Kara's Cross

“Kara, sweetie, I know you’re in there. Wake up and talk to me.”

Dad?

“C’mon, Kara, open your eyes. I know you can do it.”

It’s my dad’s voice. Where am I? It’s dark. I feel tired.

“Please, Kara, talk to me. Wake up.”

I turn my head toward his voice opening my eyes a tiny bit. He is sitting beside me holding my hand. I am lying on some sort of couch in a dimly lit room. I shift my focus a little to look around the room, recognizing it to be the school nurse’s office.

Someone is sitting in a chair behind my dad. It looks like a woman. I’m sure I see Maddie sitting on the floor against the far wall.

“Dad?”

“Oh, thank heavens you’re all right,” my dad squeezes my hand, “we were all worried about you.”

“What happened?” I have an idea, but could use some details.

“Well, the short story is you used your power to protect Maddie and blacked out and fell off of the stage.”

“Dad, should we be talking about this right now?” I use my eyes to point to whoever is sitting behind him.

“Oh, sorry,” he turns and offers his hand to the lady in the chair, “I wasn’t thinking. Kara. This is Elizabeth Smith. I know this is an awkward time for an introduction, but it turns out you both already know each other.”

The woman steps forward enough the light from the table lamp allows me to see her.

“Ms. Smith?”

This can’t be good. Well, I guess I don’t need to try to lie to her about my power anymore. I hope you know what you’re doing, Dad.

“It’s good to see you again, Kara,” Ms. Smith offers, “I’m glad the sacrifice you made to help your friend turned out well.”

How does everyone know everything already?

“Dad,” I mumble, still feeling a little tired, “can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Aside from the fact you almost died…”

“What?” I gasp, “What do you mean I almost died? Did I bang my head on the ground or something?”

“That’s what we told the school nurse probably happened,” my dad informs me, “and it is very possible your fall, which was actually all the way off of the stage, added to your injuries, but your decision to use your power probably did the most damage.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“When you were telling me about your power, you told me the larger the group you are persuading, the more it hurts you on the inside, mostly your head. Way back in elementary, you used your power on ten to fifteen people and you were practically in a coma. Kara, Maddie says you used your power on over two hundred people. Imagine what that would do to your body.”

I sit up a little. Aside from still being a little tired, I feel good.

“How come I don’t feel any pain now?” I ask, looking to my dad and Elizabeth for answers.

“I think Maddie is probably best suited to answer this question,” he turns in Maddie’s direction, gesturing for her to come over to the couch, getting up so she can sit in his place, “she has a lot to tell you.”

Maddie gets up from the floor, walks over, and sits in the chair my dad made available. She smiles and leans over to hug me.

“I’m so sorry for everything you had to go through, Kara,” Maddie blurts out, sounding almost in tears already, “I owe you so much. You are the best friend anyone could have.”

“Don’t apologize, Maddie,” I attempt to reassure her, “I’m sorry, too. If anything, I owe you. You have been a much better friend to me than I have been, and I only hope I can show you the kind of friendship you’ve shown me. Now, what happened tonight after I blacked out?”

“I couldn’t hear much at first,” she begins, much more calm, “I had run back to the changing room behind the stage. I could tell you were talking, but I couldn’t understand any words. After about a minute, there was all kinds of noise, so I finished putting my dress back on and came out and peeked around the curtain. Everyone was leaving quickly and talking about some sort of a fire alarm. I didn’t see you anywhere. I just saw Arabella standing alone, looking at something in front of the stage.”

“Why was Arabella standing there?” I ask.

“I don’t know for sure,” Maddie replies, “but the rest of the events might give you an idea.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she reassures, “like I said; it’s unclear to me, too. Anyway, I heard Logan’s voice coming from the direction Arabella was staring, so I ran up to the front of the stage. You were lying motionless on the floor and Logan was kneeling beside you, his hands on your head and shoulder.”

Maddie stops. I look over her shoulder at my dad for clarification, but he is facing away from me, his shoulders noticeably shaking.

“What happened?” I demand.

