Project Songbird

Chapter 31

"So how was your first morning of physical therapy?" Amy asks as she pours herself a cup of coffee. Her words begin to pull me out of my sleepy state and I yawn, "Definitely."
She turns around, "Definitely?"
I blink a few times and then rub my eyes, "Sorry, what was the question?"
"I asked how therapy went." She turns back to her mug before she grabs it and joins me at the table. She places down a second mug in front of me, scooting it slightly closer.
"Oh, uh, it was painful, just like Rose warned me about." I grab the mug and blow on the hot liquid for a few seconds before taking a sip.
"Didn't sleep well?" She takes a seat across from me, sipping out of her own mug.
"No, not really." I set my mug back down and hang my head a little. I was extremely tired and it was hard to think.
"Is your leg bothering you that much?" She asks.
"Hm?" I rest my elbow on the table and prop up my head, "No, it's something to do with what Felix called the Tears of the Demon or whatever."
"Oh," She hums, also setting her mug down on the table. "So it's your turn for the nightmares."
"My turn?" I blink a few times, trying to stay awake.
"Mhm." She leans back in her chair, grabbing her mug for another drink, "Everyone else has already dealt with the black tears and haunting memories."
"What? But when the others saw me, only Felix seemed to recognize it." I explained, now I was curious on what she has to say.
"That's because after fixing what causes the tears, it's like your memory of it is wiped clean." Amy yawns a bit. It's still super early in the morning, the sun has barely risen and the village was peacefully quiet.
"But Felix...?" I frown.
"He can't forget. He wasn't able to fix his haunting nightmares. At first he came to me for medicine to put him to sleep as it was very draining to relive the same nightmare every single time he closed his eyes to sleep, but even then, it just wasn't enough. Now anytime he sleeps, he's just trapped in the same nightmare. I think he got used to it, probably why he is able to sleep almost regularly now." She fills me in.
"Is that why he's grumpy all the time?" I pick up my mug and drink more coffee, hoping it will kick in soon and wake my ass up. Amy chuckles lightly, "That could be one factor in the equation, but I think that's just how Felix is now. I don't know what he was like before this hell. I think Hailey is trying to break him out of it, hence his strange shifts to strained kindness, but he's having a difficult time."
"I kind of feel bad for him. I mean, I know we all got dealt a rough hand, but it just seems like life keeps kicking him while he's down." I set my half empty mug on the table and lean back in my seat, staring up at the ceiling. Amy scoots her chair back and takes her mug to the kitchen sink. I hear the water run as she washes out the mug.
"Did you find someone to train under you?" I sit back up to look at her. Amy pauses in her cleaning, "I..." She doesn't seem to know how to answer my question. She goes back to cleaning the mug and then sets it on the counter to dry. She rests her hands on the counter, leaning her body forwards a bit.
"Amy, are you okay?" I scoot my chair back to stand up.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." She moves one hand up to her face and I can barely make out a sob. I make my way over to her, albeit slowly, and place my hand gently on her shoulder, "Are you sure?"
She turns to me, suddenly a sobbing mess, and hugs me, "I miss her so much!"
Right, May was killed, and come to think of it, I don't think Any was given the opportunity to grieve her wife.
I hug her back, doing my best to comfort her in her time of need, "Why don't we sit back down at the table?" I was asking more for myself because I couldn't stand for very long with my bum leg. It already ached enough after Rose worked it out. Amy steps back, wipes her eyes and nose as swiftly as she could, "I-I'm sorry, I don't mean-"
"Don't apologize, you're allowed to cry." I cut her off, "You just lost someone dear to you. I was actually a little worried that you had shut down completely."
"Comes with being a doctor, you learn to set your own feelings aside while dealing with such traumatic things." She shifts to lean her back against the counter, her arms crossing her chest to hug herself. I have no choice but to pull myself a chair up and take a seat, "How did you two meet? Was it there at the hospital?"
