Who: Zayne Vandriel and NPC What: Zayne sees his family for the first time. When: Immediately after the battle of Destruction Island Where: Hospital
Zayne was told that if he didn’t take a break the nurses would sedate him. The last few days had been an absolute blur. Leaving the island, flying to the mainland, staying with Remy… Remy. Remy who laid in a bed and there was no answer to if he would make it. The explosion had been so bad. Zayne had been so far. He ran as fast as he could to where it was. Phobia was pulling people out. He had been pulling Remy out when Zayne got there. Zayne hadn’t thought. He went to Remy, his incredibly brave and strong Remy, and sang. He sang until they had to go to the hospital. He sang until his voice was strained and tired and he kept singing. He had to. They took Remy for surgery and Zayne went to the others who were hurt. He sang until he passed out from exhaustion. When he woke up, the nurses told him to stay and rest. He refused, going to find Remy himself. That was all he could do.
Until now. The nurses threatened to find a way to gag him if he didn’t stop. His friends had expressed similar worries and threats. Zayne promised he would keep quiet. He sat next to Remy’s bed. He must have showered and changed at some point but he couldn’t remember when. His thoughts were a mess. Was April okay? Was Daryn? Matty and Thursday had found each other, right? Dorothea said she was going to keep an eye on Phobia. Did everyone get off the island? And each of those thoughts was punctured with thoughts of Remy. Remy, you were supposed to be safe. Remy, you were supposed to be here with me. Remy, we were supposed to be discovering this world together. Remy, you need to come back to me. Please, Remy, please. I need you.
There was a soft knock on the door. Zayne looked up and saw Dorothea. She had been there when they got to the hospital. He knew they hugged. He remembered they hugged tightly but anything else… Zayne couldn’t remember. He had been a terrible brother. He opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head. She handed him a cup of coffee.
“I have been informed you are still a coffee fiend. Drink it. You look like you need it,” Dorothea said, sitting in the other chair. She reached out and touched Remy’s bed, “Hey, Rem. Come back to us soon, okay?” she turned back to Zayne, “Don’t speak. Sit there and drink. I talked to the nurses. They have told me that you are on a time out and I’m here to enforce it. And not like when we were kids and mom would tell us to ‘rest our voices’ and you and I would make a blanket fort and then end up giggling late into the night,” Dorothea smiled softly, “I know I said this before but I’m glad you’re here.”
Zayne went to open his mouth and Dorothea pointed at him, “No! Rest. Besides, I need to tell you something that will make you unhappy so let me just talk. Mom and dad are on their way here. Jefferson and Florence are arranging flights as well. They all want to see you. I tried to explain what was going on here and everything but, well, you know mom and dad. They will be flying in tonight and I think Jeff and Florence are coming in tomorrow. I know you don’t want to leave Remy but it’s either here in this room or somewhere else. Now you can talk. Two words. That’s it.”
Zayne looked to Remy. He couldn’t leave him. He wasn’t allowed to try to heal him anymore. Now he had to leave? He couldn’t. His heart broke. What if something happened? What if Remy woke up? What if… what if… and he wasn’t here? His free hand tightened into a fist. He couldn’t leave Remy. Not for his family. Not for himself. Nothing.
“Hey,” Dorothea scooted the chair closer, “Okay. I knew you wouldn’t want to leave and I promise it won’t be for long. I spoke with Phobia, which later you and I will talk about, and I spoke to Thursday, whom I absolutely love, and they will take your place here. Remy won’t be alone and if anything will happen, I’ll give Thursday my phone. He’ll call.” Zayne didn’t look at her. What if? He couldn’t leave. Remy… He ignored the sigh from Dorothea.
“You are so lucky I think of everything,” Dorothea said, “The hospital has conference rooms, right? Usually for boring board meetings but I spoke with someone and they will let us use one of those room. You’ll be in the hospital, Zayne. You literally cannot be any closer. But you know we can’t do this here and I can’t keep putting it off.” Zayne looked to Dorothea.
