Prince Tennyson

by Jenni James

  I tried to sit up in my bed, but it hurt my hand. “Oww.”

  That woke Mom up.

  “Chelsea! You’re awake.” She smiled tiredly at me and ran her fingers along my cheek and brow. “How long have you been up?”

  My hand really hurt. “Where’s Grandma? Is she okay?” My voice was very scratchy.

  Mom looked down at the bed and bit her lip.

  Oh, no.

  “Your grandma isn’t—” She sighed and looked up at me. “Your grandma didn’t—she didn’t…”

  I gasped. “Did Grandma die?”

  “What?” Mom seemed surprised I asked that question. “No, honey. No. Grandma didn’t die.”

  I let out a huge breath and tried to smile, but my heart was racing too much. That scared me.

  “She’s just not doing that good, that’s all. She got a really bad cut on her head, from when you saved her.” Mom leaned in close and looked right into my eyes. “Do you remember that, sweetie? Do you remember saving your grandma?”

  “I…” I thought for a second. “I remember she fell in the bathroom and she wouldn’t wake up. So I dragged her into the hall with a towel.”

  “You were so brave. What made you think to move her? The firemen said Grandma had a wet cloth over her face. Did you do that too? How did you do it all by yourself?”

  All at once, I was really tired and really thirsty. “Can I have a drink?”

  Mom chuckled and sat up. “Sure, honey. Hang on, and I’ll go get it.”

  I watched her walk out of the hospital room and I tried to sit up again. Oww. My hand really hurt. I tried using the other hand, but I was having a hard time pushing myself into sitting position. I glanced down at my covered feet and wiggled them both. My right one, like my right hand, hurt really bad. My left one seemed fine. I carefully moved my left leg up under the covers until it was bent and used that to push myself up with my hand and elbow.

  By the time Mom came back with a funny tall jug of ice water and a straw sticking out of it, I had already checked out my hurt foot. Actually, the whole right side of my body seemed to be wrapped up with bandages.

  “I got burned, didn’t I?” I asked as Mom handed the water to my good hand.

  “Yeah.” Then she leaned in close and gave me a one-armed hug, trying really hard not to hurt me. “I’m so glad you’re safe, honey. I’m so glad.”

  When Mom sat back up, she had tears in her eyes. She must’ve been very worried about me.

  “What happened?” I asked after I took a sip. “When did you get to the house? What happened to Cameron and Hannah?”

  “They’re fine. One of the ladies from church has them, so don’t worry. Hannah was very brave and ran right up to the neighbor’s house with Cameron and called 911.” She gently placed the blanket back over my bandaged leg. “By the time I got there, you and Grandma had already been rescued and everything. I didn’t even have a chance to be worried about you in that fire all alone.” She brought her chair around to the other side of the bed. My good side. Then she reached over to hold my hand. “Were you scared, honey? I bet you were so scared.”

  “Yeah.” My eyes welled up with tears. I didn’t even know I was going to cry until then. “I was so scared. So, so scared.”

  “Oh, baby,” Mom whispered, and she cried with me. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there with you.” She climbed right up onto that bed with me and held me close.

  I liked that.

  Then she told me how brave and wonderful and smart I was while I just cried and cried. When I was done crying, I told her what happened and how I had to climb up the door to get the key and how scared I was when I saw Grandma Haney bleeding. I even told her how I put Grandma on the towel and tried to pull it, but when I got to the carpet, it wouldn’t move, and it was so hot and so smoky and I was so scared.

  And that’s when I remembered.

  “Oh!” I tried to sit up to look at Mom, but I couldn’t. Instead, I just turned in her arms and then said, “I prayed, Mom. I really prayed to God. For the very first time. And guess what? Guess what He did?”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “WHAT?” MOM ASKED. “WHAT did God do?”

  “He did the most amazing thing ever.” My eyes started to cry again, hard. So did my mom’s eyes. Just by watching me, it made them cry, too.

  “What happened?” she asked again.

  I could hardly say it, I was crying so hard. “God sent Dad.”

  “Wh—what?”

