Ian rejoined them, “How is he?”
“I think he might--” the man started to examine Chris’s wounds.
“No!” Penny cried. Chris didn’t hear anymore. He relaxed, closing his eyes, and falling asleep completely.
Chapter 17
Disembodied
There was nothing but a quiet forest. Pure white snowflakes fell all around, the wind blew, animals scattered, desperately trying to find a spot to keep warm. The white sheets continued to pile up. There was a blizzard coming through. The only human for miles stood with their arms folded; trying to stay warm.
“Where am I?” Chris questioned. “Why am I here? This was just a dream...It’s not real…” Chris lifted his hands and studied them as closely as he could. “Am I dead…? I couldn’t have…”
Chris lifted his hand up in front of his face so he could see at least a little better. He began to make his way in the direction he was facing. There was nothing but trees and snow, it was dark and so he could barely see anything. He wasn’t sure where he was, but he felt eyes on him somehow. Was someone watching him?
He began to get goosebumps; not only because it was cold, but he felt someone watching him. What was happening? Was this all a dream? Would he just wake up and realize he is back on Earth? He wanted to stay.
Chris stopped and attempted to calm his mind. He wasn’t really sure what was going on, but none of this felt real. There must have been something he missed. He couldn’t have been dead. Chris turned around to try the other direction and felt a chill go straight down his spine. There was a girl with red curly hair stood before him. She looked to be about his age, maybe a little older. She had no expression on her face. He eventually recognized it to be Autumn. She stared at him and he stared back. She had scared him half to death for some reason.
“Chris,” she started. “You died.”
“I couldn’t have,” he uttered in disbelief. He turned away for a moment and glanced around. He wondered if he could find a way to save himself. He figured if he followed his previous dream, he could get out.
“Wake up.”
Chris turned back to speak to Autumn, but she was gone. In fact, he began to hear an owl for a moment. He glanced around left and right and couldn’t find the source, until he looked up. The moment he found the snowy white owl it began to speak again, “Mr. Spellcrafter!” Chris approached it. It continued to call out to him, “Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you!” Chris called out. There was no reply. How can I hear him, but he can’t hear me?
The snowy forest faded. Chris was now standing back on the street. He could see a crowd of people standing around the scene. There were guards telling them to keep back. The building that had fallen on him appeared to have been a convenience store. He couldn’t quite tell, but it didn’t seem like anyone had been in there-- at least he hoped that was true.
Megan, Ian, and Penny were all gathered around his body. There was a teacher with curly brown hair, a brown curly beard, brown pants, and a navy blue and red collared shirt attempting to revive him. He was rubbing his hands together and then touching it onto Chris’s chest. His body would jump every time a jolt hit him.
Megan was rubbing Penny’s back to try to calm her, Penny was crying, and Ian was pacing back and forth. All three of them were waiting anxiously to see if Chris would indeed be revived. There was no way to reach out to them, and all Chris could do was watch. It was strange for him to watch this all play out.
“Ian...you’re not helping,” Megan snapped. “Please stop.”
“I’m nervous. Of course, I’m pacing,” he replied. “I can’t do anything…”
“Then we wait.”
“Meg…”
“Ian just sit--” Megan cursed at him.
“It’s fine...both of you please…” Penny pleaded softly as she shook her head. She was crying. She had almost no expression on her face, but he could tell she was freaking out. She was watching, her eyes following the teacher’s hands every time they touched Chris’ chest, then to his face to see if his condition changed, and then back to his hands. He wanted to hug her, but he knew he couldn’t. He could hear her mumbling, “Please...not you too. You have to be okay--”
“Still nothing,” the teacher said. “I’m going to try again. One of you go get the life teacher. Someone else go get the headmaster. The paramedics should be here soon.” The teacher gave Chris another good shock, this time as he pulled his hands away Chris felt a pull. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was like he was going back. “I got him back!” The teacher informed everyone.
