Trollhunters: Tales of Baniar

Part Thirteen

At the hospital, I quickly familiarised myself with a routine. I would wake up, be checked on by Doctor Lake, eat breakfast, and wait around all day before going to bed with dinner in my stomach. A few people visited me, but not many. Surprisingly, Merlin was my most frequent visitor. I hadn't exactly pegged him as the caring type, but nearly every day he would come in and update me on the situations in Trollmarket, as well as give me the homework I was missing from school. I had begun to really enjoy his company. Slowly, my body was regaining its strength and the Changeling blood was exiting my bloodstream. I was glad to have the heightened awareness out of my body, and instead becoming myself once more. Jim had snuck through the window every night, and I never grew tired of his sweet words of reassurance. I missed him. 

It was my last day in the hospital, and I couldn't have been more excited. Soon, I would be able to finally go to Trollmarket and meet everyone again. Doctor Lake had told me that she just had to go over a few more things before I would be free to leave. When I had asked her about the expenses, she had waved me off dismissively. The doctor had told me that because of the circumstances, both supernatural and normal, there wouldn't be a fee worth noting and that Merlin had opted to pay for anything.

A knock came at the glass door, and I watched as Tanner stumbled in. He gave me a cheeky glance, and the rest of his family walked in. Valorie and Victoria, Westley's thirteen-year-old twin sisters, followed him, and sixteen-year-old Penelope entered too. Mrs. Castle walked in after, cradling Mia in her arms, before taking a seat on the bed next to my legs.

Valorie and Victoria were very different. I got along well with both and had listened to countless rants from them. Valorie had dyed her hair bleach-blonde, had a nose-ring and was constantly wearing dark eyeliner. Even now, as I saw her often, she was chewing gum. Victoria had her dark hair still and wasn't wearing any makeup, so her cute freckles were on view. She was in a pale sundress, while her sister was in dark skinny jeans and a dark red tank-top. Both sisters went to Baniar High, but I didn't see them often as they were only on their first year of being middle schoolers.

Penelope was a naturally quiet girl, who usually had her hair covering her eyes. However, she tended to act before she thought, and often her decisions were rash. For instance, when she was six, she cut her own hair and ended up with a strange mop of hair and an unconventional fringe that her mother had screamed at. Another time would be when she was eleven, and going through a phase, where she shoplifted from a small convenience shop down the road. She narrowly missed being charged and got off with a hard warning. Penelope wasn't a bad person, far from it, she was just outgoing in random bursts.

Tanner looked scarily like West, even at two years. Same pale skin, same dark hair, and same bright eyes. Even his smile, that came with constant giggles, reminded me of a younger Westley Castle. He was jumping around, exploring the room, while the girls stood by the side of the room.

"Tan, sit down," Mrs. Castle scolded, and Tanner leapt into the hard seat in the corner of the room.

Mia stirred from her sleep, and immediately her mother began to comfort her. Just from that scene, and the tiredness in Mrs. Castle's eyes, I could tell how much she had lost. Not only had she lost her eldest son, her little boy, but she had lost the only help she got around her house. Most of Mr. Castle's jobs sent him around the country, so he wasn't home regularly. This meant that Mrs. Castle was left to take care of the kids, a job that Westley had helped her with. Mia fell back to sleep with a coo, and Mrs. Castle looked back up at me.

"Hi, Ro," she said gently, and I flashed her a small smile. Mrs. Castle laughed, but the sound lacked a certain warmth that Westley had given her. "I hope you don't mind me bringing everyone here, Penelope didn't want to watch everyone, and Mia cries in the arms of just about everyone. I can't put her down. And Tanner thinks he is an airplane, and just decides to constantly jump off of the roof and onto the trampoline. And everyone just had to see you! Asking about you and wondering when you would visit."