“Oh no you don’t!” Jane said in a mock serious voice. She was trying to chase down a giggling Tommy and get him dressed for kindergarten.
“AH! Gotcha!” Mike yelled, turning a squirming Tommy upside down and carrying him over to Jane who took him in her arms. “How’s your head Jane?” he asked quietly so as not to upset Tommy “Oh, it’s fine” she replied despite the dull ache that still came from the lump on her temple “Good, well I will see you both later.” He said, giving them each a kiss before setting out for work.
“Honey, remember the cake tasting today at four, okay?” Jane reminded him.
“I’ll be there!” Mike said grinning.
Jane put Tommy down and said “You, mister need to get ready for school or we’re gonna be late.”
“I doan wanna go ta schoo Mommy!” Tommy whined.
Jane laughed at him, not believing that he was already sick of school. He would be like her by high school, never wanting to drag herself downstairs for classes... Huh? What was she thinking? She had lived in a one story house miles from the high school that she drove to everyday in her beat up civic. Where in the world had she gotten that idea from?
“Mommy, I think it’s time ta go.” Tommy was suddenly in front of her again, fully dressed, dragging his small backpack behind him. She blinked several times before smiling “I think you’re right sweetie!”
They arrived at school a mere ten minutes before the bell and Jane rushed to drop Tommy off at his classroom in the kindergarten hallway before making her way to her 4th grade classroom. Her students, as usual, were all talking animatedly when she walked into class but quickly turned to the front as she commanded their attention gently. She had frequently overheard student conversations about her being the favorite fourth grade teacher and so even on her worst days, she never raised her voice unnecessarily, but rather coaxed in a soft manner which had proved effective over her past 2 years of teaching.
“Alright everyone, let’s get out our projects and continue presenting. Billy, it’s your turn,”
Billy walked eagerly to the front of the class, poster board in hand. “Well, I decided that I would do my project the weasel family because my ferret Ned is a part of it,” Billy began, unfurling his poster board “the real name of the weasel family is the Mustelidae family but everyone calls it the weasel family. Other animals in this family are otters, badgers, and wolverines.”
{‘What kind of a name is Wolverine?’ she said with a soft southern accent}
She shook her head to rid it of the voice that was somehow so familiar. She would swear the southern accented voice was her own but she had never spoken with an accent, especially not a southern one. She was from Pennsylvania for god’s sake!
“The wolverine lives in many places but it is mostly in Siberia, Alaska, and Canada,”
Jane inhaled sharply as a vision suddenly popped into her head. She was sitting in a grimy bar watching men fight in a cage. One man started kicking the other man who suddenly rose up and leveled him quickly before raising his head. Jane felt her breath catch at the attraction she felt for this wild looking man. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight’s winner and still king of the cage The Wolverine,” The announcer said in an almost bored fashion over the many boos.
The scene in her head suddenly jumped and she was sitting in a truck beside the wild looking man from the cage fight hearing herself ask “What kind of a name is Wolverine?” “My name’s Logan,” he replied with in a soft yet gruff voice that brought goosebumps to her skin and sent tingles up her spine in the most pleasant way.
She gasped as the classroom came back into focus “Logan,” she breathed out. The name made her heart ache and yet she couldn’t remember ever meeting a Logan.
She decided that maybe she did need to go to the doctor since she appeared to be hallucinating so after Billy’s presentation was finished, she called the office and had a sub come take over her class so that she could leave. She arranged for a ride home for Tommy and called Mike to let him know that she was going to the doctor’s office. He wanted to join her but she assured him that she was fine by herself.
As a walk in appointment, she was forced to sit in the uncomfortable waiting room with nothing to do but watch the news or read four year old magazines. She chose the former, leaning back and trying to pay attention to keep her mind off of the scenes that she had witnessed earlier in her mind.
“...75 degrees and sunny. Back to you Nancy,” the weatherman finished and the screen cut back to ‘Nancy,’ who was wearing a light pink suit and somehow managed to look serious and friendly at the same time.
“Thanks Jim. The top story today revolves around the ongoing issue over the controversial Mutant Registration Act,”
{‘It’s nothing personal it’s just that when people touch my skin, something happens,’
‘What?’
‘Ah dunno, they just get hurt.’}
“Dr. Hank McCoy captivated the press today with a touching account of the mistreatment of children who were found to have the X gene, including a personal account about a young woman who was killed by mutant protesters. When asked to identify the woman, all he would say was ‘She was a friend,’.”
She turned away from the television as tears pricked her eyes, wondering why the furry mutant’s speech was having such an effect on her, and why it had triggered another delusion. Suddenly, she was afraid that maybe she was a mutant whose powers were triggered by her recent head injury, but she quickly pushed the thought out of her mind, chiding herself for being silly. She closed her eyes and waited for the nurse to call her name.
§–––––w34;–––––§
“So they said what exactly?” Mike asked with concern as they walked towards the bakery where they would be tasting cakes for their wedding.
“Doctor Kline said that I have a mild concussion which is probably what is causing these odd hallucinations that I’ve been having since yesterday,” she said “And don’t you dare say I told you so,” she said playfully as she saw him open his mouth.
He smiled at her before saying softly “Well I did tell you,” which earned him a playful slap on the arm from Jane.
“How dare you be mean to your poor concussed fiance.” Jane said, sticking her bottom lip out and achieving the puppy dog look.
“Aw, you know I’m just teasing baby.” Mike said as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. She really loved their playful banter, but it was so easy to get him with her puppy dog look that she just couldn’t help herself. It was comfortable, these moments of theirs.
{‘When they come out, does it hurt?’ The now familiar southern accented voice asked.
‘Everytime.’ The gruff voice responded quietly. She had a feeling that she had never shared that with anyone before.}
She pulled back from Mike and put her hand on her forehead, willing these visions to stop. The smile slid from Mike’s face as he observed her reaction. “Are you okay?” he asked, concern etching his face. “Fine,” she responded unconvincingly. “What is it exactly that you see and hear, Jane?” Mike asked, not unkindly, just curiously.
She sighed, “I don’t know really, mostly it’s just a conversation between a man and a woman,” she paused, suddenly not wanting to divulge her visions to Mike, although she didn’t know why, they just seemed personal somehow. He was looking expectantly at her and she smiled, “I don’t know, just silly little scenes in a truck and a cage fighting bar. I have such an imagination, maybe I should write a book,” she laughed.
Mike smiled back at her “Maybe,” he said “but right now we have some cake to taste.” He grabbed her hand and led them towards the door to the small bakery. She let him lead her along but her mind was trailing behind them, thinking of the wild, enchanting hazel eyes of the man in her head.
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