Lost Tides: Elemental Seekers Series Read online

  Lost Tides

  H. M. Sandlin

  ISBN:9781080417025

  Chapter One

  I followed the path around the pond with my mom, watching the ducks swim lazily across. We walked around the trees and through the flower beds, talking about our plans for the day. I saw a flash of silver fly past my head. I tried to see what it was, but I couldn’t find anything.

  I was so busy looking around, I didn’t see the piece of wood sticking out of the flower bed and tripped, landing badly on my ankle. I yelped, and tears came to my eyes. I tried to take a step and almost fell over when pain shot up my leg. My mom helped me stumble over to a bench and sit down. She thought I had rolled my ankle, and I would be able to walk back home after a few minutes of rest.

  I heard people yelling and looked around, catching sight of the fountain in the front of the park shooting water into the air.

  “What’s happening?” I asked, trying to take my mind off the pain.

  “I’m not sure. It looks like the fountain broke.”

  Everyone moved away from the fountain so they wouldn’t get soaked. We watched as the water slowly stopped spraying everywhere.

  My mom wanted to head home to make sure my ankle was all right, so I tried to stand up. I winced when I put weight on it and immediately sat back down. At the same time, the fountain started shooting streams of water higher than before. I had the weirdest feeling that the fountain breaking had something to do with me, but that was crazy.

  My mom called for an ambulance so I could get my foot x-rayed. As we waited, the fountain once again returned to normal. When the paramedics arrived, they helped me into the ambulance so I wouldn’t have to use my foot. At the hospital, I was put in a wheelchair to go get x-rays.

  As my mom filled out paperwork, a nurse wheeled me into the x-ray room and asked what happened.

  “I fell while I was out walking with my mom. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I tripped over some wood.”

  “Are you sure you only tripped?” she asked after taking a set of x-rays.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “We are going to do another set.” She walked out of the room after reminding me to stay still and took another x-ray.

  “Let’s get you to an exam room so the doctor can take a look at these.” She wheeled me around, and we started back down the hallway. She didn’t say anything else, but she seemed troubled.

  “Did the x-ray look bad? What’s wrong with my ankle?” I asked.

  “I have to let the doctor look at it. He will let you know,” she said with a frown. I quietly let her continue wheeling me to the exam room. When we got there, my mom was already waiting for me, and the nurse left to get the doctor.

  “Are you all right, Sally? Does it still hurt?”

  “Not much mom. I’m sure it will be fine.”

  The doctor knocked on the door and walked in. “Hi, Mrs. Abeneb. I’m Dr. Stevens.” He turned to me, “You must be Sally. How are you feeling?”

  “I feel fine.”

  “I was looking at your x-rays. That must have been a nasty fall.”

  “Not really, Dr. Stevens. I tripped on the sidewalk while we were out walking.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Dr. Stevens, what is going on?” my mom was starting to sound agitated. “I was with her when it happened. She barely tripped. Frankly, I’m surprised it hurt her.”

  Dr. Stevens looked at both of us and reached into the folder he had brought with him. He took several x-rays out.

  “This is your daughter’s ankle,” he told my mom.

  I stared at the pictures. Right across my ankle, you could see a huge break. It looked like my ankle had been snapped.

  “Her ankle is definitely broken. She will be in a cast for at least six weeks, and we may have to do surgery if it doesn’t set correctly,” Dr. Stevens told my mom.

  “How is this possible? She barely tripped. Are you sure these are her x-rays?” my mom questioned him.

  “Yes, we already double and triple checked. I think it would be best if we ran a few blood tests to see if something is wrong that could cause her bones to be so brittle.”

  “Of course,” my mom agreed.

  The next few hours were a blur as they put a cast on and told me to stay off my foot for a few weeks. At one point, my dad came with our neighbor to drop off my mom’s car so she could drive us home. He left after making sure I was doing all right and said he would see me soon. The doctors did all their tests, gave me crutches, and told me I was finished.

  “We will call you tomorrow when the results come in,” Dr. Stevens told my mom. “Make sure she is careful until then.”

  My mom thanked him, and we left. “Are you alright, Sally? Honestly?”

  “I feel fine mom. My ankle doesn’t even hurt right now. It hasn’t hurt since the ambulance ride. Did I really need all those tests?”

  “It’s only a precaution, honey. Normally tripping like that doesn’t cause bones to break.”

  “I know, mom. I’m sorry if I’m a little grouchy. I’m tired.”

  “When we get home, you can lay on the couch and rest. Tomorrow we will see what the doctors say.”

  That night I fell asleep and dreamed I could control water. I could command it to do anything I wanted. I could make it rise into the sky and create spirals back down to the ground. It was a fantastic feeling. I woke up feeling refreshed and went to jump out of bed when I remembered the cast.

  Carefully I pulled my covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I was waiting to feel some pain, but it never came. I put my foot down gingerly on the floor and decided to try standing up. Surprisingly my ankle felt fine. I was able to stand and start heading towards the kitchen before my mom caught me.

  “Sally. You shouldn’t be walking. The doctor said you have to stay off your feet for a few days.”

  “I feel fine. My ankle doesn’t even hurt.”

