38. Chapter 38
Chapter thirty-eight
Alex
Alex stood at the door of hospital room 303 as severe dread gripped his body and paralyzed him. On the other side of the door was either the promise of a joyful reunion with Danyal, or a profound loss that would change his world forever. As his thoughts shifted between these two alternatives, the cycle stopped when Galen placed his hand on Alex’s shoulder.
“Ya right, Alex?”
Alex shook his head no, unable to speak. He stepped back as the room began to spin, disrupting his balance.
“Easy, mate,” said Galen, “let’s keep ya vertical. Focus on yur breathing like ya did in the parking lot. Won’t enter the room until yu’re ready. Will open the door for ya if ya need it.”
Alex took some long, deep breaths and slowly exhaled. He completed this cycle several times before nodding at Galen.
“Open the door,” he said in a broken voice.
Galen turned the doorknob and opened the door so Alex could cross the threshold.
He stepped toward the single hospital bed in the middle of the room, a white curtain obscuring his view of the person in the bed. The constant beeping of monitors was the only sound to be heard in the room, which smelled of harsh cleaning chemicals. Alex steadied himself against Galen and reached out his shaking hand to pull back the curtain. Tears filled his eyes at seeing Danyal lying motionless in the hospital bed. Danyal’s smooth olive skin looked pale, and his handsome face was sunken. Danyal’s breathing was shallow but consistent. Tears began rolling down Alex’s face. Alex leaned over to kiss Danyal on the forehead. He cupped his head and held his face against Danyal’s cheek.
Galen pulled a chair from the corner of the room and slid it behind Alex. He sat back in the chair and clasped Danyal’s right hand.
“I hardly recognize him, Galen. Why does everyone I care about wind up in a hospital bed because of me?”
“Ya didn’t put me, Hoko, or Danyal in a hospital bed. Because of ya, each of us survived.”
Alex didn’t feel that way as he leaned forward and placed his hand on Danyal’s heart, assessing the spark in his chest.
“His spark is weak, and that scares me. I’m sending energy through his body; I can’t find anything physically wrong with him.”
“Can ya reach his mind like with mah coma?”
Alex closed his eyes and breathed slowly, concentrating on reaching out to Danyal’s mind. Alex opened his eyes and shook his head no. “His mind isn’t available to me. I can’t feel him.”
“Can ya heal him as ya did me?”
Alex shook his head no again. He said he didn’t know where to start. He had known Galen had suffered a head injury, so knew where to focus his energy. He had no clue what was wrong with Danyal, so the best thing he could do was to try and boost his spark. Alex closed his eyes again and channeled all the cosmic energy he could control into Danyal. He wished Hoko were here; he’d know what to do since Alex’s abilities were much stronger when Hoko guided him.
“Talk to him, Alex. Would talk to Amara every day.”
Alex picked up Danyal’s hand and squeezed it. He said Danyal had napped long enough. It was time to wake up so he could hug him and tell him how much he’d missed him.
“I’m lost without you; you are my anchor,” Alex said.
There had been so many changes in his life he needed to tell Danyal about, and Alex was doing his best to keep it together. In some ways, Alex found a strength inside he never believed existed. He’d made some wonderful friends, fascinating people who challenged him to be better.
“I know you had issues with Galen, but he has a heart of gold. I think you’ll like him if you give him a chance.”
Alex paused as his tears increased, and said he thought he’d started to mature a little into the man Danyal knew he could be, and that he couldn’t wait to show Danyal how much he’d grown. He smiled and said he also had some fancy new tricks that’d blow Danyal’s mind.
All he wanted was to hold Danyal and hear his voice. Alex would even be happy to hear one of Danyal’s rants about his favorite anime series. It didn’t matter what they did, as long as they were together. Alex was never going to let Danyal go again. He sat quietly, gently stroking Danyal’s arm while wiping away his tears. Galen handed him a Kleenex and touched Alex’s back for support.
The moment was interrupted by a gentle knocking on the door. Alex turned to see Dr. Donalds standing in the doorway.
“Is it a good time to enter, gents? I can come back if you need more time alone with Danyal.”
Alex said, “Come in, doc, and please bring me some good news.”
Dr. Donalds approached the bedside and placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder. She said from what she could tell from Danyal’s records, the local physicians had comprehensively assessed the situation. She added that, other than severe dehydration, they’d ruled out head trauma, and his preliminary blood work didn’t indicate any concerning findings.
“So why has he not regained consciousness?” asked Alex.
Dr. Donalds said that was the million-dollar question they were trying to answer. She explained six types of comas had specific underlying origins. So far, they’d eliminated all six conditions that could account for his coma.
“Is that good news?” asked Alex.
She nodded. Dr. Donalds said his vitals were getting stronger, and Danyal was young and strong as an ox, so she had her fingers crossed.
Alex said he’d tried scanning Danyal’s body and couldn’t find any injury, and couldn't reach his mind as Alex did when Galen was injured. She replied they had resources at PGC that standard hospitals wouldn’t even begin to understand, so they would use their state-of-the-art facility to assess Danyal further. Dr. Donalds added, medically speaking, moving Danyal back to PGC for assessment and treatment was their best option, and that she promised she wouldn’t rest until they’d considered every alternative. She winked at Alex and said she would fight for Danyal as if he were her kin.
Alex stood and hugged Dr. Donalds. “Thank you. How soon can we move him?”
She said if Danyal’s vitals continued to improve, they could move him that evening. She’d work out all the details for the medevac. In the meantime, she wanted Alex to stay put and try to rest.
“How’s Hoko?” asked Galen.
Dr. Donalds said he was still in the ICU but stable. He hadn’t regained consciousness, so it would take time to figure out what long-term consequences Hoko might experience, and that he had a long road to recovery ahead of him.
“Will be praying for him,” said Galen.
“We could all use a little prayer these days, Galen,” Dr. Donalds smiled as she sat Danyal’s chart on the bed.
“One last question,” said Alex, “would it help if I tried to heal Hoko?”
“Heavens no,” she said, “Hoko can fight this battle.” She wagged her finger at Alex and chastised him that he was only a couple hours removed from being unconscious after a traumatic event, and reminded him he’d had multiple seizures in the last week. It would be in everyone’s best interest that he leave the supernatural healing alone.
“Will watch him, doc. Keeping him in line is a full-time job,” said Galen.
Alex turned and smiled at Galen. “You can try.”