smile, and his laugh, and the way his eyes sparkled when he looked at me.
Everything began to fade around me, but I kept that image in my mind until the last possible moment. Until I couldn’t hold out any more. I took one last look into those fading blue eyes as they dissolved away…
26
I didn’t wake up all at once. It wasn’t the gradual shifting from the haze of sleep into the clarity of reality, or even the harsh jolt of awareness brought on by a nightmare or alarm clock. It was like being buried under a mountain of blankets, while someone slowly removed them one at a time. Each layer gone, brought me just the tiniest bit closer to the surface, returning my strength drop by drop. For a while I had to struggle to remain conscious for mere seconds at a time, and even then I couldn’t move or even open my eyes. But if nothing else, I knew I wasn’t dead. At least I really hoped not, or I was stuck in the lamest afterlife ever.
Eventually my periods of consciousness grew longer and became distinguishable from sleep, and my senses started to work again. I could hear the door open and close, and the occasional conversation, though those were rare and usually too hushed to make out. I could feel the bandages on my hands and the soreness of the wounds underneath. My ability also began to return and I started to sense the people around me. At first, it was only the slightest nudge here and there from the ability closest to me, barely noticeable. But gradually, as the layers continued to lift away, the nudges intensified, becoming the distinct and unique brushes of power I’d come to know and recognize.
Min came and went quite a bit, and Mr Anderson and Mr Reid were almost always nearby, but seldom came into the room. However, the person whose presence gave me the most comfort, and the one who garnered the majority of my attention, was Alex. Forever at my side, there wasn’t one single time I’d woken up that I couldn’t feel him next to me, holding my un-bandaged fingers, or gently stroking my cheek. Sometimes, when I couldn’t feel anyone else around, he would talk to me, though unfortunately it was usually in Gaelic. But even if I didn’t know what he was saying, the low tone of his voice and the graceful tumble of words were always a soothing balm on my tired mind.
Finally, after who knows how long, I woke up feeling strong enough to try and open my eyes. It felt like I was lifting up the back door of a Mack Truck, but after a few tries, I did it – only to find that thanks to my impeccable timing it was the middle of the night and so dark I could barely see anyway. What I could make out in the dim light was a small room with no window and one door. Luckily, my head was already tilted toward the right, where I could see Alex, sleeping on a rocker that was pulled up next to the bed.
I tried to call him, but couldn’t even open my mouth, much less force air past my vocal cords fast enough to produce sound. I tried to move, to grunt, anything to get his attention, but it was no use. I lay there, looking at his darkened silhouette, so frustrated I wanted to scream – except I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. He was two feet away from me, but with the state I was in he may as well have been in the next room.
I was about to give up, hoping I’d have better luck tomorrow, when I realized that Alex’s ability wasn’t the only one present in my mind. While I couldn’t see him in the room, Mr Anderson was also near enough – in the hall maybe? – for me to be able to feel his ability, which gave me an idea. I tried pushing my ability out to meet his, and was happy that it was easy to do so, especially given how ridiculously hard everything else seemed to be. I linked us together, and focused on Alex, hoping my plan would work.
Alex? I imparted quietly.
It did work, maybe even a little too much, as Alex sat up with a gasp, head whipping from side to side looking for the origin of his wakeup call.