by Laura Tree
Chapter 44
“Oh thank god. Nurse, she’s awake,” Zeke says. I hear the beeping of monitors and feel my chest moving. I must be alive; I can hear his voice. I can feel my body moving.
I hear a moan escape from my mouth. Let me guess, the boys have tried to heal me again, but couldn’t without me being awake. It will take longer for me to recover this time. I’m lucky to be alive.
This was more than just a vindictive prank. Anna tried to kill me with her bare hands! I can’t believe her. I need to let them know so they can get her.
My throat is so parched from the explosion that the thought of talking scares me. I try to open my eyes but there’s grit in them.
I hear a nurse approach. “She needs to rest, boys. You can stay, but I need to put her back out. She barely survived the surgery for the bullet wound, and her skin is still burnt. She is in terrible pain, so I can’t let her wake up yet. The doctor said that she would need to be out for a few more days,” she says, pushing a needle into the IV bag.
“When can we talk to her? We need to find out what happened.” Damien is speaking in short, rough phrases.
I try to move my hand, knowing that I can’t talk. I just want to touch him. He must have seen the movement because his hand touches the underside of my palm. It’s cool and smooth, a welcome relief to my burning flesh.
I use every last ounce of strength I have to show him a sliver of memory. I pull it from my memory bank and hear a gasp when he recognizes Anna’s face holding a gun to me. He can see the two women in the background. It lasts for a fraction of a second before I pass out again.
...
“When is she going to come out of it? She has been out for two days since she had the surgery.” I hear Damien’s voice, at first sounding like it’s in a tunnel.
“She needs this time to heal; she almost died, again.” The nurse was checking my vitals.
I flutter my eyes.
“Did you see that? I think she’s awake.” Damien approaches the bed. I let out a moan, since my throat still hurts. The nurse scuttles to get the Doctor.
I try to open my eyes, and it takes a ton of effort. It’s hazy at first, but I can see the clinic room. It’s not the same room that I had been in before; it’s much larger. It looks like I either have two roommates, or Zeke and Damien have been bunking down here.
There are two spare clinic beds and an entire private bathroom with a shower included. I wish I could take a shower right now, but my skin is still burning.
I try to smile when I see the flowers setting on the table by the bed.
The walls are a powdered blue at the bottom and white above the chair rail. The room looks like the hospital room I was in when I had my tonsils removed as a kid.
I let my eyes land on Damien. I can tell that he is angry and disappointed. It’s written all over his face.
I do a quick mental assessment to find that I’m overall recharged since the incident. I’m still in a lot of pain, but I would feel good enough to talk to them, if only my mouth would work.
“You’re awake. And from the sound of it, you want to talk.” Damien’s voice comforts me. Should I try to give him my thoughts and purposefully communicate with him, or save my energy and let him read me?
“It’s more taxing if you try; I have no problem reading you, since your wall is down.” Damien reaches over to get me a drink of water when I have a thought of a dry throat.
I’m not sure if I like this idea. I don’t want him to see all of my thoughts, or how much pain I’m in. I just want him to find Anna and make sure she leaves The Isle. I’m sick and tired of having to put up with her.
“We already know how much pain you’re in. And Zeke is with the Dean searching for Anna right now. We know that she hasn’t left yet; we will find her. Do you need anything?” Damien touches the underside of my palm, which is practically the only part of my body that’s not on fire.
With each passing moment, the pain grows stronger. It feels like I’m walking on the surface of the sun. I know that my face can’t be very attractive being beaten and burned, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“I can help with the pain, if you let me. We’ve been trying to heal you, but we ran into the same problem as before. To really get anywhere, we need you awake and strong enough,” Damien sits on my bedside.
Do it. I will give you all of my strength. It’s the first time I have the strength to project my thoughts, although it’s unnecessary at the moment.
“It won’t be enough, even with Zeke here it will take several tries to get you back to full health. It’s going to take a few more days for you to be healthy enough to talk, much less walk. The Dean set the campus on high alert. There’s no one coming or going right now, and there are several patrols each hour. We should be safe here once Anna is found. You know, if you hadn’t given me that flash of memory, I wouldn’t have been able to confirm it with the Dean. Thank you,” he whispers.
I’m not the one that needs thanks; you guys do. I just got myself into another impossible situation. I’m constantly dealing with one bad thing after another, and I just need to slow down. I hate that I’m going to have to wait to get some real rest. But I guess it doesn’t matter; it’s not like I can relax when Queen Nema is after me anyway.
I let out another moan from the pain.
