Nova’s steps quickened, watching the doors to try and find Mark’s room, to again establish himself. If he was Mark, he’d have to do what Mark would do, and apparently that was sit alone and meditate. His steps halted, Cesc bumped into his back, and he stared at the door to his left. All thoughts had gone quiet.
It was a pocket door, a wood panel, and like a hospital room it had a name plate beside the door. In sterile gray lettering, the plate said “Infirmary”. This was Irwin’s room, where all his visions took place. Hesitating, Nova reached out, and pushed the door aside, not even aware of Cesc anymore.
It was unchanged from the visions. Two beds, medical equipment at the ready, a kitchenette, the desk, the old TV, a half-wall blocking direct view to the sitting area. The only thing different was the vacancy, the silence, the lack of crying from the baby and Kimberly humming away into his ears. He could almost see her ghost walking around with him, rocking and singing.
Nova clutched the necklace over his heart, which hid his true identity. He felt like he had returned, like this was the first time Irwin was seeing his old home again. Nova’s fist tightened around the gold wings, “I’m not Irwin…” he whispered. This was just some programming in his Nova heart that was giving him visions and memories that weren’t his. “I’m not him.”
E Kathryn's Shadows 