“What if-” his voice cracked. His throat ached. Dorothea got up and took the coffee cup from Zayne, setting it down. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Zayne pressed his face against her, trying to fight back the tidal wave of emotion. I should have been there with you. I should have been at your side.
“He’ll pull through this, I promise. He’s a fighter. Remy is such a fighter and he’ll pull through this. He’ll see how he saved everyone. And he’ll come back for you. I never seen so much love in someone’s eyes before. This is just temporary, Zayne. I promise,” Dorothea held Zayne close, rubbing his back. Without being able to distract himself, without being able to do something to help, Zayne was left with his fears. He didn’t notice the tears running down his face. He let Dorothea hold him as he cried. How was he supposed to do this without Remy?
---
Dorothea did get her way. Or rather Zayne saw reason. His parents were coming and it was here in the hospital or he’d have to leave. He hugged Phobia and Thursday tightly when they came. He was still on restricted voice use. Dorothea came when everyone had arrived and she would bring Zayne to the conference room. She rubbed his back, promising him it would be okay. He felt empty. This wasn’t how he imagined seeing his parents again. His hair was flat and not up in its usually spikes. He hadn’t put makeup on. He didn’t even know where it was. He was pale, paler than normal. He knew he had heavy bags under his eyes; partially from not sleeping but also from using his abilities so much. He was the shadow of himself.
He hesitated before opening the door. He saw Jefferson at the table first, looking bored. Florence was flipping through a fashion magazine. His parents saw him first and jumped to their feet. His mother ran over and hugged him tightly. A moment later, his father joined him then Florence. Jefferson stood up, looking awkward.
“My boy, my baby boy,” his mother whispered, holding him tightly. After a few minutes, they all stepped back. He saw Florence looking him over.
“Alistair,” she spoke first, “I… there were so many times I practiced what I was going to say to you if we ever found you and when Dorothea called and told me that the Island was free and you were coming to the mainland, I had so many different speeches prepared but now that I see you… I’ve missed you so much.”
“Alistair,” now his mother spoke. She touched his cheek, “Look at you. Where were you? Why did you leave like that?”
“Mom,” Dorothea said sharpy, “I told you. Now isn’t the time.”
“Where is the time?” Jefferson spoke up. He still had not come over, “Alistair… I know you are going through something tough but we are your family. We are here for you.”
“Something tough? He didn’t just stub a toe, Jefferson,” Dorothea snapped. Jefferson sighed.
“I know that, Dorothea. It’s all over the news. Radiation poisoning, the inhumane treatments on the island, the battle,” Jefferson said. Zayne felt his heart clutch. Remy. The siblings continued to bicker.
“Then you know now isn’t the time! We are all here for Zayne,” Dorothea said, stressing his name.
“I don’t know any Zayne,” Jefferson said, “I know my brother, Alistair. No, I don’t know him because he wouldn’t have left like that. He wouldn’t have made us worry like that.” Zayne was starting to feel sick. He needed to get back. He needed to get away from this. His head swam. When was the last time he ate? He couldn’t remember. He assumed he was eating. People ate, right? He couldn’t remember doing that. Maybe he hadn’t been. The room was getting dizzy.
“Alistair?” Zayne fell to his knees. He heard Dorothea swear and tell someone to get a nurse or a doctor. She knelt next to him as he passed out.
Zayne woke up a few moments later. Dorothea was the closest to him. He should get up. He should do something.
“No,” Dorothea said, putting her hand on him, “Stay where you are. Jeff and dad went to get help. You haven’t been singing, have you?”
“Singing?” Florence asked, “What does that have anything to do with this?”
“No,” Zayne said softly.
“Good. I’d hate to kick your ass while you are down,” Dorothea said.
“Dorothea! Don’t talk to your brother like that!” Zayne smiled weakly. He shouldn’t have let it get this far. The doctor came in and carefully they got Zayne back on his feet. The nurse that came with them made a joke about they already had Zayne’s paperwork in order for when this happened. The joke fell flat and even flatter when Jefferson corrected the name. Zayne followed the doctor out.
