Mortal

Chapter 28

I spend a long time in the hospital. The symptoms of my heat exhaustion fade until I feel almost normal again, but the nurses say that my leg is in very bad condition. It's broken, and it has a second degree burn from my ankle to my knee. They say I'll probably be in crutches for a few months.

It's 11:30 A.M. The nurses have finally let visitors into my hospital room. The boy, Phareth, and Tsareth sit at my bedside.

"Shadow, I brought you some ice cream!" Says Phareth, excitedly. He hands me a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a spoon.

"Awww, you're so sweet," I say.

"It's good to have you back," says Tsareth.

"It's good to have all three of you back. You, Shadow, Visphione," says Phareth.

"Where is Visphione?" I ask.

"She's in a separate hospital. This hospital is designed for mortals. Since she's been in a coma for so long, she needs to go through physical therapy to gain her muscle back. They say she can come home in a few months," says Phareth.

"I want to meet her," I say.

"I know! She was so excited when we told her about you! She wants to meet you too," Says Tsareth.

"Are you going to start your band up again?" I ask. They don't answer for a few seconds. "Please?"

Tsareth smiles. "Oh, alright, little Shadow. As soon as Visphione is out of the hospital and she can sing, we can try."

"Yay! I love you guys," I say.

They both hug me.

"Awww, we love you too," says Phareth.

Tsareth checks his Messenger.

"Oh, we have to go visit Visphione," he says.

"You have to leave?" I ask.

"Sorry, Shady. We promised Visphione we'd visit her. The nurses said you can go home later. We'll be back to come get you," says Tsareth.

They leave the room, and the boy goes with them. I'm now alone.

~

For the next few hours, I don't do much. When Phareth and Tsareth come back to get me, I am put into a wheelchair, and they wheel me outside.

Tsareth picks me up and places me in the truck. He buckles my seatbelt for me, and we start the ride home. Finally.
Both Phareth and Tsareth feel elated. I think I see Tsareth wipe a tear. I feel like I could cry tears of joy, too.

"I can't believe we can finally go home," I say.

"We can finally all be together again. All of us, even Visphione," says Phareth.

"I wonder what's going to happen to us now," I say.

"I don't know, but I do know that I never want you to do that again. I don't want you to ever fight Thermapondreix again. Hearing him torture you over the Messenger, watching him nearly kill you and how ill you were after we got you out of the cage, that was horrible," says Tsareth.

"But he's still out there! He's going to do everything he did all over again! We need to stop him for good," I say.

"Not you. You need to focus on your future. We've decided that we're sending you back to your home planet. It's for your own good," says Phareth.

My heart skips a beat. I don't want to go home. I'm sobbing and begging them before I even realize it.

"No, please, please don't sent me back! Please!" I beg.