by E J Pay
“I know how you feel,” Lachlan replies, “it is evident in your reaching out to Gus and your deference to me when I awoke you in the night. You did not swat me away as most two-worlders would have done. Even Gwen thinks little of us. She speaks to us as though she is the brains and we will follow her because we are too stupid to choose otherwise. But she is wrong.”
“Why are you telling me all of this, Lachlan?”
“Because of all the sides and plots and plans of all the leaders in all the ocean, I truly believe that your heart is the most pure. I believe you want to do what is right and I want to follow you.”
I am humbled by his words, but I also feel inadequate and undeserving of them. “Lachlan, I appreciate your confidence in me, but I still don’t have a firm plan of my own. Or any plan for that matter,” I say. “I believe that both Ceto and Gwen need to be stopped and that Atlantis, even the entire ocean, needs to be changed, but I still don’t know how to do it.”
“You may not understand right now,” Lachlan says, “but I have faith that you will come up with a plan. You have influence in many camps and a heritage that lends itself to the extraordinary. I believe you will find a plan and act on it and when you do, I will be there to help you in any way I can. And I have nearly a legion of sea creatures and two-worlders alike who feel exactly the same way. We are simply waiting for you to act.”
I can hardly grasp what I am hearing. If Lachlan is correct, there are thousands of sea creatures and two-worlders prepared to make a difference. But why are they waiting for me? Why don’t they just do it on their own?
“What is it that you are waiting for me to do? Certainly there is someone in the group willing to take a stand.”
“Many are willing to take a stand, but none of us has the power you do. You hold five of the seven talents that can be held by two-worlders. You are the key to success to any side. Once you are ready, we will stand behind you.”
Lachlan swims out of the little cave. I hurry after him into the lightening waters as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean. I have 24 hours until Gwen expects me to follow her. I have 24 hours to make a difference. What in the sea am I going to do?
Chapter 32
“Mom! Mom! Mom!” I am pounding on Lady Pescara’s door, determined to wake everyone in the house if I have to. “Mom! I need to talk to you!”
A burly merman opens the door. I would have pushed to get by him, but his gigantic, muscular frame fills the entire doorway. He is groggy and tired-eyed as he looks over the person trying to enter his home at such an early hour.
“Who are you? What do you want?” he asks in a low tone that demands an answer.
“I…I…uh…” he is HUGE.
I can hear Lady Pescara’s voice from somewhere behind him.
“Who is it Henry?” she asks in an equally tired tone.
“Lady Pescara! Lady Pescara!” I shout, hoping it will reach her ears. Within two seconds she is peeking out from under his arm which he has leaned on the doorframe.
“Evelyn. What in the seadom are you doing here?” Lady Pescara’s hair is a disheveled mess, with crazy strands poking out all over the place. She is wearing a nightshirt. I know I have awakened them both.
“I’m so sorry Lady Pescara. It’s important that I find my mother immediately.”
“Your mother isn’t here, Evelyn. I’m sorry. I thought you knew. She went to the hospital hours ago.”
“What?!” I feel panic rising inside of me. “What happened to her? Why was she sent to the hospital?!”
“Evelyn, please try to calm yourself,” Lady Pescara yawns as she speaks. “Nothing happened to your mother. She said she had to check on a patient. An old friend from her days in the sea. I’m sure she just got caught up in conversation.”
Relief swells my heart. At least she is safe. “Thank you, Lady Pescara. Thank you so much.” I take off as Lady Pescara nudges her husband. He had started to fall asleep on the doorpost. Together they go back inside the house as I head to the hospital.
As soon as I enter the doors of the hospital I run straight into the head nurse. She is rather a large merwoman with a full tail and a heavy figure. Her short grey hair is curly all over and her face reminds me of what I used to think Mrs. Claus looked like. She is flustered at first, but calms herself and asks me what the matter is.
“I’m so sorry,” I say many times, “I was just in a hurry. I am trying to find my mom. I believe she came to visit a friend.”
