Chapter Thirty Five
“.. but do you think he ever will?”
Shasa’s voice was hazy, as was my head. I tried to open my eyes, but a sudden rush of pain to the left side of my skull made me winch. It felt as though someone had smashed my head against a brick wall repeatedly, and that my skull had splintered into tiny pieces.
“He’s waking up!”
I felt a gust surge past me from the movement of bodies rushing closer to my face. I assumed I was lying down, in a bed, as my head was flat against a pillow. But I couldn’t feel my legs. Or my back. Or my arms. In fact, I could only feel the awful pain in my head…
“Madz, Madz, are you okay?”
I opened my eyes and saw Shasa looking down at me. The bright white florescent light, which was locked into the ceiling above, burnt my eyeballs. I flinched from the sting of the brightness, but that made my head pound even harder. I shuddered in pain. At least, I might have done.
Do I look okay? Is what I wanted to say to my sister, but I couldn’t. My mouth wouldn’t open.
And that’s when I began to panic. I remembered the horrific agony of the capsized speed boat as it smashed against my head. After that point, everything had been so fuzzy, so far away… And now I couldn’t move. And that’s because I knew that I was paralyzed.
Tears dribbled out of the sides of my eyes. I could feel them make their way down my cheeks, but that was all I could feel, except for the thundering throbbing in my skull.
Shasa’s face contorted into one of terror, then shock, then sadness. Visola came up behind her and Shasa fell into her arms, crying uncontrollably. Visola did her best to console our sister, but she too was sobbing bitterly.
“You have to do something!”
Gamba’s voice was booming and threatening. I couldn’t see him, but I knew that he was standing to my right, just out of my eye line.
“I’m sorry,” a familiar voice answered, “there’s nothing we can do.”
“There must be something!” My brother pleaded helplessly.
How long have I been asleep? I wanted to ask. What happened to the oil? What happened to the ship? How did I get back here? Is everyone else alright?
I was frantic, desperately trying to tell my body to do something, anything. I just wanted to open my mouth and scream. I wanted to jump out of this bed and run as fast as I could towards the ocean. I just wanted to be able to move.
My heartbeat thumped through my temples, making my head feel as if it might explode. The pain started to make the world go white again, but I was determined not to pass out. I was going to fix this. I knew I could. I had helped Niyol with his injury, and I had saved Visola. I could make everything alright again. That was my birth right; my power. I couldn’t do cool things like create steam or make tidal waves, but I could save people. I could heal them.
And I was going to heal myself.
I already knew that the injury was in my head. If I focused on that, then it would cure me. I just needed water.
My mind quickly scanned back to Captain Harris as he bled to death in front of me. I couldn’t find his injury then, and so I couldn’t save him. What if I couldn’t save myself?
“Please Doctor! Don’t just leave him like this!” Gamba continued to plead with the Aqua staff doctor, someone whose name I couldn’t place as I had never really interacted with him before. My sister continued to weep bitterly. I tried not to look at them, because they were annoying me. Why should they cry? They weren’t the one who was paralysed. They weren’t the one who might never walk again. Might never talk again. Might never swim again…
An explosion of emotions erupted deep within me, and I felt as if I was going mad. I felt angry and upset, panicked and helpless, depressed and driven, all at the same time. But I knew that worrying would not do anything. The last time I lost control of myself, it resulted in Captain Harris’ death. I could have saved him, if only I had listened to myself, and that instinctive feeling that lived within me.
I narrowed my eyes in determination. I was not going to give up.
I heard Gamba rush after the doctor, his heavy body thudding against the tiled floor.
Gamba! I screamed at him psychically, with every ounce of energy I could. Gamba!
My head was still pounding, and I felt as though I would be sick. But I had to get my brother’s attention. He was the only one who could help me now.
Large soles slapped the floor as a shadow appeared on my right hand side. Within seconds Gamba was towering over me, his whole face taking up my entire visual field. I stared into his large, round eyes, which were red raw. His big nose looked as though it might puncture my eyeball as his head tilted towards mine.
“Did you hear that?” Gamba asked our sisters.
“No…”
“He didn’t say anything…”
“Yes he did!”
Gamba turned back to me. “Madz, what’s wrong? Madz, I know I heard you. I’m not going crazy!”
Take me to the water. Throw me in the water.
I glared at him with all my might, trying desperately to give him a sign. He had to know that what he was hearing was in fact, me.
Gamba nodded encouragingly.
“Yes, okay, I will.”
I wanted to smile, but I’m pretty sure that my mouth only shifted ever so slightly at the corners.
“What are you doing?!” Shasa shrieked.
Although I couldn’t feel anything, I assumed that Gamba had put his arms under my body.
“He wants me to take him to the water.”
“You’ll kill him!” my sister continued.
“No,” Gamba stated assuredly, “no, he wants me to do this so he can heal himself. I know it.”
Suddenly my head fell backwards as my brother picked me off of the bed as if I was a straw doll. The world turned upside down as my head swayed from one side to the other.
