“Dude, I know fucking Flip when I see him. It was him.” Kane nodded, making a mental note to keep an eye out for their friend. “Don’t forget to let me know when that loft becomes available.”

“It should be open in another month. You’re still interested?”

“Didn’t I just say that, asshole?” He looked at Aislinn and shook his head. “The guy is annoying as fuck, Aislinn. Good luck with that.” She giggled and reached for his hand again.

“Goodbye, Adam. It was great meeting you.”

He looked down at her hand touching his, and he smiled. Her heart was beating steady and sure, her organs functioning perfectly. He found no signs of any life-threatening injuries, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“I’ll see you soon, Aislinn. See you later, asshat!”

“See ya,” laughed Kane. Adam disappeared in the elevator, and Kane shook his head, turning to see Aislinn staring at him.

“You like your friend,” she said.

“I do. He’s more than a friend. He’s a brother. He saved my life in Afghanistan more than once. He’s pretty remarkable.”

“Who is this person Flip?”

“Ahhh, well, Flip is actually Phillip Cho . He was in our unit as well. I’m a little shocked that Adam saw him in such bad shape. He was always together, you know? He was the guy that his uniform was just right, never a hair out of place. His dad was Chinese, but his mother was from the Pacific Islands or something. When we first heard he was joining the unit, we expected this tiny little Chinese guy. Instead, we got someone that looked like a Samoan warrior. The dude is huge!”

“He sounds interesting. I wonder why he was so out of it when Adam saw him.”

Kane smiled at the genuine concern in Aislinn’s voice for a man she didn’t even know. Yet she cared simply because he was friends with Kane.

“I don’t know. He was always a little different as well. Maybe that’s why we all tended to be drawn to one another.”

“Different how?”

“I can’t really explain it. Shit just happened when he was around.”

Aislinn nodded her head and wondered how four people, one of which the others didn’t know existed a few days ago, could all be drawn together with such odd abilities.

“I’m exhausted,” he said, standing and reaching for Aislinn. “Ready for bed?”

“I am. Only tonight, no clothes, Kane. I want to feel you against me, all of you.” Kane growled, pulling Aislinn closer.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” He bent and easily lifted her over his shoulder, her squeal of delight making him smile. Tonight would be a better night. A much better night.