Chapter 18
Lucky Penny
When Chris awoke, he felt absolutely horrible. It was as if he had been knocked around all over the place by an angry animal. He felt as if he was laying in the most comfortable bed imaginable. Warm sheets were covering him. The lights of the white room stung his eyes as he reopened them for the first time. It was so bright that he was starting to tear up and slightly close his eyes to see. He raised left his hand to shield them from their rays; upon doing so, he felt something in his arm. It felt like it was sticking him a little. Then, Chris brought his hand closer to his face, he felt it rub against something. He was wearing a mask that was pumping air into his nose. The tube was connecting to somewhere.
On his chest there were some sort of stickers with wires connected to them all over his bare chest. They felt strange and he didn’t dare remove them. It felt as if every time his heartbeat he would hear mechanical feedback beside him. He concluded that he was in the hospital. There was a window to his left that was closed by blue curtains with golden yellow stars. Beside the window was a green vase with yellow roses and the name Megan, a black and red box of what appeared to be chocolate that said, get well. I’m going to punch him for you, Ian. To the right of those was a snow globe that had the name, Norora. There was a card that he couldn't read very well from this distance, but he could make out a few words, it is not easy to evade death’s pull, you are fortunate. I wish you quick recovery. A wonderful partner for a student of Death, such as Penny.
He began to pan around the room slowly observing his surroundings. There was a sink on the farthest wall near the white door. There was a red chair sitting to the left of the door. To the far most right near the T.V was a brown door leading off somewhere (most likely the bathroom.) Next to him was a screen monitoring his blood pressure, heart rate, and a few other values that he wasn’t sure of, an IV stand with the bag, and a keyboard embedded into the wall.
There was movement to his right. Chris shifted his gaze down to see what it was. Penny was sitting in a cushioned tan chair. She was laying her head on the bed. She was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with yellow and blue star outlines, and dark blue skinny jeans. He saw her shoes sitting beside her, so she must have gotten comfortable. The shoes were popcorn knitted white and blue boots with fur and buttons. I’ve never seen her wear anything like this before, he thought.
Chris wondered how long she had been here for. Considering that she had been wearing different clothes than when he last saw her; it must have been at least a day. His right hand was interlocked with hers. She wasn’t wearing her gloves anymore. Her hands were really soft and send tingles up his arm. They weren’t exactly small, but they weren’t quite as big as his hands. Was she comforting him?
Penny let out a gentle sigh and squeezed his hand. She showed no sign of waking up. He wondered when everyone else had come to visit, but the only one to stay was Penny. Was it because he was her partner or was it because she felt like staying with him? Maybe she just fell asleep by accident and the doctors allowed her to stay, Chris assumed. He would ask her later if she wanted to tell him.
Chris took a moment to reflect on what had happened. He had come so close to dying, and it had felt as if he was outside of himself. He had watched them trying to revive him. It wasn’t pretty, and he really should be dead. Any normal person would have been dead, but his magic kept him sustained long enough to
get help. He died, but they revived him rapidly.
The white door slid open with a light humming sound. A doctor wearing a red shirt, white coat, and grey pants entered. He had square glasses, brown eyes, and curly hair. He appeared to be about thirty. He crossed over to Chris’s bed and removed a clipboard that had been hanging on the left side. His name tag read Anthony Italiano.
“So, how are you feeling?” Anthony asked. “You’re finally awake. This is this first time I’ve seen you conscious,” he began to write on the clipboard he picked up before replacing it.
“Weird. Nothing hurts...Can I take this mask off?” Chris asked.
“Yes. Your lungs have healed from the damage. Nothing to worry about,” Anthony replied as he adjusted his glasses.
Chris pulled the strap from behind his ears and removed the mask by pulling it over his head. The doctor held out his hand. Chris gave it to him.
“You know they didn’t think that you’d wake up so soon,” he commented.
“What do you mean?” Chris asked.
