Fairest (14 page)

Sara frowned at Charlie thoughtfully and spoke on his silent behalf. “Apparently, he read somewhere about creating a fairy circle for protection against evil. So he took all of his shiny objects and was adamant about protecting you. Even to the point of making a nuisance with the nurses.”

“Oh,” Mina whispered quietly. 

Sara came and sat on the edge of her daughter’s bed. “So tell me what happened?”

“Mom, if I tell you, you are going to freak out and try to over protect me and you have to promise me that you will be calm, cool, and collected about what I say.”

Sara pursed her lips and took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I can guarantee that, but I will do my best.”

Mina looked at her mother and started from the beginning. At first Sara was confused, then worried and then angry.  She had annoyed outbursts throughout Mina’s story. “How dare he kidnap her daughter and chase her through the woods. How dare he spend the night in the woods with her daughter alone! And, finally, how dare he abandon her and leave her in the woods!” Mina found it quite funny the moods her mother went through: anger, indignation and resentment.

“I don’t care what happens, but you will stay away from that boy! Mina, he is nothing but trouble, and he’s Fae to boot. You can’t trust the Fae. I mean, just look at what he did to you! You could have been killed by bears out in those woods.”

Mina began to laugh out loud, knowing how oblivious her mom was to what had happened. “Or in the city,” she mumbled.

“No, I’m serious!” Sara tried to look serious, but her eyes slowly softened and she began to chuckle. “I’m just glad you are back and safe and sound. But why didn’t the Grimoire work?”

Mina’s eyes opened wide in panic. “Mom! Where’s the Grimoire?” she looked down and realized she was in the ugly hospital gown.

Sara looked confused, “I don’t know?”

“Where are my clothes? Mom, we have to find my clothes!”  Sara jumped up and went out the door to go look for a nurse with Charlie close on her heels. Mina was so worried she didn’t hear the slight knock on the door.

“Oh! Well, what seems to have gotten our patient all worked up?” Mina looked up at the handsome doctor who spoke and was speechless; he looked familiar. It took a moment for Mina to put two and two together. It was Robert Martin, Nan’s future stepdad.

Mina had to clear her throat a few times before she could speak. “My clothes, I want my clothes.”

“Oh, I believe a nurse should have put those in a bag for you, I don’t think that they were salvageable.” He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh, no, I needed something…” Mina paused, unsure of how to proceed without giving away too much information. Dr. Martin didn’t seem to notice as he looked over her charts carefully.

He grinned at Mina, displaying very even and white teeth. His light brown hair had just the touch of grey at the temples, and his eyes were a deep hazel. “I’m sure that whatever it is the nurses can get if for you. How are you feeling?”

“Mmm, good. I guess,” Mina offered. “Thirsty and hungry though.”

“Not surprising with what you’ve been through. You came in with a fever, and you were dehydrated. But your fever broke last night, and other than your sprained ankle and a few deep cuts, you are on the mend.”

“Wait, yesterday morning? How long have I been here? Wasn’t I brought in last night?”

“Oh, your mom didn’t tell you yet? You came in two nights ago. You’ve been unconscious with a fever for two days.  It broke last night.”

Mina sat stunned in her bed as Dr. Martin came and listened to her heart. Almost a week. She had missed almost a week of school.

 Dr. Martin scribbled something on her file. “If you are ready, I will have a nurse remove the IV. You think you can handle soup?”

Mina nodded, her stomach rumbled at the thought of food.

“Found it!” Sara came strolling into the room with white plastic bag. She handed the bag to Mina who tore it open and pulled out her denim jeans; she dug around in her pockets.

“Mom, it’s not in my pockets!” Mina cried out.

“Well, maybe it fell out and is caught in the bag,” she answered. They dumped the bag of dirty clothes on the bed and began to dig through everything. It wasn’t there.

“Is everything alright?” Dr. Martin asked.

Mina felt uncomfortable at letting her emotions get the best of her in front of a complete stranger. “Um, no,” she lied. “I seem to have lost something very important to me. Did you see a small leather book about yay big?” She held up her hands in the size of the Grimoire.

“Ah, no, I haven’t, but I’ll check with the emergency team” Dr. Martin answered briskly. “Hopefully, they may have it. But I see that your mom’s already found the bag. Everything on you when you came in was in that bag. Maybe you lost it in the woods.”

Mina’s heart dropped, and Sara reached forward and grasped her daughter around the shoulders in a form of comfort. “It’s okay, honey,” Sara whispered reassuringly. “We’ll find it.”

This was turning out to be the absolute worst day-ever. How was she going to overcome the quests if she didn’t have the Grimoire to imprison the evil Fae in? She wasn’t, that’s how. She was doomed, just like her Uncle Jack.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve promised a few of your friends that they could visit, if you were well enough. We’ll give you some time, maybe after you eat.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I want to receive company?” Mina felt another moment of panic. Who could possibly be out in the hall?

“Even if it’s my future stepdaughter?” Dr. Martin teased and began laughing. “I can only waylay her so long before she bribes one of my nurses with cupcakes or sneaks in here anyway.”

“Wait, Nan? Nan’s here? Yes, I want to see Nan,” Mina cried out excitedly.

“In a bit, after you eat,” The Doctor ordered. “She can wait that long. Although I’m sure she will be trying to sneak in, but I think she can hold on for another hour.”

Mina grinned.

It only took forty-five minutes before Nan maneuvered her way into Mina’s hospital room. Sara and Charlie had left a half hour earlier in search of the lost and found, looking for the Grimoire. Mina had just finished her soup when Nan came sneaking in.

“You’re late,” Mina chirped. “I thought for sure you would sneak in here earlier.”

