After Jake’s dramatic entrance into the hospital, I followed him more reluctantly. No matter how much I knew that we had to use our powers, it still frightened me as I knew that it could harm an innocent.
Once in the building, I looked around until I spotted Jake by the double doors at the back of the room. He waved for me to go to him.
“What’s the plan?” I whispered to him when I got there.
He placed a finger on his lips in the universal signal for ‘shut up’ and glanced around the ground floor. After a few seconds, a pleased look appeared on his face as he closed his eyes. He probably stayed like that for twenty to thirty seconds, but it felt like a few hours to me. My eyes jumped from one person to another as I watched every individual that entered the hospital. I don’t know why, really-just seemed like the right thing to do as I had a sneaking suspicion that Jake was doing something supernatural.
“Alright, let’s go.”
And with no warning whatsoever, he dragged me to the elevator doors.
“Jake, what are you doing? We’re not allowed to go up there!”
“Just trust me, will you?” He pushed me inside the lift just as two other people got in.
After they got off at the fifth floor, Jake pressed the button for the seventh floor.
The ping of the elevator announced our arrival as the doors slid open. The familiar corridor materialised and I was once again being dragged by Jake.
He walked straight past Anne’s room and led me to the desk at the back. The same two nurses were in front of computers and did not even look up as Jake placed his arms on the counter and looked at the nurse that had supervised our visit to see Anne.
My head swivelled back and forth between the nurse and my brother, confused to the point of no return when suddenly, the same nurse from before-Rita, according to her nametag-picked up the phone. She held the earpiece next to her ear for a few seconds and hung up.
Then, she simply got up, walked towards the rooms and Jake began to drag me again as we followed her. She stopped in front of Anne’s room, entered in some numbers and slid the door open.
By the time she was out of that door, Jake and I were inside.
I stared at Jake in awe as he punched the air in triumph.
“What did you do?”
“Mind warping; that’s my power. Remember, I explained it to you on your birthday?” he explained.
The power of manipulating what other people see.
“Oh yeah, now I do.”
As I spotted Patty napping in the corner, I sent Jake a questioning look.
“Don’t worry about her. She can’t see or hear us.” Jake said, flippantly, “Alright now, let’s use your power.”
He crooked a finger at me and I, reluctantly, moved until I was standing beside Anne. She was still in the same position but the only difference was that she was cocooned with blankets, which was obviously the work of Patty. Her straight, blond hair was combed through and lay around her pale face as if she was Sleeping Beauty. The lack of her usual caked face made her seem refreshingly normal and vulnerable.
After inhaling in a number of huge gusts of air, I sat down on the chair beside the table and took Anne’s hand in my own. With my eyes closed, I attempted to pinpoint my power. A number of failed trials later, my mind connected with Anne’s brain and I was inside.
‘Look for a shadow in her brain that doesn’t seem to belong there. That is overshadowing the usual works in her body.’ Jake’s coaching rang through my head.
My inner eye searched for the shadow but there was nothing. Everything looked normal.
With a sigh of frustration, I dropped her hand and pulled my hair apart.
“Mel, I know this isn’t easy. But you cannot give up now! Not when a girl’s life is at stake.” Jake stated clearly.
With a determined nod, I reconnected with Anne’s brain. This time, instead of just seeing the parts of her brain, I looked into myself. I pulled my power back, which was a silver light that seemed to pulse from my core. The bright silver light spread through my being and I tried to think like a person with healing experience. Even though I was useless in science and I did not have a clue about the human body, that power clicked with me and it told me what I had to do. It was absolutely the best feeling as I merged with my power and with that feeling; I dove back into Anne’s brain.
“Mel, I know that you need time but I cannot keep up with this for long. My powers are dwindling and we are going to be visible very soon.” Jake said, with panic in his voice.
A rush of alarm went through me and I lost everything I had achieved in the last moments.
“Damn it!”
As much as I would love to yell at Jake for breaking my concentration, I pushed it down and within a few seconds, I was back in Anne’s brain. As I was more focused, the silver light surrounded Anne’s brain and the dark shadow was easily standing out. Now, all I had to do was extract that silhouette that doesn’t belong in her brain and she will be back to her normal, pain-in-the-arse self.
Easy-peasy, right? Not exactly. I was concentrating like I have never done before. I didn’t even know I was capable of this much focus.
Taking another deep breath, I imagined that the shadow was tangible and it became apparent to my inner eye.
“No pressure at all, Mel. But we are in trouble. My stamina’s dead and I can’t keep the warp up. So, if any nurse walks in right now, we’re screwed.”
A quarter of my mind heard what Jake said and pushed the rest to get the job done quicker. I created virtual tweezers and gently plucked the shadow by its corner and fused it with my silver light. The first time I extracted it, it just bounced back to her brain. So, I attached it with my light quite firmly and pulled my power back until it settled in my core again.
The instant it was within me, the gloomy darkness disintegrated as the brightness of my light overshadowed it.
I thought that once it was over, Anne would wake up and I would feel better again; that the nagging guilt would be replaced with relief. Unfortunately, nothing happened.
“Jake, I did everything you asked me to do! Why isn’t she waking up?” I whispered, frantically.
“I have no idea but we have to get out of here before anyone sees us!” Jake was on full-blown panic mode and dragged me out the door.
As we ran towards the stairs, I asked him, “I thought you said the illusion’s broke and doesn’t that mean they would have seen us walking out of her room?”
“No, I’ve mustered up another one, but it’s weak. So, we have to get behind those doors before it breaks and they see us materialise out of thin air.”
Luckily, we got to the doors on time and the second we got to the stairs, Jake collapsed onto the floor. He laid there with his arms across his face and breathing heavily.
I slid down against the wall and hugged my legs to my chest and wondered what the hell just happened and why my powers didn’t do anything. It was just so frustrating. I knew using my powers was a bad idea. I should have just gone to my parents, why did I listen to my brother? My mind was whirring with accusations and what-ifs.
Fifteen minutes later, Jake silently got up and motioned for me to rise as well. We slowly walked down back to the car. We still hadn’t said a word and halfway through the ride, the car phone rang.
“Hello?” Jake said, wearily.
“Jake?! What are you doing in the car and where is Mel?” My Dad’s voice echoed in the small interior of the vehicle.
My brother was alert now and with a cautious tone, he said, “I missed the flight and came back home. I was helping Mel with something and she’s right here, Dad.”
“Hi Dad.” I said, meekly.
“Young Lady, you have some explaining to do! You don’t come home on time and no response to our calls! You two better be on your way home.” He said, sternly.
“Yes, Dad. We just pulled into the driveway.”
With no reply, my Dad hung up and I saw the curtains of our living room twitching.
Jake and I exchanged a frightened glance and proceeded to face our parents.
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A/N:
Hello, lovely people!
I can’t believe how long it took me to update! But I hope this chapter makes up for what I’ve done.
Do you think Mel healed Anne? Or did she just wreak more havoc?
Tell me your thoughts in the comments and Please vote and follow!
With all the love in the world,
R&D