“Ok, let’s get this done,” Damien says. I feel the pull on my power mixed with the relief on my skin. It’s pulling so hard and draining every bit of strength I have until I’m out again.
...
“She’s stirring. She must be coming around again.” It’s Zeke’s voice. I know without looking that he’s talking to Damien.
I open my eyes and see them sitting there, looking fresh. It makes me long for a shower again.
“Not yet, your skin is still lightly burnt. The rest of you has healed pretty well. We need to heal you again.” Damien gets my water glass again.
I am so thankful to have both of them looking after me and taking care of me. I hope they’ve caught Anna.
“Not yet; we’re close,” Zeke reads my thoughts. “We have her cornered in a remote part of The Isle that backs up to cliffs. There’s no escape. We just have to close in on her.” Zeke sounds excited, as if he is enjoying this.
Man, I really need to work on my mental wall now that I’m starting to feel better. I look at my skin that appears to have a deep sunburn. At least it isn’t black and melty anymore. My fingers are working, but everything feels stiff. I want to get up and walk around. My back and bottom are aching from lying still for so long.
“You can’t do anything yet. I know it’s bothering you, but you need to get better first. We’re going to help you heal and then head off to catch Anna. We’re not going to let her slip through our fingers this time. Here, put this on your head.” Zeke hands me a cool rag to put on my forehead. It feels glorious.
They both grab my hands to heal me. I just hope they know how thankful I am before they put me back into a coma.
I glance at them, but it’s already begun, the pull takes me under in a matter of seconds.
...
“She’s going to need to stay here a few more days after she wakes up. Doctor’s orders, so don’t bother arguing. She’s been lying in that bed for five days now. She’s going to be stiff and weak. She will need to build up her strength and take some physical therapy to regain muscle control. It’s typical for someone lying out that long to take a few weeks to fully recover, but with her healing ability, you should only expect two to three days.” After a few seconds I hear the click of the door. The silence tells me that they’re sitting there thinking.
They don’t know I’m awake again, so I sit still using this time to clear my mind and put up my mental wall. Ever since the attempted murder, my head has felt fuzzy. Today is the first time I feel normal. I do another mental assessment and find myself basically healed. I still have a few minor aches and pains, but I feel like I’m ready to walk
again.
The first thing I want to do is take a shower. I can’t wait to feel the hot water running down my back or the lather of shampoo. I have never wanted a shower more in my life.
My belly grumbles and pulls my attention for a minute. I guess I haven’t eaten in five days either. Thankfully, I’m hooked up to an IV so I’m not dehydrated. The thought of a shower and a meal lifts my spirits instantly.
The jig is up; they can tell I’m awake and I can feel them scrutinizing my face, so I open my eyes.
“Hi.” It’s only a small word, but it still feels foreign coming out and doesn’t sound like my voice at all.
A smile breaks out on both their faces, and there are a few moments of utter joy. Greetings and excitement are being exchanged from all parties. When things settle down, I decide it’s all right to ask for a shower. Before I can ask, they are updating me.
“Anna was caught yesterday. She’s being held in the dungeon until her father arrives to get her. The Dean reported her actions to the Council, and she was forced to declare Dark. It really doesn’t help our cause, but it’s unavoidable.” Zeke is rambling on.
“How are you feeling?” Damien hands me a glass of water.
“I feel fine. I just need a long, hot shower and a decent meal, preferably the size of a horse. I want to move around. I’m so stiff.” I don’t want to complain about developing bed sores.
“The nurse said you would have to stay here for a few more days. That pushes back our plans to leave. We already had to nix the initial plan because of the explosion. I will have to make the arrangements again. They said you would need physical therapy for at least two days before you could walk on your own.” Damien tries not to look disappointed, but I can tell he wants to get off The Isle; we’re just sitting ducks at this point.
“Listen, I really want to apologize for not being there. I had my wall up and didn’t hear your cry for help. I didn’t know that anything was wrong until Zeke came barreling in. I only wish we had gotten there sooner. Maybe we would have been able to save you from all of this pain. I promise you that as soon as your strength is back up, we will leave The Isle behind.” The sound of Damien’s apology throws me. It wasn’t his fault, but he’s blaming himself; I have to put a stop to this.
“I don’t blame anyone but that psycho princess. Besides I will be sad to leave this place. We’ve made some great memories here.” A smile lights my face for the first time in five days as I reminisce about The Isle.
“Now that I’m healed, maybe you guys can give me some privacy to shower, change, and eat. I know you don’t want to go far, but I really want to keep my modesty.” I can tell from the feel of my hand lying on my ribs that I have lost at least ten pounds from my already bony frame.
They nod and make an exit.