Axel Light Trilogy: Wands and Shield

Chapter 16-A

Axel stirred – he could smell the sickening clean smell and knew that he was in the hospital before he had even opened his eyes. When he did open his eyes, Mintridge was looking at him. She smiled at him, and she looked relieved.

Axel tried to sit up and she helped him.

'My key!'

That was the first thing that came to his mind.

'Your key is safe! It's with Commissioner Linden.'

Fear overtook Axel immediately as he stared at Mintridge in disbelief.

'He had stolen it from me!' cried Axel incredulously.

'No Axel, you need to give it to him...'

'He attacked me!'

'Don't be ridiculous!'

'He had nearly killed me!'

'He had saved you, Axel,' said Mintridge exasperatedly, trying very hard to explain, 'you had nearly died...'

'WHAT?!' shouted Axel at the top of his voice, 'HE STOLE MY KEY AND HE ATTACKED ME!'

The door burst opened, and Jane came rushing in. Stanley and Johnson had peeked in at the door – they had definitely heard Axel's shouts. But they remained rooted outside the door dutifully.

'Axel! Thank goodness, you are awake. I thought I had heard your voice from the corridor,' said Jane giving Axel a hug.

'Jane!' Axel was relieved to see someone from the family, he quickly cried out 'Commissioner Linden, he stole my key! He took it from me, and he had attacked me!'

Axel caught Jane stole a quick glance at Mintridge.

'Axel, your key is safe with Commissioner Linden...'

'I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! I didn't want to give it to him! He can't take it away from me! THAT IS STEALING!'

Axel was at the edge of his bed now; menacing and ready to jump down.

Jane pushed him back to his bed, 'You need to rest, Axel, let MaxPol do their job...'

'By being a thief and attacking civilian?! THIS IS MADNESS!'

'He didn't steal from you...'

'I didn't want to give it to him! That's stealing!'

'Axel, you got to trust...'

'NO ONE IS LISTENING TO ME!' shouted Axel, his body shaking.

This was worse than dying. Why did he wake up? He grasped at his neck, and he found his chain. His key was not on his chain. He felt unsettled. A part of him was missing.

'I want to go home,' muttered Axel, heaving heavily from all the shouting, 'Where's my wand?'

He caught a glimpse of Jane and Mintridge stealing a nervous glance at each other.

'Can I have my wand,' muttered Axel coldly and warningly, 'Please.'

'You should just rest...' started Mintridge but she paused when Axel glared at her; and continued, 'We... don't have it... with us...'

'Then where is it?' snapped Axel, fearing the worst.

'Commissioner Linden is keeping it safe...'

Axel gave them an ominous look that Mintridge could not continue her sentence.

For a moment, nobody spoke. Axel could hear his own irregular breathing. His heart was hurting him badly. He did not know if he could contain his anger any longer.

'Axel,' said Jane softly, breaking the silence, her voice shaking slightly, 'Let me check if you can come home today, OK?'

Axel did not answer. He just sat on his bed, trying very hard to control his breaths, still furious beyond belief. Jane dabbed at her eyes and left the room.

Axel had never felt so angry in his life, and helpless – no one believed him, no one was listening to him. And Linden took everything from him – his wand, his key – the only thing that his parents had left for him. Axel had nothing left that mattered to him anymore.

Nothing.

'How long was I unconscious?' snapped Axel so suddenly that Mintridge jumped up slightly.

'You had slept for three days,' cringed Mintridge, anticipating another outburst from Axel.

Three days??? Linden would have cleared his mother's house and done whatever he had wanted with his wand in less than three days.

Axel felt like grabbing at whatever his eyes would fell upon and tossed them on the ground, breaking them. He felt like throttling Mintridge. But what was the point? She did not steal from him or hurt him.

The room door opened, and Axel half felt Mintridge's sigh of relief. Robert and Jane approached his bed cautiously – Jane must have warned Robert about his delicate emotions.

Before any of them could say anything, Axel asked Robert, 'You don't believe me, do you, that Commissioner Linden had attacked me and stole my key?'

Robert was caught off-guard.

'I... I believe you... but... Commissioner Linden... would not do anything bad... he would not hurt anyone...'

Axel succumbed to his anger. He grabbed everything that he could reach and smashed them on the floor – all the machines, metal trays, medicine, cotton balls, cups, tubes, bedside table.

He saw Robert, Jane and Mintridge backed away quickly to the wall, and they just stood where they were and watched him on a rampage. Stanley and Johnson rushed in when they heard the commotion, but Mintridge had asked them to leave the room.

Axel jumped down from the bed in rage, but he had forgotten that he was barefooted – cutting his feet when he stepped on some broken glass and metal. He swore loudly and ignored the trail of blood that his feet had left on the floor. He walked up to the three of them with his fists balled up in rage.

'Bring me home, NOW!' Axel demanded loudly and pointing at the door with his shaking hands.

'Axel, I think you are not fit...'

'I DON'T CARE! DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE!' Axel continued to shout.

He was trying to make a point.

Before Axel could take another step, Mintridge cleared the mess on the floor with a flick of her wand. She walked up to Axel and gently took his hands.

'We will bring you home,' she said tenderly, nodding at him, 'We will bring you home now.'

The sudden agreement seemed to have calmed him down slightly. Axel allowed Mintridge to lead him back to his bed. Robert quickly summoned some ointment and bandages. He cleaned the wound on Axel's feet, applied some ointment and bandaged them. Jane went to his cupboard and took out his jacket, gently placing them on his shoulders.

'It's cold outside,' said Jane softly.

Normally, Axel would say 'thank you', without fail. But the words would not come out of his throat. They were defiant like he was.

'Let's go, Axel,' whispered Jane woefully, 'Let's go home.'