Hyper

Disease

Harper opened her eyes slowly. The bright fluorescent light blinded her. She looked to her side and found Mom sitting beside her, asleep.

"Mom," she called out; her voice was weak and cracked. Mom woke up at the faint sound.

"Oh, thank the heavens, you're alright." Mom smiled at Harper.

"You really had me worried last night," she added.

"What happened? All I remember is sitting down for dinner with Zoey and then nothing," Harper said.

"That's because you started puking and then fainted," Zoey's voice came from the bed's other side. Harper turned to her, finding her face full of tears.

She lifted her hand, holding Zoey's cheek. "You're gonna pay for scaring me like that," Zoey smiled, tears still running.

"I'm sorry I scared you, but you shouldn't worry about me. I'll be fine," Harper tried to smile. but was too weak to manage.

"I'm always going to worry about you. As of last night, you're my baby sister, right?" Zoey couldn't stop the tears, but she still smiled for both of them.

Mom smiled too. Harper's eyes closed once more as she was too weak to stay awake.

***

Several people wearing doctor robes came into the room, waking Harper up.

"Patient is twenty-two, female, recently woken up from a coma, and is suffering from recurring faintings. Who can tell me why?" One of the doctors asked the group.

They were talking among themselves, but no one answered the question. "Good, no one knows, and that is good because no one actually knows."

"Coma patients usually show signs of difficulty resuming day-to-day lives, but it's rare to keep fainting after awakening. Does anyone have an idea as to how we should proceed?" The doctor seemed to Harper as though he was a teacher in class and she was the subject.

"MRI?" A student asked from behind, unsure of himself. "Well, a quick look at the chart shows us that several tests were conducted. However, an MRI was not one of them. Therefore, I did, in fact, order an MRI myself this morning. Very good, moving on." The group left the room without saying a word to Harper, leaving her alone.

Harper closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on her body. Her powers were not working, but she tried anyway.

The door opened again, and Zoey came in. "Hey, you're awake again. You slept for like, eight more hours. I was getting sleepy myself," she said.

"Wow, really? Eight hours? Seemed like a second to me. Where's Mom?" Harper asked.

"She had work this morning, so I stayed with you. I canceled my shifts anyway, so I wasn't missing anything," she answered.

"I need a favor Zoe," Harper looked very tense. "I need to get out of here," she asked.

"No, you don't. You need to stay put until the doctors can figure out what's going on with you and cure it. And I'm not letting you out of my sight until that happens," Zoey answered, almost angry.

"Look, I can't tell you why, but I'm the only one who can figure this out. Please!" Harper begged her, but Zoey grew suspicious at that.

"Is that because of the same reason you knew your bra size miraculously?" She asked. Harper knew she had been caught.

"Yes, it is. Please, I'll tell you everything, but I need to go home first." Harper lost.

She decided to trust her sister more than the doctors who lived by primitive science.