  “Dad. Dad was there with me. He was.” My tears fell down my cheeks and onto the breathing tube things, and I didn’t even want to stop them. “He saved me and Grandma. I couldn’t pull the towel by myself. I couldn’t—I tried and I was so scared. I didn’t want Grandma to die. Then my prince saved me. His arms wrapped right around me while I was trying to tug that towel and he pulled us into my room.”

  “Oh, my gosh,” my mom gasped.

  “Yeah, it was a miracle.”

  “Prince Tennyson,” Mom whispered against my hair when she kissed me. She was quiet for a long time while I cried, and then she asked, “Is that why you threw his pictures out the window? The neighbors said you threw Dad’s pictures out your window and that’s how the firemen knew where you were. Is that why you did it?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t want to lose Dad’s pictures. Did you save them?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t look. I know there was a lot of water everywhere, so if they are saved, they’re probably not in that great of condition.”

  “Oh.” I didn’t want to hear that.

  “We’ll see, though.”

  “Well, one thing’s for sure.” I tried to grin, but the silly breathing tubes were in the way. “The pictures were much safer outside of Grandma’s house than inside it.”

  Mom chuckled. “That’s true.” She breathed in real quick and said, “So that’s why you called for Dad in your sleep.”

  “I did?” I was embarrassed. “What did I say?”

  “No. You just yelled out really loud, ‘Dad. I love you.’”

  “Oh. That’s it?”

  “Uh-huh.” Mom nodded and then smiled. “Well, there was this time before that when your bed was being wheeled down the hospital hall and you were giggling in your sleep. That was pretty funny, actually. The doctors said it was a good thing, because it meant you were just asleep and not in a coma or something.”

  I was giggling? That was weird. The only time I even remembered thinking about giggling was when—Oh! Maybe that was it. When Dad was giving me a piggyback ride. I’d forgotten about that.

  It was a dream?

  I thought about that dream for a while. I remembered a lot of it, probably all of it, but I wasn’t sure. It was so real. I touched Dad and held Dad and laughed with Dad and cried with Dad. I could even smell him.

  It was just a dream.

  I didn’t want it to be a dream.

  I closed my eyes and thought about seeing Dad’s face and his smile and hearing his voice—it was a miracle dream.

  I smiled.

  Maybe it was just my special miracle dream for helping my grandma. Maybe it was something the Lord gave me for being so brave. He knew I couldn’t see my dad unless I died, but I could see him if I dreamed about him.

  It was quiet for a while as I thought about that, and then I asked, “Mom, what’s going to happen to Grandma’s house? Where are we going to live?”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that, honey. We’ll figure that out later. Right now, we just need to be happy that you and Grandma are safe.”

  That was the most important thing. “Yeah, we’re very lucky.”

  “And blessed.” Mom squeezed my shoulder.

  Later that day, after I had fallen back asleep and woken up and seen all my cards and flowers and balloons from a bunch of people, and ate my breakfast and lunch and even some snacks Mom had snuck in for me because I was starving, the doctors let me go see Grandma Haney. I got to ride in a wheelchair. I didn’t tell them that it hurt to
have my leg against the side of it because I didn’t want anyone to tell me I couldn’t see her. Mom pushed me all the way down the long hall, and lots of nice nurses and doctors stopped to smile at me.

  I didn’t understand why everyone was smiling and waving and looking so happy. I just thought it was a very happy hospital. I didn’t even know what was really going on until one of those nurses held the elevator door open for me and said, “Here she is! Our little hero!”

  When Mom pushed me into the elevator, everyone in there started to clap. They clapped the whole time Mom pressed the button Grandma’s floor was on and they smiled during the whole ride and said stuff like, “You are so brave” and “What an amazing girl you are!” and “I never would’ve been able to do what you did!”

  I smiled and said thank you, but I was really shocked everyone knew. When we got out of the elevator and I said goodbye to them, I asked Mom, “How did they know who I was?”

  Then my mom said the craziest thing ever. “Everyone knows who you are. Most of Arizona has heard about you and has been praying for you to wake up so they can tell you how proud of you they are.”

