Chapter 4:
Just goes to show you how much you can miss when
you're shopping for leather. Sam and I had been at the
other end of the mall when all of a sudden Cale comes
running around the corner at full speed. Next thing we
know we're being pulled toward the food court, people
are screaming, crap is flying all over the place. A
shoe nearly hit me! Naheem, as it turns out, got
whacked upside the head with a piece of the wall! I'm
sure to him it was something more dignified than that,
but from where I was standing it looked like her got
whacked upside the head with a piece of the wall.
At the moment, I was sitting in a hospital waiting
room with Sam and Brian. Mia and Cale were sitting
across from us, and Sage was leaning up against the
wall with his arms crossed, looking pensive. Sam and I
were thumb wrestling. We weren't really all that
worried. He was only unconscious for a minute or two.
Or seventeen, but he looked pretty comfortable to me.
I was just about to win the 20th round when we heard
a lot of cursing coming from Naheem's room. I raised
my eyebrow.
"Maybe the morphine wore off," Sam offered.
A nurse came running out of the room. "You can see
him now," she threw over her shoulder as she swiftly
passed us.
"Kay," I said.
As I got up, Brian was already halfway through the
door. Sam followed right after me while Sage, Mia and
Cale hovered near the door.
"You can come in you know," Naheem said from where he
sat on the end of his hospital bed. The three of them
looked a little unsure. I don't know why, it's not
like he was in one of those backless paper hospital
gowns or anything. I think they just didn't want to
crowd him.
"Sorry," Mia said. "We just didn't want to crowd
you."
Told you.
"Nah," he said. "I'm fine. Just a bump on the head."
"Are you sure it's not serious?" Brian asked.
"Excuse me?" a soft voice interrupted. We all turned
to the door to see the green-haired girl that Naheem
had been with when he got hit. She had a bandaged
ankle and a small scrape on her forehead, but
otherwise she looked okay.
"Hi," Naheem said, sliding off the bed and walking to
her at the door.
"Hi. Listen, I just wanted to thank you for… for what
you did today," she said. "It was… it was really nice
of you to… Thank you."
"No problem. I'm Naheem by the way."
She smiled. "Jade." She cleared her throat. "I should
get back to my friends. They're worried." With that
she scampered off like some kind of bunny. Okay, so
I'm not much with romantic imagery, but the point is
that Naheem was staring off into La-la Land. That is
of course, until he turned to face us, and his little
smile completely disappeared when he saw our BIG ones.
"Someone's got a crush," I sang.
"Naheem and Jade sitting in a tree F-U-C…" The rest of
whatever Sam was about to say (and I think we all have
a very good idea) was cut off as I slapped my hand
across her mouth.
"We'll have none of that so near the children's wing
my dear," I told her. "Where were we? Oh yeah." I
launched into my best impression of the green-haired,
soft-spoken girl. "I just wanted to… I wanted to…
thank… Thank you, oh tall dark and handsome stranger."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Naheem said.
Yeah," Brian joined in. "I mean just because he
couldn't stop staring into her eyes, just because he
was so completely oblivious to anything while she was
talking that flesh-eating ants could have devoured his
hand doesn't mean that he's in loooooooooove with
her."
"Shut up!"
"Naheem's in love with Jade! Naheem's in love with
Jade!" I sang, with Sam adding "whoos" in the
background to punctuate the song.
We sang it all the way back to Mia's house. In fact,
we were singing it as we walked through the door,
causing many an eyebrow to rise.
"Who's Jade?" Rowen asked.
"Uh," Sage said. "Naheem's girlfriend."
"She is not my girlfriend!"
"Okay," Rowen said, not really understanding what was
going on. "Well, we've been trying to figure out what
got you guys here and how to get you back."
That shut us up right there and then. We followed
Rowen into the dining room where Anubis, Dais, Sekhmet
and Kayura sat looking through dozens of dusty old
books.
"Did you find anything yet?" Brian asked.
Anubis stood up and led us back into the living room.
I threw a concerned look towards Sam, but she wasn't
looking at me. The red-haired man motioned for us to
sit down, and cleared his throat.
"We, the others and I, have been researching all day.
We've checked our sources in the Nether Realm, even
cast a few spells."
"Do you know how to get us home?" Naheem asked.
Anubis looked down for a moment, avoiding making eye
contact with any of us. Then, slowly, he looked up and
met Naheem's eyes.
"I don't think we can."
