“She’s in a
terrible amount of pain,” Grandma said, covering for me, but it was the truth.
“Her scans are
back now.” The nurse looked at me compassionately. “I’ll get the doc in here
and see if we can’t give her something for the pain.”
I tried to control
my tears when the doctor came in a few minutes later and started explaining my
current condition to my family.
“The scans look
good around her head,” he said. “However, she does appear to have a serious
fracture in one of the lumbar vertebrae in her spine. There’s a significant
amount of swelling around the fracture though, so we’ll need to wait for it to
go down and then we’ll probably have to operate.”
“What’ll the
operation be on, specifically?” my mom asked.
“We need to
stabilize the vertebrae so it won’t slip and do any damage to the spinal cord. We’ll
watch her for the next twenty-four hours and re-evaluate things from there.”
“Okay,” Dad said.
“I’ve already sent
her papers to admitting,” the doctor added. “The nurse will be in shortly to
give her something for the pain.”
“Thank you, Doctor,”
my dad replied, reaching out to shake his hand.
“Dad, I can’t stay
here,” I complained, the moment the doctor couldn’t hear us anymore. “I have to
go find Vance.”
“Let us worry
about that,” my dad replied. “You have to get better first.”
“Dad, he’s a
healer. If we find him, he can fix me. Please! You have to take me with you!” I
was starting to feel more than a little desperate.
The nurse entered
the room now. “Here’s some pain meds for you, sweetie.” She picked up my I.V.
and administered it straight into one of the ports. “If you start feeling
nauseated, just let me know.”
It was amazing how
fast the medicine moved through my system. I could taste it in my mouth before
she was even done pushing it all in. I felt a wave of dizziness and a heavy
sensation passed through my neck.
“Daddy, don’t
leave me,” I pleaded once more as I fought the medication. “I have to find
him!”
“Honey, the police
are doing everything they can.” I knew he didn’t really mean the police, but
the nurse was still in the room.
I could feel the
medication begin to ease all my pain, and I turned to my Grandma.
“Gram. Please,” I
slurred in desperation, but the room started spinning, and I was suddenly so
very tired.
I closed my eyes
and drifted into blissful unconsciousness.
Chapter 22
I spent the next
twenty-four hours in and out of awareness. I welcomed every single pain shot
when it came, for it offered me a mental release from my anguish. The doctor
had been in to visit with my parents again, and I was scheduled for surgery
first thing in the morning, if the second scan showed I was ready. They were
going to put some titanium around my vertebrae to help keep it together
properly.
Grandma had gone
back to Sedona and was heading up the search for Vance with the remaining
numbers of our coven. I knew our powers were greatly diminished with our loss
of Vance and Marsha, as well as Dad and I not being there.
Mom said the
police were still looking for Vance as well. He was the only one who hadn’t
been accounted for from the school. All the kids in attendance had been
shuttled down to the football field after the explosion, and every single one
had been interviewed by police before being turned over to their loved ones.
My mom cried when
she told me I was the only survivor from my class, and I cried for an hour
straight after that.
Everyone at home
was calling my escape a miracle, but I knew the only reason I’d been spared was
because of the magical shield that protected me from the falling debris. I felt
undeserving.
All I could think
about was how Maggie and I had been laughing one minute and she was dead the
next. She had probably been buried right next to me. I imagined her lying under
the rubble while people walked over the top of her to get to me, and the guilt
was excruciating.
Dad kept telling
me it wasn’t my fault and Maggie was probably already dead before the rescue
people even arrived. It didn’t help me feel any better.
Grandma called to say
the school was going to close early for the holidays. Christmas was just two
and a half weeks away, and the school board felt the kids needed the next month
to get through the trauma they had just experienced. It would also give them
the time needed to repair the school. Grief counselors were going to be
available to anyone who needed them and would be stationed at Verde Valley
Medical Center.
