Chapter 23: Martha Shores

Little wheels rolling through the hallway of the hospital. Tick tick, tick tick, tick tick. As the doctors were chit chatting about how to save her before she was gone. Martha Shores was being wheeled to the emergency room with Owen following closely behind. After a little rest Owen was feeling quite alright. No broken bones, no nothing. He was completely fine, but since his mother wasn't doing that great, he decided to be there if she needed something. A great deal of strength left her body from that forbidden move alone. She was clinging on to what life she had left. She had shortness of breath and couldn't open her eyes. One of the doctors then came up to Owen and pulled him by the arm. He watched as the gurney with his mother on it went down the hall and turned. Owen tried to break free of the doctor's grip but it was no use. He started to struggle.

"Stop, you are not supposed to be in here," the doctor said. Owen turned to face him and noticed that the doctor had a big fluffy moustache and small circular glasses. He was wearing a lab coat as well.

"That is my mom! I demand to see her," Owen said.

"You can't demand anything here. When an adult says stay out, you stay out," the doctor said tugging on Owen's arm, pulling him toward the exit. Owen then started to struggle more, trying to make it harder for the doctor to drag him out of the section of the hospital.

"Come now, stop that! Can't you leave me alone and let me work. Its brats like you that I decided not to have children," the doctor said in anger as he thrust open the door and shoved him out. Before Owen can turn around, the door was closed and the security lock on the door was already engaged.

Stunned at what happened, Owen just looked through the window on the door to see the doctor, that shoved him out, disappeared into one of the rooms. Owen's heart sank. He didn't know what to do.

"Mom!!," he called out as he started to cry.

"You assholes just can't lock me out!! That's my mother!!"

Owen then pounded as hard as he could at the door. Owens face then slid down the door as he knelt to the ground. Tears fell from his face as he gripped his shirt. He then heard a faint ticking sound. 'Another gurney!', he thought. He turned around and saw four nurses transporting Len to the emergency room with Mikka following behind. Owen cleared the way for their arrival. The lock disengaged and the doors opened as the nurses burst through. As the doors closed, one person remained, Mikka. She stood and watched as the doors closed and the lock engaged again. She watched as they took her friend into a room. She then sighed and turned. To her surprise, she saw Owen leaning up against the wall.

"Blocked ya, huh?," Mikka said. Owen just stared at the ground. His back then slid down the wall until he reached the floor. He put his hands to his face.

"Hey, hey, its going to be okay. Don't worry, your mom will be fine," Mikka said with a smile. "It takes more than that to kill her..."

Owen then looked up at Mikka taking his hands down from his face.

"You seem really silent. Is everything alright? Is it me?," Mikka asked. Owen looked at her in confusion.

"You don't like me, do you?," Mikka said as she chuckled. "I bet your mom told you all about me, considering that you don't talk and all. I bet she told you not to talk to me"

"Actually...she never mentioned you at all...," Owen said finally. Mikka widened her eyes. She then laughed hysterically.

"She...she never told you?! Haha me? How?," she laughed uncontrollably.

"I...I don't know, she just didn't"

"Well, well, well. Sounds like she wanted to forget me."

"Forget you?"

"Well, of course"

"W-why?"

"...because...," Mikka said in a serious tone. "...because she hates me...she always hated me..."

She had a grin on her face as if she was reflecting on her life with Martha.

"...I don't think that she did...," Owen said.

"Nah, she always did... I would always do things to mess with her. She was incredibly serious too," Mikka said with a chuckle. "I remember all those years ago when our instructor in our group at the academy got so fed up with us that he begged us to pretend to get along...he was about to lose his mind that semester."

She softly laughed as Owen was staring at her, listening to her story.

"Yea...we were always like that," she said.

"...but you two seemed just fine...and you...cried...," Owen responded.

"C-cried? Ha...I'm sorry kid, I don't cry," she said.

"Well yeah you do...you are crying now about Len...," he said.

"Well, of course...he is my teammate...we have been through so much together...," Mikka said.

"...my mom was your teammate at one time...," Owen said.

"Yeah, but that's different...," she said

"How?!," Owen yelled as he stood up from his chair, "how the hell is it different?! So you are saying that you never gave a crap about her is that, right?"

"Well obviously at one point moron!!," Mikka screamed back at him.

"What the hell could have happened that made you hate her?!," Owen said.

"I don't hate her! I just don't give a crap whether she lives or dies! She is already dead to me," Mikka shout with tears coming out of her eyes. "The world doesn't just revolve around you and your mother you spoiled little...," she then caught herself before she completed her sentence.

Then all of a sudden the automatic door flung open and a doctor stepped through. It wasn't the same one as the doctor before but he wore a similar lab coat. This one looked old with grey facial stubble and had giant coke-bottle glasses on his face.

"The son of Martha Shores?," The doctor announced. Owen then turned and saw him. He walked up to the doctor and said,

"I-I am him...h-how is my mom doing"

All the doctor did was gaze down and shake his head. Owen's heart sank. Tears started forming in his eyes.

"W-whats wrong with her?," he asked trying to get the words out.

"This way sonny and I'll tell ya...," The doctor said. The doctor pulled him inside the double doors and shut them.

"You see...she used an illegal magic spell and this spell had a cost to it. It was one that took her life force and she overdone it...I'm sorry to say that we have tried everything we can and she is just not getting better...," the doctor explained as they were both walking down the corridor.

"C-can you...," Owen said right before he was cut off by the doctor.

"No! We have tried everything we could, anything else might have an effect on her...the best thing we can do now is have you sit by her bedside...," the doctor said as they turned the corner. The first door on their right was wide open as they walked up to it Owen stopped and peaked in. The doctor then gestured for him to go in, but how could he? He was frozen.

There is no way he can see his mother like this. He slowly backed up away from the door. He then shook his head. The doctor then grabbed his hand.

"It's okay, boy...she is up, but she just feels sick," The old doctor told him.

"That's not what I am afraid of...I don't want her to fade from my life...I never even knew my father...," Owen said as tears swelled in his eyes. As they fell they lightly streamed down his face until they reached his chin then finally fell to the floor. He wiped the tears from his face, letting go of the man's hand. The doctor then came up to him and lightly patted his back.

"I know it's hard to see your mother go boy, but...if I were you I would see her anyways so she might feel overwhelming happiness rather than sadness, right? If she comes back as a spirit, make sure it is a spirit world spirit rather than a void one, huh?," the doctor said as he gave Owen a little smile. Owen then wiped his tears and...

...entered the room