-1Chapter 9

The uncomfortable chair she was occupying was as cold and hollow as she felt. Linka blinked and continued to examine her hands in her lap. It was still a blur to her how she had gotten into the silent waiting room of the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). She had regained consciousness on her way to the hospital, in the backseat of the Jeep with her head resting on Gi's lap. Kwame was driving, with Ma-Ti sitting beside him up front. According to Gi, the police had come with the ambulance and the Planeteers had given them Linka's recording device after filling them in on the details of their mission. The two Mexican brothers had been arrested and brought in for questioning.

It felt like they had been waiting for centuries, years of plain nothingness, for any news on Wheeler's condition. Linka blinked again, movements automatic like a robot. There was a light touch on her hand and her head lifted to see Suzy, who had quietly taken a seat beside her. Linka looked in her brown eyes and saw the tears flowing there, mixing with the black mascara on her long lashes.

"I'm so sorry, Linka," Suzy broke the silence in the tomb-like room.

"It's my fault. It's all my fault…"

"Shh," Linka silenced her and enveloped her trembling body in a hug. "You never intended for anything so terrible to happen. We are very glad that you are safe and sound."

Suzy had received a minor cut on her forehead that had been already bandaged and looked after. Aside from that, Linka saw that Suzy was still in shock from the horrific events witnessed. The girl had not stopped shaking or crying since they had met her in the emergency room.

"He shouldn't have jumped in front of me," Suzy shook her head, her tears staining the front of Linka's shirt. "He's a good person, my life is not worth his…"

"Stop, Suzy!" Linka firmly took the girl by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I do not want to hear you say such things! Wheeler obviously thinks you are a person worth saving, and you are. Please, do not let his deed go to waste."

Suzy sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Linka softened at the sight of her, for she was a hurt puppy needing care.

"Suzy, you need to get some rest, your body is exhausted," Linka went on more gently, stroking her hair. "Let us go downstairs and get you a taxi, so you can go home and sleep. Your mom and dad must be very worried about you, nyet?"

Suzy shook her head at the proposal. "I can't go. I want to know what the doctors say about Wheeler."

"It could take hours before we know anything," Linka reasoned, sweetly. "I promise I will let you know as soon as we have any news. You will make yourself sick by staying here."

She rose from her seat and tugged on Suzy's hands. "Come on."

Suzy followed Linka, unsure on her feet at first, but then allowed the Russian girl to lead.

Linka moved through the actions mechanically, the leader in her springing into action, but recollected no feelings associated with seeing Suzy home. She even managed a smile for the girl looking at her from the backseat of a yellow taxi. It wilted like a flower once Suzy was out of sight. With slow movements, Linka made her way upstairs, opting for the stairs to allow more time before she reached the little jail on the third floor, with its hateful aqua painted walls and plastic chairs décor.

When she arrived, the other three Planeteers were standing close to a tall woman in a white medical coat. Gi turned once Linka entered and held out her hand for the blonde girl.

"Dr. Rendell just got here," Gi voiced as Linka took place beside her. Linka's heart was beating so furiously it was lashing against her chest, and she prayed that no one else was able to hear it.

"I apologize for the wait," spoke the doctor, her eyes kind as she scanned the faces of the four friends.

"Let's talk about Jacob. The good news is that we've managed to remove the bullet from his shoulder. It looked worse than it actually was, I bet, with all the blood it drew. There is no apparent major nerve or muscle damage."

The doctor paused before drawing a breath, and Linka involuntarily squeezed Gi's hand tighter. A person's words had never been as important to her as the ones being uttered by this woman facing them.

"As for the troubling news," went on the woman in her professional tone of voice. "The impact of the fall on the cerebral area was too extensive. It caused him to go into a comatose state."

Linka saw the shocked and hurt faces of her friends. Gi's eyes were already glassy with tears at the doctor's revelation. She wondered if her own face showed any signs of grief, for all she felt was numbness.

"He's in a coma?" whispered Gi, as tears fell from her beautiful, almond shaped eyes. It was Kwame who placed one arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

Dr. Rendell nodded.

"We never know the prognosis with comas. Some patients come out of them unharmed, other patients display brain damage upon their awakening, others still never wake up. It depends on the length of the coma, as well. Usually, the longer the coma, the more fatal it can be."

Linka was feeling light headed again, so she took a series of deep breaths to calm the spinning room before her. Her stomach was like a stormy ocean, every wave bringing about a hit of nausea. Her Yankee boy. Her golden-hearted, mellow, heroic Yankee boy, whose light could go out any moment because of a cruel twist of fate. Her eyes stung with tears and she blinked them back, clenching her jaw to keep them at bay, as the doctor's glance fell on her at that exact moment.

"Please, don't lose hope," the doctor encouraged, gently. "I can imagine how difficult this must be for all of you. Especially since Jacob risked his own life to save someone. It attests, I think, to the kind of person this young man is. What you can do now, all of you, is to stand by his side. Studies tell us that a patient in a coma can hear what is being said around him. It's important for him to hear familiar things and voices, especially from the people closest to him. It serves to keep the brain active. I would suggest topics that are not too burdensome, and that there are no more than two visitors at a time in the room. We have already contacted his family. I assure you we are doing the best we can. Please keep in mind what I have told you. I'll try my best to make regular appearances and keep you all updated."

