Atlantis Academy: The First Element

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

The only other things in the room are a tall metal cabinet and two uncomfortable-looking metal chairs. Chloe and Ethan are sitting in them. They're both wearing the same thing they were in when they dropped me off at the school, but their clothes look decidedly more rumpled.

This room's super tiny, and there are no windows. Not exactly Atlantean-style architecture.

"Where am I?"

"A recovery room," Ethan says. "At the hospital."

"Obviously." I smile at him, giddiness sweeping through me again. 'Cause I'm alive! I don't know how, but I am!

"We're at the Sequoia Aegis Base hospital." Ethan's smiling now too.

Ethan. Smiling. At me!

Maybe this is the afterlife.

"Umm..." My giddiness fades. "Everyone else is... Please tell me they're okay too."

"Yes, yes." Chloe scoots her chair closer to my bed. "No one died. There were just a few minor cuts and scratches. The building on the other hand..."

I blow out a relieved breath and sink back against the pillows. I don't give a crap about the building. I just wanted to save everyone, and I was dying, and... How did I survive?

My cheeks flush as my foggy just-woke-up ADHD brain reminds me I wasn't alone at the end. "And... Caelum...?"

"Also fine." Chloe shakes her head, her light blue eyes going wide. "What a crazy kid! ArchGuardian Visconti nearly had a heart attack when he ran back in after you."

I redden even more, trying to remember it all. But everything's such a blur.

Caelum was outside with Chloe? I remember people running away... the Chancellor, Chloe, and...

"Where's Dubois? Where is he?" My voice rises with every word. "How long have I been in here? Did I miss the Entrance Trials?"

"Calm down." Chloe reaches forward and grabs my hand. "You've only been here for six hours. And Dubois is long-gone. You will not be rotting in a Cerberus jail any time soon."

"But..." I squeeze her hand. "I did... I... How much trouble am I in? Guardian laws apply here, right? What are they going to do to me now?"

"Well—"

The door slams open.

"Finally up, I see! Wonderful!" An old woman with curly white hair marches through the door carrying a tablet. She's wearing a white robe over a dress shirt and slacks, and there's a Metatron pin on her chest.

A tall, skinny man slinks in behind her, dragging some medical gear through the door. He's got white scrubs on, and there's a blue symbol embroidered on his chest. A three-headed dog, the symbol for Cerberus.

Chloe lets go of my hand and scoots her chair back against the wall to make room for him.

"I'm Doctor Bell." The woman comes to my side. "How is the patient?"

"The patient is just fine." I dart a glance at Chloe. What was she about to say? Someone's gonna punish me for this. But as long as that punishment isn't execution, I'm ahead. Right?

A light shines in my eye, and I blink. The doctor is way too close to my face with her little flashlight.

"Good, good," she mutters. "Wexley."

The skinny man shuffles up along the other side of the bed, rolling his medical cart with him.

"Gotta get your blood pressure." He looks at me, warily, like I might bite him. I offer him my arm, and he reluctantly gets to it.

"How do you feel? Any pain?" The doctor taps her tablet's screen.

"No... actually," I say, surprised that I don't feel pain. I should be aching, shouldn't I? "I feel amazing. How is that possible?"

She nods. "You're certain? No pain at all?"

My stomach growls loudly, disagreeing. "Uh..."

"Gotcha." The doctor taps her tablet. "Food will be here in a jiffy. You must be starving. Your body has been through quite a lot." She darts a glance at my blood pressure display and nods.

"Remove the IV, Wexley. That bag of fluid's about spent."

The nurse pulls the needle from my arm, and I let out a gasp.

"Sorry. Small sting," he says belatedly, covering the blood oozing out with a bandage.

"All your labs are looking great." The doctor gives me a warm smile that crinkles her brown eyes. "We'll get some food in you, and you'll be clear to leave. How's that sound?"

I just nod. My brain's starting to Walter Mitty what's gonna happen next. Do the Guardian Enforcers have their own jail cells? Are they nicer than whatever Cerberus has?

"But, young lady, if I clear you to leave... no more merging with Aether." I think the doctor is making a joke, but I don't know how to react.

"Thank you... for saving me. I thought... I thought for sure I was dead."

"Oh! But you were! They had to revive you three times."

All the blood drains from my face. "What?"

The doctor glances down at her tablet again, nodding to herself. "Yes, yes. I wasn't working, but it says your heart stopped three times. Luckily for you, ArchGuardian Visconti authorized the doctors to use all means necessary to save you, no matter the cost."

The cost? My heart skips a beat. "But I-I don't have health insurance. Or a job anymore. I can't pay—"

"Not that kind of cost." Ethan cuts me off. "Atlanteans have free universal health care. She means the spells they used to save you had a high magickal cost."

"Oh." My brain's still a little jumbled and foggy... guess powerful healing spells don't cure ADHD. Oh well, free healthcare! Maybe I'll be able to get my meds refilled.

"Yes." The doctor looks way too amused. "We only use those spells very rarely."

I nod and swallow. After what I did, I'm surprised the chancellor wanted to save me at all.

Another nurse bustles through the door, pushing a bedside tray table with steaming hot food on it, and my stomach rumbles in response. Is that... chili and cornbread? I'll take it. I'll take anything, honestly.

Everyone gets out of the nurse's way so she can set the tray up in front of me.

"Thanks."

"Alright," the doctor says, "let's let you eat up so you can get out of here."

Wexley and the other nurse leave the room, but the doctor pauses.

"If you have any side effects, make sure to keep track of them and let me know at your next check-up."

My eyebrows go up. "Side effects?"

"Well..." She averts her eyes, glancing down at her tablet again. "Aether has long-term side effects. Usually."

"But you can spell them away... Right?"

"If only." The doctor lets out a sigh. "Let's just hope you sail through this whole experience unscathed. Enjoy your late lunch!" She gives me another warm smile, and then she's out the door. She shuts it firmly behind her, leaving me alone with Chloe and Ethan again.

My stomach's churning, and my appetite's still raging, but I'm worried. And not just about long-term side effects. What's going to happen to me now?

I rest back on the pillows and take a deep breath. "What's my punishment? If they're not handing me over to Dubois... What are they gonna do to me instead?"