Free Fall - Into Other Worlds

Chapter 24 - A Day of Returns (Part 2)

Kara closed her eyes and hugged Eron tightly to her as they drifted though the lightless space. It was the same odd weightless drifting she'd experienced before falling into Eron's world. Even with her eyes squeezed shut, Kara still saw the bright flash of the white light that engulfed them. Landing with a thud on a cold hard surface, Kara opened her eyes. The shiny wooden floor beneath her, the wooden shelves filled with musty old books and files surrounding them, she was back! An overwhelming sense of relief filled her at seeing the familiar surroundings, but then a sudden feeling of something on her back made her jump.

"Chai!" She shouted in surprise as the critter crawled round from her back. "How did you get here?" Kara hadn't realised he'd jumped onto her pack when the portal first opened. She watched him crawl over to the limp body in her arms. "Right!" Kara suddenly remembered the urgency of the situation. "Hello! Anyone here?" She shouted as she rifled through her pack. Pulling out her mobile phone, she quickly turned it on. "Thank goodness," she said with relief as it binged and lit up.

She dialled the emergency services and told them to send an ambulance to the central city library. After explaining their location, she told the operator that the victim was unconscious, badly wounded, and poisoned. With such severity, Kara knew they should send the first available ambulance. Not long after she made the call, a library worker came running over. Kara assumed the emergency services had called the library to ensure it wasn't a prank call. Especially since the first thing the library worker said down the phone she was holding was that there was indeed a person in need of an ambulance. Seeing how the library worker was keeping his distance and looking at them strangely, Kara realised they must look crazy right now. She quickly scrolled though her phone and dialled Ivan Kross's number.

Detective Kross was sitting at his desk working through the mountain of paperwork on his desk when his phone rang. He froze when he saw the caller ID. Nervously he swiped to answer and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Ivan! I need your help!"

Detective Kross jumped to his feet at hearing Kara's voice, startling those around him. "Kara? Kara, is that really you? Where are you? Where have you been?" He blurted out quickly in a state of shock.

"Now's not the time for that! I need you to help me right now!" Kara told him with urgency. "I'm at the city library where you last saw me, and I'm with someone who needs to go to the hospital. Ivan? Are you listening?"

"You're... at the library?" Detective Kross uttered in disbelief. He shook his head and gave himself a slap. "Who's hurt?" he asked after coming to his senses. "I'll head over straight away."

"I've already called an ambulance, and they should be here soon," explained Kara. "But my friend is badly hurt and I don't know how to explain his condition in a way they'll believe me!"

Detective Kross stopped walking towards the office door. "What do you mean? What's wrong with your friend? Is it Ren?"

"No, he's not from here," replied Kara. How could she explain that they just came from another world without sounding crazy? "The place where we were, he got attacked by a poisonous animal. We tried to treat his wounds, but he's in a bad way and needs help right away!"

Detective Kross didn't know what to make of her babbling, but she'd just miraculously reappeared in the library. So whatever she said wasn't stranger than that fact. "Calm down Kara! When the medics arrive, get them to tell you which hospital they're taking you to, and then let me know immediately. Okay?"

"Okay," replied Kara as she looked at Eron on the floor beside her. She was trying hard not to panic and burst into tears. Right now she needed to ensure Eron got the help he needed.

As Detective Kross strode down the station stairs, he suddenly remembered something important. "Kara, have you called your mother yet?" He asked with worry as he ran his hand through his greying hair.

Kara froze. She had automatically called Ivan because he was a police officer and could convince the doctors she wasn't crazy. It hadn't crossed her mind to call her psychologist mother instead.

"Please tell me you called her first?" Detective Kross asked nervously. The silence made his heart sink. "You haven't called her have you? Kara Blake! Call her right this minute, and tell her what you told me! And be sure to tell her the hospital location first so she'll arrive around the same time as me!" He shouted down the phone before hanging up. "Are you trying to get me hated here?" He grumbled as he slipped his phone into his coat pocket. With a frustrated huff, he continued down the stairs and out of the station.

Kara sat for a moment before nervously calling her mother. It only rang twice before the call was picked up, but no one spoke. "Mom? Hello?" She heard sobs break out on the other end. "Mom? I'm back. I can't explain everything right now, but medics will be taking my friend and I to a hospital soon. Don't worry though, I'm not hurt!" She assured her mother down the phone. "I'll text you the hospital name once I know. Could you please bring me some clothes? And a pair of my period pants?" Her mother still hadn't said a word. All Kara could hear on the line were muffled sobs. "Mom? Did you hear me? Don't drive if you're upset, okay? Get a taxi." The medics finally arrived and Kara needed to move out of the way. "Mom, the medics are here now. I'll let you know which hospital soon, okay?" Kara just had to hope her mother had heard everything as she hung up the phone and turned her attention to her current setting.

The medics looked over Eron and glanced over at Kara. The clothes they were wearing were odd, and the young man's condition seemed quite serious. 

"What happened to him?" asked one of the medics.

"He was attacked by an exotic animal. It got its claws into his shoulder and chest," she told them without exposing too much. "Supposedly it was a poisonous animal, which is why he's not doing well."

The medic lifted Eron's shirt and saw the stained bandages beneath. "We're gonna have to cut these off to see what we're dealing with," he told his co-worker.

"Do it on the bus," said the other medic after checking Eron's vitals. "Look at this, we need to move him to the hospital A.S.A.P."

Kara watched anxiously on the sidelines as they lifted Eron onto the stretcher. She grabbed their packs from the floor and was about to follow when she remembered something. "Chai? Chai! Where are you?" she called out softly.

Chai poked his head out from Eron's pack before slipping back in. Seeing he was already safely hidden away, she ran after the medics. She didn't have time to care about all the gasps and stares of the people around her as she walked through the library and onto the busy street. The medics loaded Eron into the ambulance, and Kara quickly climbed in beside him. She'd wanted to hold his hand, but the medic was busy cutting open his shirt and bandages to get a look at the wounds.

"Which hospital are we going to?" Kara asked when she suddenly remembered there were people waiting for the news.

"Goliath City Hospital said they'd take him, and luckily it's closest," replied the medic.

Kara hurriedly typed the hospital name on her phone and sent it to both her mother and Detective Kross. She couldn't believe she was back in her world, but it was crowded, noisy, and bright everywhere around them. Sure enough, this was the city she'd grown up with. But she couldn't celebrate her joyous return home just yet, because the only way it could truly be a happy occasion, would be if Eron were safe. Judging from the stressed expression of the medic, it seemed she would have to remain anxious for awhile longer.