Amy wipes a few stray tears, "Oh, goodness no, we met long before that. Actually we used to be frenemies back in high school. She was the top dog in all of her classes, until I was transferred to her school. My grades were just slightly better than hers." She smiles a little as she walks down memory lane. "She very publicly announced her dislike of me and thus began our rivalry. It lasted all the way through highschool and it peaked in college as we happened to be accepted in the same one. But what threw us for a loop and set us on our path to becoming married was being housed in the same dorm room."
"I bet that was a rough college start." I speculate.
"Oh you won't believe the lengths we went to to get on each other's nerves. We might as well have been kindergartners!" She chuckles softly, "It all changed one day when a scandal broke out throughout the campus. Some guy that lived a couple of dorms over had been obsessed with May and was mad that she kept turning him down, not just because she was lesbian, but also because that dude was a real creep." She makes a face at the mention of this guy. "He was spreading lies through the school that she was super easy to bed and somehow got her number, passing it out to any one that would ask. It was starting to affect her grades as she couldn't sleep properly due to her phone constantly blowing up or people just randomly banging on the door, trying to get her to let them in. At that moment, it didn't feel like a rivalry anymore but my friend was being harassed." She pauses as she thinks over her story. I give her the time to gather her thoughts, invested to learn more about the two.
"So one day a bunch of guys were gathered outside the dorms, chanting over and over for May to come out and finally give everyone answers. Led by none other than that stupid creep. It was like 3 in the morning too. May had locked herself in the bathroom, she was beginning to have a mental break with all of this constant harassment. So I took matters into my own hands. I leaned out of our bedroom window that faced the courtyard and yelled as loudly as I could, 'Quit harassing my girlfriend or I'll call the cops!' It was a slip of the tongue. I haven't meant to say girlfriend but it was enough to shut the crowd down briefly. When they started chanting again, I went to our fridge and began to pelt everyone with rotten eggs. The rotten eggs were originally supposed to be a prank pulled on May, but I found a better use for them.
A couple of weeks later, I managed to gather enough evidence to get the creep arrested and thrown off campus. May, of course, teased me about my accidental slip, but she also thanked me. Announcing that I was her girlfriend to practically the entire school meant that most people left her alone. They respected that she was 'in a relationship'. And the rest is pretty much history."
"Wow, that's a crazy story." I sit back in my chair.
"Yeah, I kind of wonder sometimes how our relationship would have turned out if it wasn't for that moment." She stares off into the distance as she thinks about the past. A few more tears begin to slip down her face, "I think I'm afraid to train someone else. I know it's not like this trainee is going to replace her, but it feels like it for some reason. I'm afraid that it'll set off some kind of chain reaction and I'll just completely forget her."
"Then why don't you make yourself a reminder? Like a ring?" I suggested.
"A ring in my line of work would only cause issues." Amy shuts it down.
"Uh hm." I rest my chin on my hand as I try to come up with something.
"I'm sure you'll think of something." She starts to relax a little bit.
"Probably, I can't think properly right now." I yawn and then stretch my arms above my head.
"I wish you good luck on ending that problem. I'm sure Felix could give you more information if you need." Amy suggests before she makes her way over to the door to answer it.
"Good morning Amy, I'm not bothering you, am I?"
I recognize Travis' voice.
"No, not at all, what can I help you with?" Amy replies.
"I was just bringing by the medical sheets you had everyone fill out." Travis steps inside after Amy moves out of the doorway.
"You can sit the papers there on the coffee table, I'll read over them." Amy gestures to the small table. Travis makes his way past her and sets the papers on the table. He turns with a small smile and then his eyes meet mine, "Oh, hey Ethan."
"Hey." I can't help this irritating feeling that bubbles in my chest. He's never given me a reason to feel this way, man, I must be really tired. "I think I'm going to excuse myself," I stand from my seat, "Maybe find Felix."
"Oh, of course, remember to give yourself plenty of time to rest." Amy smiles softly at me. I smile and then give a curt nod to Travis before I make my way out of Amy's house.
I let out a tired sigh as I start my way down the footpath. I don't exactly have a destination in mind.