Chapter Twenty-One

The sunset over the Salish Sea was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. And I could barely appreciate it.

The clouds glowed as wave after wave rolled in, bathed in reddish-gold twilight. Colors danced across the breakers along the shore. I was in the comfiest hospital bed in the world, settling in for my second long night at Saxe Point Memorial Hospital.

I had all the blankets and pillows in the world and couldn’t sleep.

I couldn’t. My arms burned every time I moved, and the doctors couldn’t figure out why. They’d done a battery of tests, x-rays, and scans, and there wasn’t anything wrong.

My dad snored in the armchair. He hadn’t left since he’d arrived yesterday. I hated him for being able to sleep. I loved him for being here with me. But I was terrified of waking him up.

I rolled over to look out the window some more. Pain ripped through my arms. I groaned, covered my mouth, and moaned again when the movement rippled agony across my joints.

The sunset really was beautiful, though. As it dipped below the horizon and the world turned purple, I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. Maybe I’d feel better in the morning.

My phone buzzed. I sighed. It was an unknown number, but a text would be a distraction. I slowly, gingerly reached out to touch the screen.

[Hey Alice. Olivia+James here. Where you at?]

I didn’t bother asking where they’d gotten my number. James knew everything about me, down to the TV shows I liked. I slowly, gingerly texted back, trying to move my hands as little as possible.

[Room 1236]

The bed’s safety rail dug into my side, but I didn’t move. Moving would be worse.

[Found ur friends room. Coming to get you kid]

I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d been asking about Sora whenever a nurse came in. No one would tell me what was going on. I needed to know how she was!

Now, Overclock and James knew where her room was? And they were coming to get me? That was great! Better than great, that was…

It was…not great. It was possibly horrible! I winced as I pushed the screen on my phone. I had to send Overclock a message before she arrived.

[Dad is here. Meet you outside]

I set the phone down and started the painful, painful process of sitting and standing. The covers slid off. I wore pink scrubs - the nurses had let me wear them instead of the hospital gown since Dad was sleeping over.

Once I was standing, I had another challenge; what was I supposed to do with my arms? I tried a few things. Holding them to my side rubbed them against my legs, and letting them swing was way too much movement. Eventually, I hugged myself. No motion at all!

I walked to the door, arms wrapped around my chest as tightly as I could squeeze. Using my hip worked to open the door, which silently swung open only to hit the wall with a thunk.

I flinched and looked back, waiting for Dad’s voice. When I heard nothing, I carefully shut the door with my foot.

“Hey, kid. You ready to go?”

I jumped, then squeaked in pain as my arms un-hugged.

“More importantly than that, Alice, are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” I whimpered as I moved my arms back to a hugging position. I looked at Overclock and at the boy standing behind her. Then I looked again.

“Is that James?”

He couldn’t have been more than 170 centimeters tall, and he looked like a twig. He wore a turtleneck jacket with a little rank patch on the shoulder and a nametag that said ‘Kingly.’ His glasses had a strand of blonde hair over them.

“Hi, Alice,” he mumbled.

“Don’t give me that, Jimmy!” Overclock grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward me. “You’ve been asking about her for two days, quit hiding behind me and hug her!”

“I have not!”

“No!” I yelped. “Don’t touch me!” I stumbled away from James as he stumbled toward me, propelled by Overclock’s pull. My elbow bumped into the wall, and I burst into tears.

“You’re not fine.” James reached out, hesitated, and withdrew his hand. “Tell me what’s happening while we see your friend.”

“It’s like my arms are on fire whenever they touch something,” I explained. “There’s no cause for it, and the doctors are stumped. They won’t discharge me until it’s gone, though, and since my dad’s moved into the armchair, it’s…” I paused. What was the right word? Scary? Oppressive? “...Awkward.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

We walked to the elevator. Overclock pushed the button with her one hand. “Second floor?” I asked.

“Yeah, Jimmy used SHOCKS backdoors to figure out where she was. A no-visitors wing, not that that’ll stop us. She had several lacerated organs, but luckily, synth replacements are on the market, thanks to January Rain.”

“That Girl sold out so hard,” James said. “She sold her image, her knowledge of the Nanite Mana System - at least the field version - and stuff from so many tomes.” He sighed. “Maybelle-1 was so proud of her. Said she had the best branding and marketing she’d ever seen.”

“So Sora will be okay? She’s not going to, uh, die?” My shoulders slumped, the tight spot between the blades melting away. The elevator arrived, and we got on. I wobbled as the elevator started moving down. Overclock grabbed my arm to steady me and let go when I flinched and squeaked in pain.

“No, she’ll be okay. It’s a long recovery, and they’ve effectively shut down her damaged organs until replacements can come in. Even so, Olivia wasn’t gentle with the QuikClot.”

“Yeah, Sunburst was right. Sora’s going to be in the bathroom a lot when she wakes up!”

We giggled for a bit. “So, Overclock -”

“It’s Olivia. I’m not in uniform, and neither are you. Even if we talk MG stuff in public, which is frowned upon, being able to deny it is important.”

“Okay, I’ll bite, Olivia. Why?”

