Secret Academy - Deuteronomy

XIV: Consequences

He quietly sat outside the empty hallway of the private hospital where he and Alice were taken to, right after the incident. His arm was in a sling, and his face had bandages. He had been waiting for either Mikael or Marko to come out and talk to him regarding Alice’s condition. It’s been half an hour but neither of the men came out of her room. He felt a knot in his stomach form as he replayed the events in his head.

After Jasper had blacked out, he woke up to a nurse inside a spacious and well-lit room. She encouraged him to down the same red pill he remembered taking after his car accident. No one visited him, and he felt too weak to go outside on his own. He didn’t know how long he’d slept, but when he woke up, it was almost noon and he felt invigorated. A doctor had come in to inspect his injuries, to which he smiled and said he would be okay.

“Uhm, excuse me…”

Jasper felt unsure whether this hospital was in alliance with the academy or not; and if it was safe to ask about Alice. After changing his bandages, the doctor smiled again and whispered:

“Some of your comrades are right outside. They’ll be with you shortly”

“Thank you”

Jasper hoped to see Alice well and rejuvenated – just like that day when he had found her and carried her in his arms. When the doctor left and the door to his room opened again, he expected to see her come in with that smug look in her eyes – but it wasn’t her.

“You took quite a hit there!” said Wes, carrying some change of clothes.

Charlie and Carlisle followed behind him.

“How are you feeling?” Carlisle stood by the foot of the bed.

“Much better, thanks. Is she alright?”

Jasper glanced from one worried face to another. Carlisle spoke again, while Wes and Charlie pretended to be looking out the window.

“She…she’s with Mikael and Marko right now. Mikael was flown here immediately after you were both brought to this hospital. You’ve been asleep for more than twenty hours”

“How is she?” he pressed for answers.

Carlisle seemed to be contemplating hard on something. Finally, he sighed heavily and explained.

“It’s her Teleportation ability. It’s become recently unstable and her body can’t handle its extreme side effects. She had warned me beforehand to get the Prime Minister and the other delegates out of the building earlier than planned. Although her Intuition doesn’t say exactly what would happen, we have counted on her for years for its accuracy. She’s never been wrong with her gut feeling. The dignitaries are all safe, thanks to her. But I can’t say the same for her condition. She’s lost a lot of blood, and only Mikael can help her”

He took a deep breath before he continued.

“When the missile hit the twenty-eighth floor you were in, everyone was already in the car and we had to follow protocol of driving them to safety. As soon as we arrived at my office, I quickly phoned the academy about the incident, and they immediately sent Mikael on his way. Much later, you and Alice appeared inside the room – covered in blood and debris and barely conscious…”

When he finished, he looked at the twins who were standing by the window, listening sadly to the news. Jasper was speechless. He recalled seeing Alice as he was being wheeled out of the room. The knot in his stomach seemed to have crawled to his chest.

“It was my fault…” he whispered to himself.

But Carlisle heard him.

“It wasn’t your fault – or anybody’s. Like I said: her Intuition doesn’t tell her what would happen, it only tells her that something would happen”