The Final Showdown - The Moon Trilogy - Book 3

Chapter twenty-two:

   After a few long moments of Johnny clearly trying to tell her something that she couldn't hear, she shook her head as she sat up, wondering if doing so would dislodge some sort of blockage in her ear canal. It didn't work.

   She was close to accepting her deafness when her ears suddenly—started working again. There was no pop, no ringing. They just switched on again.

   "What's wrong?" Johnny asked, noticing her shift in expression.

   "I couldn't hear." her voice came out as little more than a croak. She cleared her throat.

    "Are you alright?" there was a concern in his voice, deeper and more serious than it should have been. What had happened when she'd been asleep?

    She nodded, offering him a smile as extra reassurance.

   "By the way, how long was I out?" she asked, the thought only just occurring to her. If she had to guess, she would say quite a while, but dreams had strange timelines, and she couldn't know for sure until someone told her. A day or so?

   There was no way she'd actually been asleep for the eons it had seemed like.

   "A little over a week," Johnny replied, still looking far too concerned.

   She felt fine. She didn't know why he was being such a worrywart. She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

   The time had a measurement now, and she wasn't a bit shocked. It had honestly felt like longer.

  She was basically standing now. So far, so good. She didn't feel particularly weak, and nothing hurt.

   She was about to ask another question when she suddenly remembered something very important, or, more accurately, someone very important.

   August.

   If she was right, he would have woken up along with her. And she really, really hoped that she was right.

   She rushed through the door, and then she collided head-on with Rachel.

   Rachel had tears in her eyes, but her face brightened into a smile when she saw Clarity. "You're alright!" she gasped, throwing her arms around Clarity's neck.

   Clarity wormed her way out of Rachel's embrace, inwardly wincing at the thought. She had to check on August before she had any time for reunions.

   "I'm alright, but I don't know if August is." She said as consolation as she ran to his room.

   Rachel followed, a shocked, numb countenance surrounding her like a cloud. Was it really that big of a deal that Clarity had been asleep for a few days?

   Clarity let out a relieved laugh when she saw that August was sitting on the edge of the bed, gingerly removing an IV needle that had been stuck in his arm since before the stone-age. She didn't understand why everyone was fussing over her when August had been out cold far longer than she had.

   He looked up at the sudden opening of the door, and he smiled. It was good to see him smile in real life again; to see him awake, at last. The last time she'd seen him smile had been when they'd parted ways after defeating the Organization, which felt like a million years in the past. And it hadn't been a very happy smile, either.

   After a second, everyone else came through the door in one, long parade. Though they were shocked at their sudden, duel awakening, they'd all seen stranger things before. This was just another day in the life.

   She suddenly remembered that August had been wanting to say something before he'd suddenly disappeared when they had been in the dream place.

   "Hey," she stepped closer to the bed. "You were saying something, just a second ago, but you got cut off. Was it important?"