  “Really?” I couldn’t believe it.

  “Yeah, you’re a celebrity, Chelsea.”

  “I am?” And then something hit me. “How long was I asleep?” I titled my head back so I could see my mom better.

  She looked down at me and tried to smile, but I know it must’ve worried her a whole bunch because she said quietly, “Just over two days.”

  “Two days!” Two days? That’s a very long time. “Wow.”

  I would’ve thought about it more and probably freaked out more, but right then we came to my grandma’s room. All at once, I forgot about everything else. I just wanted to see her again.

  “Grandma!” She looked awful, but I didn’t care. She was alive and awake and looking at me with a huge smile. Mom pushed me all the way up to her, and Grandma Haney leaned over and held my hand and told me how much she loved me and how happy she was to be saved and that I was the smartest girl in the whole world.

  By the time I was done talking to my grandma about how she was doing and about all her cards and flowers, I was tired. So Mom took me back to my room to sleep.

  It took longer than I wanted it to. I just wanted to go straight to bed. But Mom and a nurse had to fix my tubes and hang the watery one back up from my wheelchair to the metal pole by my bed, and make sure the nose one was still right. Then they had to check that all my bandages were okay, and that I wasn’t hurting. After that, I was so wiped out that even when my mom turned on my favorite cartoon, I couldn’t stay awake to watch it.

  I just fell asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  ON SUNDAY, THE HOSPITAL decided I was well enough to have visitors. I was surprised to see Tyler and his mom come in after Hannah and Cameron and Mrs. Johansson, Grandma’s neighbor, left. He had a card and a bear with a big purple bow on it.

  “Hi.” I smiled as he walked slowly up to the bed. I could tell he was a little bit nervous because he looked around the room a lot. Then his eyes settled on the TV.

  “Cool!” He grinned. “You get your own TV? That’s so not even fair. I wish I had my own TV.”

  I laughed, and then he did too.

  “Here,” he said as he handed me the bear and the card. Then he leaned over and whispered, “I told my mom you were too old for stuffed animals, but she wouldn’t listen. So if you don’t like it, you could give it to your little sister or something.”

  I glanced over at his mom. She was hugging my mom and talking to her and hadn’t heard a thing. “No, it’s fine. I’m a girl, remember? We like dumb stuff.”

  “That’s for sure.” Tyler’s grin grew, then it fell and he pointed to his nose. “Does that thing hurt you?”

  My good hand came up to finger the tubes. “No. I don’t even remember I have them in anymore.”

  Tyler nodded and then leaned against a little table by me. “So, wow. You almost died, Chelsea Tennyson. That’s so weird.”

  I shook my head. “No, I didn’t almost die.” I rolled my eyes to let him know I thought he was dramatic.

  His brows lowered and I watched as he rubbed his lips together. “You haven’t seen your house yet, have you?”

  “No. Why? Is it bad?”

  “Yeah, it’s really bad. There isn’t anything left. No windows, doors, nothing. It’s just empty and black.”

  My tummy flipped over. “Are you serious? Have you been inside?”

  “No. They won’t let anyone near it. It’s got tape and stuff over it. It’s been all over the news. Haven’t you seen the news?”

  I looked up at the TV and then over at my mom, who was lounging in a chair talking to Tyler’s mom. “I’ve only been watching cartoons.”

  “Oh. Well, they probably didn’t want to scare you.” He flicked a couple of my balloons that were right next to him with his fingers. “Everyone has been scared about you, though. Everyone. The news, the school, all sorts of people—even I was scared.”

  “Really? Why? I’m perfectly fine. See?”

  Tyler shrugged. “Yeah, but your mom and the hospital won’t let anyone do interviews with you yet, so all people see is your scary house, not you. That’s why I came here as soon as they announced on the news that you had woken up, so I could see you for real.”

  “Thanks for coming.” I held my new bear close. “It can get boring, so I’m glad you came.”

  Tyler picked up a couple of cards and looked at them. “So, what was it like being in a house that was on fire? Were you terrified?”

