Eight of Hearts: The Vision - Book 2

Chapter 40

Peter Thompson stood for a long time beside Kaya as she slept, connected to various wires and IVs. The past several hours had been a blur of excitement, with hospital staff rushing to verify Kaya's condition, and get her registered.

There was none of the expected bureaucracy: this hospital existed in a world that was a frequent host to foreign beings, and had been founded as a way to grant medical aid to those who hadn't registered for citizenship with the local government yet. Otherworld, they had called it, since everyone who lived here could trace their heritage back to someone who had been pulled there by accident.

At first it was hard for Peter to believe that such a place could exist: the logistics of managing a constantly fluctuating population were objectionable to say the least. Even thinking back to his time with the HDSF, there had been no records that such a world existed. If there had been, the HDSF would surely have investigated, and at the very least tried to intervene. But they hadn't, which meant this world was somehow off the grid.

It was too convenient, and Peter Thompson couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. But his options were limited, and since they insisted on caring for Kaya without concern for payment, he had to accept their help. At least now Kaya could be kept alive until she awoke from her coma.

With a heavy sigh, the grizzled veteran turned and faced their hospital room. It was sparsely decorated, with sterile-white walls and soft gray floor tiles. A single chair with green cushions sat in the nearest corner, which their nurse had assured him would unfold into a small bed. A small table sat beside the chair, loaded with forms and documents for him to fill out at his convenience: registration papers that he could take to the town hall once he was ready to settle down. Faced with such charity, Peter felt the weight of his years battling the HDSF for peace begin to crumble. If only he had found this world earlier; he could have brought all of the lost here.

But he knew that was just a dream. As long as their family, friends, and loved ones remained captives of the HDSF, they would never have been happy. That was the curse of being a renegade.

Peter Thompson stepped over to the chair and sat down. The soft cushions made his tired body feel decades older as the tension began to ease from his stiff muscles. Leaning back, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to finally rest. He would be there when Kaya woke up; he would help her find peace again, no matter what it cost him.

Kaya didn't know how long she lay among the ruins of her own mind before she found the strength to move again. Slowly, deliberately, she crawled to the door that Isaac had used to lock her inside her own mind. Time had no meaning in her broken state, and all of her thoughts were of rage. The glimpse of Isaac's doomed future had done little to sate her need for revenge. With a scream she threw herself weakly against the door, striking it with her fists as she wailed his name over and over: "Isaac! Isaac!"

There was no response.

Time continued to pass, and as Kaya's strength returned, her efforts became more forceful. She tried to use her powers to force the door open, but when that failed she returned to beating against the door with her bare fists. From time to time she thought she heard a voice on the other side, but it was too faint for her to make any words out.

When her exhaustion could no longer be ignored, she collapsed in defeat. She trembled with each sobbing breath, and though it wasn't her real body, every muscle ached. Finally, laying on the floor, she saw for the first time the damage that had been done to her mind--the ruins of the house she herself had created.

"...only you can properly fix the damage you caused to yourself. Until you do, I cannot let you leave here."

As his words echoed through her mind, a strange sense of clarity settled over her; if she wanted to get out, she would have to restore her damaged house. That was the key Isaac had hidden in his words. That was fine; she would do just that, and once she was free she would hunt him down again.