Just goes to show you how much you can miss when
you're shopping for leather. Sam and I had been at the
other end of the mall when all of a sudden Cale comes
running around the corner at full speed. Next thing we
know we're being pulled toward the food court, people
are screaming, crap is flying all over the place. A
shoe nearly hit me! Naheem, as it turns out, got
whacked upside the head with a piece of the wall! I'm
sure to him it was something more dignified than that,
but from where I was standing it looked like her got
whacked upside the head with a piece of the wall.
At the moment, I was sitting in a hospital waiting
room with Sam and Brian. Mia and Cale were sitting
across from us, and Sage was leaning up against the
wall with his arms crossed, looking pensive. Sam and I
were thumb wrestling. We weren't really all that
worried. He was only unconscious for a minute or two.
Or seventeen, but he looked pretty comfortable to me.
I was just about to win the 20th round when we heard
a lot of cursing coming from Naheem's room. I raised
my eyebrow.
"Maybe the morphine wore off," Sam offered.
A nurse came running out of the room. "You can see
him now," she threw over her shoulder as she swiftly
passed us.
"Kay," I said.
As I got up, Brian was already halfway through the
door. Sam followed right after me while Sage, Mia and
Cale hovered near the door.
"You can come in you know," Naheem said from where he
sat on the end of his hospital bed. The three of them
looked a little unsure. I don't know why, it's not
like he was in one of those backless paper hospital
gowns or anything. I think they just didn't want to
crowd him.
"Sorry," Mia said. "We just didn't want to crowd
you."
Told you.
"Nah," he said. "I'm fine. Just a bump on the head."
"Are you sure it's not serious?" Brian asked.
"Excuse me?" a soft voice interrupted. We all turned
to the door to see the green-haired girl that Naheem
had been with when he got hit. She had a bandaged
ankle and a small scrape on her forehead, but
otherwise she looked okay.
"Hi," Naheem said, sliding off the bed and walking to
her at the door.
"Hi. Listen, I just wanted to thank you for… for what
you did today," she said. "It was… it was really nice
of you to… Thank you."
"No problem. I'm Naheem by the way."
She smiled. "Jade." She cleared her throat. "I should
get back to my friends. They're worried." With that
she scampered off like some kind of bunny. Okay, so
I'm not much with romantic imagery, but the point is
that Naheem was staring off into La-la Land. That is
of course, until he turned to face us, and his little
smile completely disappeared when he saw our BIG ones.
"Someone's got a crush," I sang.
"Naheem and Jade sitting in a tree F-U-C…" The rest of
whatever Sam was about to say (and I think we all have
a very good idea) was cut off as I slapped my hand
across her mouth.
"We'll have none of that so near the children's wing
my dear," I told her. "Where were we? Oh yeah." I
launched into my best impression of the green-haired,
soft-spoken girl. "I just wanted to… I wanted to…
thank… Thank you, oh tall dark and handsome stranger."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Naheem said.
Yeah," Brian joined in. "I mean just because he
couldn't stop staring into her eyes, just because he
was so completely oblivious to anything while she was
talking that flesh-eating ants could have devoured his
hand doesn't mean that he's in loooooooooove with
her."
"Shut up!"
"Naheem's in love with Jade! Naheem's in love with
Jade!" I sang, with Sam adding "whoos" in the
background to punctuate the song.
We sang it all the way back to Mia's house. In fact,
we were singing it as we walked through the door,
causing many an eyebrow to rise.
"Who's Jade?" Rowen asked.
"Uh," Sage said. "Naheem's girlfriend."
"She is not my girlfriend!"
"Okay," Rowen said, not really understanding what was
going on. "Well, we've been trying to figure out what
got you guys here and how to get you back."
That shut us up right there and then. We followed
Rowen into the dining room where Anubis, Dais, Sekhmet
and Kayura sat looking through dozens of dusty old
books.
"Did you find anything yet?" Brian asked.
Anubis stood up and led us back into the living room.
I threw a concerned look towards Sam, but she wasn't
looking at me. The red-haired man motioned for us to
sit down, and cleared his throat.
"We, the others and I, have been researching all day.
We've checked our sources in the Nether Realm, even
cast a few spells."
"Do you know how to get us home?" Naheem asked.
Anubis looked down for a moment, avoiding making eye
contact with any of us. Then, slowly, he looked up and
met Naheem's eyes.
"I don't think we can."