“And who is the friend?” she asks in a matronly voice.
“I’m not really sure, but my mom is Marisol Marin. Maybe she signed into a register?”
The nurse’s eyes soften. “There’s no need to check the register, love. I know where your mother is and I will take you to her.” She turns and heads toward two double doors on the left. I follow and thank her.
I imagined that the entire hospital would be dank and grey and covered in moss. I am surprised that it is actually modern. The walls are grey as we are still in an ancient building, but everything is quiet. I don’t see any debris on the floors or even floating through the corridors. I notice heavy, swirling fans in the ceiling above. They must be filtering the water to keep it clean.
I continue to follow the nurse down one corridor, then another. I see more and more modern medical equipment the further we go. Gleaming operating tools sit on tables in glassed-in rooms. Fluorescent lights hang in waterproof lanterns along the hallway.
Just as I am ready to ask the nurse what part of the hospital we are heading to, she stops in front of a door labeled, ‘Psych Ward.’ Who on earth is my mother visiting? The nurse turns to me as she opens the door.
“You must be calm as you are in this part of the hospital. The people here are quite out of their minds, you see, and any little excitement could really get them going.” I nod and follow her into the room.
Several beds line both walls. Some of the beds are empty, others are not. The beds that hold patients have tightly tucked sheets to keep the patients in their proper place. There are probably straps hidden beneath the sheets to keep their prisoners still. I try not to think about it, but I cannot keep the image from my mind. In one bed, a woman I see has no need for straps. All she can do is stare at the ceiling, silent and stony-eyed. Two beds away a woman is holding still but singing a lullaby about a dead baby delivered by a stork. I feel so sorry for her. On the opposite side of the room a man is flailing wildly, two nurses at his side. He is shouting terrible things at them, but they don’t say a word. There is a needle in the hand of one of the nurses aiming for his dark, outstretched arm and by the time we make it across the room, the man is calming down.
We reach a set of double doors on the other side of the room and enter a hallway lined with doors. These are the private rooms. I can only imagine who is being kept in these rooms. The nurse leads me to a door to the right. She turns to face me and holds her arm out to the door. “Here you are, sweetheart. Your mother is here.”
I go to the door and peek in, afraid of who the occupant might be and what their ailment is. I see my mother first, still wearing the white outfit she had on earlier, her hair thrown up into a messy bun on the top of her head. She is sitting at the foot of a bed, holding a grey hand in hers, stroking it softly. The nurse leaves and I move past the curtain, quietly as I can so I don’t bother my mom’s friend. I reach a hand to touch my mother on the shoulder. She looks up at me in surprise, her eyes red and swollen from crying. I look to the hand she is holding and look at the face. The patient is Kai.
Chapter 33
It feels like I have been standing here frozen for hours, but it can’t have been more than a moment or two. I become aware, somewhere in my consciousness, of my mom. She is saying my name, ever so softly. The hand which was holding onto Kai is now brushing my hair away from my face, her other hand touching my shoulder. I feel her whispering into my ear, telling me so many things I can hardly understand. I hear the words miracle¸ wonderful, and blessed. Tears are stre
aming from her eyes, her voice strained from crying countless tears over the hours. How long has she been here? How did she know to come? Her being here, eyes filled with emotion, voice strained from weeping – they say it all. They tell me the truth I have been trying so hard to fight against. Kai is my father.
The room is dizzying and blackness threatens to overtake me, but I remain upright. I don’t give in to the natural urge to black out from shock. I don’t speak, afraid the sound of my voice will break the spell I am under and force me to accept what I see. I don’t turn to embrace my mother. I don’t move at all. I remain silent. I don’t want to give in. I won’t.
Slowly, when my shocked mind is ready, I start to allow her words to enter into my ears.
“Evelyn, darling. Oh my sweet girl. We have been blessed with such a miracle. My darling girl, this is your father. Oh my darling, my darling,” all spoken in the softest and tenderest of whispers. “My darling you must sit down. Please, my love. Come with me.”