Grandma also said
she located a witch in Phoenix who had healing powers. She said the woman was
on her way to Flagstaff to offer her services and her name was Sandy. Dad
thanked Grandma profusely and said he would keep an eye out for her.
When the woman
arrived, the nurse’s station called my room saying I had a visitor, and my dad
went to get her. I liked her immediately, as soon as she entered the room. She
was an older woman with short salt and pepper hair. She had lots of smile lines
around her kind eyes, and there was just an air of goodness about her.
“I’m so glad I
could come and help you,” she said, reaching for one of my bandaged hands that
had recently had all the glass picked from them.
“Thank you for
coming.” I smiled.
“Oh! I see you
have quite a lot of pain, and not just from your injuries either.”
“Yes,” I replied,
my thoughts going instantly back to Vance.
“Well, let me see
what I can do.”
She began running
her hands all over me, similar to the way Vance had done before. Every time she
hit a sore spot she lingered a little longer. Then she reached underneath me
and placed one of her hands under my broken spine.
I groaned at the
pressure.
She placed her
other hand on my stomach, and I began to feel a change as a white light started
glowing from beneath her hands. Instantly, soothing warmth flowed through me,
and I knew without a doubt the bone had been repaired. There was no more pain
from my injury.
She removed her
hands. “I left the cuts in your skin, but removed the pain. I figured one
miracle would be enough for the doctors to fuss over.”
“You’re
wonderful,” my mom said, getting up to grab the woman by the hand with unshed
tears of appreciation in her eyes. “How can we ever repay you?”
“No repayment is
necessary,” Sandy said with a smile, clasping my mother’s hand in both of hers.
“I was devastated to hear about what happened to all those poor kids. I’m only
too happy to be of some help.”
“We’ll always be
in your debt,” my dad spoke.
“Yes,” I added. “If
there’s ever anything I can do for you….”
“Just be happy and
live your life.” Sandy reached out to pat me.
The nurse came
into the room shortly after my dad had left to walk Sandy back out to her car.
“I just wanted to
let you know that someone from radiology will be here to get you soon. It’s
time for your second scan. The doctor wants to check you over one more time
before surgery, just to make sure you’re ready.”
“Okay,” I replied
with a nod, hoping they would be quick about it so I could get out of there.
“You look a lot
better to me today.” The nurse paused to glance over me. “You aren’t nearly as
flushed as you were a while ago.”
“I’m feeling much
better,” I said, honestly.
“Well, that’s
good,” she smiled. “Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before they come. Let’s
get you well!” She checked my vitals and my I.V. before leaving the room.
“I just want to go
home now,” I said mournfully to my mom.
“Patience, darling.
Hopefully you’ll be able to leave by this evening. These things take time.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I
don’t have time for this. I need to find Vance.”
The x-ray tech
came in then. “Hi. I’m John,” he announced in the same manner of every medical person
I’d met during this whole experience. “I’m here to take you for another scan of
your injury. Just lay back and enjoy the ride.”
He wheeled my bed
out of the room and back into radiology, where we repeated the same procedures
we had done the night before. After a while he came out from behind his
equipment looking a little confused.
“I have a few
questions about the scans I just took, so I’m going to retake them so I’m sure
the doctor gets a good picture.”
“No problem.” I
tried not to smile to myself, and we went through the whole thing again.
I hadn’t been back
in my room for very long when the doctor came in looking a little strange.
“I have good news,
I guess,” he started, reaching up to scratch behind his ear. “Either there was
some sort of mix up with our scans yesterday, or we’re witnessing a miracle,
but I can’t find anything on these scans that remotely resembles a fracture. Would
you mind if I examine you?”
“Not at all.”
“Are you in any
pain?” he asked, looking me over a bit warily.
“No,” I said. It
was mostly true. The pain I had was nothing a doctor could fix for me.
“Can you carefully
roll to the side?”
“Sure.” I complied
easily with his request.
The doctor ran his
hands up and down my back repeatedly.
