Chapter 11 - The Miracle


Simon yawned. He had been sitting on a hospital bed for about 10 minutes. Dr. Martin was examining his legs, feeling for anything abnormal. After a few minutes, Dr. Martin looked up at Simon and smiled.

''Well, Simon, I don't see anything out of the ordinary at the moment, so you just stay right there while I go get you a new tire for your chair'' He said, still with a smile on his face.

''Alright, Dr. Martin'' Simon said as he moved over to the front of the bed and switched on the television. Apparently, someone had kidnapped a bunch of famous actors and rock stars from around the city.

The kidnapper was holding them hostage at an unknown location. The Newscaster said that the kidnapper now had 5 celebrities hostage and was demanding the sum of 10 million dollars in ransom. He planned on killing them if he didn't get his ransom money. Simon shivered. There was something about the man on the TV. It was as if he had seen him somewhere before. It wasn't clear to him where he had seen this man before, but he was somewhat certain that they had met.

The kidnapper was broadcasting a streaming video from an old video recorder. The image was fuzzy, and the sound was low and distorted. The news was showing the live stream and were covering the story as it happened. In the video, the Kidnapper described his intentions and his demands. Simon didn't want to watch anymore. He didn't want to think of depressing things like crime. He wanted to be happy. After all, his friends were waiting for him outside and he would be with them as soon as Dr. Martin came back with the tire.

Suddenly his friends came running through the door. Alvin, Brittany, Eleanor and of course, Jeanette...but no Theodore.

Simon was happy to see his friends coming. He didn't know what had happened. There was no way he could have known. He was trying to be happy and optimistic about the situation. He was going to greet them as warmly as he could, but he noticed the looks on his friend's faces.

''What's wrong?'' Simon asked

''It's Theodore, Simon...someone took him'' Was Alvin's reply.

''Took Theodore? Where? Who?!'' Simon exclaimed.

''We don't know. We have no idea. We don't know who it was, we don't know where he was taking him and we don't even know why!''

''I'm sorry, Simon. There was nothing we could do'' Jeanette said.

''NoNo! We've got to save him! We can't just sit here and cry about it!'' Simon said, trying to arouse his brother's passion for adventure, but just this once, when Simon actually wanted it, it wasn't there. Alvin and The Chipettes just looked at Simon, sorrow and tears glowing in their eyes.

Simon refused to believe that this was how it was going to go. He didn't want to. After all they had been through, together, he wasn't about to let it end this way. He dragged himself over to his wheelchair and sat himself down in it. He pushed his wheelchair along, through the room away from the window, out into the hospital corridor. To his left was the staircase that would lead him downstairs to the ground floor, and to his right, a long hallway. Simon pushed his chair over to the staircase, tears still shining in his eyes, blurring his vision. The Chipettes and Alvin followed him outside. They stood behind him as Simon looked down the staircase at the wall at the end. On the wall there was a big sign that said ''EXIT'' and a white arrow on a green background pointed to the right. As he thought about what his brothers would have done for him, He couldn't keep it in anymore. A single tear dripped down his cheek and hit the black and white checkerboard tiles on the floor. Simon took a deep breath and looked ahead. He leaned forward, making his right foot fall onto the first step downward. He pushed as hard as he could against the floor...And rose. His friends watched in amazement as Simon, who had just seconds ago been paralyzed for life, Got out of his chair, stood there for a good minute or so and then turned his head back at them and said:

''I don't know about you...but I'm going to find my brother''

Simon began walking down the steps, leaving his wheelchair behind. He turned to the right onto the ground floor and towards the exit. The nurse that was standing behind the reception desk just stared at him in awe as he walked right past her. She dropped her pen on the floor, but didn't even seem to notice. Simon stopped for a few seconds and looked up at the Television set hanging on the wall by the door. After not much more than about 5 seconds, he threw open the double door and stepped outside. It had just now hit his friends that Simon just walked out of his chair and they all came running down the stairs just in time to see Simon's backside disappearing out the door.

''Where is he going?!?!'' Brittany yelled.

''How should I know?!?!'' Alvin called back at her.

''Did you guys even see what just happened?!?!!'' Eleanor yelled.

Jeanette just stood there, staring at the TV. She looked at it for a few seconds before turning to her arguing comrades. She pointed to the Television set.

''Do you guys see what I see? If that's what I think it is, I think I know where Simon is going'' Jeanette said.
The others stopped their yelling and bickering and looked at the TV. There was an image of a familiar shady figure, which the television now identified as the Kidnapper. He was standing in what looked like a forest. To the right, the sounds of moving cars could be heard and to the left the image of a few of the kidnapped stars could be seen. Theodore was one of those stars.

''Jeanette! We can see he has Theodore, but we don't have a clue where he is! He could be on the other side of the country by now!'' Brittany yelled angrily at her sister.

''No, Brittany. Look. Right there'' Jeanette said as she pointed a finger towards the bottom left of the screen. What they saw there, made their hearts skip a beat and their blood cooled in their veins.

In the corner, a few feet behind the kidnapper, partially hidden behind a bush, lay a large, round, blue pair of spectacles. The left glass was cracked.