“It’s been a little over a week,” he stated. “Today is Friday.”
“Holy--” Chris was taken aback by this. “Penny’s senate meeting…”
“Calm down and breathe. It was moved due to the attack and the headmaster wouldn’t allow Penny to go without you,” he told him. “It’s tomorrow whether you’re better or not. They held a vote just to decide if they would give her more time and it failed.”
“Am I good to go?” Chris asked hastily.
“For the most part, but you’ll have to take it easy tomorrow. You’ll be fine by Sunday.”
“Thanks...But I lost a lot of blood, right?”
The doctor smiled and nodded. He crossed over to the sink and began to wash his hands. He then placed on a pair of replaceable blue gloves. He then returned to Chris and finally spoke, “You have o-negative blood. We had trouble finding a donor, and we were about to start calling for people to get checked.” Chris nodded as the doctor gave his recount. Anthony continued on, “So Penny insisted that we check her blood. She flat out begged for us to prick her finger and check. We did and lo and behold she had an exact match. She’s a generous donor. It only took a moment…”
“Really?” Chris turned and looked at Penny in disbelief. She was still sound asleep, holding his hand.
“Yeah, the other doctors were surprised that she gave blood. She gave more than what was recommended, and she was dizzy afterwards. We gave her fruit and water to help her make up for that. We gave you a few things too. She didn’t even flinch at the needle like most people or cringe,” he recounted. “So, we transferred her blood as fast as we could into you. You pretty much recovered on your own after that. We tried to tell her she could go home, but we couldn’t get her to. She stayed in this room with you and only left to get something to eat or help one of her friends, and when she did, she made me keep an ear out for you.”
“Really?” Chris began to blush.
“Oh yeah, man. She really cares about you. She seriously left here to get a change of clothes one time...She spent the nights just as she is right now, and when your friends came she was usually still by your side. Actually...she held your hand when giving blood too. I don’t understand partners, seeing as I don’t have magic, but I admire her bravery.”
“Yeah,” Chris smiled and began to pet her head with his free hand. “She’s strange, but I like it.”
“I didn’t know she was a Sorcerer until someone told me! I don’t get the big deal. She saved you,” Anthony told him. “Leave whenever you’d like but let me know first. I’ll be back soon. And you go nowhere without Penny,” he began toward the door.
“Because it’s dangerous?” Chris asked.
“Because she won’t let you,” he answered back.
“Doctor?”
“Yes?”
“Is it...at all possible to send letters to other planets?” Chris inquired.
“Everyone does,” he replied as he turned back, raising his eyebrow.
“I want to send a letter to Earth,” Chris told him. His mind was lingering on Jackie and Ty. In truth, he missed them, and he was wondering how they were doing. Not only that, but Jackie would flip out if she found out that he died for any amount of time. He figured they’d want to know.
The doctor made a sound with his throat, “That would be difficult. Earth doesn’t like Terminus,” he answered.
“Is it possible?” he persisted. “Please?”
“I don’t know,” he told Chris honestly, Chris’s smile dropped a little at this response. “But I can try. Write one out and I’ll try to get it to the right person,” he agreed. “Just be prepared if it doesn’t make it or if you don’t get a reply.”
Chris scribbled as fast as he could on a piece of paper the doctor had brought him. He wrote about two pages of his adventures and folded it neatly into a white envelope with golden edges. The doctor stamped it with a blue alliance bird to seal it. Chris made sure to properly add their names and that it was from him, and then handed it off to doctor Anthony who left with it.
Chris hoped that his friends would receive his message. They no doubt wanted to hear about what had been going on, and he knew Earth’s official wouldn’t tell them much. He tried to leave out the more gruesome details about his near-death experience, but it wasn’t easy. It still sounded pretty bad. Maybe I should have said I was unconscious instead, he thought.
Penny began to stir. She lifted her head and removed her hand from his. She opened her eyes and as soon as she did she immediately became happy. She threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly, he didn’t mind one bit. He hugged her back just as tight.