Nan rolled her eyes. “I tried. I couldn’t get past Nurse Dragon and my future Stepdad wasn’t helping the matter. I think he purposely put old Dragon Lady on me so I wouldn’t sneak in here.”

“Well, then how did you get in?”

“I got Charlie to knock over a cart at the end of the hall!” She grinned triumphantly and crossed her arms. “It made such a commotion that everyone went running.” Nan lifted a backpack and put it on Mina’s bed. “I brought you the emergency essentials: lip gloss, curling iron, hairspray, high heels--”

“Nan, I have crutches! I can’t wear heels,” Mina interrupted.

“Okay, scratch the heels. I’ll wear the heels; you can wear my flats.” She began to pull everything out of her bag and reached for Mina’s hair.

Mina grabbed her best friend’s wrists and pinned them down on the bed. “Nan, what’s going on? Are we okay?” She felt terrible for the way she had acted and treated her best friend. “Can you ever forgive me for getting freaked out at the concert and wanting to go home? I shouldn’t have abandoned you like that.”

Nan’s face became still, quiet. Then she erupted into a huge smile and hugged her closely. “No, I’m sorry for overreacting. I should’ve figured it was your way of getting some alone time with Brody. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier. I know you have a crush on him.” She grabbed Mina’s hand and squeezed tightly. “Can you forgive me for hanging out with Savannah? I did it to kind of get back at you. I was still mad at the time. But as soon as I heard that you went missing. I grew up and realized how stupid I was. I’m your B.F.F. through thick and thin.”

Mina started crying and hugged her friend again. Nan leaned back and began to mess with the makeup and things she had brought in with her. “Nan?” Mina asked. “What is going on?”

Nan smiled at Mina. “You’re on TV. I overheard one of the nurses talking. You probably didn’t know this but someone by the name of Jed Parsons was monitoring the old handheld radio channels and overheard a conversation about a young girl found lost in the woods.”

“That was probably Karl calling in to tell people he found me,” Mina inserted.

Nan raised her eyebrows skeptically. “Well, I don’t know anything about that, except that old Jed thought it was serious and called for help, and since he knew his radio could only reach a few miles, he was able to tell the park rangers and rescue teams a general direction of where to look.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered, I was safe with Karl, and he had a radio and called for help.” Mina tried to assure Nan that it wasn’t a big deal.

“By the time you made it to the hospital, there was quite the stir and there were news teams already waiting for you here.” Nan began to bounce on the bed excitedly.

 “I don’t remember.” Mina replied lamely.

“Of course, you didn’t know. It was obvious from the footage that you were totally out of it. But it was so cool!” Nan gushed.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal. Someone found me and then….I don’t remember much after that.” Mina touched her forehead in confusion.

“What time is it?” Nan looked at the clock on the wall. “Here watch this; they’ve been replaying it over the last two days.” Nan grabbed the remote control from the hospital nightstand and furiously clicked away at the black box until the TV came to life. After a few hurried groans from Nan and more channel surfing, she squealed, “There you are!”

Mina watched numbly as a female news reporter dressed in a light jacket with a blue umbrella spoke in a mellow voice that showed little emotion. “Here behind me we see the rescue of one, Wilhelmina Grime, who was lost in the Mt. Adams National Forest. The girl, a sophomore at Kennedy High, was last seen after school with friends. How she ended up lost in the forest is still unknown. A mysterious call by Jed Parsons into the Parks Services, led to a quick rescue.”

The cameraman panned to the ambulance as Mina was loaded on a stretcher with the help of the emergency techs.  It was obvious from the way her head flopped from side to side that she was passed out from exhaustion.

The camera and a different reporter pushed through and tried to shove a microphone in her face. “Mina, can you tell us how you became lost in the woods? Were you kidnapped? Held as hostage?”

The camera zoomed in close to Mina’s mud streaked face.  Someone tried to push the microphone away from Mina but not before it picked up her delirious whisper of one word. Mina in her unconscious state called out one name. One very audible boy’s name and it wasn’t one she was expecting. She called out Jared’s name.

Mina froze in her hospital room and prayed that the reporter hadn’t understood her. But the reporter was fast, she was able to pick up Mina’s whispered name and she repeated it into the mic. “Who is this Jared? And if you know him, you better tell him that Wilhelmina Grime is calling for him.”

“EEEEK!” Mina screamed into her hospital blanket as she watched herself on the small TV. She couldn’t have believed it, wouldn’t have believed it, if she hadn’t just seen it with her own two eyes. The news report was proof that she was completely insane.  Well, hopefully no one would know that she was speaking about the Jared from her school. What if people got the wrong idea? What if Brody heard?

Mina crumpled onto the bed and pulled the thin blanket over her head to hide herself from the world. She could hear the obnoxious reporter speak again, only this time it was a current broadcast, and it sounded like she was broadcasting from outside the hospital. Groaning, she pulled down the blanket enough to see the screen and the group of kids from her school leaving flowers, posters, and cards by the hospital for her. She was touched, she didn’t think anyone even knew who she was, but here was proof of their fondness for her. What happened next completely changed her mind.

The reporter, whose name was Brandy Westhouse, appeared next to the serious and demure face of none other than Savannah White. “So how do you know Wilhelmina?”

Savannah’s face looked forlorn with faked sadness. “We are friends at Kennedy High. Best friends and I’m devastated at what happened. Wilhelmina is sweet and didn’t deserve to have something bad like this happen to her.” Savannah sniffed and wiped fake tears away with a Kleenex. Mina rolled her eyes and would’ve given a million dollars to see if the hanky was actually wet. Savannah continued. “I only wish that I could’ve taken her place.”