I cannot see another place to sit other than the end of the bed and I know I can’t be there. I let my mother guide me to a chair in the corner of the room. She sets me down gently, speaking those same words over and over, unsure of whether or not they are registering in my brain.
I sit in that position for at least another hour. My mother eventually kisses my cheek softly and goes back to sit on the edge of the bed. I watch as she picks up his hand, Kai’s hand, my father’s hand, and continues to stroke it softly. She is speaking to him, telling him that I am there, telling him all of the wonderful things I have done and am doing and all of the wonderful things that make her so proud. She might as well be telling a stranger. This man cannot be my father. The man she told me for so long that loved me and gave up everything to provide a better life for us. That man would not have abandoned me for anything. Not for anything in the world.
Eventually the nurse comes back into the room. She glances my way and gives me a very small and sympathetic smile. Then she turns to my mother. I hear my mother whispering to the nurse about me. Words like shock, she’ll be okay, and worried. Then she starts talking about my father. Words like unresponsive, silent, and still. How can she help both me and my father? Would she have enough strength if I broke down? I can’t do that to her. I know I can’t.
“Mom?”
“Oh my Evelyn,” my mother gets up from her seat by my father’s side and comes over to me. This time I stand as she comes to me and I bury my face into her shoulder and I cry. I cry and cry and cry. The nurse tends to my father, adjusting tubes and making marks on charts, while I hug my mom. My mom speaks so much love to me, assuring me that everything will be okay. She says she is sorry to have given me such a shock. She heard some of the recently returned soldiers talking about Kai Marin being found. She could not rest until she knew for sure. She knew the head nurse at the hospital and was able to gain access to my father’s room. One look at him was all she needed to know it was her husband who had been missing for 15 years. She had been sitting by his bed for many, many hours waiting for him to wake up. He hadn’t stirred. He hadn’t stirred in days.
“Evelyn, do you think you would be able to speak to him?” she asks. “I was told he was with you almost non-stop on your journey back to Atlantis. Maybe the sound of your voice will awaken something in him.” I cannot let my mother down. Still holding her hand, I make my way to Kai’s bedside, my father’s bedside.
“Kai,” I whisper as I bend near to his ear. His eyes twitch just a bit. “Dad. Dad it’s me. It’s Evelyn.” Suddenly his eyes fly wide open and he starts screaming.
“Evelyn! Evelyn! Evelyn it’s a trap! Evelyn you know what you must do! Do what you must do! I have prepared you. EVELYN!!!!!!” he is in absolute hysterics. He grabs my shoulder to pull himself up to me. The nurse flies to his side and shoves a needle into his arm. “Evelyn! Evelyn! You must…” he lies back down on his bed, his hand slipping down my arm and he again falls fast asleep.
The nurse is calm as a summer’s day, a reaction I think is extraordinary. My comatose father finally awakens and shouts a warning to me. My heart is racing a mile a minute. My mom keeps asking the nurse what this could mean and what is going to happen. The nurse tells her that my father needs his rest, he cannot be allowed to get worked up like that or he will do harm to himself or others. To me.
“We’ll try a different medication tomorrow,” she says. “One that will allow him to talk but not to be physically alert.”
Tomorrow. I can’t wait for that. Tomorrow I will be meeting with Gwen again and probably Lachlan. I need all the support I can get. I need my father. I scream at the nurse and tell her she CANNOT do that again. I need to speak to my father and he needs to speak to me! What other kinds of medicines does she have? What can she do to wake him up? I need him NOW! She tells me to calm down, but I don’t have time to calm down. I don’t have time for…
I feel a sharp jab of pain in my arm and look to see as the nurse withdraws another needle. She just gave me some drug to calm me down! I have enough life in me to see my mom’s hand flying to her mouth in shock. Then, black.
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More traveling through tunnels, more brightly lit rooms, more voices calling my name, my hand reaching out, no more breathing.
