The Rift

Chapter 12 Part 2

Metal doors that led to the trauma wing of the hospital flung open as Marie and Elsa burst through. Elsa could barely keep up with Marie, who was nearly running down the hallway. She grabbed Marie's hand when a few of the staff members gave them suspicious glances. "Marie," Elsa said in a hushed, urgent tone. "Slow down!" Marie turned her face towards Elsa, and Elsa could tell she was on the verge of breaking down. Elsa stroked her hand. "We need a plan. We can't just burst in." Marie scoffed but listened. "Follow my lead," Elsa said. She cleared her throat and stood up straight, summoning a calm yet concerned demeanor as she approached a nurse.

The morning after she and Marie had fought the magical mass, an article came out announcing that a teenager was in critical condition from the attack in town, along with around a dozen who sustained minor injuries. A sixteen-year-old girl named Beverly West was comatose in the town hospital with little hope of waking. Despite knowing the dozen people would have been released already, Marie and Elsa rushed to the hospital as soon as they heard.

"Excuse me," Elsa said politely to a nurse. "Could you tell me where Beverly West's room is?" She motioned at herself and Marie. "We're from her church and would like to pray for her."

The nurse smiled and nodded. "Go down the hall and take a left. She's in room 205."

Elsa dipped her head. "Thank you."

Marie followed closely as they made their way down the bleak hallway. "Nice," she muttered behind Elsa. "But what if her family is there?"

"Then we say we are new," Elsa said quietly.

Marie let out a huff. "Lying about being from a church to secretly perform magic. Ironic." Elsa appreciated the dry humor. Not even an hour before, Elsa had to talk Marie down from flying out of her apartment to hunt down Amos. Elsa clenched her fist as they rounded the corner. It was hard not to go after him, but they needed to see if the reason Beverly was in a coma was because of magic. They could potentially heal the teenager if so.

Another nurse exited room 205 and stopped them. Elsa repeated the situation to the new nurse and said they were directed to the room by a nurse down the hall. The new nurse nodded and asked, "Her family recently stepped out to get some coffee. Would you like to wait until they return?"

"Unfortunately, we have to get back to work as soon as we can," Elsa said pleasantly. She gave the nurse a small smile. "You know how managers can be."

The nurse sighed. "No kidding. Let me know if you can't find your way out." Elsa and Marie nodded before making their way inside the room. Beverly lay motionless in a hospital bed as several pieces of medical equipment surrounded the girl. Elsa and Marie rounded the bed, their demeanors dropping to states of somberness.

Marie lightly touched Beverly's arm. "I'm so sorry, Beverly," Marie whispered. "We should have been there. We should have stopped it."

Elsa reached over and rested her hand on Marie's. "We can't save everyone," she said gently.

Marie scoffed. "My father did this," she hissed. "If I had defeated him by now, then no one would have gotten hurt." She gritted her teeth. "If I was stronger-"

"This isn't your fault, Marie," Elsa said firmly but softly. "Don't let him get to you. It's what he wants."

Marie pulled away. "Of course, it had to be a kid. The sick bastard." She watched as Elsa placed a hand over Beverly's right arm. "Can you sense magic?"

Elsa took a moment to assess as she placed her hand over Beverly's heart. She withdrew and clenched her hand as a shooting pain traveled up her arm. "Yes." She looked at Marie. "It's similar to when I accidentally shot Anna in the chest with my magic, except that Beverly isn't a conduit like Anna is." Elsa grew quiet as a doctor walked by the room. After they passed, she resumed. "That's probably why Beverly's in a coma. Her body can't handle the magic."