Deep in the Forest (Wattpad Editor's Pick, June '22)

14

It had been less than a month since Zoe last walked the halls of Rimrock Memorial Hospital. Not nearly long enough to forget the fear that visit induced. James turned red and then purple as he struggled to breathe. The inhaler he was using didn't seem to be working. By the time Zoe tore the house apart and found his backup, he was unconscious. The ambulance rushed him to the hospital, and they ran a battery of tests on him. The doctors concluded he had an allergy attack brought on by wild violet that grew all over Rimrock. Since that visit, Zoe and Tessa placed inhalers in almost every room out the house in case something like that happened again. 

Zoe cleared her throat to get the nurse's attention. "Excuse me, can you tell me where James Thornton is?" 

The curly haired man squinted at the whiteboard across the busy hallway from where he was sitting. "It looks like he's in room 211. That's right at the end of that hall." He pointed down one of the corridors and gave them a brief smile before going back to his computer screen. 

"Thank you," Rebecca said while gently leading her to the room. 

Zoe feared what she was going to see when she walked into the room. Would James be, okay? Would he be awake? Asleep? Breathing? 

"I'll wait out here for you," Rebecca said. 

"Thanks for driving me." 

"Of course." She leaned against the wall and pulled her phone out. 

Zoe placed her hand on the door handle. She took a deep breath, gaining any composure she could by straightening to her full height and forcing a smile onto her face. In her mind, she repeated the mantra, 'I will not cry. I will not cry.' 

James Thornton looked frail, small even, laying in the hospital bed. Maybe it was the bars trapping him from all sides giving the appearance of a metal crib or the countless wires and tubes connected to him that did it. No matter what the reason was, Zoe hated how invisible bindings kept her from being able to help him. 

Her chin quivered as she approached the bed. The ventilator hummed as the artificial lungs moved up and down, breathing for him. 

Tessa wrapped an arm around Zoe's shoulder. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy from crying. She spoke quietly, "Thank you for coming so quickly. I'm sorry that your date was cut short." 

Zoe squeezed her mom's hand. "Don't worry, we will go out again, when dad is doing better." She noticed the bandage on his forehead and asked, "What happened to him?" 

Tessa dabbed a tissue at the tears clinging to the corners of her eyes. "I found him laying outside. His head was bleeding from hitting the corner of the back deck railing. He was going on about seeing a monster in the trees when he stopped breathing." 

"A monster?" Could it have been Ste ye hah? 

Tessa's eyes darted towards the door. "I didn't see anything, but there was an awful smell out there." 

The description sounded all too familiar but Zoe didn't want to believe that her actions would have brought Ste ye hah's wrath down on her dad. "Like a corpse decaying?" 

Tessa looked at her for a long time before speaking, "You haven't returned to Culver Ridge, have you?" 

Her stomach tied into knots. "Well—" 

Tessa pulled her comforting arm away and snapped, "We told you not to go there again!" 

"It wasn't my fault." 

"Don't lie, Zoe. It's not how your father and I raised you." 

"Dyani Sohappy was yelling for help from the forest. Takota and I rushed in and tried to find her, but we didn't." She bit her lip to keep from saying what they did see. 

Tessa rubbed her forehead. "When was this?" 

"The night I hurt my leg." 

Her mom stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue. 

"I didn't bump it on the corner of my dresser like I told you. I fell when..." she swallowed hard as the image of the human face and glowing yellow eyes reminded her that she had seen Bigfoot, not another animal like she kept trying to convince herself of. "When I was being chased out of Culver Ridge." 

"Chased by what?" 

Zoe shrugged. "I don't know for sure. I thought it was a bear, but I saw its face. It looked human." 

Tessa slowly sat down on the chair next to James' bed. "Why didn't you tell me the truth?" 

"I didn't want to give you or dad something else to worry about. You already have enough to deal with." 

"You must seek the Shaman's help. He will know how to appease the angry spirits." 

Zoe nodded. "Takota and I talked to him last night." 

"Good. You will stay here and fix your mess while I go with your dad to Seattle." 

"But I want to go with you and dad. What if he..." she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. 

"If you don't appease Ste ye hah, your father might not make it through the surgery." 

"But—" 

"And I don't want you missing any classes. We can't afford to pay for another quarter of college." 

"But—" 

"No arguments Zoe, you will do as I ask." 

James moaned and his eyelids fluttered open. 

"Hi dad." 

His blue gaze lit up as they landed on her. His left hand grasped hers. The warmth she always felt was gone, replaced with trembling, clammy palms. 

She gave him her best smile. 

He squeezed her hand, then pointed to a pen and paper on the medical table hovering over his midsection. 

She handed him the items and asked, "What is it?" 

The pen shook in his fingers. The writing was wobbly but she could make out what he wrote. "Ste ye hah, is real." 

She nodded slowly and couldn't believe what she was saying, "I know." 

James' face grew pale, his eyes darted about the room as if he was looking for Bigfoot. 

"Relax and don't worry about Ste ye hah. I will take care of him." She promised but wasn't sure if she could really do anything to help. 

A nurse entered the room. "Hello, Mr. Thornton. It's good to see you awake." Zoe thought her voice was too chipper, and full of false sympathy. "It's time for us to fly you over to Seattle. They have a bed ready for you and your donor is flying in late tonight. If all goes well, your surgery will take place tomorrow morning." 

"Surgery? Already?" 

The nurse nodded as she moved around the bed, checking the machines hooked to James. "Whatever caused this latest scare has us very concerned. His lung collapsed and he needs the operation as soon as possible, we can't wait any longer." 

Zoe kissed James' cheek. "Get some rest. I'll see you when you get back home with a new lung."