  “Let’s see what the doctors say before you go walking everywhere.”

  “Fine. I will try to relax today.” She helped me to the couch in our living room and went to make breakfast. While we were eating, the phone rang.

  “Hello,” my mom answered. I didn’t really pay attention to the conversation until I heard her questions. “What do you mean her bloodwork isn’t normal? What’s wrong with it?” I couldn’t hear the doctor, but the look on my mom’s face told me it wasn’t good. “Of course. Send me the address. We will be there as soon as we can.” She hung up the phone and stared into space.

  “Mom, what’s wrong? What did they say?”

  “We need to go see a specialist. I’m going to call your father and pack a bag for us.”

  “Pack a bag?” I questioned. “Where are we going? You aren’t going to leave me in the hospital, are you?”

  “No, honey. I’m not leaving you, but the specialist is a few hours away. We are going to stay there for a few days while they run more tests on you.”

  “Mom, you still haven’t told me what they think is wrong. It must be bad if we have to go that far away.”

  “Hopefully it’s nothing serious, but we need to go make sure. Dr. Griffith specializes in cases like yours.”

  “Like mine?”

  “When the hospital checked your bloodwork, there was something different about it. I didn’t understand all of it, but something about your DNA breaking down. I’m sure everything will be ok once we go see Dr. Griffith. Rest while I call your father and get our clothes ready.”

  She gave me a kiss on the forehead and headed to our bedrooms to pack. When she finished, we got in the car and headed east, towards the shore. At first, my mom acted like we were on
vacation, asking me about school, my friends, and the boy I liked. But as the day wore on, she became more and more agitated. I could tell by the way she kept drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Are you alright?” I asked. Maybe she knew more than I did, or perhaps reality hadn’t sunk in for me yet because I wasn’t nearly as upset as her.

  “Yes, I’m just a little concerned. Your father looked up the doctor and told me about him when we were at the rest stop. He specializes in rare blood disorders and is the best in his field. I’m sure he will be able to tell us what’s going on.”

  She wasn’t trying to convince only me. She was trying to convince herself.

  “If he’s the best, then why are you so worried? What else is going on?” I asked.

  “When you were only a baby, something happened. We still don’t know what exactly. After you were born, you had trouble breathing. They took your blood, but it didn’t come back normal. They tried taking you from me, saying you would have to stay in the hospital until they figured it out. I didn’t believe them and made them retake your blood the next day. It came back normal, and we all chalked it up to a mistake, even though the nurse swore it wasn’t. Now it’s happening again.”

  “Is it possible they made a mistake this time?”

  “Yes, but I don’t think they did. The chances of that happening twice are too small. We need to go find out what’s going on.”

  “It will be fine, mom. Besides, I feel great.”

  I felt awful for lying, but I didn’t want to upset her more. I couldn’t believe this had happened before. What could be wrong with me? We fell into an uneasy silence. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, my mom was gently shaking me awake. I glanced out the window at a small hospital. It didn’t look like a place that specialized in anything. It seemed more like a little country hospital in a small town.

  “Are you sure this is the right place, mom?”

  She looked around skeptically, “This is the address I was given. Let’s go check it out.” She pushed her door open and got out of the car. “Come on, honey. We have an appointment for three o’clock. We only have a few minutes, and I don’t want to make them wait.”

  As she was speaking to me, I saw a man in a white lab coat walk out of the door to the hospital and start heading towards us. “It looks like they are already waiting,” I mumbled.

  “What do you mean?” She turned to see what I was looking at as the man came within a few feet of us.

  “Mrs. Abeneb?”

  My mom nodded, “Yes.”

  He put his hand out. “Hi. I’m Dr. Griffith. It’s nice to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

  My mom shook his hand, and I took the opportunity to look him over. He looked like a professor up close, not a doctor. He had on glasses that had a line through them. Bifocals, I think. My grandpa had a pair of glasses like that. His hair was starting to turn gray, and he had a few wrinkles, mostly around his eyes. When he turned to me and smiled, the lines around his eyes got even bigger.

  “I know this must be a lot for you to handle, but my staff and I are going to try to make this as easy as possible. Why don’t you follow me inside? We can get the preliminary tests out of the way so you can go rest in your cottage?”

  “What cottage?” my mom asked.

  “We keep several cottages in the area for patients to stay at when they have to be treated here for any duration of time. We want our patients to be comfortable and not stressed. Weren’t you told about this on the phone?”

  “I’m really not sure. I know the lady I spoke to told me she would handle our accommodations and gave me an address, but I figured it was a hotel nearby.”

  “I see,” the doctor said. “I will talk with Emma to double-check.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Griffith,” my mom replied.

  We walked inside, and I immediately realized this was a different type of hospital. It had a very welcoming feeling and no sterile waiting area. It looked like a large living room with a desk set to the side. The lady sitting there stood up and shook my mom’s hand.

  “Mrs. Abeneb, it’s a pleasure meeting you. My name is Emma. If you need anything at all, let me know.”

  “Emma,” Dr. Griffith interrupted, “did you set them up in one of the cottages? Mrs. Abeneb is unsure where they are staying.”