“Sorry brother,” Gamba apologized as he placed my head in the crook of his left arm, as if I were a baby.
“Put him down!” Shasa shouted, “You’ll make it worse!”
My head suddenly rocked again. I assumed that Shasa had hit, or pushed Gamba, but it made little impact on him.
“Shasa, stop it!” Visola’s voice was calm and soothing, “Just trust Gamba.”
“I can’t let Madz die, Vee! He saved my life! This is all my fault!”
“It’s not your fault, Shasa.” Visola consoled her.
Gamba stood still, probably watching our sisters. I continued to stare up at the sterile ceiling.
It’s not your fault, I echoed, not knowing if she could hear me.
“Madz?” Shasa was confused, but also delighted.
“See, I told you!” Gamba gloated.
“But how…?”
“Don’t worry about that now!” Visola said as Gamba turned and began to make his way out of the room and into the more dimly lit corridor. My sisters’ conversation trailed off as the ceiling began to change colour and texture. My head swayed ever so slightly, but I wasn’t worried. I knew that Gamba would never hurt me.
“Where are you going?” The doctor cried out from the distance.
“To the beach!”
“I can’t let you do that!”
Gamba stopped in his tracks and then spun around, the ceiling pattern doing a three hundred and sixty degree turn.
“Just try and stop me, doctor. Even with my brother in my arms, I could still take you on.”
“I don’t want to fight you, Gamba, I just want…”
“I know. You want to look after my brother. Well so do I. So just trust me, and most of all, trust him. He’s the smartest guy I know.”
The ceiling spun around again, and after a few minutes of head bobbing, we were in the main entrance to the Aqua base. I heard Babajide and the Ventus’ leader Sigwald shout after us, but they didn’t seem to follow us. Even after Gamba stepped through the doors to the outside, no one tried to stop him. The security guards we
re on our side; they listened to the Aqua Elementals. They knew that we didn’t do anything rash, especially not Gamba. He was a good soldier, and he always did what he thought was right.
As the midday sun blinded me, I squeezed my eyes shut tight. Gamba’s footfall against the sand made my head bob around slightly more, and the roar of the waves against the shore made my heart beat even faster.
I tried to ignore the doubts in my mind, as I focused on that strange sensation that stirred within me. I opened my eyes wide, and looked up at the beautiful azure sky. And that is when I decided to pray.
Lord, it’s been a long time since I last spoke to you. But please, help me. I still have so much work to do, and people to help. I know you gave me these powers for a reason, and I don’t want my journey to be over before it’s even begun.
A tear fell from my right eye, as Gamba splashed into the oncoming swash. I felt tiny droplets of cold water against my face as Gamba went further out to sea.
I’m so sorry for not saving Captain Harris, Lord. I’m so sorry for everything.
“I hope this works, Madz,” Gamba shifted my head, now holding it in his left hand as he began to drop me down into the ocean, “but if it doesn’t, I’ll never let you go.”
And with that, he plunged me into the freezing froth, the salty brine washing into my eyes and filling up my nose.
I ignored every bodily function that was telling me to cough, splutter and fight against the water that invaded my body. I had to let the ocean into my system, so that it could heal me.
I concentrated harder than I ever have done in my entire life, focusing solely on the roaring aching that engulfed my swollen skull. I then thought about my legs, my arms, my back, my neck: in fact, every single part of my body that I could no longer feel.
Please Lord, help me.
The water gushed down my gullet and filled my lungs. But I didn’t feel scared: in fact, I felt peaceful. For just a split second, everything was calm, and everything was tranquil. I felt safe and secure. I felt whole.
And that is when I began to choke. My body was furiously rejecting the invading enemy, and would not allow me to die. I thrust my head out of the cold water and spluttered frantically, simultaneously trying to inhale precious oxygen back into my lungs.
I grabbed a hold of Gamba’s neck, wrapping my arms around them as if I was out of my depth and drowning, and then pulled myself out of the water.
A tingling sensation made its way through my entire body, as my neurons began to fire correctly in my brain, and every single cell and fibre and muscle and bone in my body started to heal. It felt like pins and needles, except much stronger and much less annoying. After several seconds I realised that I could move every part of my body, and could feel every muscle twitch and twist as they came back to life again.
“Madz!” Gamba cried out as he held me upright
“I’m… s…s… sorry…” I stuttered.
“What for?” he wondered as the waves smacked into the left side of both of us.
“For not being able to s… s… stand up!”
He laughed, and then pulled my left arm around his right shoulder, propping me up against him, and helping me to stand up straight.
The cool water flushed against the back of my knees, almost knocking me over. I chuckled, realising how wonderful it was to feel again.
Even though I couldn’t walk unaided, I knew that it wouldn’t be long until I was back to normal again. As Gamba helped me back onto the sand, and walked with me towards the base, I looked back up to the clear blue sky and smiled.
Thanks.