Chapter 12
"Tornado Terror"
"Uh...guys," Bernard said. As the tornado shifted and seemed to be starting to backtrack towards the helicopter.
"What?" The pilot asked.
"Be careful...I think the tornado's coming towards us!" Bernard warned.
"Not again! I've had enough with that monster!" Arinia wailed.
"He's right," Mark said, "It's gonna hit us!"
There was sudden blackness as the tornado enveloped the helicopter.
There were many crashes as the helicopter began to jerk all over the place, with the pilot unable to control it.
Arinia clamped her eyes shut since she was scared and the sudden movements were starting to make her queasy.
"AAAAH! WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Mark cried.
There was much swearing up front from the pilot, struggling to keep the copter under control.
Arinia groaned, "Ugh, all this tossing and swirling and whatever the heck it is, is starting to make me sick..."
There was a massive THUD as the helicopter hit something. "We hit a tree!" The pilot cried.
The rocking of the copter stopped suddenly and light poured in. They were out of the tornado.
"Mark..."
Arinia croaked sounding a little worn out and sick from the
ordeal of the tornado ride.
"Y-y-yeah..."
Mark choked out.
"Can you help me lie back down? I don't want to see anymore of that darn freaking monster." Arinia asked.
"G-g-good idea..." Mark lay Arinia's head back down and pushed the stretcher back into place.
"I bet the helicopter is badly damaged," Bernard said, "But it's gonna be good enough for us to get to Fortree...right?"
"No need to take such a chance, there's an air force academy here, we should stop there and let them inspect it to make sure it's safe." The pilot replied firmly. The helicopter began to sink slowly, as the pilot was landing.
"What's happening?" Arinia questioned.
"We're just landing so we can get a crew to check out the copter." The pilot replied.
"Oh, ok." Arinia replied.
The helicopter touched down as the pilot turned it off. "Everyone stay in, I'll go contact a crew member." He got out of the copter.
Everyone stayed where they were as he went to do what he said he was going to. There was some muffled talking outside and then a panel opened in the front as the crew checked out the engine.
The pilot climbed back inside. "Alright, we're going to have to change copters, the engine is badly damaged." He climbed back out and opened the side doors.
Arinia started coughing, her pneumonia was starting to act up again. Bernard climbed out and helped Mark with Arinia's stretcher. They carried it to the new helicopter, which was dark blue, and pushed it in.
"Mark..." Arinia croaked.
"Yeah?" Mark asked, climbing into the new copter himself.
"I think my pneumonia's starting to act up..." Arinia moaned, trying to stifle a cough.
"Oh boy." Mark said, "At least we have Bernard..." The helicopter started up.
Arinia nodded, but a moment later she couldn't no matter hard she tried to stifle a few more coughs.
Bernard looked worried as he looked as Arinia. "Are you OK?"
Arinia groaned but couldn't reply since she had started coughing too hard.
Bernard took out the bottle of cough syrup. "Good thing I kept this..." He poured some into her mouth.
Arinia swallowed it, but then started to get drowsy.
Mark looked at the bottle. "Strong stuff..."
Bernard nodded and then pointed to Arinia who was trying to collect her stuffed animals from where they had fallen off her bed while she was taking the cough medicine. Mark bent over and grabbed the stuffed animals. He laid Arinia's head on the bed and handed her the animals. Arinia smiled as her eyes started to drift shut as she wrapped her arm around her animals.
Mark smiled back, but she couldn't see it. "Heh...she looks adorable..."
Bernard nodded, "Yes, she sure does..."
Everything was silent for a moment, just the motor of the helicopter was heard.
"What's happening!" Mark cried.
"Whoever said anything WAS happening?" Bernard replied.
Mark sighed, "I….. I'm just on edge…. The tornado really shook me up.…"
Bernard nodded, sighing. "Same here. I'm a doctor, and I felt like I was going to vomit."
Mark nodded then Bernard looked at Mark and asked, "Does Arinia's parents know about what's happened to her?"
Mark's eyes widened. "Oh dear. Throughout this whole ordeal with her getting kidnapped, the tranquilizers, the tornado...I forgot she had parents!"
"You better contact them, I bet you more than anything that Arinia really misses them. She probably puts up with the distance because she loves you." Bernard said looking at Mark with a stern kind of look.
Mark pulled out his cell phone without a second thought. Mark began to dial a number then put the phone up to his ear. There was a "CLICK" of a phone picking up. "Hello? Ah, is this Rosella? It's Mark, Arinia's boyfriend. I have some things to tell you about Arinia….."
"What's wrong with my baby!" Rosella cried once Mark had finished speaking.
"Alright, calm down...she was kidnapped by Team Magma, BUT I got her back. As it turns out, she had been given some tranquilizers while there that she was allergic to. This eventually developed into pneumonia." Mark said trying to calm Arinia's mother down so he could speak. "The pneumonia has died down quite a bit," Mark continued, "But she's still got some traces of it."
Arinia's mother sighed with relief, "That's wonderful... Steven would be frantic with worry if I told him she wasn't..."
Mark nodded. "Say, I have a question...is it possible I could get a job at Evergrande?"
"What for?" Rosella asked.
"Y'know, maybe I could make some more money and we could get Arinia moved into a hospital..." Mark replied.
