Tender - A Disney-esque Adventure for Adults

Chapter 13

Dedicated to the people of Nepal and their spirit of survival. Donate what you can to the earthquake relief fund at https://www.oxfam.org.au/

"I know you can hear me, Misty."  The man sat beside my bed in his normal chair.  I'd forgotten his name again, but that probably wouldn't matter, considering my body was unconscious in the hospital bed while my voiceless spirit hovered above them both.

He held my hand, speaking passionately in my ear.  "I know you're still in there.  Even though it seems hopeless right now, that you might never come back to us, I know you will when you're ready."

Kendrick.  That was his name.  I said it out loud, my silent voice echoing in the nothingness.

Kendrick couldn't hear me.  He dropped his head, his beautiful face filled with grief.  "They tell me it's hopeless, that I should move on and stop visiting.  I just can't help feeling that you're still there, and I want you to know there are people here who still care."

Whydo you care? I wanted to ask.  More than that, I needed to let him know that I did hear, that I appreciated his efforts.

There was a veil in front of me, a glimmering sheath over my eyes I knew had always been there, but I was only now acknowledging it.  Reaching my hand through the thin spot, I felt my arm fall limp and heavy.  But the warm fingers that held mine keep my hand from floating away, and I squeezed weakly.

Back on the other side, Kendrick's head shot up.  "Misty?  Misty!  You squeezed my fingers!  I felt it!"

As I pulled my hand back and began to dissolve away, I heard him whisper, "I felt you..."

***

I woke up feeling leaden, as if I'd been drugged while I slept.  "Blerg..." I grumbled, turning towards the window facing the waterfall, allowing the soothing sound of the tumbling stream to calm my twisted emotions.

It was the first dream in almost a month - not that it meant my sleep had been restful.  In my unconscious state, I'd been deliberately ignoring the thin places, as I was starting to think of them.  If I didn't venture near that old world, I didn't have to worry about slipping through accidentally.

But the day before had nearly broken me.  Even safe in my bed, the memory made me shudder.

I'd been on my way to see Marquess.  Every day, I spent hours by her side, encouraging her to walk, making sure she ate, braiding her mane – anything to help her feel like life was still worth living.  It had nearly been noon by the time Barnaby and Davin released me from our daily war room meeting; each morning, they were growing increasingly longer as we plotted strategic troop placement and palace weaknesses. 

When I approached the stables, I heard voices echoing from her stall.  Following the noise, I found Marquess and Cas in deep discussion.  I was aware he'd found a friendship with the horse, even has he continued to rejected everyone else, and the fact he'd chosen Marquess to be his confidant was even more hurtful, considering he hadn't known her beforehand.

I shouldn't listen in.  Cas' trust was something we were all buying back in tiny increments, and the balance was so delicate, I didn't want to blow it.  But as I turned to go, my ears prickled at the conversation and it was beyond my control to walk away.

Marquess was talking.  "They all expect me to just move on, as if the loss of my limb and my pride is a mere bauble.  It is more than that.  I am not who I was when I was still whole.  I am broken, changed.  Expecting me to return to normalcy is folly."

"Do you think it is any different for me?"  Cas spoke, in the new version of his voice, the one he'd adopted since the regent had ruined him.  It was a bitter, hard voice, without a trace of the man I loved hidden inside.  "I am allowed to roam this compound like a pet, while my captors stare hopefully at me, waiting for me to spontaneously return to the man they knew."