Chapter 17
Mok was not sure how long it has been since he arrived at the center, but he was sure that he was almost done with the rehab process.
He asked Nicholai about how many days it has been. "Oh gosh, I don't know. I lost track after 10 days for me," he answered.
Mok decided to ask Dr. Pryce and she replies, "You have one more week of your rehab." "Are you serious?" he asked her, again.
"I am serious, unless you want to be released early since you've made a lot of progress," Dr. Pryce said to him, but he shook his head.
Awhile later, Mok began to walk outside, watching the other rehab inhabitants and looking at the mountains.
'I'm almost there Emmy and when I get out, I'm going to find Angel,' he said in his mind.
Down the path, Mok noticed Nicholai talking to Lisa, his mother. He walked up to them, but was surprised to see that Minnie was not there.
"Lisa, it's good to see you, again," Mok said to her.
"And it's good to see you, too. Nicholai was just telling me about your progress and I do hope you stay on the right path from now on," Lisa replied and Mok chuckled.
"Where's Minnie? I was hoping she be with you today," he asked Nicholai.
"I hate to say this, but she didn't want to come," Lisa said, again, and Mok felt his stomach drop.
Just then, someone placed their hands over Mok's eyes and a little voice says, "Gotcha!"
Mok had to laugh and he turned around, seeing Minnie standing on a boulder, and he took her in his arms.
"Oh you got me," he said and then noticed Minnie was missing a front tooth when she smiled. "What happened to your tooth?"
"I tried taking a bite of a penny, but then my tooth fell out," Minnie replied.
"I told you to wait for you to lose all your baby teeth," Mok said to her.
"But you made it look so easy," the little girl replied.
"Being a magician is not that easy, it takes years to become a master," he said, setting her down on the ground, but still held her hand.
The four of them walked along the path till Minnie stopped and says to her father, "Tell him daddy! Tell him!"
"Tell me what?" Mok asked and looks at Nicholai.
"Minnie is going to spend the night here and she thought up a brilliant idea," he answered.
"And what is this brilliant idea?" Mok asked Minnie.
"Star gazing," she answered, but he looked at Nicholai with a surprised face.
"Does Dr. Pryce know about this?" Mok asked, again.
"Of course she does, stop worrying so much, this might actually relax you," Nicholai replied.
Mok took a deep breath; Nicholai was right, Mok really needed to relax.
"By the way," Nicholai said. "I heard that you have one week before your release, but you should take up on being released early."
"I have thought about that, but I figured it would be better if I completed my rehab," Mok replied.
Sunset came and the sky was painted with golden clouds and darkness followed.
Lisa bid goodnight to the three and went on her way home. Nicholai, Mok, and Minnie headed out on the open plain, looking for a spot.
"Right here," Nicholai said, pointing to a hillside. "That will block the light from the center."
They laid out two blankets on the grass and lay on their backs, watching as the stars started to shine.
Mok did not remember the last time he viewed the stars, but he felt a sense of tranquility while gazing up at them.
"Hey, I can see the Big Dipper," Minnie said, pointing up. Mok followed her fingers as she made the outline of the constellation.
"That's actually part of the Ursa Major," Nicholai replied and he made the outline.
"What is the Ursa Major?" Minnie asked her father.
"The Great Bear, a creature that once roamed these lands," he replied.
Mok remembered learning about the animals that once lived among the humans before the Nuclear Wipe-out.
"What happened to them?" Minnie asked.
"A thousand years ago, way before any of us was born," Mok replied, "There was a great war being fought among the humans. They used a weapon called a nuclear warhead and it wiped out everything in its path. Unfortunately, the humans did not realize the consequences of their actions and they and some of the animal species died out, either from being incinerated or died from the lack of food."
"If the humans died, how did we come into existence?" Minnie asked, again.
"Well, our ancestors, who survived the Wipe-out, were affected by the nuclear radiation and mutated," Nicholai said. "It will be easy to understand when you are older."
The three watched the stars twinkle and pointed out the constellations.
"Oh look!" Minnie exclaimed as a shooting star flew across the sky.
"Go ahead you two, make a wish," Nicholai said to them.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Mok asked as he never heard something like that.
"Don't you know? When you see a shooting star, you can make a wish and it might come true," Minnie explained and Mok believed her.
'I wish oh bright star that I be given guidance in finding Angel and tell her how much she means to me,' Mok's mind said and the star disappeared.
"What did you wish for?" Minnie asked.
"If we tell you, it won't come true," Nicholai said to her and she groaned.
The three packed up the blankets and headed back to the center.
"Goodnight Mr. Swagger," Minnie said to Mok.
"Goodnight sweetie," he replied and he went into his room.
Before heading to bed, Mok went out on the porch and gazed up at the stars one last time.
'Emmy, I hope you can help me in finding Angel,' he prayed and retired to his bed.