Flying inside a loud box was a strange experience to Finn, but she wanted to stay near the girl who walked when she shouldn't have been able to. This girl fascinated her.
"Do you think you can remember where she is?" the voice belonged to a large man in the loud flying box with them. There were others with them. Two women and another man.
"It all looks different from up here," said Finn's new curiosity. The girl seemed sad. Uncertain. Finn didn't like that.
"Left," Finn whispered into the girl's ear. The strange words coming to her once more.
"Turn left!" the girl suddenly shouted.
"Straight," Finn whispered the strange words again.
"Straight on from here!" said her girl.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Okay."
Finn continued to whisper in her girl's ear, happy at the effect it was having on her. Her eyes shone with hope.
"There! I can see it!" her girl shouted in excitement. Finn wanted to clap at the enthusiasm and energy in her girl's voice. This was a wonderful game. It made her so happy. Happy enough to want to fly outside the noisy box and into the sun. So, she did. Just before she left the flying box, she caught more of those strange words. She revelled in them, letting their melody and rhythm wash over her like music as she soared into the blue sky.
"I don't see anything!" called back the one driving the loud box.
His companion replied. "I see her. Go down! Now."
Finn's eyes slowly opened. The boulder was still on top of her. The pain still crashing in waves through her. That wasn't what woke her up though. It was the rhythmic thumping that had reached her ears and had pierced through to her in her dreams. Her dreams. She tried to hold on to the strange images, but they quickly melted away as her focus was directed to the helicopter. She wanted to scream. To let them know she was here. That she needed help. That they needed to save her. But her throat was extremely dry. She could barely squeak, let along shout for help. It was alright though. The helicopter was slowing down. Soon, it was hovering just a few yards away from her, before coming down.
"Finn! Finn!"
Finn decided there and then that the sound of Zhen calling her name was the most beautiful sound she'd ever heard. A heavy lad lifted off her shoulders when she realised that she wasn't alone anymore. That she didn't have to be strong anymore. Or alone. She had Zhen now. Zhen had kept her promise and come back to her. And she'd kept hers. She was still alive. Still fighting.
"I'm here," Finn whispered, sure that Zhen couldn't hear her. She could barely hear herself.
Suddenly, Zhen was beside her, cradling her head. "You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay."
"Hello, Finn."
Finn looked up at the owner of the deep voice. He was wearing paramedic gear and carrying a large bag with him.
"Finn, I'm Scott," he said. "I'll quickly check you over and then we'll get the boulder off you."
"Yes, please," she whispered.
Zhen held Finn's hand through the examination.
Scott spoke up again after a while. "Toxins have been building up in your leg, Finn. If we lift this rock, those toxins will move up your body. I'm going to give you a shot of adrenaline to try and fight that. Is that alright?"
Finn nodded, squeezing Zhen's hand as Scott plunged the syringe into the IV drip he'd attached to her arm. Zhen squeezed her hand back and Finn felt the energy course through her just as the boulder was lifted off her foot. The relief of having that rock off her was unimaginable. That rock being lifted off her foot was the best thing she'd ever experienced. Her heart raced. Her mind blanked out in bliss. She was indescribably happy and grateful. If she had any water in her, she'd be sobbing right now. Crying tears of joy.
They packed her onto a stretcher and began to cart her away.
"Wait! Wait!" Finn called out. "My foot! Zhen! My foot."
"It's alright, Finn. They'll try to..." Zhen started.
Finn cut her off. "No! The metal. Take it!"
"Finn, I don't care..."
"Take it, Zhen. Please," Finn pleaded. This couldn't have all been for nothing. It just couldn't. "Please!"
"Okay, Finn. Okay."
Finn made the paramedics wait until Zhen gently took off the boot from the foot of her crushed leg and peeled off the band aid hiding the glass bead that held the strip of asteroid metal. Finally, the adrenaline wore off and the pain punched through, pulverising all thought and reason. Finn let the pain win, falling into a dreamless sleep.
*
"Excuse me, but who are you?"
Finn had just woken up to find this incredibly gorgeous woman giving her a sponge bath. She felt a little self-conscious, lying butt naked on a soft bed and being wiped down by a beautiful stranger. She tried to quickly reach out for the covers over her legs. Her arms were wriggly noodles that she could barely control. She stopped and tried to think of how best to work her weak limbs so she could escape the embarrassing situation. Before she could figure it out, she was suddenly fully covered as the woman draped the warm fleece blanket over her chest. Finn locked her arms as tightly as she could on the covers against her chest.
