Her Loyal Rule

Part 6- Be Risen, Be Recovered

I thought my eyes were playing tricks against me.

There was no way this is possible. But here she was. Lying before me.

It was Funneh.

Her blue hair was messed up around her head, and her face was a deathly pale white. There was an ugly gash across her calf, but besides these, she looked...perfectly fine. When I reached down and felt her mouth, I could feel the warmth of shallow breaths. 

She's alive.

I don't know how this happened. Maybe...the water broke the fall? I was so exhilarated, so happy to know that my sister is still alive.

I bent down to Funneh's side. "Funneh, wake up! I'm here!"

No response. But I knew that she was alive. I checked her pulse, and it was beating. Pumping to give her another chance to live.

But for exactly how long?

I need to get her to Nurse Eliza. Right away, immediately. I glanced at Cocoa, who was watching us. "Buddy, we gotta get back," I said, pointing at Funneh. Cocoa whinnied and before I knew it, I was back on her back, with Funneh in my arms and speeding back to the castle.

She can make it. She could, she must, she has.

Cocoa's hooves trampled against the gravel ground, just like my heart. The trees whizzed by us in a blur. "Hold on Funneh," I whispered, tucking a strand of my sister's hair behind her ear. "Hold on."

That became my chant as we raced back to the castle. Hold on, hold on, hold on...

"Hurry Cocoa!" I yelled. She sped down the path like the wind.

We can save Funneh.

The castle was drawing closer and closer...so close, yet so far. I needed to hurry up and get my sister to safety, to heal her. She has to be okay. If she had lived for that long, how could she not be?

We have to save her.

Rainbow waited at the gate for me, and she was shocked. Her mouth opened to say something, but her eyes fell on Funneh and she screeched in both joy and horror. Cocoa slowed to a trot, and we eventually stopped. I hopped off her back and carried Funneh to the castle, but she kept slipping. "Rainbow help me carry her!" I said. Rainbow grabbed Funneh's left arm, while I grabbed her right arm, and together we dragged Funneh through the halls to the hospital quarters. Maids and guards stopped their duties and stared at the unconscious girl between me and Rainbow, but I ignored them. Whatever they do, I don't care. I just want to save my sister.

So close. We're almost there.

We burst through the doors of the hospital quarters with a loud BANG! Nurse Eliza was in the middle of placing some medicine bottles on the shelves, but she stopped when she saw Funneh. "I thought..."

"WHATEVER WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" I exploded in exasperation. "Please, just heal her!"

Nurse Eliza nodded. "I'll do my best." She reached into the pocket of her white dress and pulled out a gadget that looked like a radio. "To all nurses and doctors," she said. "Come to the first floor hospital quarters now."

Within minutes, doctors and nurses were streaming into the room. They gently took Funneh from us, set her down in a bed and wheeled her off into the ER. I tried to follow, but Rainbow's hand was on my shoulder. "Leave them be," she said. "Let them do their thing."

All I could do now...was wait.

Waiting was dreadful. It felt like hours, days, weeks, months, years. The clock seemed broken. I kept looking up for what seemed like a decade to see that only a minute had flown by. Lunar joined us a little later, and it took both me and Rainbow to block her from bursting into the ER. Rainbow started pacing once we've wrestled Lunar down, and Lunar was sitting on the floor, crying. I was just...well, sitting on that uncomfortable plastic chair and just stared. No emotions whatsoever. 

How. Much. Longer?!

After what felt like millions of years, Nurse Eliza emerged out of the ER, looking troubled. "Good news and bad news," she said. "Which one first?"

"Good please," I begged.

She sighed. "Princess Kat is alive, thankfully."

I almost sank a foot in relief. "Thank god," I muttered.

"I wouldn't be too happy your highness," warned Nurse Eliza. "She may be alive, but she's...in a condition."

Those words popped my bubble of joy. "Like...what?" I whispered.

"She's alive thanks to the water from the lagoon, but she hit her head on some rocks and she almost drowned. It's a miracle that she was washed ashore. However...she sustained a serious brain injury and-" She paused for a moment, extremely guilty and sad to say," We hooked her to a machine and now...she's in a coma." Lunar turned even paler and Rainbow paced even faster so hard she wore the carpet under her feet.

So...wait. That's it?

"A coma?" I asked. "We're not sure if she will ever wake up again, but we're doing our best," said Nurse Eliza. Heavy dark clouds seemed to hover above us as we took in the news. 

Never wake up again? No...

"I need to see her," I said. Nurse Eliza shook her head. "No, she's too fragile and-"

"I SWEAR TO GOD, JUST SHUT UP!" I roared. "I'M GOING TO SEE HER, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" I had my anger issues but with Funneh like this, I'm extremely pushed to my limits now.

Nurse Eliza stared at me, then sighed. "Fine, you may see her." She opened the doors to the ER, and all 3 of us charged inside. We braked at the foot of Funneh's new bed and gasped.

It was so tragic.

Funneh lay on the bed with closed eyes, and her features looked calm and peaceful. But her skin was an even paler white and looked clammy. Cords attached to her limp hands and legs, and machines beeped with radiation. The color on her face was fading, like she was drained of all life. Lifeless. 

No indication that she was okay. No look to say that she could open her eyes. No proof that she may ever wake up again.

Death is a powerful thing. 

I've never seen Funneh so still in my whole life. She's always moving, whether or not if she's sitting down. It was so unnatural to see her, laying there, no movement and no sign of her being alive.

Death can't take my sister away.

I stared at the horrible scene before me before my eyes burned with fresh tears. My hands twitched, my knees buckled and my mouth opened to speak, but it didn't.

At least not yet, anyways.

I hurried out of the ER in embarrassment, and when I finally made sure I was alone, I sank to my knees and sobbed. 

Why must this happen to me? WHY?