  “Of course, Dr. Griffith. I have the key for them right here. They are set up in the cottage, Water Rising.”

  “Thank you, Emma,” he said. “You are all set up, Mrs. Abeneb. If you need any additional directions come see Emma. The hospital already sent over some test results, so we don’t need to redo those. I’m sure Sally doesn’t want to do any more tests than necessary.”

  We followed him down a hallway and passed through a little archway that opened up into a larger room with three different doors. He opened the door to what looked like an office and ushered us in. Inside there was a large, round desk with three chairs and a blue folder sitting in the middle.

  “Sally, why don’t you look around the room while I speak with your mother and fill out your paperwork.”

  “She really should sit down,” my mom said. “The other doctor told her to stay off her ankle as much as possible.”

  “Sally, how is your ankle feeling? Do you feel like you need to sit down?” he asked with genuine concern.

  “I feel fine. My ankle hasn’t hurt at all today. I don’t think I need to sit down.” I looked at my mom apologetically for disagreeing with her.

  “It’s all right, Mrs. Abeneb. I don’t think her ankle is nearly as bad as you thought.”

  My mom didn’t look convinced. As they started filling out paperwork, I decided to take the doctor’s advice and look around. The room was much bigger than I first thought. As I walked away from the table, something caught my eye. Against the back wall was a small water fountain. It looked like it was coming straight out of the wall and running into a little basin on a small bookshelf.

  I couldn’t figure out where the water was draining from in the basin and bent down to see if there was a pipe going back into the wall. I slid my hand over the shelf and felt a stinging in my finger. Something sharp cut me, and I let out a cry. Water bubbled over the edge of the basin and ran across the bookcase onto the floor.

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Griffith.” He came walking over to me with my mom behind him.

  “It’s all right, Sally. What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I was trying to find the pipe for draining the water and slid my finger over something sharp. Then the water started bubbling out of the basin. It must have gotten clogged or something. I don’t think I touched anything that would have caused it.”

  “Well, it’s all better now,” he said, pointing to it. He was right. The water was flowing fine, and besides the water on the floor and bookshelf, you wouldn’t even know it was clogged a minute ago. “It’s nothing a few paper towels won’t fix. Now let me see where you hurt your hand.”

  I held it up for him and tried to show him where it hurt, but there was no cut. Not even a red mark. “I guess I didn’t actually get cut,” I laughed nervously. I would have sworn I cut myself. It felt like I had.

  “It’s all right, Sally. Who knows, maybe you did cut yourself, and it healed very quickly,” Dr. Griffith said, smiling.

  I laughed again, “Thanks, Dr. Griffith.”

  Dr. Griffith turned and headed back to the table. I walked towards the pictures on the other side of the room. All the photos were of a large mansion with different kids in front of it. As I looked closer at one specific picture, I saw something unbelievable. The kids were holding what looked like fire.

  It looked so real, but that wasn’t possible. It must be some kind of rock that looked like fire. As I looked at the other pictures, I saw each group of kids had something different in their hands. One group was holding a transparent ball with water dripping off of it. Another group looked like a mini-tornado was in their hands. The next g
roup was holding what appeared to be a ball of dirt with flowers sprouting out of it.

  I decided I would ask the doctor about the pictures after he was done talking to my mom. There were other pictures as well, but they were of different kids by themselves, and they didn’t appear to be holding anything in their hands. I moved further down the wall and came to a group of glass vases. They were beautiful and filled with so many colors. I almost reached out to touch them but stopped myself before I ended up breaking one. The way my week was going, I would accidentally knock the whole shelf over.

  I continued my walk and saw a small lit candle. It was on a desk that had been pushed tightly into the corner of the room. I went to walk closer but overheard Dr. Griffith tell my mom that I would be doing tests over the next few days, and she could drop me off if she wanted.

  “Why won’t my mom be staying with me? I don’t think I want her to drop me off.”

  “That’s perfectly fine, Sally. Your mom doesn’t have to drop you off if you don’t want her to. It will be a long day tomorrow while she sits in the front room waiting for you. I thought she might like to get some rest herself while you are here.”

  Now that he said something, I realized my mom did look tired. “I guess if she can’t come in with me for the tests, there’s no reason for her to sit in the waiting room.” I looked at her, “What do you think, mom?”

  “Whatever makes you comfortable. I don’t mind waiting.”

  “No, Dr. Griffith is right. You should try to get some rest too.”

  “Sally,” Dr. Griffith looked at me, “your mom and I were working on a schedule for tomorrow. I want you to be here by eight to start your tests. You don’t need to do anything special. Wake up, have some breakfast, and come here. Does that sound good to you?”

  “Sure,” I replied hesitantly. “What kind of tests are you going to do? Will they hurt?”

  “Nothing will hurt you, Sally. It’s a few basic tests to see how you’re doing.”

  “How long will I be here?”

  “Probably until two o’clock. Then you can go back to the cottage to relax, and we will do any other tests that are necessary the following day. Why don’t you let me see your ankle now?” Dr. Griffith had me move my leg around as much as I could and checked all the usual things doctors check, like my eyes and throat.