OKOKOK! I know I've been gone for an age and a day, I'm Sorry!
(not that anyone really missed me...)
ANYway, Here's a longer that usual chapter to make up for it! Yay!
Reviews:
booksaremylife: I KNOW I WAS CRYING WRITING IT AND I AM usually AN EMOTIONLESS ROCK! ! ! I'm so glad you liked it, and hang on!
Sophitz4Ever: Y? BECAUSE WE LIKE YOU! Ok, why am I shouting so much? Sorry sorry for the huge hiatus after the cliffhanger! But I'm here now, and so we'll see what happens to poor Dex... (He's my fav, but you never really know...)
sandcrawlr: Hi:) Happy New year... Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!
NOW: Last time, as you may recall, we left Dex and Kelse in a state of oblivion collapsed on the streets of Mysterium. Is Dex dead? Is Kelse broken? Will they be found? Find out in this weeks episode of- Lost- In- (No, it's not space...) the Lost cities? Mysterium? Someone help me...
Chapter 38:
Sophie didn't want to hear the sound. She was right in the middle of a cozy, safe, beautiful shared dream with Fitz. He was the one who interrupted it to say Did you hear that?
No. Sophie gathered all the strength she could spare without waking to shove the word at him.
But there it is again, Sophie. What if there's something wrong?
Sandor can take care of it, grumbled Sophie, hating the feeling of waking up that was beginning to tickle her consciousness.
Honestly, Sophie. How can you willingly sleep through something like this? There it is again!
Easily. If Sophie had been speaking, she would have spat out the word. But Fitz's mind wouldn't drop it, so she sighed mentally and said Fine, what did it sound like?
Fitz replayed the sound. Sophie's mind crinkled in a virtual frown. That's my iMessage tone, from my iPod, she realized. The only one who knows how to reach me there is…
She sat bolt upright in her bed, wide awake. Kelse!
She grabbed the device from her nightstand and quickly read the messages.
"Sophie we got out but there's something wrong please can you come get us?"
"We're two blocks away from Slurps and Burps, but Dex has collapsed and we can't go any farther."
"I'm not leaving him but I don't even know if he's alive please Sophie help me please please…"
"Sandor!" screamed Sophie. Sandor barged into the room, sword raised.
"What's wrong?" he demanded.
Sophie waited until Grady and Edaline, whom she heard clattering up the stairs, made it into the room before she relayed the message. Edaline's face went white as she heard about Dex.
"We've got to go," she said, surprising everyone.
"We?" Grady asked.
"Dex is my nephew. I couldn't be there for Jolie and I can't always be there for Sophie, so the least I can do is try to be there for Dex. If it isn't too late…" She gasped as she finished the sentence, but there was steel in her eyes.
Sophie sent everyone out so she could change. Fitz fussed in her mind, wanting to come, but she shook her head.
You should stay with Biana, she said. I'll call you over in the morning, once we know what's going on for sure.
It is morning, Fitz grumbled, but he conceded on the point of Biana.
Sophie tumbled from her room in a tunic and pants that probably didn't actually match, but she wasn't looking. Sandor, Grady and Edaline joined her at the leapmaster, and together they stepped into the light.
It took a few precious minutes to find Kelse and Dex, since they didn't know which direction to go from Slurps and Burps, but at last they found them.
Sophie felt like she wanted to be sick when she saw all the blood. She wondered if this was how it felt to find her and Dex when they'd been kidnapped. She was starting to understand why everyone was so traumatized by that. Edaline gasped and grabbed Grady's arm, but held it together.
Dex was completely unresponsive, but Kelse moaned and fluttered her eyelids. Sandor immediately took charge.
"Grady, could you carry one of them? Edaline, please call for Elwin. We can take them to-"
"We're taking Dex home," Edaline insisted. "His parents deserve to know what's going on."
By the time they made it to the Dizznee house, the whole family was awake. It was eerily silent, though, as Dex and Kelse were carried in. Edaline conjured a second bed into Dex's room so the two patients could be together. Elwin rushed in a moment later. When he saw, he shook his head.
"This is very bad," he murmured. He whipped out his glasses and checked them. It wasn't long until he looked up, face grim.
"Kelse seems to be ok," he said. "Several bruises, and all her cells are depleted, but… none of this blood is hers." He turned to Dex. "I just don't know if I can do all it will take to save him."
Juline and Kesler clung to each other, looking very like Grady and Edaline had used to look.
Edaline just pursed her lips. "He's not dead yet, though?"
"Not… quite," Elwin faltered. "Not exactly."
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Kesler.
"Never mind, Kesler," murmured Juline, glancing at the triplets. "Let's just let Elwin work."
It was too late, though. Bex started to cry softly, and Juline smothered the little girl in her waist. Then, to Sophie's surprise, Rex started sobbing huge, loud sobs. He just stood, rooted to the spot with the violence of his grief. It seemed funny; Rex had always come across as the tough one. He had bluff and bravado enough for all three triplets, for sure. To see him so emotional was odd.
