Back at Coutarine Island, Alice and her family were stuck for the night. Even though they had their boat back, like the ocean around the island Tracey was on, it was too rough for sailing or boating, unless you were a mermaid, merman, or Merfairy. At least the family came prepared in case they were ever stranded. They gave the magical beings their space because they knew they needed to take care of Ash. After a few hours of stability, he began slipping in and out of consciousness again. There definitely was something more than a concussion going on with him.
Another arrow of guilt stabbed Makenna's heart. Why did she let the moon turn her into a monster? How would she explain to Merlin that Tracey had sailed beyond the reef again? Why was it always her fault? She needed a change—a metamorphosis that would turn her into a better person, a metamorphosis that would help her feel like she deserved the Merfairy transformation.
The orange rays of sunset washed over Coutarine Island, and a warm breeze tickled the treetops. Makenna felt comfortable when she stepped back into Merlin's camp without any humans following. It luckily hadn't been destroyed during the storm, but there were a few branches and leaves in the sand.
Dr. Snugglekins, Merlin, and Selene helped Ash over to his hammock, where Harmony waited.
She looked distraught, having failed to keep him still.
The three adults gently set Ash down, and Dr. Snugglekins immediately got to work on him.
Selene tossed a blanket over Ash and sat in a chair beside him. She took his hand and patted it. "You're doing great, Ash."
Makenna almost didn't want to watch. The guilt was killing her. Just how badly hurt was Ash? That was up to Dr. Snugglekins.
He took Ash's shoulder and slightly shook it. "Ash, open your eyes for me."
Ash didn't.
Dr. Snugglekins continued to shake his shoulder. "Ash, Ash, can you squeeze your master's fingers for me?"
Ash didn't.
The doctor tried again. "Squeeze your master's fingers, kid."
That time, Ash did respond. His squeeze was weak, but it was still a squeeze.
Selene and Dr. Snugglekins sighed.
"Good boy," said Dr. Snugglekins. "Can you open your eyes now?"
Ash still didn't.
Dr. Snugglekins was finally given no other choice. He used his fingers to pull up Ash's eyelids and shone a penlight in his pupils. "Yep, he definitely has a concussion."
Makenna let out a light scream and started chewing her nails, which turned from blue to black.
Dr. Snugglekins let Ash's eyelids go and then placed his palm to his forehead. "He has a bit of a temperature, too. I don't think the concussion is causing it, though."
"Then what is?" Selene nervously asked. She moved her hand up to Ash's arm and comfortably rubbed it.
Dr. Snugglekins removed his hand and explained in a calm voice, "It looks to me he's used a lot of magic today. He's gone into magetical shock."
"Magetical shock?" Makenna gasped. That happened to Tracey, too. Magetical shock happened when a fairy used too much magic. Now two of Makenna's friends had gone into magetical shock. Was she next? Just the thought of that horrified her more.
Dr. Snugglekins rubbed his nose and faced Selene and Merlin. "This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to put him on artificial magic for the night so his magic level can return to base level and clean the wound on his head. In the morning, I'll come back and see how he did overnight. Does that sound good?"
Makenna gulped. She hated to ask this. "Dr. Snugglekins, are you—are you going to take him to the hospital?"
Dr. Snugglekins faced her and smiled. "No, my dear. You gave him that Crusha Fruit right on time. However"—he lost his smile—"he is right on the line of a hospital visit. If he shows no signs of improvement by morning, I will have to call EFMS to pick him up and take him to one. I hope you understand. If that happens, the hospital's staff would do a CAT scan to see what exactly is going on in his brain."
Makenna gulped again. "So you're saying… he's hurt pretty bad?"
"It looks that way, yes," Dr. Snugglekins calmly answered. "This is nothing fatal, though. We just have to stabilize his magic during the night."
That was enough for Makenna. Tears appeared in her eyes, and she retreated a few steps. "Thank you, Doc. Now, if you'll excuse me." She was such an awful fairy. Ash wouldn't be in this condition if it weren't for her.
Makenna refused to watch Dr. Snugglekins put him on artificial magic, so she just flapped her wings and took off in flight. "I knew it!" she choked out. "This is Tracey all over again!"
Merlin heard her and glanced in her direction.
Makenna plopped down before the island's reef, in which the water looked like orange Fanta due to the setting sun, and picked up the mysterious necklace she found. "Oh, Tracey," she whispered, "where are you?" Makenna closed her eyes and hugged the necklace close.
The only way Dr. Snugglekins could get Ash's magic back was if he put a fairy oxygen mask on him. That would provide him with artificial magic and extra oxygen. Ash needed them both.
Dr. Snugglekins pulled everything he needed out of his bag and nodded.
