Over the Rainbow

I awoke with a numbing pain in my left arm and dull throb in the back of me head. When I opened my eyes I immediately re-shut them, cutting off the blindingly bright light looming overhead. The harshness of the said light sent a pain shooting through my skull; it felt like someone decided to impale my forehead with a red hot icepick.

I cursed and went to bring my hands up to my face, but to no avail. I cracked my eyes open a tiny bit to block most of the light. When my vision finally adjusted, there was a constant pain that felt like it was trapped in my skull and my stomach felt queasy. When I looked down to see what was blocking my arms, my chest clenched at the sight- they had strapped my wrists to the bed.

They were cinched just tight enough so I couldn’t slip my hands through. On my left arm, I had been strapped up nearly to my shoulder. I figure it was probably so I couldn’t try to get that damn shunt out- not that I could anyway with my other wrist being occupied and all. I wiggled my arms in an attempt to test the leather cuffs that held me down, and it was as I expected. I wasn’t getting out.

“Well, crud,” I sighed then drew a deep breath in.

I will take this chance to silently admit that I did indeed feel better; with the exclusion of the excruciating pain my head was currently enduring. I just have to wonder why I’m so efficiently tied down.

“How are you feeling?”

I lifted my head and looked down my body to see the person that spoke. I raised an eyebrow at Brian who was leaning on the counter directly across from my bed.

“Like an escaped mental patient who’s just been caught,” I said exasperated and let my head fall back onto the pillow with a soft thump. It wasn’t a smart thing to do on my part because my head was so tender; I winced, “The shoes don’t come off, do they?”

“No.”

“Great,” I let out yet another sigh, “What are you doing here?”

“When I sent you off on this journey, I didn’t realize how serious the situation would become,” I stared quietly at him, waiting for him to continue. “The wicked witch may look like a dumb, poorly dressed whore but she’s smart.”

“I don’t understand,” I raised an eyebrow in concern at his words.

“You’re not safe anymore,” Matt said walking into the room with Jimmy, Zacky and The Apprentice trailing behind him. “This situation is no longer safe.”

“I didn’t know it was to begin with,” I sent a small, but intense glare at three of the men that just entered.

I can’t say I’m pleased with Jimmy, Zacky or Matt at the moment. Zacky was just unfortunate, he lost automatically when he decided to do his job and made me his patient. I know Jimmy suggested the restraints and Matt… Matt betrayed me by distracting me so Zacky could put that damn IV in. Yeah, I’ll get over it, eventually. As of right now, I reserve the right to be slightly pissed. “Are you going to free me?”

“That depends,” Zacky spoke, coming over to my bed side.

I raised an eyebrow at him, “I make no guarantees I won’t attack you.”

“Will you try to remove the IV?” Zacky asked, using that condescending doctor tone I hate so much.

“Why the hell would I do that? It’s already in,” and hurts like hell.

Zacky nodded and undid my right arm and then proceeded to the other side where he stayed after unbinding my left arm. Once free, I moved my arms around experimentally, wincing at the pain the shunt caused. I prepared for the pain, braced myself on the arm rails and proceeded to pull myself up in a sitting position. I got as comfortable as one could in the hospital bed and looked expectantly at the five men around me.

“Are you aware of the Natural Order?” the man I recognized as The Apprentice asked. I was about to answer when he cut me off to further clarify his question, “The Natural Order of Oz.”

I didn’t respond.

“In Oz, things have a way of working out in the most beneficial and safest way- for protagonist of what ever the situation is. When you arrived, you killed The Wicked Witch of the East, got the shoes, and then set off on a journey to find your way back home. They say history repeats itself, and so it had- with minor alterations. Everything was going well until you separated from the group, changing what we expected to happen. The change has come to have dire consequences,” he took a seat on one of the plastic chairs in my room.

“I still don’t get it,” I shrugged in apology, feeling slightly stupid.

“You know why we,” Jimmy then motioned to Zacky, Matt and himself, “agreed to come with you, yes?” I nodded in confirmation. There were things stolen from us; my grandfather’s Diploma, Matt’s grandfather’s Badge of Courage and Zacky’s grandfather’s Ticking Heart. These things give our individual communities substance, history and what many believe our brains, compassion and bravery. People are afraid we will lose what our father’s fathers have gained with the original adventure with Dorothy and Toto.”

“That actually happened?” I asked in shock.

“Lane, it was a major turning point in the history of Oz,” Matt said.

“Yeah? Well up until recently, I had no idea Oz existed,” I snapped. How can they expect me to know the history of a place I didn’t even know was real?

