14. Dion’s Plea
“Diiiooonnn!!” The blood curdling screams barreled through the silent house. Antony and I were playing a racing game. We dropped our controllers and ran for the kitchen. The twins entered the room, still screaming my name.
“What is wrong?” I pressed.
“It is Kasey. It is not good, Dion.” Martin looked panicked.
“What did you see?” I screamed at him.
“She is running in the forest, scared and screaming.” Martin said.
“What? That is the present. John, what did you see?” I tensed.
He shook his head and his eyes glazed over. “Oh, Dion I am truly sorry.”
I grabbed him by his shirt mad with desperation. “What did you see?”
“Her body at the bottom of a cliff.” Tears streamed down his eyes.
“Nooooo! No, that is the future, which has not happened. We have to find her. Now!” I yelled at my brothers.
“Dion, I am going to call my friends they will help us. Martin, John, can you focus on a location?” Antony gripped my shoulder. “Remember the future cannot be changed.”
He headed out the door.
“Maybe, but we must at least try to help her.” I ran my hands through my hair. This could not be happening. This could not be real. Why her? Why now? The universe made no sense she is to be my intended. Outside, Antony chirped loudly, within a few minutes every type of bird that lived in the forest surrounded us. Our pool deck looked like a quilt of multi colored feathers. There were Black Storks, Scops Owl, Little Bitterns, a Black Vulture, and Eleonora's Falcon.
“My friends I ask a favor of you. There is a girl with hair as red as fire. She is either running through the forest or has fallen over a cliff. Please find her and tell me of her location.”
The Scops Owl resembled the bark of a tree. Its stone rough colors helped it hide into the forest’s natural landscape. The Owl flew down with wings wide and landed next to Antony on the lounge chair. She spoke to him with a series of chirps and whoos. Antony translated, “She says she saw the girl earlier at the ancient ruins.”
With that, all his feathered friends flew up in a massive dark cloud dispersing through the great sky.
“I am sorry Dion we are too upset, we cannot get a location.” Martin said irritated.
“I am going to the ruins, meet me there.”
The vibrations rattled everything in my proximity as I broke the sound barrier. I normally tried not to do that as to not raise suspicion on us, but at this very second I did not care. I needed to get to her before John’s vision came true. When I arrived at the ruins, Kasey’s little black purse lay on the ground in the middle of the stones. Sam’s lifeless body lay ten feet away.
The rage over came me, and I knew he was behind this. The cliffs were to the north. Just as I approached, James stood at the edge of the cliff. His fingers twitched. Then Kasey’s body appeared, floating in air, over the cliff’s edge. He gently lowered her to the ground.
I slowed and approached her lifeless body. With great care, I placed my hand under her head.
“Kasey,” I said to her. There was no response. I brought my ear to her face and felt a faint airflow exiting her lips. A slow stream of blood from a cut on her forehead trickled down, and her cheek was rosy pink from an abrasion. Her eyes twitched with pain.
“Dion! I am truly sorry. We never meant to hurt her. He was supposed to only scare her.” James said panicked.
“Get away from her!” I raged.
I picked up her body carefully and cradled her close to me. She made no sounds but her facial expression became that of pain. She experienced some sort of ache.
“Stay with me Kasey. Hold on my love.” I whispered in her ear. Afraid the pressure of my high speed could crush or break any bones she might have broken on her fall. I reduced my velocity by half and headed for Max’s clinic. She let out a low cry of pain. I kept whispering into her ear, “Just stay with me Kasey. It is not much longer now.” I had to hurry. Max would not be able help her if she died.
The clinic glass doors, with their white letters that read “Dr. Maxamillian Kleon,” were locked. A light shined down the hall. I pounded on the door with my foot. If he arrived a minute later I would have kicked the glass door down, but Max came running to the door straight away. Opening the door, he asked. “What happened?”
“She fell off a cliff,” I answered.
“What! Go to the first room lay her down. Is she breathing?”
We ran to the first exam room. I placed her body down on the cushioned exam table. Max lit the room with the pale florescent lights.
“She is barely breathing,” I informed him.
