Jacob tossed the ball to Kevin, who threw it in from the three-point line. Those supporting Jacob and Kevin’s team cheered. A smattering of boos came from the students for the other team.
He smiled with relief. He always felt his best when playing. Matt rebounded the ball and tossed it to Jacob, who grinned, remembering how everyone had reacted when Matt announced he was going to play. They had no problem with it—they were excited to see how the captain of the football team would do on the court.
Jacob tried to find an open teammate. Things looked blurry—he’d had nightmares about Aloren and hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night. He blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus, and wiped his arm across them.
The air around him suddenly smelled like earth, and a breeze blew gently against his face. He jerked his hand away from his eyes. Instead of the orange gym, acres and acres of green grass stretched in all directions around him.
What was going on? Was he dreaming? He looked down—he still held the basketball. The sound of rushing feet returned, and Kevin called to him to toss the ball. Glancing about, relief poured over him when he saw he was back in the gym. He must’ve been imagining things. He took a deep breath, ran down the court, ignored Kevin, and put the ball through the hoop.
Jacob paused, hesitating to follow the other team to their side. He was tired of his body doing unpredictable things. Maybe he should sit out the rest of lunch period. He watched his teammates, trying to decide what to do.
All of a sudden, after a bright flash of light, the room around him was replaced with a similar field to the one he’d seen earlier. This one, however, had a train track cutting through the grass, stretching as far as he could see in either direction. The strong smell of sun-warmed earth assailed him, and a pleasant breeze cooled the sweat on his head.
He shut his eyes hard and opened them. The field was still there. Was he in Eklaron? He didn’t recognize this place. He stood near the tracks. The air felt fresh—like early morning—and the sun peeked over the edge of the world. He’d never been in such a flat place before.
Another flash and the gym returned. Coach Birmingham was jogging toward him, a concerned expression on his face.
A third flash. This time the sun was just setting. Jacob was again near the track. He heard a high-pitched whistle and whipped around in time to see a huge train come barreling down the track toward him. Jacob tripped over the railroad ties and flung himself over the track closest to him. He rolled away as quickly as he could, and just in time. The train zoomed past him, faster than anything he’d ever seen before.
Suddenly, the gym surrounded him again. Several people were screaming, and Coach yelled for someone to call 911. Jacob lay on the gym floor, and when he tried to get up, Matt pushed him back down.
“Don’t move.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You yelled and freaked out and flopped all over the floor.”
Jacob flushed. Tani and Gus bent over him with worried expressions on their faces. Most everyone else looked embarrassed, uncomfortable, or nervous. What happened? His body felt weird—like he’d just run five miles, but without the muscle soreness. He was out of breath and was tired. Really tired.
The school nurse arrived and started checking him. Soon after, the gym flooded with paramedics. Mr. Williams, the principal, ordered everyone to their classes.
Despite his protests that he was fine, the paramedics strapped Jacob to a gurney and wheeled him out of the room, Matt following close.
Jacob had never ridden in an ambulance before. He didn’t remember the whole ride, though, because the weariness kept hitting him really hard, and he dozed off several times. He couldn’t control it. When they pulled up at the Logan hospital, his parents were there to meet him. Mom freaked out, and Dad started asking questions.
The doctor submitted him to a series of tests—an MRI, a CT scan, blood tests, everything. Finally, after hours of being poked and prodded, the doctor said Jacob was over-exhausted, had hallucinated, and that he needed to spend the night in the hospital to be sure nothing more was wrong. Apparently, he was under too much stress, that someone his age and health shouldn’t be having episodes like this.
Jacob groaned and whined about it, but secretly was glad he would be watched by doctors and nurses. What if something was wrong? He knew he hadn’t been hallucinating. The wind and grass were as real as the bed he lay on now.
The night passed without incident, though. Hazel stayed with him to keep him company until he fell asleep—being careful not to let someone see her—and the doctor released him the next day.
Kilenya Series Books 1, 2, and 3 Page 80