I continued to sit quietly, this time murmuring to myself. “Why did this happen, Cecilia? I still feel like you’re not telling me everything.”

“I told you, Ashlee. You and your mom got into this huge fight. You were drinking a lot and it led to this freak accident.” Lowering her voice considerably, Cecilia then said, “But don’t tell the hospital staff what really happened. Please.”

“But why? Why were we fighting? None of this makes any sense. I don’t understand why I can’t remember anything at all.”

“Look, Ashlee, just don’t worry about it. I was there for part of it, and I got there just in time to stop your mom from completely ending your life.”

“But where’s my mom?” I frowned, still unsatisfied with Cecilia’s story.

“Your mom doesn’t want to see you.” I could tell that maybe Cecilia was lying, but I didn’t want to assume it.

“Wow.” I kneaded my pale blonde hair through my fingers, as means of distraction. “What kind of mom is she, anyway?”

“You will get through this, Ashlee. You will, I promise.”

“Sorry,” I sighed. “But when will I get to see her again?”

“We have to wait. Right now isn’t the best time to see your mom, Ashlee. I’m very sorry.”

“Please take me.” I tried standing up, but found that I felt rather faint…

As the nurse approached, she looked at Cecilia. “I’m sorry, but Ashlee isn’t currently accepting visitors.”

“Sorry, but I have been here for a while. She’s my friend,” Cecilia insisted boldly, refusing to take no as an answer.

“She’s not accepting visitors,” the nurse replied flatly once more. “Visiting hours are over.”

Frowning thoughtfully, Cecilia turned on her heel and glared at the nurse. “I’m going to visit her….”

Waiting for a few moments, Cecilia’s back still turned, she closed her eyes as the nurse ran toward a crashing sound down the hall. “See? It’s not that difficult.”

“How did you…?” I sat, gaping, open-mouthed.

“Never mind all of that,” Cecilia sighed, racing back quickly toward the hospital room where I was occupied. Clearly, she had caused some type of freak accident with the nurse, or some type of distraction, with her “powers.” I was fading in and out. It was so bad…

I could barely even look up from my place on the bed, although I knew that it was expected of me to at least be able to say hello. But I could barely manage that without feeling this strange sort of grogginess.

“Are you okay?” I heard Cecilia ask with concern.

“I’m feeling a bit dizzy…” I mumbled to her, half yawning, but still feeling too weak to muster up any sort of response.

“I’m sorry I asked,” Cecilia breathed deeply, heading for the door. “I’ll be in the waiting room if you need me.”

“Excuse me,” I heard the nurse come back and snap. “Get out of here! Visiting hours are over. What is with you?"

“Oh, it’s fine. I’m just here in place of her family. I was just trying to offer a bit of loving support in her life for a change.”

And with that, she turned on her heel and left.

“Look, I’m really sorry about Cecilia. Maybe it was a mistake to bring her,” I mumbled apologetically to the nurse.

“It’s fine. I mean, we have all been there.”

I looked over at the nurse solemnly, hoping that she would understand what I was about to tell her.

“How do you know her exactly? What do you do for a living?” the nurse asked, not unkindly, as she offered me some tea.

“I mean, well, I’ve given Cecilia some psychic readings in the past. I work as a psychic for a living. And Cecilia is my best friend.” I tried my best to avoid her gaze, to prevent her from seeing too deeply into what I felt, or what I was about to reveal to her.

“And?” the nurse eyed me suspiciously. It was like she had never heard the word “psychic” in her life, and yet, she somehow wanted to help me.

“I’ve done and said some things to Cecilia that I deeply regret. Things that ended up being true, yes, but…. I sometimes wish that my predictions, my readings weren’t so accurate.”

“Well, I’m sure that it can’t be too true. Those things are just make-believe anyway,” the nurse gently consoled me. I could tell that her beliefs likely differed from mine, and yet, it just didn’t make any sense as to why she would shut me down like this.

I covered my face with my hands, preparing for a reaction from her. But instead of scolding me, the nurse leaned over toward me and put her hands on my arms.

“Whatever, it is, how could you have possibly known?” she asked.

As I looked into her eyes, I saw a sort of warmth, something I lacked in life, and for some reason…I decided to trust her. I glanced away as I began my story.

“I-It’s worse than you think,” I started. “I sort of predicted the death of someone she cared about and, once you know those sorts of things, you really can’t really unknow it. Cecilia doesn’t know. I couldn’t tell her.”

I looked up at the nurse again but instead of concern, I saw…anger. She frowned. “I think you are crazy, quite possibly, out of your mind,” she declared, taking her hand off me. “You predicted the death of a human being, and kept it to yourself. Now that person is dead, and you act as though it is no big deal, and that you do not care?”