  I laughed. I had to laugh. “Yeah, I was really terrified.” Then I checked to make sure his mom and my mom were still talking. They were.

  “Guess what.” I leaned closer so I could talk softer.

  Tyler put the cards down and looked right at me. “What?”

  I looked at him a moment, and then broke out in a huge smile.

  He smiled too. “What?”

  Then I said it. “I know God’s real. He really, really is.”

  Tyler’s smile fell. “No way. How? What happened?”

  “Well, I said a prayer to God to help me in that fire, and He did.”

  “Cool. What did He do?”

  I bit my lip and looked right in Tyler’s brown eyes. “He sent my dad.”

  “Your dad? The prince one? The one who’s—”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. My smile beamed.

  “Wow.”

  “I know. That’s why my grandma and I are safe. My dad came and saved us.” Tears came to my eyes, but I didn’t stop smiling. I was in too much shock, I still couldn’t believe my dad was there and he saved us.

  “That’s amazing”

  I nodded and sniffed. “Yeah, I know. Crazy, huh?”

  “You’re so lucky, Chelsea.”

  “My mom says I’m blessed.” I leaned back and held onto the bear tightly.

  “You have to be, because something like that would never happen to me.” Tyler flicked one of the flowers in a big vase on the table and looked a little sad.

  I chuckled. I couldn’t believe he was sad. “You don’t want it happen to you, I promise.”

  He looked up at me funny, and then flicked another flower.

  “You want your dad to die, and then move in with your grandma, and then have your whole house burn to the ground and lose all your toys and clothes and everything?”

  Tyler grinned. “No.”

  I grinned too. “Me neither.”

  He ducked his head and put his hands in his pockets. “I guess I’d rather just find out God is real in the normal way—by asking Him.”

  I rolled my eyes again and rubbed my nose on the soft bear. “I wish I was that smart.” “You know what I think?” Tyler leaned up against the table again. “I think my mom is right. I think everything happens for a reason.”

  “What do you mean?” I sat up a little bit.

  “Just think. If your mom didn’t decide to move to Arizo
na, then you wouldn’t have been here to save your grandma from that fire with her candle.”

  “But my brother and sister were playing with it.”

  “No.” Tyler shook his head. “They weren’t. The firemen said on the news that the fire was started by the candle—not by the kids. They were just in the room playing at the same time. The window was opened just enough to cause the curtain to catch on fire.”

  I fell back on the bed. “If that’s the case, then God knew all along that we’d be here. And He knew that I needed to pray to save my grandma. And that means—”

  “He knew about those pictures all along too.”

  “And my mom was right.” I gasped. My eyes flew to my mom. She turned her head and looked over at us to see if I was okay.

  I grinned.

  Tyler grinned

  But his mom must’ve thought it was time to go, because she said, “Well, thanks for letting us visit you, Chelsea. We can’t stay very long. We just wanted to drop the gift by. Tyler’s been really anxious. We’re so glad everyone is safe.”

  “Thank you.” My mom smiled and looked at me with raised eyebrows.

  Oh! “Thank you for coming. I love the bear and the card.”

  Tyler’s mom gave him a look that said, “See, I told you so.” Then she walked over and gave me a big hug.

  She accidentally squeezed my burnt side. I winced, and Tyler winced too as he looked at me over her shoulder.

  “Bye!” He grinned as he walked toward the door. His mom followed and told me to get better soon.

  I sighed happily.

  Tyler was nice, and so was his mom.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  BY WEDNESDAY, THE DOCTORS let me leave the hospital. Grandma had left on Monday, but they were worried about me, because I breathed more smoke. I finally convinced Mom to let me stop by the house. I was dying to see if I could find any pictures of Dad that might’ve been saved. It was the only reason why she let me, even though she kept saying over and over she didn’t think there were.

  There weren’t. I was pretty sad about it, too. It was bad enough seeing the house, but to only find a couple of beat-up pictures in a bush wasn’t so great. One was just Dad’s profile, and the other one had been wet and scratched up so much that you couldn’t even tell it was him.