Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Friendship Runs Thicker than Blood ❯ Hope ( Chapter 8 )

CHAPTER EIGHT: HOPE

The next two hours stretched far longer than any other two hours in their lives. They both agreed on that. Part of it was boredom—there was nothing to read, and they couldn't find anything good on TV—but mostly it was because they knew their friend was in danger and there was nothing they could do about it.

“What the hell will we do if she dies?” Sira asked at one point.

“Shut up—she's not going to die!” Leo snapped. Rather than argue, Sira nodded, but thought for a while about what she could tell Seda's parents if the unthinkable happened.

“How are we going to escape prison?” Leo asked a while later. “Escape going to prison, I mean.”

“I really have no idea,” Sira said. “We could just cross our fingers and hope the Feds understand that we're terrified children who didn't know any better.” Leo snorted derisively, but didn't reply.

After an endless two hours and seven minutes, Dr. Jemissy knocked on the door and came in.

“How is she?” Leo and Sira chorused as they stood up. The doctor smiled.

“She's gong to be fine. We've got the swelling under control, and her organs are working as they should be. Seda won't be waking up for a while, but you may go see her if you wish.”

“Yeah,” said Leo. Sira nodded.

The doctor led them to the recovery room. Seda was semi-upright on the bed. There was a bandage around her head and tubes in her nose and arms, but otherwise she looked as if she was just sleeping.

“I'll leave you three alone. Hit the nurse call button if you need anything.” He nodded to them and left, closing the door behind him. Leo and Sira each dragged a chair to Seda's bedside and sat, waiting for her to wake up.

They had a long wait. Both Leo and Sira dozed on and off for the next six hours. Occasionally, a doctor or nurse would come in and check her vital signs or take a vial of blood.

They had been waiting for six and a half hours when Seda's eyelids began to flutter. Leo reflexively grabbed her hand and poked Sira awake. Seda's deep brown eyes drifted open and focused, blurrily, on his face.

“Leo?” she whispered fuzzily. Her eyes shifted. “Sira?”

“Welcome back,” said Leo, rather shakily. “How're you feeling?”

“You guys are in so much trouble,” Seda told them. There was a beat of silence. Then, Sira saw Seda's mouth begin to contort.

“We were just trying to save your life!” Leo protested indignantly. Seda's mouth quivered. Finally, she couldn't hold it back anymore. She laughed. Sira started to laugh too, amused by the expression on Leo's face.

“You must be feeling better if you're making jokes at Leo's expense,” Sira remarked when she could speak again. Seda nodded, then winced.

“What?” Leo demanded, his put-out expression instantly changing to one of concern.

“My head hurts,” Seda said.

“I should think so!” said Sira. “They were drilling holes in your skull!”

“That would explain things,” Seda commented. “So tell me, why did you bring me here against my wishes?”
“You were going to die,” Sira told her bluntly. “We had no choice. You were convulsing, and then you were barely breathing. We refused to let you die.”

“So don't yell at us,” said Leo. “We were only helping you.” Seda's mouth twitched in a faint smile.

“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for not listening to me being stupid. I owe you guys…everything.” Her eyelids started to sink closed. “I think I can…fix all this,” she murmured. Her eyes closed all the way. “Time…wipe memories…” She trailed off and began to breathe evenly. She was asleep again.

“What was that?” Leo asked. Sira shrugged, her eyes on Leo's hand.

“You do know you're still holding her hand?” she pointed out with a smirk. Leo looked, and his hand twitched, but he didn't let go.

“I know,” he said. “I don't want to wake her up.”

“Sure you don't,” said Sira. “Would now be a good time to admit you're in love with her?”

“I don't need to; you know already.”

“She doesn't,” Sira reminded him. “You have to tell her.”

“What if it doesn't work out?” asked Leo. “What if she doesn't like me?”
“Then you'll stay friends, but she'll know. Eventually, it'll work out,” said Sira unsympathetically.

“Since when are you optimistic and not cynical and sarcastic about love?” Leo wondered.

“Since—I don't know, since it's the best thing for two of my best friends,” Sira said, exasperated. “How about this: if you don't tell her, I will.”

“I'll tell her when this is all sorted out,” Leo said. “All right? She said she had a way to get us out of this. I don't want to distract her.”

“Fine, fine,” said Sira. “I'll stop bugging you—for now, at least.”

 

Late the next afternoon, around four p.m., Sira was still in Seda's hospital room. They'd been moved to a room in the PICU, but the other bed was empty. Leo was out of the room when Seda woke up, and Sira was half-asleep, her head leaning against the wall next to the hospital bed.

“Sira!” Seda whispered. Sira came fully awake with a start.

“Hello,” she said. She'd been thinking, and she'd decided to tell Seda about Leo. “There's something you need to know,” she began.

“Leo likes me,” Seda said. She laughed a bit at Sira's shocked expression. “I can read minds, remember? When my powers started acting up, I lost control of my telepathy a couple of times. I could feel that he liked me.”

“How long have you known?” Sira demanded.

“Since—oh, since before I told you guys I was dying,” Seda said. “And I really became sure when he was helping take care of me. I think he's right—it is better to wait until we're out of this mess.”

“So—do you feel the same way about him?” Sira asked, unable to stop herself.