The doctor smiled, placing a light hand on Linka's arm for solace, before she exited the room. Somehow, Linka had singled out a chair and she nearly collapsed on it. Her legs were refusing to hold her up and, again, she felt the weight of tears forming in her eyes. Now that the doctor was gone, she let them run like wild rivers on her cheeks, her face instantly becoming soaked. It was Ma-Ti who sat next to her.

"Wheeler needs us to be strong right now, Linka," he voiced, and his voice was clear like spring water. "The doctor is right. We have to do our best to show him the path that leads back to us. It's like he's lost in the darkness now, and he needs our help."

"Can you…" Linka's voice was hoarse, and she swallowed to better its condition. A deep breath and then she continued, "Can you feel him?"

"No," the Indigenous boy shook his head sadly as he examined his Planeteer ring. "I felt this painful thing earlier, like an electrical current, I guess it was when he was falling. And then, void, nothing from then on."

They sat in silence and Linka's tears left drying streaks on her face. She had no more of them to cry. Perhaps it was a sign. A sign for action. There had been a time to weep, to feel miserable, but Ma-Ti was right. Wheeler needed her. He had to know that she was waiting eagerly for him, that she needed him. She pledged silently to make this her mission, to do everything in her power to bring him back. She needed him, they needed him, the world needed him!

Linka stood on an impulse and all eyes turned to her.

"I am going in to see him." She was glad that her tone of voice had sounded stronger than she felt. She drew some energy from that, it helped to lull the impeding sense of numbness.

"I'll come, too," Gi offered, wiping her eyes decisively. "That is, if you want me to come with you."

Linka walked over to her best friend and placed a kiss on her warm cheek. "Thank you, Gi, but I would rather go in on my own, before I lose all courage to do anything."

Gi nodded and squeezed her hand. "Be the strong woman I know."

The hallway Linka traveled wasn't nearly as long as she would have liked to prepare her for the task at hand, so she paused outside Wheeler's door and took three deep, calming breaths. She could hear the beeping of machines coming from the room as she moved the door slightly to allow her entrance. Her legs lost some of their energetic momentum once she saw his still frame on the bed. She swallowed the knot in her throat and cautiously took a seat on the chair next to the bed. Wheeler's face seemed pale, even more so against the white of the hospital bed. There were a few small cuts on his forehead, cheeks, and lips, but the rest of him seemed unharmed, except for the heavily bandaged left shoulder. Linka was careful when she took his hand, for he was wired to all kinds of devices to monitor his organ activity. It was a strange sensation to take his hand and not have him squeeze back. Linka blinked the tears away (how many tears could one person produce in one day, anyway?) and placed a soft kiss on his palm.

"Hello, Yankee," she voiced, placing as much life as she could into her tone. "I'm here. Kwame, Ma-Ti, and Gi are outside and they are all very eager to see you, as well. Your parents will also be here soon. They were called by your doctor. Her name is Dr. Rendell. You would like her, she seems like a very compassionate person. Suzy was also in the waiting room not long ago, but I told her to go home and rest. I hope you do not mind, but I was worried about her. I think she had reached the limit that a person can take in one day. But she was okay, otherwise. Hear that, Jacob? You saved her life. You should be very proud. Right now, I know you would probably just shrug off what you did, with that sense of modesty you always carry when you do something heroic. Sometimes, a very selfish part of me wishes that you were not so selfless. This is one of those times. But then, when I really think about it, you would not be our Wheeler if you were any different, so please stay as you are. Okay, okay, maybe you can change little things, like play your music a little less loudly, or share the last hamburger, or clean up the Common Room after you finish watching your movies. Da, I know, then I would probably have to change some of my annoying habits, so how about we call it even?"

Linka was stunned by the number of things she was able to voice. It had seemed like an insurmountable task when she had learned of it, but now she felt delight in knowing she was keeping Wheeler company, that the room was not so silent for him.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked, lightly running a hand through his hair. "You know the staff will hear from me otherwise." She traced the cuts on his face with feathery strokes, moving her eyes to his heart monitor. The activity was steady and unchanging, filling the air with its beeps.

"When you open your eyes, and you will, I want you to see the people you love most gathered here around you. Team Jacob has a lot of fans, you know that?"

Linka leaned her head lightly on his pillow and allowed her eyes to close momentarily. "Do you remember the last words you said to me that night? I do. You said, 'just trust me'. I did then, and I do now. Usually, it is hard for me to trust people. It takes a while. I am afraid of getting hurt, I think, that I will just be let down. But with you, it's different. I can allow myself dream with you. Do you know how important that is? I happen to think that is one of the best gifts anyone can ever receive.

"Back to the trust thing, well, now I need you to trust me. We will make it through this. Understand that, Yankee? Our lives are traveling hand in hand, and I cannot go on without you. So, you are going to fight, okay? I need you to fight harder than you have ever done before. I know you can do it. You have taught me how."

Linka straightened up in her chair and placed a delicate kiss on his forehead.

"The others want to come in, so I have to let them for a little bit. I really do not want to go, but I promise to be back very soon, okay? I am actually very impressed with myself. I thought I was a pretty good visitor, nyet, Yankee? I was not weepy or silent or boring… well, I will leave that up to you to decide."

Linka's spirit decided, on its part, that it was definitely better being purposeful than being idle. And it was on this course that she embarked; the length of her journey, she left in God's hands.