Chapter 4
"Paige!" Henry exclaimed! Surprised to see his ex-girlfriend after all these years. "I didn't know you were back in town!"
"Yeah… I've been back for a while now. I've seen the world… didn't like it." The blonde lady replied.
"Are you visiting somebody in the hospital?" The young man was curious. As far as he knew, Paige did not have any close relatives in the city nor did she have many friends.
"Oh! I volunteer as a candy-striper. I come here every once in a while when I have the time."
"Wow! You are very dedicated then. I can't believe that I come here everyday for the past year and have not once bumped into you…"
"Till today." Paige completed.
"Right."
"Who were you visiting then? Must be somebody close if you are here everyday." She guessed.
"My mom." The young man said simply.
"Oh dear! What happened? Is she getting better?" The blonde was genuinely concerned.
"There was an incident at work… she was in a coma. She woke up last night." Henry was cautious to not let too much information out. After his ex-girlfriend betrayed him, he could never trust her again.
"I'm glad to hear that she is getting better."Paige paused. "Maybe the next time you are here, we could get coffee and catch up?"
The young man was not sure what Paige's intentions were. The last time he spoke to the girl, he yelled at her for talking about witchcraft to her friends and exposing him for being a witch. They had a bad break up and Paige transferred school because the other kids would bully her and accuse her of lying.
"I can't… I need to take care of my mother."
"Some other time then?" The blonde said hopeful for a rendezvous.
"I don't think so, Paige. I have a girlfriend." Henry said.
"I wasn't trying to get back together. I just wanted a chance to catch up with an old friend. It has been a while."
"We'll see. I'm sorry but I gotta go." The young man excused himself. He should get back to his mother soon before visiting hours was over.
As Henry disappeared around the corner of the hallway, Paige took out her smartphone and looked through her contact list. She selected a contact and made a call. She waited for the phone to ring a couple of times before the person on the other end answered.
"She's awake." The candy-striper ended her call with a crooked smile on her face as she looked towards the direction Henry went.
"Does he know?" Regina asked Mary-Margaret and David as soon as Henry had left the room.
"No." David replied.
"Keep it that way. He would be devastated if he found out." The patient said. She was now able to sit up. The little physiotherapy combined with some self-healing had allowed her some mobility. But she has not gained her full strength as of yet.
"Do you remember how the assailant looked like?" Inquired Mary-Margaret. They did not have much time to discuss the case. They did not want to do it in the presence of Henry.
"He is foreign. Maybe British. Wait… no… Scottish." Regina's head was starting to hurt again. Trying to force a memory of a traumatic event was not easy. She tried her best to ensure that she was remembering it correctly. Sometimes the brain has a tendency to make up other reality during a trauma.
"Try… please… You are our only lead. You were the only person who saw him in person. It has been a year since the book was stolen and many witches has died since." The smaller brunette begged.
"He is really powerful. He broke through my protection spell." The older woman stated. The other two went silent.
This was bad news. Regina's magic was one of the most powerful in the ASF. The reason she was given the case was because of her powers. Daniel, Mary-Margaret and David was part of the task force created to defeat the thief that stole the ancient spell book. They were chosen because they were the most senior agents aside from their chief.
They were quick to track down the thief. They realised too late that it was a trap. The team split up to cover more grounds in the huge warehouse. Mary-Margaret and David found the accomplice and managed to arrest him. Regina and Daniel found the leader who immediately threw several fireballs at them. Her husband wasn't quick enough to dodge the barrage of blasts headed his way and suffered a fatal hit to the chest.
Regina tried to protect them both with her protection spell but the sorcerer's magic was too strong. A single fireball penetrated the shield and hit the brunette right on her head. He could have finished her off but he decided to rush off with the book.
The ASF is getting desperate." David said, finally. "They may bring Henry into the task force soon. I overheard chief mentioning it today."
"Inform Henry's partner, Agent Swan. Tell her for Henry's sake, stay away from this case." Regina instructed her best friends.
Mary-Margaret and David nodded their heads in unison. Just as they were about to leave, the older woman called out to them.
"Could you guys help me with a little healing spell? I need to speed up my recovery and prepare to get back on this case."
The two best friends looked at each other and then back to Regina.
"This is a mortal hospital. They will get suspicious if you suddenly recovered." Mary-Margaret did have a point.
Regina was feeling helpless. She needed to protect her son. He was the only family she had. If anything, this only motivated her more to recover quicker. Being in the hospital unguarded could leave her vulnerable to another attack and Henry will be all alone. She can't let that happen. She had so much to fight for.
Little did Regina know, Henry had been slowly healing her ever since she was brought into the hospital. It was her son who had saved her life. The doctors told him that the chances of his mother waking up was very slim as she suffered major brain damage.
The young man did not take did this news very well. He decided on that day to break all the rules the government had set out for practicing witches. He took matters into his own hands and healed Regina. It took almost a whole year before all of the damaged brain tissues were repaired.
The doctors did not suspect a thing but they were curious because they have never seen brain tissues repairing itself this quickly to the point of full recovery. Thankfully, they chalked it up to Regina having a strong fighting spirit.
Doctor Whale was not convinced that the healing was natural. But he did not have proof that it was unnatural either. He decided to investigate the activities that goes on in Regina's hospital room by placing a bug to record the conversations in there.
… can you guys help me with a little healing spell?
Witchcraft! Doctor Whale finally got the answer he was looking for.