“You’re finally awake!” she said with a big smile on her face. Penny let go and stared at him for a moment before sitting back in her chair. “Thank goodness…”
“Did I scare you that much?” Chris asked.
“Of course!” Penny rebuked. “I was worried sick. Your friends were worried sick. The headmaster started a manhunt for Hunter and the general was really angry when he found out about him. I’ve never seen him so angry in front of a crowd.”
“Yeah I must have missed a lot,” he guessed as he shrugged his shoulders and laid his head against the soft pillow. “I can’t imagine how much.”
“Well...Morgan is trying to find Hunter and the whole city is locked down. No one can leave without reason and there are so many checks,” she smiled. “Hunter has nowhere to go!”
“Well then let’s get him as soon as possible. As soon as your hearing is over, we’ll take him down!” Chris said enthusiastically. He sat up.
“No,” Penny replied, shooting him down. “You’re not fighting him again. At least not without me. That was beyond dangerous running off like that…”
“I had to...everyone was busy,” he apologized. “Sorry…”
“Chris, I’m your partner,” she said softly as she took his right hand in both of hers. “I don’t care what I’m doing, you have my ear. You always do. Just please don’t run off without me like that. I was having an anxiety attack the whole time they were trying to revive you. I still couldn’t calm down when the doctors took you,” Penny mumbled, staring at his hand.
Chris lowered his head for a moment. He felt guilty for all the trouble he had caused her. It was true that now everyone knew Hunter was the traitor, but he almost didn’t make it. He almost ended up like Myra and Victoria. Penny was having a complete breakdown the whole time, and he could only assume she was for days after.
Doctor Anthony had come back after a while and removed everything else from Chris. Once he was fully unhooked from the equipment, he was free to go. Chris had to be placed in a wheelchair for the moment. He was able to walk a little bit, but the doctors wanted to stay on the safe side. They estimated that he would not need it tomorrow.
As Penny wheeled him out of the hospital, he was greeted with the blinding yellow horizon. They were in an unfamiliar part of town, but according to Penny they wer
en’t far from the magic schools. It appeared to be nearing sunset.
“Hey Penny? I’m hungry, can we stop to get something?” he requested.
“Actually, we are going to Megan’s place. She’s cooking right now,” she told him. “I called her while you were being put in the wheelchair and talking to the doctor...Ian will be there too.”
“That’s great, but the stairs on the way to our dorm and her house…” he began.
“Then we’ll go the long way,” she decided as she began to push him forward carefully. She didn’t go too fast either, she stayed at a good pace, and was extremely careful with him.
They talked along the way, and Penny caught him up to speed. She told him about how furious the headmaster was about Hunter’s betrayal and what he had done to Chris and Emily. He ordered all transportation on and off the planet to be suspended and for Hunter to show himself. The only ones allowed on and off the planet were checked and had to have clearance. The headmaster was apparently going to lock down Hunter’s plane too, but it had gone missing. He had also placed a ship in orbit monitoring the passing ships and planes. Chris could tell he wasn’t playing at all. After all, what chance did Hunter have now?
“I heard you gave blood for me,” Chris smiled and looked back at Penny. They were currently passing through the market.
“I did,” she admitted. “I didn’t think they’d tell you.”
“Penny, you saved my life…”
“And I would do it again in a heartbeat...Err no pun intended,” she laughed a little. “Seriously.”
“I’m so lucky that you’re my partner,” Chris gushed. “Oh, I have a nickname for you now!”
“What?” she asked, completely curious now.
“My lucky Penny!” he said excitedly.
Penny tilted her head in complete bewilderment, “Your what?”
“Lucky Penny!” he repeated the same way. “On Earth we have money called pennies that are worth one cent. Some people say they are lucky. So, you’re like my lucky Penny.”
Spellcrafter-Delta Page 20