"Hello, Finn. My name is Mina. You're at the hospital." said the lady she smiled and then walked towards the room's door. "I'll go get the doctor. His name is Scott. Do you remember him?"
Scott. Finn knew who that was. She nodded and took the time to look around the room when the woman walked out. The room was flooded in daylight, with a little sunroof at the top. That was the first thing she noticed. The light. And how it made the little room feel wonderfully bright and cheery. The windows were open, and a slight breeze blew in, smelling of sunshine and flowers and hope. The door opened. Zhen wheeled in and Finn felt her heart skip a beat. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. She found a little strength to whip her covers down to her waist and tried to get off the bed and go to her.
"Don't," said Zhen, rolling her wheelchair over. Finn obeyed and let Zhen cover her back up. "Why are you naked?"
"I scared away the sexy nurse who was giving me a sponge bath," said Finn, laughing.
Zhen laughed with her. "Poor Mina."
They laughed again, more because they were together again, rather than what they were talking about.
Finn looked pointedly at the wheelchair. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," said Zhen. She pointed to the chair. "My feet are covered in blisters and sores. But they're almost fully healed. So is that nasty gash on my leg."
"How long have I been here?" asked Finn, becoming slightly solemn.
"About a week." Said Zhen, her tone mirroring Finn's.
Finn nodded. "My mum? My sisters?"
"They're right outside, waiting to see you."
Finn took a moment to say what she wanted to say next. "You saved me. Thank you."
"it wasn't just me," said Zhen. She turned away from Finn and looked out of the window. "I had some help."
"Right. Of course. The villagers. You finally found them," said Finn.
"Not them," said Zhen shaking her head. She looked back at Finn. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
Zhen took a moment to think about something. "I think I saw a tree spirit."
Finn scoffed. "What?"
"Don't you Wiccans believe in spirits and stuff?" Zhen asked, narrowing her eyes.
Finn could see she'd hurt Zhen's feelings. She smiled and nodded. "What did it look like?"
"She," Zhen corrected her. "She looked like a mirage. Like a clear, watery spectre that shimmered in the sunlight. Almost like vapor. When I looked at her, she'd get even more watery."
Finn listened. Something told her that it was what Zhen needed. For her to just listen.
"She spoke to me. Sometimes she would shout and..."
Suddenly, the door opened again, and Dr. Scott walked in. All talk of shimmering, watery tree spirits went out of the window as he approached Finn's bed. The look on his face was grave, but hopeful. Zhen wheeled herself away from Finn's bed as the doctor checked her over. Finn was suddenly filled with apprehension and foreboding. She wanted to call Zhen back to her bedside. Wanted to hold her hand. Borrow her strength.
"How are you doing, Finn?"
"I'm alive," was the only answer she could think of.
"Yes, you are," he said with a smile. "And I can't say I know how."
Finn could see right through that smile. "But something's wrong, isn't it?"
"Your leg," he said. "We tried. We did. But we couldn't save it."
Finn felt everything stop. Did he just say they couldn't save her leg? How was that possible? She could feel her legs. Both of them. What was he talking about?
"What?"
"We were lucky that the blood around the crush site had clotted. It stopped the toxins that had collected in your leg from moving up into your blood stream," Scott explained. "But it also made it difficult to save your leg. We had to amputate below the right knee."
It was so weird that he kept insisting on that narrative. She could feel her legs.
"Finn?" Zhen whispered to her, wheeling herself back to her bedside and taking her hand.
"I can feel them both, Zhen," she replied in confusion.
"It'll be okay, Finn," said Zhen. "I'm right here."
Zhen then gently lifted the covers up her legs and Finn saw her bandaged right leg, which was gone from a few inches below her knee. She didn't know what to say. No one did. She asked Zhen to replace the covers and tried to collect herself. To process what was happening. Dr. Scott kept talking.
"We also had to remove your raptured spleen," he said. "But we are growing you a new one and will replace it soon. You don't have to worry about that. It'll be just like new. We'll keep you here until the transplant."
Finn closed her eyes, holding back the tears and the terror. "Can I be alone? Please?"
"Of course," said Scott.
"I'll be right outside if you need me," Said Zhen.
Finn didn't see Zhen again for the next three weeks.