“Let’s stand you
up now.”
I did so effortlessly,
though I felt a bit groggy still from my pain medicine. He had me move, slowly
at first, and then ended up having me bend and stretch.
After several
minutes of doing everything he’d asked, and me beginning to feel a bit like a
circus monkey, he told me to sit back down.
“Young lady, I
have no explanation for what has happened here, but you seem to be fine. I see
no reason to keep you here any longer. If your parents are in agreement, I’ll
start the papers for your discharge.”
“If you’re sure
she’s okay, we’re fine with it,” my dad replied, smiling. He and Mom both
thanked the doctor, who left the room still scratching his head.
One hour later I
was free. I was showered, dressed in clean clothes, and in the car headed back
toward Sedona. My heart became lighter and lighter with each mile we drove
closer to home, and I started laughing.
“What is it?” Mom
turned to look at me, perplexed at my attitude.
“He’s still here
somewhere,” I said, unable to contain my relief. “The physical pull hurts less
and less the closer I get. He has to be alive somewhere in Sedona.”
“Well, don’t get
your hopes up too high, Pumpkin. There’s a reason we haven’t found him yet. He
must be being held captive, or he would’ve shown himself by now.” my dad said.
“I know.” I
started to cry, my previous moment of joy being shattered with despair. “I
can’t take it anymore! I have to find him. If only I could hear him.”
We pulled into the
driveway when the first wave of agony hit me.
“
Aaahhhh
!”
I screamed, doubling over in pain, grabbing my wrist.
“What’s
happening?” my mom called to my dad. She unbuckled, jumping up to lean over the
seat, looking at me in fearful concern.
“
Aaahhhh
!”
I screamed again, this time grabbing at my other wrist. “The pain! Make it
stop! Please!”
Dad threw the car
into park and turned around. He started grabbing the bandages at my wrists,
ripping them away from my body. As he exposed my skin, both he and my mom
gasped together.
Though the skin
wasn’t broken, angry red slash lines began to appear all over my arms, followed
by what looked like bite marks.
“What is it?” my
mom yelled frantically as I cried out yet again.
“We have to get
her to my mother’s,” Dad said, turning back behind the wheel and throwing the
car in reverse. “They’ve started feeding on Vance!”
I lay moaning on a
cot, surrounded by what was left of our coven. The rituals had been ongoing for
most of the night. My physical connection to Vance was obviously as strong as
ever.
He had been fed on
several times in the last few hours. The slashes and bite marks would appear on
me while it was happening to him. Following the feedings we began to notice
gray marks starting to creep up my veins.
My dad said this
was happening because they were feeding him their blood to help replenish his. He
explained to me that this was how the exchange happened, how Vance would
eventually become a demon.
I curled myself up
into a ball and cried inconsolably for hours on end. I cried until there were
no tears left to cry. Yet still I sobbed, while my body was wracked with
uncontrollable spasms. I cried until I fell into exhaustion. Then they would
start feeding on him again, and the whole cycle started over.
I was losing him. I
could feel it. I could taste the poison as it slipped through his body, and I
didn’t want to live anymore. I just wanted to die.
“Portia, you’ve
got to fight this,” Grandma said, as my dad lifted my limp body so she could
pour some type of herbal concoction down my throat.
“I don’t want to
live,” I groaned in agony. “Not if I can’t have him.”
“Drink some more
of this,” she commanded, shoving the drink back into my face. I tried to take a
swallow, but I began vomiting.
“Now what?” my mom
said in frustration from where she was sitting in the corner.
“Vance’s body is
trying to reject the blood they’re giving him,” my dad explained. “He’s the one
who’s causing her to vomit.”
“I can’t take this
anymore,” she said, getting up and storming from the room.
“Where are you
going?” Dad called after her.
“To pray at the
church.” She slammed the door behind her.
Dad looked over at
Grandma, and she shrugged.
“Every little bit
helps. This doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe God can step in.”