Nothing is Set in Stone

Chapter 19 - The Aftermath

Dex's POV:

I rush outside, Sophie's scream echoing in my ears.

I see her passed out on the ground, a circular band around her head. Holy crap, that looks like the restrictor. Only there are tendrils encircling her head, sucking.....oh no. Sucking her abilities out. 

I yell at Biana to take care of Keefe with the gadgets I made earlier. She catches them and I turn back to Sophie. I grab the nearest weapon I find, a knife, and start frantically cutting the band. If I can break the connection, the whole thing should stop working. 

But at what cost? I have no idea how much damage this has done to her. 

After a minute of sawing, I finally get the damn thing off. I rush over to Elwin. We had him stay close by because when does Sophie ever get out of a situation like this unscathed?

"Something was sucking out her abilities. Stabilize her, now! I'll be back with Keefe once we....take care of him."

Elwin nods and leaps to the healing center. 

I turn to Livvy and Biana. They've gotten the petal off. Good. But Livvy is still working on the drug she's giving to him. It's tricky, because she has to get in the right vein, otherwise she won't be able to suck out the flower's syrup.

But finally she gets it, and Keefe stops writhing. 

I finally take a breath and look around. There's a knife in my hand. Broken metal and glass litter the ground from me breaking the 'crown'. All of our friends stand in one corner, eyes wide, mouths open. No one dares to speak.

It takes me a minute to find my voice. "We need to go see Sophie," I croak.

Then I faint and fall to the ground.

                                                                                               ...

When I wake up, I'm in the healing center.

I sit up as every bad thing rushes to the front of my brain. 

"Where's Sophie?" I ask, my voice cracking, "And how long was I out?"

Elwin rushes in. "Dex! Thank goodness you're awake. Sophie is okay now, but...I'll tell you soon. You've only been out for a couple of hours. Exhaustion, I assume."

I rush out of my bed, "Where is she?"

Elwin nods his head to the back room, "That's where I put patients who'll be spending a while here. Her and Keefe are there."

I swallow, my mouth dry. "How long will they need to recover?"

"I expect Sophie'll be up in around 4 weeks. As for Keefe, maybe 8, 9 weeks?"

My chin drops. "What the hell happened? Why do they need to stay so long?"

Elwin's eyebrows furrow. "I-I'll tell you when I tell the others. We were waiting for you to wake up. They're all back there with Sophie and Keefe."

I stand up shakily, then make my way to the back door. 

When I go in, I almost faint again from surprise. Sophie's long hair is chopped short into a pixie cut. Keefe looks dead, but his eyes are open, and looking straight ahead. 

Biana comes over and crushes me in a hug. I pat her back awkwardly, still staring at Sophie and Keefe. 

Elwin clears his throat. 

"So I've done some tests. Sophie and Keefe will live. Unfortunately, there are some repercussions. I'll start with Sophie. The technology that Gisela used on Sophie was something I've never seen before. Dex, thank you for taking it off so quickly. But, there was some harm done. Sophie has lost her Telepathy."

Sophie's eyes fill with tears, and she grabs at the sheets trying to make sense of what Elwin just said. 

"You-you mean," She chokes

Elwin holds up a hand. "Sophie, you're alive. That's all that matters. Your abilities do not have to define you. You define who you are."

He's right of course. My own dad is talentless, and look where he's at. He has a loving family, and he gets to do what he loves every day. Elves get so caught up in abilities it's sickening sometimes. 

He continues, "As for Keefe. Again, thanks goes to Dex, and Livvy of course, who helped to extract the flower. Keefe is not under a trance anymore. But...he has suffered some brain damage. He will probably show some symptoms of severe anxiety, because his brain was not his own during a lot of the time Gisela was controlling him. I will need to keep him here for at least 8 weeks to monitor him, and help him cope with the symptoms."

Keefe lifts his head ever so slightly. Tears trace their way down his face, his mask hiding emotion no longer in place. 

"Foster," he whispers.

Elwin ushers everyone out. "Let's give them some space."

(Unedited)