Chapter 83 Chapter Eighty-Three - Gabriella
I place a glamour over my eyes just as Jartre taught me, allowing people to see my eyes as they once were and not as they are now. I figure this will make it a little easier to take in my new appearance. I wait until Wyatt steps out, then let myself into Derrick’s hospital room. I walk over to the bed and look down at my best friend, his hair damp with sweat and his face pale. He doesn’t deserve this, and I feel like a bad friend for not being there more for him lately because of all this supernatural drama.
I quietly pull up a chair and sit down, reaching out and holding his hand between mine. Derrick slowly opens his eyes and looks over at me, first his brows furrow in confusion, but soon his eyes widen in disbelief as he looks me over.
“Ella?”
“Hey, you,” I say softly.
“What…Is that a wig?” he asks in confusion.
“Uh no.” I grab a strand of hair between my fingers and look down at it scornfully. “This is my real hair.”
“You hate the colour green.”
“Oh, I still hate the colour green, trust me on that.”
“But then…” he trails off in confusion.
I shake my head, “Trust me, it’s a long and crazy story and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“You look…different, and I don’t just mean the hair…Did you get Botox?” He looks me over with suspicious eyes. I roll my eyes. Of all the things to suspect, his brain goes to Botox. Unbelievable.
“Look, I won’t sit here and pretend there aren’t a lot of differences to my appearance because there are, just trust me when I say I’ll try to explain it to you when the time is right. A lot has happened, but I don’t want to get into it now. I just want to be here for my friend who needs me, okay?”
Concern fills his eyes as he squeezes my hand, “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
“Even if it might have me committed?” I press, quirking my eyebrow.
“You’re my family, Ella. I would never turn on you. I’m here whenever you want to talk about whatever has been going on or why the hell you’ve chosen to rock your most despised colour, even though it looks fabulous on you,” he praises.
I smile at him, “You think so?”
“Will take some getting used to, but yeah. Makes you look like a fierce, sexy, badass,” he grins.
I chuckle, “I see they have you on the good stuff.”
“Hey, don’t go giving drugs credit for my best lines.”
I smile at him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, being careful to modulate the pressure I use. Last thing I want is to break his hand in half.
“What have the doctors said?” I ask with concern.
He shrugs, “The usual. That it’s getting worse, my insides are kinked up like a garden hose and I need urgent surgery blah blah.”
“Would you stop being so dismissive about your health? This is serious,” I chastise him.
“You sound like Wyatt,” he grumbles.
“Maybe that’s because we both love and care about you. Neither of us wants you in pain. Do you want to live your life in pain?” I continue to admonish him.
“Of course, I don’t! But I can’t afford this,” he groans in frustration, scrubbing his hands down his face. “My insurance has declared this as a pre-existing condition and won’t cover my surgery. Which means I’ll have to pay full price for the surgery, and I just can’t afford that. Wyatt keeps saying we’ll figure it out, but I don’t know how.” Derrick’s face suddenly contorts in pain as he clutches his lower abdomen, curling up in a ball as he lets out a groan of pain between clenched teeth.
Unable to see my best friend in pain, I reach over and lay my hand on his forehead, letting my energy move through him and ease his pain. His body starts to relax as he looks over at me with tear-filled eyes.
“I don’t know what to do,” he says meekly.
I hold his hand as I keep my other hand to his forehead. I know Jartre once suggested this, and I told him all the ways it was wrong, but this is different. I can help Derrick, but only with his consent.
“Derrick, what if I told you I could fix this? No surgery, no pain. You’d be able to walk right out of here like this was never a problem.”
“I’d think you’ve been sucking on Wyatt’s pot lollipops again,” he says dismissively.
“I’m serious. I can’t explain to you right now what’s going on, and I hope that when I do, you not only believe me but accept it, but until then, I need you to believe that I can fix this. Just like I stopped your pain just now.” I lock eyes with him, doing my best to convey the gravity of my words.
He frowns, “What do you mean you stopped my pain?”
“The pain you just felt didn’t dissipate on its own, hun. I did that.”
“Gabriella…”
“Derrick, would I ever lie about your health and well-being?” I ask sternly.