The strain on everyone's faces was obvious. No one else moved to calm the little boy, so Sophie went over and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Even then, he didn't move, just shook and wailed under her hand. Elwin looked up pleadingly. Gently, Sophie shepherded the boy from the room. The others filed out behind her.
When Rex and Bex had been calmed down, and Juline and Kesler were sitting with Edaline, who'd conjured some hot tea, Sophie went outside to think. Finally, she opened her mind.
Fitz?
Sophie?
Just hearing his voice in her head made Sophie calmer. How are you? How's Biana?
No change. Sophie could feel Fitz's worry. I'm ok, I guess. What happened? Is Dex…
The last thing Fitz had seen were the desperate texts from Kelse. Sophie filled him in on the rest of the story, and he cringed as she showed Dex's wounds.
He's not dead yet, if I even know what Elwin meant. But it didn't sound too hopeful. This is all my fault, Fitz!
No! The force in Fitz's voice knocked her back a little. No guilt, Sophie! Of course you should have called me to help, but that's in the past now. Think positive!
Thinking positive was going to be hard, but Sophie tried.
Do you still need me to come over? Fitz asked.
I think for now you should stay there, Sophie said. Just having you here in my mind is helping so much, and it might just add to the confusion if you came.
Ok. Fitz's smile made Sophie's heart flutter even though she could only feel it, not see it. Stay strong, Sophie. I love you.
I love you, too. Sophie closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of Fitz's presence for a few minutes longer.
It took Elwin many hours before he felt the patients were stable enough that he could leave.
"I'll be back tonight," he promised. "But I need some time to see other patients."
"There's no change in Biana's condition," Sophie blurted. Elwin shot her a quizzical look. "Fitz wants to know what time you'll be there. Um…" She blushed as she realized what she'd said.
"You're in contact with Fitz right now?" Grady asked.
"Never mind," said Edaline quickly. "We'll see you later, Elwin."
"Tell Fitz I'm coming right over," Elwin told Sophie.
When Elwin had glittered away, Sophie looked around at her family, wondering what they were going to do with the day. The Dizznees were in no condition to open the shop or anything else. It was the weekend, so there was no need to worry about school, but life still went on.
"I've got to get back to Havenfield," Grady said, glancing worriedly at the sober faces around him. "I'm getting a shipment of Javan rhinoceroses in the morning, and I don't have an enclosure ready."
"Go," Edaline urged. "I'll stay- unless you need me. Or," she glanced at Kesler, "do I need to go over to Slurps and Burps?"
"Uhm," Kelser looked lost.
"The world won't end if Slurps and Burps isn't open today," Lex said, surprising everyone. Sophie had just about forgotten him. "There are other apothecaries. If you would be so kind as to put a sign on the door, Aunt Edaline, that will be sufficient. And then, you should go get some rest, and take care of your own responsibilities. You too, Sophie. I will manage here."
"Lex… are you sure?" Edaline's face creased with worry.
The boy's face was hard and determined. "I'm sure. I'll make sure everyone's alright."
"I'll be back for when Elwin comes," Edaline said. "You coming home, Sophie?"
Sophie shot one last guilty look at Lex. "Actually, I need to go to Alluveterre to see Tam and Linh. They were pretty shaken after what we found yesterday."
Grady and Edaline left, and Sophie called Mr. Forkle to get her. The last she saw of Lex, he was patiently shepherding his family into the house, looking about twenty years older.
Mr. Forkle insisted on hearing all the details of the morning. He was grim-faced and angry when Sophie finished.
"I'll send Physic over to help," he promised. "Now, mind telling me what you and the twins are up to?"
"Not yet," Sophie said. "I want to make sure they're ready."
"Sophie…"
"I know, it's important, and as soon as I'm sure they're ok, I'll tell you." Sophie smiled tightly. "It seems like so much is piling up all of a sudden."
Mr. Forkle laughed. "It's felt like that since you were found, Sophie," he said. "Perhaps even since before that."
Tam and Linh were still shaken, but dealing better than Sophie might have hoped. As she had suspected, more memories were gradually emerging.
"It's a little disconcerting," Linh sighed, brushing her fingers along her silver-tipped hair. "And many of the memories are horrible. I never realized how accurate my title, the Girl of Many Floods, really was. So many cities, human cities-" She shook her head. But I'm sure the information will be useful."
"We just need a little more time," said Tam.
"Would you be willing," Sophie tugged at an itchy eyelash, "to help some others go through this? I'm probably going to have to start working with the others on the list, if we're going to thwart the Neverseen's plans."
Tam hesitated, but Linh nodded quickly. "Of course we will," she said, looking pointedly at Tam, who was scowling. "This is a terrible and difficult thing to go through. If there's any way we can help others, we have to try."
