[Trigger Warning: Deadnaming]

Enrico looked around him, the quaint living room of his house now gone. He saw himself in the middle of a giant marble platform. He looked down at his feet and saw a much more intricate runic circle on the floor, where there were once stones were now markings on the circumference of the circle, the same arcane inscriptions written on the stones also upon them. 

He looked around, seeing that they’ve been transported to an expansive, octagonal room. The floor was made of aged wood, shining with a preternatural sheen. On each side is a large archway, leading away from the central room they were

Many people were standing near the platform, wearing the same uniform as Janna, Basti, and Anna. They mostly stood around, apprehensively watching them until a small group of them approached with a stretcher, having a mixture of medical equipment such as IV bags, monitors, oxygen masks, with some more unorthodox tools: wands, stones, bags of components unknown to him. This was not his first brush with this strange world, and yet each time he stepped foot in it, it constantly became stranger and stranger still.

Corey was carefully carried from the couch that also got teleported, being nested on the stretcher as other paramedic types waited until they could start doing their own procedures. He’s quickly taken away, wheeled off through one of the room’s eight hallways. 

Enrico nervously kept pace as they barrelled through it, watching as they tried to keep Corey out of comatose. “Will he be alright?” The paramedics ignored Enrico as they continued working on the boy passing in and out of consciousness on the stretcher. Enrico wrung his hands, still looking at each of them, concerned.

One of the paramedics was regularly checking Corey’s pulse, while another was reading through the old book as if frantically looked for something. Once she did, she outstretched her hand and put it on Corey’s chest. “The orb’s power seems to have calmed down,” she reported, “but he’s still reeling from its effects. We need to get him to the room, stat.” The crew picked up their pace, and the girl who had the large book put it away as another young man took out a rosary, chanting a small prayer and laid his hands on Corey as well, this time a bright glow emanating from his hands which slowly spread across his body.

They finally wheel Corey into a room, and immediately prepare to transfer him to a bed. It was a sparse space, with minimal decoration save for a small altar on the side. Enrico was about to enter as well, until Janna stopped him. “Our clerics and mages can handle it from here, Enrico. Wait outside.” Enrico balled his fists, biting on his bottom lip as he tried to look over Janna into the room. 

“I understand how worried you are,” Janna said, ”but trust us, he’ll be alright.” With that, they closed the door. Enrico stood there, shaking in frustration. He exclaimed a groan, turning away to look for a place to sit while he waited. He went to a nearby row of stainless steel chairs and sat on them, then continued to wring his hands together in worry. Minutes passed, then hours. Enrico was restless as he waited, left with nothing else to do but think.

He thought about his child, how much their relationship deteriorated, how much he missed her, how much he doesn’t understand. 

His thoughts trickled back to Corey’s childhood, years ago. She still responded to Tere back then, Enrico thought to himself. What did I do? What happened? Thoughts of a young girl playing in their living room sprung in his head, memories of her that carry with them twinges of sadness. What would your mother say about me if she saw you—saw us—like this, Tere? As he walked down this path of memories, he eventually felt himself snap out of it when Janna and some others came out of the room.

Enrico jumped from his seat towards her. “How is she?!” Janna put a hand up, signalling him to calm down. “He’s alright, Enrico. We’ve managed to keep him out of a comatose state. He’ll be alright, but he needs some rest.” Enrico sighed in relief, Janna keeping a tired expression on her face. “You can check in on him now if you wish.” They turned around, and started to make their way down the hallway. Enrico stared after her, his relief replaced with feelings of guilt and dread.

He entered the room, seeing there was still someone that continued to monitor Corey’s vitals. Enrico bowed his head at them in acknowledgement, to which he bowed back. He was a bit older, closer to his 50s, Enrico thought. He looked Enrico up and down and continued with his work, watching and recording the vitals monitor.

Enrico took a seat next to the bed, taking Corey’s hand and squeezing it. He put his head down, saying a silent prayer that he would wake up soon.

Corey felt himself stir awake, as the heavy weight of sleep started to ease off of him. He felt as if he’d gotten the best sleep of his life, yet it doesn’t seem to be enough. He slowly fluttered his eyes awake to see himself in a room, hooked up to a heart monitor and IVs. I was taken to a hospital… He looked to his right and saw his dad, asleep on the side of the bed. Dad… 

As he pondered his father’s presence, the door swung open not to a doctor, but to a young man dressed in white robes. “Who the hell are you,” Corey growled confusedly. “Ah, you’re awake,” the one in robes replied. “You’re in a, uhm, medic bay of sorts. We can assure you you’re safe here.” Corey looked down at his dad again, who was starting to stir awake as well, then back at the young man.

“My name’s Christian,” he said after a while, “you can just call me Ian. If you’re feeling okay, I can leave you guys alone…”

“Ugh, fuck that.” Corey struggled as he made it to grab the IV pole, slowly sliding his feet off of the bed. He still felt monumentally tired, and could feel himself about to collapse again. 

“Hey, hey, pace yourself,” Ian quickly went to Corey, who was still trying his best to stand. “Gah, get off’a me,” Corey barked back. He tightly grasped the steel and put his weight on it, slipping a bit as he nearly slipped from the wheels. With great effort, Corey managed to stand while keeping the IV pole as a crutch.

Enrico had woken up now from the commotion, shaking his head awake as he saw Corey struggle. “Oh, thank god you’re awake Te--”

Corey snarled, shooting a cold glare at his dad. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” He shuffled away, making his way towards the door with Ian beside him, ready to catch him in case he fell. “Where are you going?” Enrico asked, standing up. 

“I’m gonna get some fresh air,” Corey barked back. “The air’s stifling in here.”

“Tere, wait--”

Corey felt a surge inside of him again. The fatigue started to fade as he felt white-hot anger burning inside him. He turned back to his dad, about to take the pole as a quarterstaff while he stood up straight. Corey barked back through gritted teeth, “How many times do I have to tell you this, old man?!” As he took a step forward, the burning feeling inside him faded as quickly as it came, and he felt even more exhausted. Ian immediately went to his side, helping him stand back up again. “Are you sure you want to go outside?”

“Yeah,” Corey managed to gasp out between breaths. He looked back at his dad, keeping the same cold stare. “I’m positive.” He gripped the IV pole again and made his way out of the room. Ian awkwardly looked between Enrico and Corey, nodding politely to Enrico before exiting the room as well.

Enrico pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning as he sat there alone in the room.