“Go get her an oxygen mask, now!” As I left the room, his hand began to glow. I returned with the oxygen materials, positioned the mask over her face, and hooked up the tube. Max looked grave.
“She has a concussion, but worse, her cervical spine is fractured in three different places. I sensed severe nerve damage. Her ribs are pressing against her lungs.”
“Ohhh…God…” I bent down, placing my hand to her forehead.
“Dion, I can reposition her lungs back in place to get her breathing again, but if the nerves broke off completely and detached near her dorsal spinal root…” He stared at Kasey. “She might not walk.”
Sick, I felt an ache all through my body. I looked at Max.
“Please, do what you can. She is in pain.” I urged. He nodded.
I could not stand the thought that she was currently suffering. At that moment, we heard the door to the clinic and Antony, John, Martin, and James walked into the exam room.
“Let us get started.” Antony said taking his spot next to Max.
James, Martin, and John stayed by the foot of the exam table.
“What is James doing here?” I growled. The anger consumed me and revenge was all I wanted. James gave me a regretful expression I did not buy.
“Dion, I did not do this. We were only trying to scare her away from you. Believe me, I want to make sure that she is all right.”
Growling through my teeth, I grumbled. “You have no business here.”
“Dion!” Max snapped. “I need your focus here, not there.”
His hard command caused me to snap out of my anger.
“What do you need?” Antony asked Max.
“Get me a towel and a scalpel.” Max ordered. Antony began rummaging through the cupboards.
“Dion, help me flip her. Easy now.”
We rolled her body so that she lay on her stomach. There was an echo of gasps as we all saw the three slashes across her back with some bloodstains. Sam did this to her. There was no doubt he pushed her off. Angst and rage battled inside of me. I pulled her ponytail away from her face and positioned her arms down at her sides.
Max whispered a prayer under his breath. He pulled the drawer under the sink and pulled out a pair of surgical scissors. He took the scissors, cut straight up her ripped shirt and bra, and then cut the straps off. He stretched her white tank top off her shoulders and off her sides exposing her back. He took his left hand and placed it around her neck it glowed with bright yellow rays. Then her back began to glow in the same manner.
“Dion, you do not have to watch this,” Max said.
“I am not leaving her.” I placed my hand over her head and stroked her hair with my thumb.
“Remember she will never feel a thing,” Max reassured. “Antony the scalpel.”
Antony handed Max the scalpel. Then Max cut a perfect line into her flesh from her neck to the bottom of her back. The incision did not bleed Max had the ability of controlling the blood flow and keeping it within her body. I held my breath and could not swallow due to the lump in my throat. Max put the bloody scalpel down then with the same hand; he parted her flesh using only his thumb and pointer finger. The incision needed to be wide enough for him to slip his hand through it.
I turned my head and closed my eyes. Over hundreds of years, I watched him perform countless surgical procedures. Never did I care for the medical profession, but it by no means bothered me. Tonight was different. I could not bear the thought that Kasey was undergoing this. She did nothing to deserve this. It was merely because she was with me. How could I have left her unprotected? I never imagined a brother of mine capable of such a thing.
I opened my eyes as Max inserted his hand into the widen incision.
After rummaging around her insides, he said. “Her lungs are good. You can remove the mask. I have her breathing normal.”
Antony detached the oxygen mask from her face. I squeezed her hand. An ache pierced my stomach as clicks resonated through the silent exam room.
“Her bones are in place. Now I am going to start to repair the nerves.”
Martin stepped back after the third crack; he rocked from side to side. Time never moved more slow. It took him numerous minutes or so. As his hand passed the damaged areas in her spine, his fingers worked to heal the tissues, muscles, and nerves.
When his hand reached her lower back, his eyebrows furrowed.
“What is wrong?” I asked.
“This is the area I worried about. She has two nerves still attached by a miracle.”
“Does this mean she will walk?” I asked.
“Give me two seconds and I will let you know.” Max’s fingers worked. He concentrated. “They healed nicely. She will walk.”
I sighed. My legs gave out and I bent next to the table. Then I kissed her forehead.