“I think you know the answer to that,” said Seda.

“You do,” pronounced Sira.

“Yes,” said Seda. “But yes, he was on to something when he said he wanted to wait. Now, let's change the subject.”

“How are you going to get us out of this mess?” Sira asked promptly.

“I have an idea, but I want to tell it to you and Leo at the same time,” Seda said.

“I heard my name!” called Leo's voice from down the hall. The girls heard a nurse shush him, and giggled. He entered the room a moment later, looking chastised. “What were you saying about me?”
“Only that I wanted to wait so I could tell my plan to both of you,” said Seda. “The medical equipment has struck once again. I now have just enough power to make my plan work: I'll take us back in time, to before the Feds got hold of my brain scans. No on but us will know what happened in the past several weeks. Once I take us back, my brainpower should be back to normal. That way, even if some doctor does send brain scans to the Feds, we can pretend it's just an equipment malfunction. Also, going back in time will negate all of the illegal things we've done, like stealing money. I feel really guilty about that.”

“Brilliant!” Sira announced. “Best plan I ever heard. We can go home again!”

“But what will happen to all that's happened since we ran away?” asked Leo. “Are you sure we won't destroy the time-space continuum, or anything?”

“Everything will vanish, except our memories,” said Seda. “I'm sure that we didn't affect anything that will cause the world to explode if we don't do it. And yes, I'm sure that it'll all vanish,” she added, preempting his next question. “I still have some super brain power, remember.” No one thought of anything else to say. “Great then. I'll just heal myself and find some clothes, and we'll be on our way.” She closed her eyes for a brief moment. Color returned to her cheeks; her face lost some of the shadowiness it had acquired during her long sickness. She even got a little fatter, but not much. The scar on her forehead vanished. After a moment, Seda opened her eyes again and started gently taking off all the tubes and wires attached to her. An alarm went off somewhere; Seda hurriedly freed herself from the last IV feed and grabbed her friends' hands. They were suddenly in the living room of their house, vanishing from the hospital just before the nurse rushed in.

“That was close,” Leo remarked.

“Good timing, Seda,” added Sira.

“Thanks,” said Seda. She dropped their hands and teleported up to her room before either of her friends could realize she wore only a hospital gown.

“I won't be sad when she can't do that anymore,” Sira commented loudly.

“I heard that!” called Seda's voice from her room. Sira grinned.

Seda soon rejoined them, taking the stairs this time. She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt; both were a little large. The bandage was gone from around her head.

“You guys ready to act as though this never happened?” Seda asked. Leo nodded.

“Yeah,” said Sira. “But what about our stuff?”

“It's already there,” Seda reminded her.

“Right,” said Sira. “I knew that. When exactly are you taking us back to?”

“The day this all started: when the Feds came calling,” said Seda. “I won't have to run away this time, because I won't have any powers when this is all over.” She reached for her friends' hands. “I'll call you when it's all over, okay?”

“Yeah,” said Leo and Sira. They each took one of Seda's hands. Nothing happened for a moment. Leo opened his mouth to comment, but at that moment their surroundings started to blur. Each teenager experienced the shift of time differently: Sira felt as if they were in a high wind; Leo thought if felt like being in a downpour, but without getting wet. Seda recalled feeling as though ghost hands reached out to her, wanting her to stop. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, yet somehow it made her sad. She vaguely regretted that she would never feel this sensation again, and then she put her whole mind back to making sure they ended up at the right time.

When they had gone far enough back in time, Seda let go of her friends' hands and sent them to their own houses, their own rooms. She took herself to her room. The clock on her dresser said that it was midnight, the day that in one reality had sent her into hiding. This time, though, there would be no reason for Seda Volind to fear the FBI. There was a mechanical error that resulted in her strange brain scans. The FBI scientists would find nothing worth noting about Seda Volind.

Her cell phone, sitting on her nightstand, rang. She flipped it open quickly so her parents wouldn't hear it, then looked at the caller ID. It was Sira.

“Never do that again!” Sira ordered her hotly, cutting off Seda's muted greeting. “That was the weirdest thing I've ever felt in my life! It was creepy! I did not like floating around in the weird time thing alone!”

“Are you at home in one piece?” Seda interrupted her calmly.

“Yes,” Sira admitted sullenly. “But still—”

“Yes, yes, I'll remember never to set you loose alone in the time-space continuum,” Seda said. “Not that I can, ever again. I used up all my powers.”

“Are you sure?” Sira asked.

“Yes, and we'll see tomorrow whether or not I'm right,” said Seda. “Later today, actually,” she added with another glance at the clock. “Now, I want to go to sleep. I'm tired. I'll call you when the Feds are gone.” She flipped the phone shut.

Not thirty seconds later, it rang again. This time, it was Leo.

“Oh good, you got home all right,” he said when she picked up. “I was worried when you let go of my hand.”

“I did that so you could go home,” said Seda. “You didn't want to end up at my house, did you? That would have been hard to explain to our parents.” She was teasing, but he didn't seem to catch on.

“Yeah, that would have been bad. Good luck with the Feds.” He hung up before he could say anything that would reveal his feelings for her. Seda shrugged, put her phone down, changed into pajamas, and crawled happily into her own bed. She was soon fast asleep.