“No, it’s not what it looks like! I swear that I only kept this from her to protect her…”

“Who are you trying to fool?” She looked at me from where she now stood several feet away. “The only person you’re trying to protect is yourself. That’s all you’re in it for. Yourself. Well, guess what? Next time, you can fend for yourself.”

Hanging my head solemnly, I no longer even attempted to defend myself.

It was no use, because now that my secret was out – just as my mother had predicted, none of my friends, or people in my life, would ever accept me.

So that’s why it truly surprised me when the nurse turned to me and said, “But I promised the staff that I would keep you safe here, so your secret is safe with me.”

“What?” I turned on my side toward her, for as much as it pained me to do so. “But I thought…”

“Well, Ashlee, you thought wrong. I am mandated to report little, only what I know to be true. And you have no evidence but are maybe just a bit crazy.”

And with that, she bowed her head toward me. “I’ll see you a little later on.”

But I had no idea if I would even see her again, and I wasn’t sure that it truly mattered.

My mind began to backtrack toward that fateful day with Cecilia. None of it seemed real, and yet, I knew it had to be.

At the time, she was offering psychic readings as well. But I found that more often than not, her readings could be chalked up to nothing more than educated guesses, given their tendency to be on the inaccurate side.

One day, however, out of sheer curiosity, Cecilia had decided to ask me for a reading. Typically, I didn’t agree to giving my friends readings, but for her, I made an exception.

“All right, what do you want a reading on?” I had asked her fervently, with nothing but, so I’d thought, the best intentions.

“My parents. They’ve been fighting for quite some time now, and I was wondering if you could foresee anything happening.”

Closing my eyes, I caught a faint flash out of the corner of my eye. It didn’t seem terribly threatening, at least, initially. But then I pulled Cecilia closer to me, caught hold of her hands, and opened my eyes again.

“What is it?” Cecilia asked in desperation. I could feel her hands shaking, her pulse rising, as though she could almost sense the negative vibrations emanating through her.

“I think you already know,” I whispered, bracing myself for the storm to come. “I’m so sorry…”

“No, I don’t know,” Cecilia raged, clearly confused. “Would you care to explain?”

“I’m sorry. I – I can’t tell you. I think it would only upset you.”

And with that, Cecilia had stormed out of the room, tears running down her cheeks.

Then, on that fateful day, Cecilia’s mother actually had died…

It seemed as though we both knew, and that Cecilia would never forgive me for what she saw. For although it wasn’t my fault, I was certain that she had blamed me for her death, given that I “foretold" the event, and she viewed me as someone who was capable of stopping it.

Since her mother’s death, Cecilia and I were still close, but it wasn’t quite in the same way. The hospital visit was the first time she had truly shown this side of her, the first time she had offered me support in a very, very long time.

I still yearned to speak with her, even now, but no matter what, I would always believe that it was partly myself to blame. The weight of that guilt was etched within my soul, like a paperweight that wouldn’t lift, or darkness that refused to vaporize.

***

It felt like days before I saw another human soul again. Just when I was beginning to give up hope, I prayed for my release, and found it so nearing.

“Hey,” Cecilia tenderly spoke, as though her every word depended on my reaction to her. “How are you feeling exactly, now?”

Shaking my head, I wanted to know more about Cecilia’s emotional state, but I was afraid to ask. I still felt too weak to speak from whatever had happened with my accident. Never too weak to feel, of course, but always too vulnerable to begin to express myself…

The truth was that I yearned to be the type of friend just like Cecilia, but I knew I would never be as good as she was to me.

“Cecilia, come here.”

“Ash, what is it? You’re acting so… strangely.”

Suddenly, before I knew what came over me, I grabbed her by the neck and pulled her close to me.

“I’m not who you think I am,” I whispered sullenly as I gasped for breath. “Get me out of here before I kill you!”

“Okay,” Cecilia replied as nonchalantly as ever, as though she knew not to take my taunts seriously.

It was like something was entirely overtaking my body. Sh*t. What was this about?

But to no one’s, not even my own, surprise, the hospital staff still wouldn’t release me. So I asked Cecilia to call on one of the staff members for me, and I used mind control on them to force them to let me go. After that, much to Cecilia’s dismay, they did.

“You can’t use things like this against people’s will, you know. I’m sure that God gifted everyone, including you, uniquely, but you can’t expect people to blindly obey you like that. I’ll be in the waiting room.”

And with that, she left the room and my head fell back on the pillow.