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When I wake up, I am strapped to one of those stupid beds. My mother is beside me. A doctor is just leaving the room. I nearly have a panic attack when I realize I can’t get out of the bed.
“Evelyn,” my mom says, “sweetheart, are you okay?” I pull at the restraints and give her a pleading look. “I know you want to get up, but Nurse Nelson insisted it was for the best. She said you needed to let the shock wear off or you might hurt yourself or someone else. The doctor was just here and he said after a good night’s rest you would be better prepared for an evaluation.”
“Mom, what kind of evaluation are you talking about?”
Her eyes shift to my sheets, “a psychiatric evaluation, Honey. You’ve been through a lot. You need to be mentally rested and prepared before they will let you go back to your battalion.” This is so unbelievable. I know I need to act and act fast.
“Mom, you have got to listen to me,” I say to her. “So much has been going on that nobody else knows about. I have got to have your help to get out of here. I’m running out of time.” I tell her about Gwen – all about Gwen – from her kissing James to her relationship to Ceto to her plans for the Atlantis power source to Lachlan pulling me aside with his new plans. But will she believe me? Her eyes look doubtful, like she thinks I really am mentally exhausted like the doctors are trying to tell her.
“She’s telling you the truth, Marisol,” my father’s warm and deep and lovely voice speaks up from the bed next to mine. My mom and I both turn to see him sitting himself up. She races over to help him. Once he is more comfortable and alert, he continues.
“Marisol, I have been reaching out to Evelyn for years, trying to send her the message that the Atlantis power source wanted me to send.”
“What on earth are you talking about?” my mom asks, “What power source? I thought that was just a myth.”
“It isn’t,” my dad says. “When I was lost at sea, it wasn’t because of a treasure hunt. I heard the power source speaking to me, calling to me to find it and free it.” My mom’s eyes are wide and worried. Her husband and daughter are both out of their minds. “My ship went down in the Bermuda triangle very near where the power source was hidden. It was such a rickety boat. I don’t know why I thought it could be of any use to me.” He coughs weakly before speaking again.
“I went down, I was so close to reaching the power source, but my foot was twisted in the ship’s rigging. I was a tangled mess and stuck that way for three days. Just when I thought I was going to die without seeing your face again,” he reaches up and touches my mother’s cheek, “Ceto appeared. I was never so shocked to see anyone in my life. No
r so grateful,” he pauses and looks at us both, “until now, that is.
“She and some of her followers helped me to get loose of the rigging. Stewart and John were both dead, crushed underneath the boat. Ceto’s guard carried me for what seemed an eternity, nourishing me with food the entire way. When we finally reached her fortress, I was feeling like a human being.
“Again and again I told Ceto how grateful I was, but that I needed to go home to my family. They would be worried sick.
“Her eel doctors would come in. They would give me a physical and a shot then tell her I needed one more week. For weeks this went on. I finally had enough. I was going to leave no matter what they said. I snuck out one night and got a day’s journey into the trip when my body seized up. My muscles were tensing and my stomach was in deep pain. I was suddenly shivering from head to toe and crying like a baby. I could hardly think straight.
“Ceto knew this would happen, her sharks were right behind me, ready to pick me up. Whatever her eels had been giving to me, it had a lasting effect and my body was going through withdrawals. Once I was back in her fortress, the eels gave me another shot. I struggled so hard against them, they must have poked me a dozen times trying to hit a vein. But I was destined to lose that battle.” My father’s eyes grow sad as he remembers the past.
“Ceto kept me drugged for several months. She had a sense of my abilities and my connection to the Atlantis power source and she wanted my strength for herself. I slowly began to lose my ability to think straight. I stayed until she convinced me that was how my life would be forever. I was convinced that your life would be better without me in it. Eventually I was moved to the treasury and was given more body and mind-altering drugs. I was so far from anyone else that I rarely had any interaction with other two-worlders. Only an occasional octopus or stingray would come to check on me.