Never before in my entire life had I ever broken a bone. Not an arm, not a leg, not even a finger or toe! Sure, I'd come pretty darn close, what with skateboarding and all that, but I'd never actually broken anything. This was a first for me, and not a pleasant one at that. My arm itched like crazy beneath the hot pink cast. (My mother's choice, not mine.) The pajamas I was still wearing were wrinkled and stained with grass and dirt. I picked idly at a hole that the branches had inflicted on my formerly awesome pants as my mom filled out the last of the medical forms.
"Here," said Westley, picking a leaf from my hair and handing it to me. The moment his fingers released the tender, green leaf, it wilted and became brown, brittle, and dry. I stared at it in astonishment, gaping at Westley, my mouth a perfect circle.
"How did you...?" I questioned him, gasping as he took the leaf back and it once again became green and new.
"This isn't good." He mumbled to himself, running his free hand through his messy curls, the muscle in his jaw moving as he clenched his teeth in frustration. I looked at him, bewildered.
Both of our heads snapped up as a thud emanated throughout the room. I looked over to see my mom, crumpled on the floor in a heap. Her hair was splayed out on the ground and she held a dazed look on her face. I rushed to her side.
"Ma'am? Are you okay?" asked the receptionist, peaking over her desk and causing a stack of unorganized papers to fall to the ground. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with one finger, her lips pressed together in a straight, concerned line. "I'll call for a doctor, dear. I think your mother had best be checked out by a professional."
She was quickly punching in the numbers and speaking with a man on the other side while re-stacking the papers she had unsettled. Westley helped me pick my mother up and set her on one of the scratchy, maroon waiting chairs. A balding, old doctor came in, the concern on his face was barely visible beneath his bushy eyebrows and goatee. By this time, my mother had finally come to her wits. She looked at me, fear clouding her eyes.
"Nadia? I can't feel my toes... I can't feel my legs! Whats wrong with me?" she moaned, grabbing my hand and squeezing it as hard as she could while clenching her eyes shut.
I looked to Westley, my eyes brimming with worried tears, making it difficult to see. He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. His touch seemed to calm me, and I was glad when he kept his hand there. His other hand, I could see, was a tight fist, his knuckles white. The tips of the green leaf just barely poked through between his fingers. He saw my stare and quickly dropped it. The farther away it got from him, the more it decayed, and by the time it hit the ground, it was nothing more than a pile of dust. I looked into his face in wonder. Our eyes locked and I gazed into his deep, blue eyes. It was curious, because I could've sworn I saw bright, shining, silver flecks in the back of his pupils.
"Ms. Luv?" the doctor addressed me, snapping me back into reality. "We're going to have your mother scheduled and taken in for an MRI and a CT scan. Is that okay? We aren't one-hundered percent sure what she has, er, contracted, but my suspicion is that she has some kind of brain tumor, or cancer."
I was shocked. Completely and absolutely shocked. I nodded my head dumbly, numbness filling my body and rushing through me like a tidal wave. My mother may have a brain tumor, or cancer... The doctors words tumbled around inside my head. How was it even possible? I'd known there was something off with her lately, but I never would've guessed that it'd be something so serious... So deadly.
"We're going to have to keep her here for a couple of days. Do you have someone you could call? A father, grandparent...?" he asked. I started to shake my head no, but stopped and changed my answer to 'yes.'
"My aunt, Karen. I can call my Aunt Karen. She'll know what to do." I muttered, speaking more to myself than the doctor. I turned to Westley and said in a very tired voice, "Please, take me home?"
He led me down the long corridors and soon we were in my mothers beaten up, old car. I snapped in and out of reality all through the ride to the house. Amidst my tears, I could've sworn I saw tiny, winged people. I figured it was a hallucination. We rode in silence, without even the radio to provide a bit of white noise.
"Westley?" I whispered once we had pulled into the driveway and he had shut off the ignition. He made a grunting noise to show he was listening. "Do you... Do you think I'm going insane?"
He paused before answering, "No, you aren't going insane. Don't worry. Your mother will be alright."
"No... I mean because of the voices... And the faeries." I said cautiously, my voice wavering. I saw Westley stiffen at the last part.
"Nadia, you're telling me you're seeing tiny, winged, fictional creatures?" he asked, his voice full of clearly feigned incredulity... And a hint of concern.
I chose not to answer and instead occupied myself by starring at the curb. Don't ask me why I didn't just get out of the car, because I don't really know. My eyes started to droop, and soon enough I was struggling to stay awake.Just as I was about to fall unconscious, I swear I heard Westley talking to himself, but then there was the tinkling of bells, and I blacked out.
****
I woke up in darkness, surrounded by silence. It took me a moment to make sense of where I was. I brushed my hand down my bedspread as the four walls of my room stared back at me. A blanket had been draped over my window, blocking any light from entering. I stretched my arms before throwing back the bed covers with my good arm and walking to my window. I tore the blanket off the window, and squinted as bright sunlight flooded my room, causing my eyes to sting as my pupils tried rapidly to adjust to the harshness of the light.
The glossiness of my painfully pink cast did nothing to sheild my eyes as I raised my arm to cover my face. A quick glance at my alarm clock told me it was 1:30 PM, and I had just about missed the enitre first day of school. I prayed that my mother had at least called me in as sick. Then, all of last nights events came flooding back into my mind, hitting me like a sack of bricks. My mother was in the hospital. I was supposed to call my aunt!
I turned around and sprinted out of my room, dashing into the kitchen and lunging towards the phone hanging peacefully on the wall. Just as I was about to punch in the first digit of my Aunt Karen's phone number, I heard the creaking of the floorboards in the hall leading to our guest bedroom. I glanced over my shoulder but hurriedly went back to dialing. I froze and did a double take.
The tall woman standing in my hallway had fiery, red hair. It hung down to her waist and swooshed gracefully from side to side with every movement. Her bright, red lips curled into a wide, toothy smile as she spread her arms wide, her bright eyes quickly taking me in. She wore a flashy, animal print robe and had bare feet. I gaped at her openly. It was my Aunt Karen! Except, the last time I'd seen her, she had sported short, spiky, brown hair. I stared at her in awe as she drew nearer to me, her long hair swinging. Once she was close enough, she engulfed me in a tight embrace. I took in the smell of her cheap perfume.
"Nadia! Its so good to see you!" she squealed into my shoulder, her voice silky and smooth. For some reason, ever since I was little, I'd always compared her voice to that of the mystical sirens, of the fictional mermaids. I'd idolized her as a child. When people had asked what I'd wanted to be when I grew up, I'd always answered, 'Just like my Auntie Karen.'
"It's good to see you to, unt Karen, but... How are you here?" I asked, bewildered.
"Oh, that gorgeous neighbor of yours called me. Told me everything! You poor dear!" Aunt Karen gushed after having taken a step back from me. "We have a lot to catch up on!"