---
Zayne was fine, dehydrated and was given an IV to help. He needed to eat. He needed to rest. He needed to take care of himself. Zayne didn’t disagree but he also didn’t agree. That night he was admitted into his own room. They promised they would let him know the second if there were any changes but Zayne needed to rest. He was sitting in bed, not sleeping. He tried. Nightmares plagued his dreams. The nurses brought food. He wasn’t hungry. He was threatened that they would force feed him.
His mother walked into the room and sat down. She opened the cup of jello and smiled, “Do you remember when you went through a phase where you didn’t want to eat anything but green jello? It had to be green jello and it had to be lime flavoured.” She handed him the jello. It was green. He accepted the spoon and poked it. It jiggled.
“I want to apologise, Alistair,” she said, “I knew you were unhappy. I knew you asked for a break, some time off. I thought I knew better. I thought you would regret it. I thought you just needed a distraction from what happened with Olivia. I thought… I thought you would settle into it. As unhappy as you were, I also saw how happy you were on stage. I thought that would carry you through. When we realised you were gone, I knew how wrong I was. I pushed too far. I promised myself that when you came back, we would do things differently. I didn’t think you would go away for so long. I’m sorry, Alistair, for not listening to you.”
Zayne put the jiggling jello down and reached for his mom’s hand. His voice was still raspy but better than it was, “It’s not your fault. I could have fought harder for what I needed and ultimately, I chose to leave,” he paused, “I don’t want you to think I was suffering? I was happy as Zayne. I found who I was and,” and I found someone to share that life with. That very normal life. He broke off, lost in his thought. His mom squeezed his hand.
“We’ll meet him,” she said, “Dorothea says Remington is a very good man. She also said that he loves you a lot. I can’t wait to meet him,” she handed the jello back to Zayne, “Eat, honey. You need to. When he wakes up, he’ll need you there.” Tears stung Zayne’s eyes again. Remy would wake up. He had to.
“Thanks, mom,” he said softly, accepting the jello. This time he did make himself eat it.
“Your father and I have a hotel here. We’ll be here at least a week. Whatever we can do to help you, Alistair,” she said. Call me Zayne? But the words died before he could speak them. It felt like an argument and he didn’t have the energy. He finished the jello cup.
“I’ll see if I can get your more,” his mom promised. Zayne offered her a small smile. It was a good first step.
---
Apparently Zayne was not allowed to eat only jello. They wanted him to eat more. His family took turns sitting with him, which was weird but nice. He got to catch up on their lives. Florence seemed to love France. She was an excellent business woman too. They talked about the coffee shop and what it was like to run a business. It was nice to just talk to them again.
It was nighttime and the hospital was quiet, except for it’s usual noises, which wasn’t really that quiet at all. Zayne slid from his room and went down to Remy’s, curling up on the chair. He set a jello cup next to Remy’s bed.
“It’s for you when you wake up. It’s red, which I have since decided that it’s a lot better than the green kind. There is also a weird blue jello but I’ve only gotten it once. The nurses here are sure I am made completely out of jello and coffee now,” Zayne told Remy. He hesitated, “Jefferson and Florence are flying home tomorrow. Jefferson is… I think he doesn’t forgive me. For anything. For the mistakes I made as a kid and leaving. Everyone else just isn’t talking about it. Maybe they hope if we ignore it, it won’t happen again. Still Dorothea is the only one calling me Zayne,” he paused, “They all want to meet you. I wish you were with me. I know I could handle them better if you were by my side. I know I could handle all of this better if you were by my side. I miss you so much, Remy. Just come back to me, okay? Make sure you come back to me. I love you so very much,” Zayne closed his eyes. Remy would come back. He cleared his throat and began to sing softly. Let his words wash over Remy, over anyone who could hear him. Let them get better. Zayne stayed there, singing, until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and he fell asleep in the chair.