by C. Louis S.
When Leon woke up, his face was in a small pool of blood. Everything was quiet. He heard voices, but faintly. The lights were too bright. He had to close his eyes. He felt cold. And the more he came to, the more he felt his body. It hurt all over.
His head was pounding. Breathing was painful. His sore muscles spasmed and he cried out in pain.
He’d never felt this bad before. He was in so much pain that he wanted to cry, but that hurt too much.
He felt himself being picked up. Tommy was going to through him again. He tried to flail, but stopped immediately because of the stabbing pains it sent all over his body. This time he was being cradled. After a few moments he could tell he wasn’t in danger. It was Father.
He was put into a car in the back seat. It was more comfortable than the ground, but it smelled like puke. It was dark and Leon could finally open his eyes. Someone sat on either side of him. One was his sister. He could tell because he could finally recognize her voice. She kept saying something over and over.
Leon was also repeating something in a hoarse whisper. He pleaded, “Take me to a healer. Take me to a healer.”
When he woke up again, he was in a very bright room. It took several minutes to get used to the light. Each time he ventured out to open his eyes, he saw some people standing around him, but he had to close his eyes again. He knew who they were, and he didn’t particularly want to look at them. More accurately, he didn’t want them looking at him. He wanted to just pull the curtain around his bed and hide from the shame. He wanted to cry. The curtain couldn’t block his shame. Nothing could.
His body still ached, but the pain was less than when he was back at the field.
“Oh, he’s awake. He’s awake, guys.”
“Leon, I’m so so so sorry. I should have gotten Mom and Dad sooner. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t crowd him too much, Kali.”
“Hey bro, how you feeling?”
“You all right?”
He had lots of questions and lots he wanted to say, but the only thing that came out was, “I dumbledore.”
His family laughed. It wasn’t that funny, but still they laughed.
Mother took first watch that night. She sat on the chair next to him and stretched her arm to hold his hand. Kali was slumped in the only other chair in the small room.
“Why didn’t you take me to a healer?”
“Oh honey, we are at the hospital. They did as much as they could for you. I’m so sorry. Do you need anything? Here’s your water.”
Leon nodded. He couldn’t remember what she said. He’d have to ask again sometime.
“How did you find me?”
“Kalina flew home and got us. We got there as quickly as we could, honey. Oh honey, what were you thinking? You can’t solve your problems by fighting.”
“I hate Randall.”
Mother just shook her head.
“How bad is it, Mom?”
“How bad is what?”
“Me. What did the healers say?”
“Oh, you’ll be fine. You’re going to be just fine.”
The next morning, Father came to take Mother home. He promised to be back soon. Kali stayed behind. Leon wanted to ask her about the fight, but she was staring at her phone, and he was tired. He slept again.
When he woke up again, Father was sitting in the chair where Mother had sat. They had brought him food and he began to eat it timidly. He wanted to scarf it down, but his chest was still very sore.
Bandages and gauze wrapped around his torso and his head. Tubes were connected to his arms and hands which were wrapped in their own set of gauze. Monitors beeped around him. The air was sterile and the lights had been dimmed.
“Does that taste good?” Father asked. “Do you have your appetite back?”
“Why didn’t you take me to a healer?”
His father smiled thoughtfully. “Where do you think you are, son? We’re at the hospital. They can’t magically make you all better. Besides, you’ll want to be able to show off your battle scars.”
“How bad is it, Dad?”
“You’re going to be fine. They fixed your broken ribs, but you’ll be sore for a while. You had a concussion and that’s going to make your head fuzzy for a while too.” He sighed heavily. “What were you thinking taking on those guys?”
“How could I know they were going to gang up on me? I didn’t think they even liked Randall, never mind fight for him.”
“Kali showed me the video, Leon,” said Father. “Aidan says you’re using dark energy and that’s how you can use more than one power. I don’t like it. And I don’t like what you’ve decided to do with these powers.”
“I can be more powerful than him. I just need to get him alone. Then I’ll show him. I am better.”
“Stop it, son,” Father burst out. It startled both Leon and Kali. “You almost got yourself killed once and you’re already planning to do it again? That’s stupid.”
Leon’s heart started beating fast. He felt dark energy flowing into him. It made him want to get up and show that he was strong. But he couldn’t stand up. It caused too much pain. “I’m better. I know I am. I can beat him, Dad.”
“It doesn’t matter, Leon. Do not go fight him again. You hear me?”
“No, Dad. I’m going to show him.”
Father was silent. He wasn’t hiding his scowl very well. I can’t believe I just said that to Dad. Kali looked up awkwardly from her phone. Leon looked over at her but she quickly broke eye contact.
“Then you’re not allowed to go to the stadium again. And this dark energy stuff has to stop.”
“You can’t do that, Dad.”
“Oh yes I can,” he boomed. “You’re forbidden from going near a shadowball field for life.”
Leon wanted to lash out. He wanted to punch Father. He wanted to scream at him. All of those things would have hurt too much. Instead, Leon pushed his lunch away in defiance, scowling.
Father snorted angrily and crashed his way out of the room.
chapter 12
Disciple of Light