He looks at me taken aback. “Of course, not.”
“You can choose not to believe me, that’s fine because I know I can prove it. The question is, do you want me to prove it by making this problem go away? Just say the word and you won’t have to suffer in pain or be in and out of hospital anymore.”
He looks at me carefully, slowly nodding his head. “Fine, prove you can fix me. What did you do, join some mystical cult and they teach you how to heal with crystals?” he sniggers.
“You’re going to eat your words in a second,” I remark, poking my tongue out at him.
I lay my hand over his lower abdomen and once again let my energy move through him. It’s the strangest thing…it’s like I’m an X-ray or MRI machine, I can feel everything inside his body including the abnormality that’s causing him pain, not just feel it but I can see it. The more I focus on it the more I can feel the pain it’s putting him through. I take in a deep breath and focus my energy on removing the abnormality from his body. I feel it vanishing and restoring all the surrounding organs and tissue to their natural functioning state.
I look over at Derrick, smiling broadly as I rest my hands in my lap, “All done,” I chirp.
Derrick looks at me in disbelief, laying his hand where mine had just been. “How did…the pressure and that kinked feeling…it’s gone…” he tappers off, looking at me in bewilderment.
“And if you still don’t believe me, you can wait till a technician comes in to do a scan. Just watch the confusion on their face when suddenly they notice the scans are vastly different to the last ones,” I say smugly.
“Gabriella, you’re freaking me out. What the hell is going on?” he says sitting up.
“You know those visions I have?” He nods affirmatively. “Let’s just say I now understand why I have them and why they caused me so much pain. A lot has changed since we last spoke and…in a lot of ways I’m not the same person I was. If you’re open to hearing me out, then when you get out of here we can make a night of it. Just talking about this new insanity in my life over drinks, and hopefully by the end of it…you still love me and want me in your life,” I whisper, feeling the tears brim in my eyes.
He scoots closer to the edge of the bed and holds my hands in both of his, “I have no idea what the fuck is going on or why you suddenly look like you should be staring in the remake of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, but what I do know is you’re my family. You’ve never turned your back on me, and you have been there for me through all my worsts. Worst relationships, my phase of being too dependent on substances; you’ve seen me at my worst and never abandoned me. Why do you think I would ever do that to you?” he asks in perplexity.
“Because those are all so normal. There’s nothing normal about me anymore and I don’t want you to think I’ve gone insane or I’m some monster.”
He scoffs. “Now that’s just idiotic. You’re not a monster and you’re not insane. You said yourself that whatever is going on, you can prove, and I don’t know what you just fucking did but I haven’t felt this much relief in years. If you’re telling me you did that, then I’m not about to crucify you, but I sure as fuck will throw you a thank you party.”
I chuckle, hugging him tight and close – by human standards – as tears slowly roll down my cheeks. “I hope you know how much I love you and how there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. You’re the Madeline to my Helen.”
He returns my hug only to gasp and pull back to look at me, “Did you drink some magical elixir and now you’re in debt to Isabella Rossellini?”
I laugh so hard snot almost unattractively flies out of my nose. “No! Though that would be far more tame compared to the insanity I just went through.”
Derrick looks at me carefully, “Did you really fix me? Am I really issue free or is this just some placebo thing?”
“You’re a hundred times better than if you had surgery. You won’t ever be in that kind of pain ever again, I swear,” I say earnestly, looking into his eyes.
He takes in a deep breath, “Then I believe you. But how do I explain it to the doctors?”
“Why bother? Doctors fuck shit up all the time, just let them chalk it up to a misdiagnosis,” I shrug nonchalantly.
“But this means I won’t get any more free Jell-O,” he pouts.
“What is with you and Jell-O?” I ask incredulously.
“I like Jell-O, okay? Get off my dick,” he sulks.
I roll my eyes. “Dude, I will give you a lifetime supply of Jell-O.”
“You can do that?” he asks in a conspiratorial tone.
“I don’t think there’s much I can’t do now if I’m being honest with you.”
“Oh yeah? So who do you plan to heal next?” he teases.
I think that over for a second when an idea comes to me. I smile sadly, “Someone who lost more than they deserved to.”