Tam sighed. "I suppose she's right. As usual."
They discussed a time the next week that they would meet up to plan their approach to the problem, then sat outside to watch the sunset, even though it was only two in the afternoon. Sophie'd never noticed the time zone differences before, maybe because she'd been so distracted by everything else that had happened.
She stopped by Everglen afterwards. Biana was awake and wide-eyed. She and Fitz were having a talk about the Darkness, as Biana called it. Fitz quickly transmitted and filled Sophie in as she came to stand behind his chair.
"You should have told me," he was saying. "It was a serious thing. You shouldn't have kept it a secret."
"I know," Biana murmured. "It was just scary. And kind of embarrassing."
Sophie smiled ruefully and laid her hand on the girl's pale arm. "I know all about embarrassing secrets and problems," she said. "I'm still not over the whole horse-girl thing. But I've come to realize that I can trust my friends, and that it's important to not keep these things to myself."
Biana smiled back weakly, twitching her arm under Sophie's touch as if she might return it if she had the strength.
Sophie stayed a little while, but she wanted to be back at the Dizznee's when Elwin returned, so she made her excuses a little before dusk. When she arrived, the erie silence still reigned. Inside, she found both Elwin and Physic already hard at work.
"I just don't know what else to do." Elwin's forehead was creased. "I've tried everything I can think of, but it isn't helping enough."
Lex, stone faced, stood on the corner of the room with Sophie and Edaline. They had decided it was better if everyone else stayed away.
"Well then, you don't mind if I try my hand, do you?" Physic asked, a little pointedly. Elwin seemed to resent her presence, but if there was nothing he could do…
He stepped aside reluctantly. "I don't see how you can find anything when I didn't, but if there's any chance of saving Dex, we've got to try it."
Physic's examination was short, but her prognosis struck Sophie hard. "He needs a blood transfusion," she said.
"A what?" Elwin looked horrified. "Is this more barbaric human medicine?"
"'Barbaric human medicine' is what kept Sophie alive more than once," snapped Physic, "and I was there, too, saving her. Dex has lost too much blood. If you want him to have any chance of surviving, you'll let me do this."
"I…" Elwin looked lost. He finally glanced over at Sophie. "Do you know anything about this?"
"Oh sure, ask Sophie," grumbled Physic, "not the doctor in the room."
"I know what you're thinking, Elwin," Sophie said, trying to control the familiar pale, shaky feeling, "but millions of humans owe their lives to blood transfusions. Needle or no, if Dex needs blood, that's the only thing for it."
Physic gave an approving nod. Elwin sighed. "Well, what can I do to help?"
"Can you test his blood type? I'll show you how it's done, but it's easier for a Flasher." Physic pulled a hologram out of her pack and demonstrated the different blood types. Elwin used his lights to test first Dex and then Edaline, but they weren't a match. He started to move toward Sophie, but Physic shook her head.
"Sophie's not a match," the woman said. "I should know."
Lex stepped forward. "I'll do it."
Sophie's heart skipped a beat, although she couldn't pinpoint why. "No Lex! You don't know what you're saying!" It just seemed so wrong, the little boy had done so much already, taking care of his whole family alone despite being one of the youngest, being the emotional rock through so much horribleness. To have to let him be stuck with needles, too?
"Am I a match, Elwin?" the boy asked without acknowledging Sophie, his voice tired.
Elwin flitted his orbs around Lex. "Yes you are," he said quietly.
Lex turned to Sophie then. "Would you rather have Dex suffer, maybe die? Or perhaps you'd rather ask the rest of my family, downstairs, tortured by what they saw this morning, to have a needle shoved into their skin? This is the only way."
Sophie wanted to argue; but the boy had made a point. So she dropped her gaze. Edaline went to hold Lex's hand while Physic got an I.V. ready. Lex sat down by Dex's bed, grey but stoic.
Sophie was ashamed of how much she wanted to leave the room. She forced herself to stay, because Lex was being so brave, but she couldn't watch.
When it was over, he was pale and shaky, but Dex was already looking better. Physic had explained to Edaline all the prescriptions the boys would need during recovery, and Elwin had pulled as many of them as he had from his supplies. Physic had several more in her bag, but there were still a couple they would need to get from Slurps and Burps.
Sophie and Edaline made a nest in the guest room while Sandor made a sweep around the grounds. Once Edaline had gotten the haggard Lex (and the rest of the family, still in shock) into bed, the two sipped tea and made plans for the next few days. Sophie, of course, still had school, but being grounded was out of the question now. She almost wished it wasn't, because that would mean things were fixed. Edaline decided to stay with the Dizznees for a while, and Sandor felt he should spend some time setting up security in case the Neverseen tracked the escapees there. By the time Sophie went to bed, she had a splitting headache, and was glad to lose herself in Fitz's loving dreams.