Selene nervously chewed her nails while Merlin headed toward Makenna. Harmony and Silvey stayed behind and comforted her.
Dr. Snugglekins moved the mask toward Ash's nose and mouth. "You're okay, Ash. This is going to help your magic level return to base level. It's not going to hurt."
Ash moved his head away when the mask got close to his face.
"Please, Ash," Dr. Snugglekins begged.
Selene tightly squeezed her apprentice's hand. "Ash, remember what your sister would say. 'You can pull through anything, no matter how tough things get.'" She kept speaking comforting words, and eventually, Dr. Snugglekins got the mask over Ash's nose and mouth.
"Good boy. You're doing very well." As he was adjusting the mask, he glanced at Selene. "You all right, Selene?"
Selene cringed. She refused to leave her apprentice's side, though, and reached behind her, drawing a pair of blue, rectangular glasses. She nervously rubbed them on her dress.
Dr. Snugglekins shifted to Ash's head after adjusting the mask and gently moved it from side to side. He brought his finger to his chin and glanced at his legs. Ash bent his knees, so Dr. Snugglekins asked, "Do you think you can cross your left leg over your right?"
It looked like Ash didn't want to go to the hospital because he obeyed.
Dr. Snugglekins smiled. "Good job." He then tended to Ash's wound. He cleaned his bloodied, bruised temple and put a cotton bandage on it. He then wrapped his head with another bandage.
Ash flinched the whole time he worked.
The last thing Dr. Snugglekins did was give Selene medicine. "He should be fine now. Just give him one of these pills two times a day. They'll help his brain heal."
"Thanks," Selene spoke, accepting the medicine.
Dr. Snugglekins continued: "Also, make sure he doesn't push himself for about a week. I'll come back tomorrow morning to see how he did. Oh, would you look at that." The screen of his wristwatch glowed. "I've got another call. It looks like one of Hula Village's sprites is in labor." He started on his way.
Behind, Selene called, "Doc?"
"Hm?" asked Dr. Snugglekins, facing her.
Selene approached him. "Ash is supposed to do something very important tomorrow. He's going to play Teacher. Do you think he'll be all right to do that?"
"What exactly is he doing?" questioned Dr. Snugglekins.
Selene peeped over her shoulder to ensure Makenna wasn't listening. Once she was sure, she gestured for Dr. Snugglekins to come closer and whispered in his ear.
Afterward, Dr. Snugglekins patted her shoulder and said, "We'll see."
***
Makenna didn't say goodbye to the doctor. Instead, she sat by the water and tossed broken sticks and handfuls of sand into it. Raeven and Gina rested on each of her shoulders.
"Uh oh," Raeven soon said when he saw Merlin approaching from behind. "Insane wizard at 7:00."
Gina nudged him, saying he was being rude.
Makenna noticed Merlin out of the corners of her eyes and sighed. She tossed another stick into the ocean and placed her hands in her lap.
Merlin sat beside her, and they stared at the Fanta-colored water together. There was a moment of silence, but then Merlin said, "It's beautiful," while watching the waves crash at the line.
Makenna corrected him. "It's empty."
"Don't worry about my apprentice," Merlin encouraged. "I feel he is in a very safe place right now. You don't need to worry about Ash, either. He's going to be fine."
Makenna lowered her head. Merlin had read her mind.
"Makenna, listen to me," he continued. "It's not your fault. Things happen unexpectedly. You couldn't control your magic."
"But I seriously hurt him," Makenna choked out. "Ash isn't the only one I hurt, Merlin. I hurt Tracey, too. Thanks to me, he'll probably never talk to me again." She reached for her horse-head-shaped necklace pendant. "I don't deserve this transformation."
Merlin shook his head. "No. You think you don't deserve this transformation. But you do." He pulled a strand of hair out of Makenna's face and looked her straight in her big, blue eyes. "Look inside yourself, Makenna. Deep down lies the answer to why you deserve to be a Merfairy. Trust your fairy instincts. They will guide you. You're not special, Makenna, because you're a fairy; you're special because you're Makenna."
Makenna's mouth gaped. That was one of the nicest things anyone's ever told her.
Merlin patted her cheek. Makenna watched as he stood and headed toward the camp's picnic table to start dinner.
Raeven burst out crying and wrapped his wings around Makenna's neck. "That was so beautiful!"
Makenna patted his back. "Thanks, Raeven. I just wish I knew where Tracey was."
Gina rubbed her cheek feathers on her own cheek and seemed to purr. "Everything's going to be okay, Makenn. You'll see Tracey again. I promise."
Makenna nodded and glanced back at Ash. "Hang on, Ash. You're going to be fine."