The Swords of Memory: Second Chances

Chapter 32

Veronica walked up to the door and peaked through the side window to see who it was. She opened the door and let Warren in. "She's really asleep? I thought you said she was trying not to."

"She was trying to stay awake. But I had to let her sleep. I'm not going to let her become delirious from lack of sleep. That isn't going to help her." Veronica explained.

"I agree but she wouldn't avoid sleep like that unless she had a reason. We have to wake her up."

"I don't think that's a good idea Warren. She tried explaining to me why she couldn't go back to sleep and it seemed a lot like vivid dreams. I grew up with Zara. She moves when she dreams. She has been completely stationary since she fell asleep. She isn't dreaming. Let he get whatever sleep she can."

"You're wrong. They aren't dreams. And she doesn't move around much when she is experiencing them."

"How would you know that? And you believe her delusion that her dreams are actually happening?"

"I know because I was here when she fell asleep and then had to wake her when a burn started to appear on her hand. Nothing made the burn appear but when she woke up she said that she had touched a person made of lava. She could be in danger right now." Warren started walking towards the stairs and Veronica grabbed his arm. Even though she was older than him he was much stronger and broke free, rushing up the stairs towards Zara's room.

Veronica entered the room right behind Warren and watched as Warren went to wake her. He started by saying her name and then he touched her arm. She remained in a seemingly peaceful sleep. When the gentle approach failed he started to shake her, with increasing urgency until he realized shaking her harder might hurt her. "Did you give her some kind of drug?" Warren asked accusingly.

"Of course not. I wouldn't drug my little sister. She just fell asleep on her own and I let her. She's probably just so exhausted that her body won't let her wake up."

"Veronica, you have to believe me. I helped Zara through some nights where she was experiencing the other world, the world that you are convinced is a dream. But every time I tried to wake her up, it worked. She woke within seconds of my trying to wake her. Doesn't this seem odd? She wasn't really awake that long. She shouldn't be this tired." Veronica was starting to get a bit worried. Her unwavering confidence that sleep was best for Zara and that the dreams had been just dreams was suddenly not so concrete a belief.

"Let me wake her." Veronica did similar things to what Warren had done and Zara didn't even stir. As a last resort Veronica blew in Zara's ears. It was something she had done to bother her sister since they were little, both when she was awake and asleep. It never failed to wake Zara and send her into a rage. Zara didn't move. She continued with her consistently even breathing. "That should have worked. It always worked."

"Veronica, I don't want you to think that this is your fault, but there might have been a reason why Zara didn't want to sleep, didn't want to go back to that world. She wouldn't tell me anything, and she clearly didn't tell you anything specific either. But she was convinced that the boy in the crash with her, the one in the coma, Eli, was trapped in that world. He wouldn't wake up because he was stuck there, in the place Zara called the portal game."

"Are you trying to say that Zara is in a coma?" Veronica said, her voice rising.

"Quiet! We don't want to wake up your parents. I'm just saying that it's a possibility. Zara has been searching for a way to get Eli out of the portal game, now it might be a search to get them both out."

"Then what are we supposed to do? We have to help her."

"There's nothing we can do now. We have to wait. Hope that Zara either wakes up or finds a way out."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Let's not think about that."

***

Eli's mother leaned over her son. She was wondering where Zara was. She had grown to look forward to her visits and had been thrown off when they abruptly stopped. It had been just the right kind of peculiarity to break her out of the depression that had gripped her since the accident. Instead of being filled with dread and worry for her son, she had another kind of worry occupying her thoughts. She was worried about Zara. She didn't really know her that well but Zara seemed like the kind of girl who cared about others, who wouldn't make a promise she didn't intend to keep.

In Zara's absence she had taken to talking to Eli about her. She kept insisting that the accident had been a gift from God to bring Zara into their lives. She was convinced that Eli and Zara were supposed to be together. They had been in the same grade and school for years and nothing had happened but Eli's mom was convinced that the accident was a last resort. Since they hadn't found each other when given the opportunity in normal instances, God had resorted an extraordinary one.

She continued muttering to Eli when a nurse came in. "Mrs. Johnson, you should get some sleep. It's very late."

"Yes dear."

"Could I convince you to drive to a hotel for the night?"

"Not tonight. My baby still needs me."