Max pulled his hand out of her body and wiped it on the towel. With that same hand glowing, he passed it over her incision gliding his fingers skillfully on the opening. He began from the bottom of her back to the top, ever so slow. After his radiating fingers passed over the cut, it vanished. When the entire incision and the three slashes on her skin were gone, he removed both his hands from her body.
“Flip her over.” Max commanded. I placed my hands under her shoulder and rib cage then lifted her up. I moved my hand onto her chest holding her clothing in place to keep her decent. I could feel her tender breasts beneath my fingertips. Antony rolled her towards him and we laid her onto her back.
Max placed his glowing hand on her forehead. The bleeding cut disappeared. He then ran his thumb down her cheek and healed any reminisce of the scrape. Max went over to the sink and scrubbed his hands. She began to moan.
“Max…” I found it hard to get the words out, “I cannot even thank…” I shook my head and swallowed hard.
“I know Dion…I know,” Max reassured.
“Dion, we know what she means to you,” John placed his hand on my shoulder.
“She is special to you brother, she is special to all of us,” Antony smiled.
“We would give our lives for her,” Martin stepped up.
I had not notice that James had stepped out of the room, but he reentered with a blanket for Kasey. We laid the blanket over her, body this woke her into consciousness. She looked around the room confused. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it twice.
“What…” she tried to ask, but her voice was hoarse and raspy. She lifted her head.
“Get her some water.” Max ordered Martin.
He left the room.
“Take it easy Kasey, relax.” Max placed his hand on her forehead. She rested her head back, but still looked concerned.
“How do you feel?” Max asked.
“Strange…I’m really sore.” She looked around bewildered.
“Do me a favor and move your legs.”
She immediately looked alarmed. Kasey rocked her legs back and forth.
“You will feel stiff, as if your body underwent a rigorous work out. Before you walk make sure to stretch your spine and legs.” Max instructed her.
Martin re-entered the room with a plastic cup of water. He handed it to me and I brought it to Kasey’s lips. She reached up and tried to take hold of it herself, but her hand trembled.
“What happened?” she asked, looking at James. He avoided her eyes and looked down ashamed. “I was being chased and then…”
“You fell off a cliff. Max mended your spine. It was fractured,” I informed her.
“What? Really?” She became anxious.
“We will give you some space.” Max gestured for the others to leave the room.
They left, and I bent close to Kasey’s face. I leaned in and kissed her tenderly.
“Will I be alright?” She asked concerned.
“Yes. He was able to heal your spine completely. You scared us. For a second we didn’t think you would walk again.” I kissed her forehead.
“I can’t believe I’m not in pain.” She said amazed.
Max entered the room. “Pardon me, Kasey but you have been through quite an ordeal today. I would suggest you rest for a while.” Max dimmed the lights.
“Dion, why not go with your brothers and look for Sam? I shall stay here with Kasey, she will be fine.”
I kissed the back of her hand then I kissed her lips. I whispered into her ear, “I love you.” Then I squeezed her hand and walked out of the room so that she might sleep.
15. Kasey It’s Time
I didn’t want Dion to leave me, but my body craved sleep. He left and before Max closed the door, I called his name.
“Do you need something?” he asked.
“No, no, I…I wanted to thank you for saving my life. I know you don’t particularly like me…I just wanted to say thanks.”
“My dear Kasey, I am truly sorry if this is what I have led you to believe. It is not that I do not like you. You are a fine girl.”
“I always thought you didn’t want me and Dion together.”
He confused me.
“In a way I do not. You have to understand, I know what my brother is going to go through when this period of bliss is over. Cyra and I were in absolute ecstasy. So in love, so much passion, and then in a fraction of a second she was gone. There is not a day in a thousand years that I do not yearn for her touch. Some days I wake up in the morning, and I swear I can smell her floral scent next to me. There is nothing more powerful than love and nothing more painful. I would never wish this eternity of suffering, of longing to be with her some day, on any man, much less my own brother. My wishes were for him to avoid this pain. But I suppose love is unavoidable.”
I could see the suffering in his worn eyes. Would this be Dion after I’m long passed?