“Because,” James said, “SHOCKS has had to deal with several incidents where Girls’ identities got out and caused problems. Ebon Ring’s handling of paparazzi and stalkers was extreme, but it also demonstrated how important it was to keep anonymity. Operators don’t have the same celebrity, so it hasn’t been a problem for us.”

“Ebon retired after that mess - it made it to a congressional panel. She’s a teacher at SHOCKS now. Mack Identification and Appraisal.”

“Oookay, no Aliases in public unless we’re in uniform?” I could live with that. The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and we walked out. “I was going to ask about your arm. Are you done with fighting without it?”

“Nah,” Over - Olivia - said, “we’ve got options to keep us going. I want a synth prosthesis, but my mom’s convinced it’ll be better to vat-grow a bio replacement. That takes months, though, and the learning time to re-adjust is rough. I need to get back to doing something.”

The nurse at the desk had her nose in her phone, so the three of us could quietly sneak through. We opened the door to Sora’s room.

Sora’s head peeked over a thin blanket. Tubes dived under the hem and lumps around her midriff hinted at medical machines at work. An oversized oxygen mask covered her face, and the beeps and hums of machines, gauges, and the heart monitor in the corner filled the room.

As the door shut, she opened her eyes. Her head rolled around the room. She blinked and pulled the mask off. “Shhhouldn’t be time yet, Doctor Shhunny…I feel great,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Aww, she’s all loopy. Sunburst must have her on something strong,” Olivia said.

I wasn’t sure what to say. What to do. How to apologize for what she’d gone through. After a moment of awkward silence, James cleared his throat. “You need to say something, Alice.”

“Oooh, where’sh Alish?” Sora wriggled, wincing with the movement until her head was up so she could look right at me. “Hiiiiii, Alish.”

“Hi, Sora,” I started. Before I knew it, I was on my knees, tears rolling down my face, with my arms hugging my best friend’s neck. They stung with every one of her squirms, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t ever letting her go again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Uh, Alish…that hurts. Can you get off?”

I let her go, blushing and sobbing at the same time.

“I was dealing with my dad in the shelter, and you were upstairs, and then you got attacked, but I wasn’t there to help.” The words had started, and now they wouldn’t stop - my fears and nerves flowed in a cascade. “I was busy with helping my dad because the lieutenant said I should, and Overclock said so too, so I was -”

“Shlow down, Alish…Overclock? You met Overclock?” Sora’s eyes brightened, and her heart-rate monitor beeped faster.

“Uh, yeah, but that’s not important. What matters is that I -”

“Not important? Ssshe’sh your hero! ReshCute ish our heroesh!” I could see Sora’s signature scowl starting through the fog of whatever drug she was on.

I turned to Overcl - Olivia. “Help me?”

“Come on, James, let’s give these two some space,” Olivia said. “We’ll see you upstairs at the elevator.” The two of them snuck out of the door.

“Sho, you met Overclock? Did you figure out what her power doesh?”

“Yeah, actually, it’s really cool. It - wait! Overclock’s really not important.” I held up my hand. “What’s important is that I could have stopped you from getting hurt, and I didn’t!”

“No, Alish, you couldn’t have shtopped it. It’sh not your fault -”

“Yes, it is! I got emergency enrolled! I’m a Red now! I was in the wrong place, and I should have been there for you. I’m sorry, and I won’t let anything hurt -”

“Wait, you were shupposhed to be the Pink!”

Sora just wouldn’t listen to me. I had to get my apology out, but she kept interrupting and distracting me. It was so infuriating! She wasn’t listening, and she needed to hear this! I needed to say this!

“Sora, it’s not important!” I screamed. I slapped my hands against my thighs, sucked in a breath at the pain that shot up my arms, and opened my mouth again.

The door opened. The duty nurse stood there, arms crossed. “What are you doing? This is a no-visitors wing, and Miss Ito needs to rest! Out!” She pointed to the door.

“Bye, Alish. Shee you shoon?”

“Only if you let me finish next time!” I walked past the nurse. Olivia and James stood by the elevator door, looking ashamed. We got on silently and pushed the button for floor twelve.

“See, kid, she’s going to be okay.” Olivia touched my back as the elevator rose.

“And you’ll be alright, too,” James said. “SHOCKS has programs for Girls who’ve seen too much. And whoever your Operator is will have the right training to help you process. We all do.”

“Thanks,” I sniffled. “I need to get back in before Dad realizes I’m gone, though. I’m already in trouble for lying about being safe and about sneaking out before graduation.”

When we got to my hospital room, Olivia spoke up first. “Stay strong, kid.”

“I’ll do some research on your pain when I get back to SHOCKS tonight,” James said. “If the doctors can’t diagnose it, I bet it’s a Girl problem.” Olivia and I giggled as he flushed red. “I mean a Magical Girl problem!”

I nodded to my two friends. Olivia opened the door. My arms were getting tired of hugging myself, and I just wanted to lie down for a while. I tried to tiptoe into the dark room as the door shut behind me. Dad’s shape was still in the armchair. He was still asleep!

A cough rang out in the room. I froze.

“God dammit, Alice.”

Dad was still in the armchair, alright. And he was looking right at me!