The Green Guardian

Chapter 24: Euphorbia's Successor

        Nighttime in Seranet felt like a dream. Fireflies flickered, and the pixies' mushroom houses glowed softly. The village hospital was outside and under a tent in a small grove. It was a bit cut off from the rest of the village. The hospital lacked beds. Soft, feathery mats replaced them. The tent also sported a few tables, chairs, and dressers. At the very end of it, near the exit, was a concrete fountain that had a statue of a fae man–a warrior to be exact. He held a sword in one hand and a rope in the other.

Mateo was the only patient in the hospital. Everybody else in the village was healthy. He felt so out of place and lonely.

Mateo stared at the fountain's heroic statue. He recalled the days when he was a hero himself–the days of Ranger Anthony. He pushed himself onto his elbow and pulled a notebook and pen out of his hiking pack. Mateo shuffled under his white blanket. He put his notebook on his pillow and opened it. The gentle drops of dripping water from the fountain cleared his head, making it easier to write. He wrote for a good ten minutes. His note took up the whole front and back of the college-ruled page. With each sentence, he grew more choked up. His handwriting was a lot messier than usual because he had injured his dominant shoulder, and it hurt to move it. At the end of the note, he wrote "Love, Mateo."

He took a few minutes to look it over, and then he slipped it, his notebook, and pen back into his pack. Soon after he did, Evie, Ben, and Edger entered the hospital.

"Hey, Mateo," Evie said.

He sat up. His head spun momentarily, but he shook it out. When he managed to collect his bearings, he fixed his attention on Evie, Ben, and Edger. He noticed Edger carried a rather suspicious, oxygen-like mask. One look at it, and his fear accelerated to a whole new level.

The others came within reach of him.

Edger inhaled and exhaled a few times before he said, "Mateo, we've been talking about it, and we think the best thing we can do is put you to sleep."

Mateo's eyes widened. "No!" His voice was hoarse. Sleep was no longer on his agenda. Before Edger could put the mask over his nose and mouth, he hastily crawled away from him, Ben, and Evie. He hid behind the statue of the fae warrior and clutched the fountain's rim with both hands.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Mateo, please, you're a grown man."

"I don't care!" he yelled. "Get that mask away from me!"

Evie, Ben, and Edger started to move in on him. They refused to give up. Mateo needed to sleep. It was the only way his body was going to heal.

"Stay back!" He conjured up a wall of sickly green vines. They concealed him in a cocoon. A group of them slapped the others.

Ben, Evie, and Edger fell onto their backsides. They batted the vines away.

It wasn't long until John joined the party. He saw Evie, Ben, and Edger struggling against Mateo and couldn't help but ask, "Should I get a baseball bat?"

Ben glared at him. "Don't you dare, John! We can't risk giving him a head injury."

Evie pushed her way through Mateo's rampaging vines.

He shoved a few into her and tightened his grip on the fountain's rim. "I want my mom!"

"You'll see her tomorrow," Evie explained. "Mateo, we hate seeing you in so much pain. Why can't you just let us help you?"

"I don't want your help! Just let me die!"

"As if!" Evie snapped. "You're too young to die."