"wait, yesterday morning? how long have i been here? wasn't i brought in last night?"

"oh, your mom didn't tell you yet? you came in two nights ago. you've been unconscious with a fever for two days. it broke last night."

mina sat stunned in her bed as dr. martin came and listened to her heart. almost a week. she had missed almost a week of school.

dr. martin scribbled something on her file. "if you are ready, i will have a nurse remove the iv. you think you can handle soup?"

mina nodded, her stomach rumbled at the thought of food.

"found it!" sara came strolling into the room with white plastic bag. she handed the bag to mina who tore it open and pulled out her denim jeans; she dug around in her pockets.

"mom, it's not in my pockets!" mina cried out.

"well, maybe it fell out and is caught in the bag," she answered. they dumped the bag of dirty clothes on the bed and began to dig through everything. it wasn't there.

"is everything alright?" dr. martin asked.

mina felt uncomfortable at letting her emotions get the best of her in front of a complete stranger. "um, no," she lied. "i seem to have lost something very important to me. did you see a small leather book about yay big?" she held up her hands in the size of the grimoire.

"ah, no, i haven't, but i'll check with the emergency team" dr. martin answered briskly. "hopefully, they may have it. but i see that your mom's already found the bag. everything on you when you came in was in that bag. maybe you lost it in the woods."

mina's heart dropped, and sara reached forward and grasped her daughter around the shoulders in a form of comfort. "it's okay, honey," sara whispered reassuringly. "we'll find it."

this was turning out to be the absolute worst day-ever. how was she going to overcome the quests if she didn't have the grimoire to imprison the evil fae in? she wasn't, that's how. she was doomed, just like her uncle jack.

"oh, by the way, i've promised a few of your friends that they could visit, if you were well enough. we'll give you some time, maybe after you eat."

"i don't know. i'm not sure i want to receive company?" mina felt another moment of panic. who could possibly be out in the hall?

"even if it's my future stepdaughter?" dr. martin teased and began laughing. "i can only waylay her so long before she bribes one of my nurses with cupcakes or sneaks in here anyway."

"wait, nan? nan's here? yes, i want to see nan," mina cried out excitedly.

"in a bit, after you eat," the doctor ordered. "she can wait that long. although i'm sure she will be trying to sneak in, but i think she can hold on for another hour."

mina grinned.

chapter 12

it only took forty-five minutes before nan maneuvered her way into mina's hospital room. sara and charlie had left a half hour earlier in search of the lost and found, looking for the grimoire. mina had just finished her soup when nan came sneaking in.

"you're late," mina chirped. "i thought for sure you would sneak in here earlier."

nan rolled her eyes. "i tried. i couldn't get past nurse dragon and my future stepdad wasn't helping the matter. i think he purposely put old dragon lady on me so i wouldn't sneak in here."

"well, then how did you get in?"

"i got charlie to knock over a cart at the end of the hall!" she grinned triumphantly and crossed her arms. "it made such a commotion that everyone went running." nan lifted a backpack and put it on mina's bed. "i brought you the emergency essentials: lip gloss, curling iron, hairspray, high heels--"

"nan, i have crutches! i can't wear heels," mina interrupted.

"okay, scratch the heels. i'll wear the heels; you can wear my flats." she began to pull everything out of her bag and reached for mina's hair.

mina grabbed her best friend's wrists and pinned them down on the bed. "nan, what's going on? are we okay?" she felt terrible for the way she had acted and treated her best friend. "can you ever forgive me for getting freaked out at the concert and wanting to go home? i shouldn't have abandoned you like that."

nan's face became still, quiet. then she erupted into a huge smile and hugged her closely. "no, i'm sorry for overreacting. i should've figured it was your way of getting some alone time with brody. i can't believe i didn't think of it earlier. i know you have a crush on him." she grabbed mina's hand and squeezed tightly. "can you forgive me for hanging out with savannah? i did it to kind of get back at you. i was still mad at the time. but as soon as i heard that you went missing. i grew up and realized how stupid i was. i'm your b.f.f. through thick and thin."

mina started crying and hugged her friend again. nan leaned back and began to mess with the makeup and things she had brought in with her. "nan?" mina asked. "what is going on?"

nan smiled at mina. "you're on tv. i overheard one of the nurses talking. you probably didn't know this but someone by the name of jed parsons was monitoring the old handheld radio channels and overheard a conversation about a young girl found lost in the woods."

"that was probably karl calling in to tell people he found me," mina inserted.

nan raised her eyebrows skeptically. "well, i don't know anything about that, except that old jed thought it was serious and called for help, and since he knew his radio could only reach a few miles, he was able to tell the park rangers and rescue teams a general direction of where to look."

"it wouldn't have mattered, i was safe with karl, and he had a radio and called for help." mina tried to assure nan that it wasn't a big deal.

"by the time you made it to the hospital, there was quite the stir and there were news teams already waiting for you here." nan began to bounce on the bed excitedly.

"i don't remember." mina replied lamely.

"of course, you didn't know. it was obvious from the footage that you were totally out of it. but it was so cool!" nan gushed.

"it wasn't that big of a deal. someone found me and then....i don't remember much after that." mina touched her forehead in confusion.

"what time is it?" nan looked at the clock on the wall. "here watch this; they've been replaying it over the last two days." nan grabbed the remote control from the hospital nightstand and furiously clicked away at the black box until the tv came to life. after a few hurried groans from nan and more channel surfing, she squealed, "there you are!"

mina watched numbly as a female news reporter dressed in a light jacket with a blue umbrella spoke in a mellow voice that showed little emotion. "here behind me we see the rescue of one, wilhelmina grime, who was lost in the mt. adams national forest. the girl, a sophomore at kennedy high, was last seen after school with friends. how she ended up lost in the forest is still unknown. a mysterious call by jed parsons into the parks services, led to a quick rescue."

the cameraman panned to the ambulance as mina was loaded on a stretcher with the help of the emergency techs. it was obvious from the way her head flopped from side to side that she was passed out from exhaustion.