The Adventures of Nancy Drew (In Chronological Order) Season 1

Episode 8-What Really Happened at the Hospital

I'm sure you're smart enough to know that the culprits of the hospital break-in were not members of a notorious terrorist organization, but a couple of adolescent mermaids who were trying to be heroic. It was reasonable for Tony to think the disappearance of a Jane Doe was linked to the bombing of Northern Los Angeles, but his concern was blinding the truth from him. First, that the patient was not a Jane Doe; it was Nancy Drew. And second, she was not  kidnapped. She was rescued, and this is how it happened. 

At about midnight, Sal took Lyla and Ondina to the cave in which the others were waiting. Elizabeth and Evelyn had fallen asleep, but Destiny was wide awake. She couldn't contain her excitement when she met Lyla and Ondina. These were real Merminians, and they wanted to save Nancy!

Immediately, Sal got a trace on Nancy by using her wand. Lyla and Ondina's jaws dropped at the sight of the contraption. They had never seen a wizard's magic up close.

The shock wore off quickly, though, when Sal ushered them out of the cave. They had no plan and no weapons, only a vague assurance from Sal that they would succeed. Destiny was disappointed about having to stay behind, but she didn't complain. Elizabeth and Evelyn couldn't be left alone. They were the smallest and least powerful of the group. Destiny understood they needed to be protected. She just hoped three mermaids would be enough to save Nancy.

Now that Sal knew exactly where she was going, she was able to swim a lot faster. She and the Merminians arrived at Los Angeles in a mere two hours. Her wand was as green and bright as the lighthouse from The Great Gatsby, so she knew she was close. 

With Sal's help, Lyla and Ondina gained their legs. They had been to land a couple times on orders of the king, but the process was twice as hard for them since they were full mermaids. Sal was only half-mermaid, so she was able to transform faster. Once the two of them were properly clothed, Lyla and Ondina followed Sal until the wand told her they had arrived in the vicinity of Nancy's presence: Franklin Hospital.

Now it was time for the hard part. The dangerous part.

An invisibility spell would buy them some time, but Sal knew it wouldn't last long. Wizards under the age of 18 had to use training wands, which meant they didn't run on magic. Instead, a limited energy source called Mana powered them. As long as you had enough Mana, your wand would work just fine, but if you were too low, like Sal was, it didn't matter what spell you cast. It wouldn't be as powerful, and that made using the wand very risky. 

After Sal explained all this to her newfound allies, Ondina suggested they sing their way through the hospital. They were sirens, after all. Their voices could manipulate people into doing almost anything, but that's what worried Sal. Her mother had taught her to use her voice to make people happy, not control them. The thought was sickening, yet what choice did she have? Nancy's life was at stake.

Reluctantly, Sal agreed that she would sing only as a last resort. They were invisible now, so they had an advantage. If they could manage to get Nancy out of there without drawing attention to themselves, singing wouldn't be necessary. 

The three mermaids sneaked past the receptionist effortlessly. The sigh Ingrid said she heard down the hall had been planned. It was Lyla's idea to distract her so Sal could see which room Nancy was in. While Ingrid was entranced by the Merminians' lullaby, Sal snooped on the computer and found out Nancy was in room 35 on the first floor, which was just around the corner. 

Unfortunately, that's where things took a turn for the worst.

The disturbance the security guards had heard came from room 35. Sal was trying to take all the needles out of Nancy and it stung quite a bit. Also, the medicine that was keeping her alive numbed her brain to any logic or reason, so she didn't understand what was going on. By the time Sal and Nancy got out into the hallway, the guards were almost there. Lyla and Ondina were nowhere to be seen and Sal's invisibility spell was wearing off. She was going to be caught "kidnapping" a patient and hauled off to jail if she didn't think of something quick.

The guards speeded toward Sal. Out of pure desperation, she began to sing. She sang a song so powerful it seized control of their bodies. She watched in horror as they went limp. Their eyes stared blankly at her and their guns clattered awkwardly to the floor. Sal's voice wailed with guilt. She didn't want to turn these men into puppets. She just wanted them to forget they'd seen her. 

Meanwhile, Lyla and Ondina were having a little too much fun with Ingrid. They used their voices to make her do all sorts of silly things. They were spinning her around in circles when their invisibility spells wore off just like Sal's. In their shock and panic, Lyla and Ondina lost control over Ingrid. She came to her senses and realized they weren't human. Too afraid to scream, she ran to get security, only to find them unconscious at Sal's feet. It was this incident that provoked Ingrid into calling the police, but Lyla and Ondina got to her before she could tell them everything. Their voices were a lot stronger than Sal's, so they didn't need her to erase Ingrid's memories. They were able to make her forget on their own.

Nancy was slipping in and out of consciousness this whole time. Once Sal got her to the ocean, the cold water shocked her awake. The journey back to Mako was quick and painless for the others, but to Nancy it was torture. Sal began to second guess herself. Maybe she should have waited until Nancy was in better condition before coming to rescue her. However, Lyla and Ondina shut down Sal's doubt with a single piece of advice:

"Take your sister to the moonpool. The water will heal her."

It was hard to just take their word on it, but all the stories she'd heard about Mako as a child had turned out to be true, so why would this be any different?

The girls watched intently as Sal set Nancy against the surface of the moonpool. Destiny bit her nails. Mirroring Elizabeth, Evelyn covered her eyes. Lyla and Ondina hung back to give Nancy space. Sal closed her eyes and prayed.

We've already lost most of our family. Please don't take any more of us away.

Slowly but surely, Nancy was healed. The radiation flushed itself from her body and her injuries disappeared. The only sign she had ever been hurt at all were the few bruises that stuck to her arms and chest. Aside from that, she was healthy once again.

"Nancy!" Elizabeth and Destiny squealed. "You're alive!"

Before Nancy could get a word out, her twins were in the moonpool. They hugged her and squeezed her and giggled as children do. Evelyn rubbed her eyes to check if they were working. She was smarter than the average toddler, so she knew how slim the chances had been that Nancy would survive. 

"Is she okay?" Lyla asked as Evelyn started to cry.

Sal scooped Evelyn up in her arms. "Yeah, she's just overwhelmed with joy. We all are."

Ondina beamed at the little mermaids splashing around the moonpool. She had helped reunite them. That was a better reward than any treasure she could have been given from the king.

"Thank you, for everything," Sal said earnestly. "If it weren't for you, we would never have saved Nancy. I owe you my life."

"You owe us nothing," Lyla stated. "It is our duty to help mermaids, Merminian or not."

Nancy wished Lyla and Ondina could have stuck around long enough for her to thank them herself, but she was still weak and needed rest. Elizabeth and Destiny were already pushing her to the edge of the moonpool when she realized this. They laid her down on a ledge that jutted out from the rock and fell asleep with her. 

Ondina bowed to Sal. "Feel welcome to stay here as long as you need. We assure you Mermina will not turn you away."

"Thank you, but we're actually going to leave in a few hours," Sal murmured. All her sisters were asleep now. "We know someone who can protect us from our father."

"Well, in that case, we bid you farewell," Lyla pronounced, "and good luck."

Sal couldn't help feeling a little sad as she watched Lyla and Ondina go. Sometimes the friends you've known for the least amount of time can have the biggest effect on you. This was one of those times. Sal's encounter with the Mako Mermaids had salvaged what she had left of her family. She would never forget their kindness.