“I’m pretty sure you died, Kara,” she almost whispers the word, “When I got down there, you weren’t breathing at all and I couldn’t feel any heartbeat. I was so scared I couldn’t move, but Logan didn’t give up. He kept his hands on you and kept repeating the same words, ‘you’re getting better, you’re getting better.’ I thought he was going to fall over himself. After about five minutes, he was shaking and sweating and as pale as a ghost, but he kept going. I was sure he was going to pass out when Arabella came over, knelt on your other side, and started doing what Logan was doing.

“Arabella?” I ask incredulously, “she started to help, too?”

“Yeah,” Maddie responds, nodding, “I couldn’t believe it either. It’s a good thing she did, because I’m pretty sure Logan was dying, trying to save you.”

I lean back, attempting to absorb it all. Logan could’ve died? Arabella saved us?

“When he saw her,” Maddie continues, “Logan seemed to gain some renewed energy, and the two of them worked in unison. A minute later, I felt your heart beating and after a few more seconds, you coughed and began breathing again. Logan and Arabella continued hovering over you for another couple of minutes until you seemed to have your color back and looked like you were resting comfortably. As soon as they removed their hands from your head and shoulders, they both slid to the ground, unconscious.”

“Omigod, are they okay?” I search everyone’s face for the answer.

“They’re still the same,” my dad responds, “but they are showing a strong heartbeat and are breathing normally.”

“Apparently,” Ms. Smith concludes, “your power also gives you the ability to ‘persuade’ people to heal. That is an unexpected surprise.”

A weird vibe still comes over me when I am around Ms. Smith, especially in regards to the words she just spoke, but my dad trusts her.

“Do you think they’re going to be okay, Dad?”

“If they continue to improve the way they have been,” he glances at Ms. Smith, who nods back at him, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were awake and feeling fine within the hour.”

A warm tingling of relief spreads throughout my body.

“So, what happens now? Are we in trouble?” I hesitate, “I’m sorry I used my power.”

Maddie gets up, moving back toward the far wall. My dad walks up to me, sits back down in the chair, slides it a little closer, and resumes combing his fingers through my hair.

“I know you promised not to use your power, Kara, but you’re not in trouble,” my dad reassures, “none of you are. The three of you have an amazing gift. Don’t ever feel like it’s wrong to use it to help others. The tricky part is using your power responsibly. Luckily, we have Elizabeth her to help in this respect.”

My gut clinches. She’s a school counselor. How could she help me with my power?

“You look confused,” my dad continues, “let me explain. About a week ago, Elizabeth and I were talking about our jobs and she informed me she worked with children with special abilities. I wasn’t sure what she meant, so I asked if she could explain. As she told me about her job and what she is supposed to be looking for, I realized almost everything she mentioned was identical to what you had told me only a few days earlier. It seemed like destiny she had come into our life.”

That’s a huge coincidence.

He continues, “Elizabeth is the head of a program designed to learn more about people with power like yours, sweetie, and help them to use it safely and productively. It will be kind of like a special school created just for people with your abilities.”

“So I won’t be able to go to school with Maddie anymore?”

“You’ll still attend this school Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, you will be transferred to Ms. Smith’s facility, along with any work you would have been assigned on the day you are missing.”

“Are you sure about this, Dad?”

He adjusts his position to look directly into my eyes.

“I could have lost you, Kara. Anything that will help you remain safe and healthy is my priority. Furthermore,” he looks back at Ms. Smith, “I have known Elizabeth for quite some time now, most of it before any of us knew about your power or this whole program in general. I trust her and the things she tells me about the program. Plus, the whole thing is government sponsored and supported, it has to be legitimate.”

“Will Logan and Arabella attend this school, too?”

“It is our hope they will,” Ms. Smith breaks in, “as well as a few others.”

I turn toward Maddie. She gives me a half smile before shrugging her shoulders as if undecided. Peering over at my dad next, he nods his affirmation. Behind him, Ms. Smith is staring intently, as if she is attempting to read my thoughts. I have no idea what Logan will decide and I don’t relish the idea of having to spend more time with Arabella, even if she did save my life. It definitely would be nice to learn more about my power, especially if I could learn how to prevent the pain from occurring.

“I guess I’ll give it a try.”