"I don't know if that can be arranged, I don't think the Elite hire anyone without gym badges..." Rosella replied.
"Oh...OK..." Mark replied, saddened. "Alright, I understand..."
"I could be wrong though, but I don't think I am." Rosella replied.
"Can you ask Steven?" He asked.
"Sure." Rosella replied.
Just then a door opened at Rosella's end and a voice called, "Rosella, honey, I'm home!"
"Perfect timing!" Mark said, with a slight laugh.
Steven came into the room where Rosella was clutching the phone tightly with a serious look on her face.
Steven looked at Rosella oddly. "What's wrong?"
"Arinia has pneumonia..." She replied sadly.
Steven's eyes widened. "Oh no...um, who are you talking to?"
"Mark." Rosella replied softly.
Steven held out his hand. "Lemme speak to him."
Rosella handed him the phone.
"Hello?" He said into it. "Am I talking to Mark? This is Steven."
"Yes, this is Mark."
"Right, good," Steven said, "You said Arinia had pneumonia?"
"Yeah, I did... Team Magma drugged her and she reacted to their medicines and it made her really sick..." Mark replied slowly.
Steven grumbled. "Ugh...is there anything you wanted to ask me while I'm talking to you?"
"I dunno..." Mark replied.
Just then Arinia moaned and tried to sit up.
"What was that?" Steven asked.
"It was Arinia, she just woke up from a nap." Mark replied.
"Is she alright?" Steven inquired.
"I…. I think so." Mark replied. "Do you want to speak to her?"
"Sure." Steven replied with a nod that Mark couldn't see.
Mark handed Arinia the phone after whispering in her ear who was on the other end. Arinia took the phone and very sleepily said, "Daddy?"
"Hi Arinia." Steven replied sounding relieved to hear his daughter's voice.
"I miss you dad….." Arinia said softly.
"I miss you too." Steven replied.
Just then Arinia started coughing so hard that it became impossible for her to continue speaking on the phone with her father.
Steven gasped when he finally saw how sick his daughter actually was, "Arinia….. A-are you OK?"
The only response Steven received was more coughing since Arinia was coughing too hard to reply. Bernard took the phone away from Arinia and laid her down and put some more cough medicine in her mouth and gently touched her throat to help her swallow.
"My….. Poor……. Baby…….." Steven moaned when it finally sunk in that Arinia was too sick to continue speaking on the phone to him.
"They're moving her by helicopter to Fortree." Mark stated trying to break the silence.
"That's all fine and good, but I would prefer her to be close to people I know, I would prefer if she were moved to Evergrande." Steven told Mark sounding like a very protective father.
"What? Steven, you want her moved to Evergrande?" Mark replied in awe.
Steven nodded a nod that Mark couldn't see, "Yes, I want her in Evergrande since that's where the Elite are, and they can help protect my baby from Team Magma."
"Hold on for a moment!" Mark said in delight.
He dropped the phone and ran to the cockpit. "Hey, man, turn 'dis thing around! Steven said he wanted Arinia in Evergrande."
"WHAT? She's his little girl? WOW! OF course, I can do that!" The pilot replied quickly. The pilot spun the control yolk and the helicopter did a complete 360. He began to fly in the other direction, as fast as the helicopter could move.
Mark ran back to the phone. "OK, I delivered the news to the pilot and we're en route now!"
Steven nodded a nod Mark couldn't see and let out a deep sigh, it seemed that the news of how sick his little girl was had taken an immense toll on him.
"This whole thing has been quite a mess, eh, Steven?" Mark asked, with a sigh.
"You can say that again since it would be true..." Steven replied with a sigh. "Drake's been dying to see Arinia again, he hasn't seen her since she was a baby."
"Drake? The dragon dude?" Mark replied.
"Yeah, him... He's been wanting to see Arinia for several months now..." Steven went on.
"What about Glacia?" Mark questioned.
"She adores Arinia, she's almost like an aunt to her." Steven replied.
Mark grinned. "Ah, that's great to hear..."
"What does Sidney think of her," Mark asked, "And last but not least, Phoebe?"
"Sidney's like an uncle to her, while Phoebe is like a distant aunt since Arinia doesn't know her very well." Steven replied.
Mark chuckled at that. "Yeah...yeah, it'll be great to see the Elite Four, if I do..."
"They'll probably meet you when you land, they're usually training outside on the practice fields." Steven told him.
Mark smiled. "Really? Ha-ha! I'm gonna meet the Elite Four...WOW..."
"They'd want to meet you, since you saved her from Team Magma." Steven replied with the utmost sincerity.
"Well, I didn't do it all by myself...Bernard helped me...so did Archie and some Team Aqua members..."
"I know that, but you're more or less the one she knows best." Steven told him seriously.
"HEY!" The pilot shouted. "We're nearly at Evergrande!"
Arinia murmured a soft, "daddy" from where she lay.
"Heh...Steven, did you hear that? The pilot said we're nearly there and Arinia said "daddy." Oh yeah, she can't wait either!" Mark exclaimed.
"I probably should call Drake and let him know what's going on..." Steven said.
"OK, I'll let you go do that. See you, Steven." Mark said.
"Bye." Steven hung up the phone and dialed Drake's cell phone number.
Mark hung up and stuck the phone in his pocket. He sighed and leaned back in the chair.