“There’s no need for attitude,” Brian said sternly, coming up behind Zacky. “We’re trying to inform you of the seriousness of your situation.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to calm myself down; “So what do I have to do to make things… undangerous.”

“Nothing,” Matt interjected, now on my right side. “We’re going to have you guarded at all times. You will not leave this room until we’ve cleared up this mess and it’s safe to continue on.”

“Wait, what?” I looked at him wide-eyed. “You’re leaving me here?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be safe. We’re using a private guard to keep under the radar and protected. If the witch gets those shoes, we can grab our ankles and kiss our asses goodbye.” So you’re protecting the shoes that I just happen to be wearing.

I think I just got burned.

Ouch.

Matt had walked over to the door while I’d been thinking and let a green man with a large fuzzy hat on. He also looked like he was wearing women’s clothing, i.e. a dress.

“Lane,” Matt said, catching my attention, “Meet Captain Kirk.”

I covered up my laugh with a cough; I was always a fan of Captain Picard myself.

“Miss,” I looked at the funnily dressed green man, “Dorothy Gale freed us from the original Wicked Witch of the West, and we will do everything within our power to keep you safe in respects to Lady Gale.”

I couldn’t help but nod dumbly; he was just so sincere.

“We’ll be leaving fairly soon,” Jimmy spoke; “Just as soon as we tie up a few loose ends and secure the grounds.”

I knew I looked pathetic in the hospital bed, and watery eyes didn’t help me look any better, but the passion these men had towards their family heirlooms was touching. You don’t find that kind of dedication or sense of duty in people often. The power they held was just so raw.

“Will you come back to tell me you’re leaving, or should I say goodbye now?” I sniffed.

Zacky grabbed my hand and smiled kindly at me, I squeezed his hand gently as he did mine- it was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, I’m sure. This was the man I traveled with. He brought my hand up to his lip’s and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, before smiling at me and putting my hand gently back down and left the room.

The guard, Apprentice and Brian had left with out my knowing.

‘Laney,” I looked back to Jimmy who had taken Zacky’s spot. I looked into his innocently blue eyes, “Don’t be sad. It’s not like we’re not coming back- we’re just making a trip to retrieve some lost items. No biggy.”

He gave me a wide smile and leaned down to hug me. I returned it with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. He then gave me another smile after pulling up and left the room, leaving it to just Matt and I. We looked at each other and I felt something. I could only describe it as longing, and judging by the expression on his face, I wasn’t the only one to feel it.

Then he gave me a crooked grin, “He’s right you know. This is just a little more than a reconnaissance mission. The witch doesn’t have anything on us.”

My expression didn’t change as I looked at him.

“Don’t look so sad Lane,” he gave me a strained smile. “We just like to be cautious.”

He turned to leave, but I stopped him when I put my hand on his.

“Matt,” I looked him the eyes as he turned to face me. There was a short pause in which he maneuvered his hand into a more natural position with mine. “Please,” I accentuated, “be careful.”

Matt gave me a small genuine smile before cupping my face with his free hand and leaning down to kiss my temple. With that he turned away, his hand slipped from mine and then he left the room. I just stared at the doorframe willing for my boys to come back.

It didn’t help that my gut was telling me something bad was going to happen.

“So Captain Kirk is a fictional character, on a TV show, about a space adventure?” The green man who was also named Captain Kirk asked. “That’s so weird!”

“What’s in a name,” I laughed it off; he just raised his eyebrow at me. “Shakespeare?” He still looked lost. “Oh my God! Shakespeare was like, the best playwright of his time. And is one of the most renound historical authors in the modern era.”

“What’s the quote?” Kirk asked curiously.

“What’s in a name? That by which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“What’s it mean?”

“It means that a name is just a label, and who you are on the inside is what counts. Your name could be Joe, but you’d still be the same person you are now- the only difference is the name.”

He shook his head in thought, thinking deeply about what I had just said. Kirk and I had been talking for quite some time, most recently discussing Star Trek- then Shakespeare. Interesting subject change; had a pretty smooth transition.

“Can I ask you something?” I smiled and nodded at the green man, “Why don’t you take off the shoes?”

“I can’t,” I smiled sadly at him. He looked like he wanted to ask another question, “Go on. Ask.”

“Why are you in the hospital?”

“Curiosity killed the cat you know,” I laughed, “Um, a multitude of things, but I guess the biggest things were hypothermia, a lack of a decent meal in a really long time and my utter lack-ability to stay conscious.” He gave me a weird look, “I pass out a lot.”

“Well that sucks.”

“You’re telling me,” I laughed.

I’m starting to really like Kirk. Too bad that his distraction caused us both to miss the witch hovering at the window across the room before it was too late.