Mystic Waters: Out of the blue

Chapter 23

Meranda's eyes popped open, her eyes stretched wide with fear. Pain sliced through her head and she immediately covered her eyes. She blinked repeatedly allowing small amounts of light in before trying to open her eyes again. When she opened them it was only a crack and peeked out through her lashes. She was not use to bright lights, any light for that matter.

Meranda slowly took in the room. This isn't the cave. It's a hospital. There was a man sleeping in the chair by the window, "Dad?"

Thor jumped up from the chair he had occupied for the past week, "It's Thor, Rand." Meranda just looked at him as if she didn't know who he was. It had been so long since she had seen him that it took a minute for it to register that it was her brother. When he had left the farm, he was a boy with peach fuzz above his lip.

"Thor?" Meranda's head felt scrambled and not just from the concussion.

"I'm here sis; I have been here all week." The tears in Thor's eyes returned.

"Where am I? Where's Pete and Sal?" Meranda didn't know how she got here, on land.

"I don't know where that Pete guy is, and I don't know who Sal. You had an accident on that lab you were on." Thor didn't understand anything about his sister's life.

"Where am I?" Meranda asked again.

"You're at St. Mary's hospital. You've been unconscious for a week. You have a head injury. I am going to go get the doctor." Thor ran out of the room yelling for a nurse, or somebody.

Meranda realized that this was not the reoccurring dream she had about the night her and Mitch were in that fatal accident. Pain gripped her heart as she remembered her dad was gone now too, and the tears started to roll down her face. She couldn't deal with this right now. She wanted to go back to the caves.

When the nurse came in, Meranda was curled up in a fetal position and had the covers over her head. "You're going to be okay honey. I do need to pull your arm out and get a blood pressure reading."

The doctor came soon after and he asked her to follow the light he was flashing in her eyes. The doctor performed more tests and asked her a bunch of questions before they left her alone. He said he would order her something to help with the headache.

Her nerves felt jumpy from all the noise, the television was loud, the nurses' station was beeping, and people coming and going. She could hear the cars outside, and phones ringing, every sound echoed through her nervous system. Meranda sank back into the pillow and closed her eyes.

She was above the water. She did not want to be here. She liked the quiet life under the water. Meranda wondered how she got here and where everyone else was.

She asked the nurse to shut off the television and turn off the lights. Instantly, she felt more relaxed, "Is there anyone one else here?"

"No sweetie, the man that brought you in stayed here until your brother—'showed up.' He's been calling every day inquiring how you are." The nurse must be talking about Pete.

"I need to make a phone call, but I don't have the number...wait I know the number, 555-SAVE. Is there a phone I could use?" Meranda asked. The nurse pushed the table over her bed with the phone on it. Meranda fumbled, hitting the wrong numbers making her feel like throwing the phone across the room. The nurse asked if she would like her to dial the number, "Yes, please."

Everything sounded foreign to her as the phone rang, "Hello, this is the Environmental Protection Agency, how may I direct your call?"

"Is Pete Moss there?" Meranda's words seemed hard pressed to find their way out of her mouth.