She opened her eyes to see she had been moved onto a stretcher and someone was taking her blood pressure. She blinked, or at least she thought she did and the next time she opened her eyes, she squinted in pain because she was in a hospital. Doctors, nurses and a familiar voice spoke in hushed tones. Her fever raged on most of the night and into the next day, sometime the next night it broke.

“Mom?” Mina spoke quietly and a hand encompassed her own and squeezed gently. She heard her mother’s voice whisper to her that she was going to be all right. Mina relaxed and drifted back to sleep.

***

Something was touching her nose! Mina’s eyes flew open to stare at an offending feather assailing her face. Her eyes followed the large white goose feather to the small hand clutching it and up the sleeve to the perpetrator. She should have known it was her younger brother.

“Charlie!” Mina whined and tried to swat the feather away. “Do you know how many diseases that feather is probably carrying, and you brought it into a hospital?”

Charlie just grinned wider and nodded his head. The eight-year-old proceeded to climb up onto Mina’s hospital bed with an old pencil box. It usually housed his favorite possessions like an old Matchbox car, a broken piece of quartz, silver bottle caps, a whistle, and a few old election pins. But currently these items weren’t in the box but carefully placed around Mina’s body on the hospital bed.

“Charlie, what are you doing?” she picked up the bottle cap that was closest to her hand and handed it back to her silent brother, who put it away in the box.

“He was worried about you,” a warm voice answered from out in the hallway.

Mina’s head spun toward the sound, and she almost cried in relief when she saw her mother standing there. Sara started crying, crossed to the hospital bed, and pulled her daughter and son into an embrace.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I never meant to make you worry.” Mina sniffled.

“Shh, shh. It’s okay,” Sara intoned softly. “Well, no, it’s not okay, but we will get to that later.” She pulled away and brushed Mina’s hair out of her face. “What happened? What were you thinking? When you didn’t come home from school, I called Nan. She said you got a ride, but then when you didn’t come home at all, I panicked. I was so scared, and I didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe the Story had gotten involved and you were in the middle of a quest.”

“Mom, it wasn’t the Story, not exactly.”

“I hate that you have to be a part of this. If there was any way that I could protect you from the Grimm curse you know I would, right?”

“You protected me for sixteen years from the curse and the Story. It’s okay Mom, now it’s my turn to protect Charlie and you.” Mina tried to sound strong, but her words only made her mom tear up more.

“Oh, sweetheart. I can’t tell you how helpless I felt not knowing what was going on. The police wouldn’t understand our circumstances… how could I call for help and tell them that I thought a fairy tale had come and kidnapped my daughter or worse, killed her? I knew something had happened, but I couldn’t do anything. I ended up calling the police, but they said you hadn’t been missing for forty-eight hours.” Sara stood up and paced the room, waving her hands wildly about.

“Mom!” Mina tried to distract her mother, knowing she was about to lose it.

“I mean, really! Forty-eight hours? Do they not have kids? Forty-eight hours to a scared parent might as well be forty-eight days.” She stopped pacing, and Charlie jumped off the bed and began to put his knickknacks back in the box, obviously satisfied that they had served their purpose.

“Thanks, Charlie.” Mina patted his head.

Charlie grinned and pointed his finger into his open palm.

Mina raised her eyebrow in disbelief. “I owe you? Why do I owe you?” she laughed.

Charlie started signing, and Mina watched carefully. “Because you protected me?”

Sara frowned at Charlie thoughtfully and spoke on his silent behalf. “Apparently, he read somewhere about creating a fairy circle for protection against evil. So he took all of his shiny objects and was adamant about protecting you. Even to the point of making a nuisance with the nurses.”

“Oh,” Mina whispered quietly.

Sara came and sat on the edge of her daughter’s bed. “So tell me what happened?”

“Mom, if I tell you, you are going to freak out and try to over protect me and you have to promise me that you will be calm, cool, and collected about what I say.”

Sara pursed her lips and took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I can guarantee that, but I will do my best.”

Mina looked at her mother and started from the beginning. At first Sara was confused, then worried and then angry. She had annoyed outbursts throughout Mina’s story. “How dare he kidnap her daughter and chase her through the woods. How dare he spend the night in the woods with her daughter alone! And, finally, how dare he abandon her and leave her in the woods!” Mina found it quite funny the moods her mother went through: anger, indignation and resentment.

“I don’t care what happens, but you will stay away from that boy! Mina, he is nothing but trouble, and he’s Fae to boot. You can’t trust the Fae. I mean, just look at what he did to you! You could have been killed by bears out in those woods.”

Mina began to laugh out loud, knowing how oblivious her mom was to what had happened. “Or in the city,” she mumbled.

“No, I’m serious!” Sara tried to look serious, but her eyes slowly softened and she began to chuckle. “I’m just glad you are back and safe and sound. But why didn’t the Grimoire work?”

Mina’s eyes opened wide in panic. “Mom! Where’s the Grimoire?” she looked down and realized she was in the ugly hospital gown.

Sara looked confused, “I don’t know?”

“Where are my clothes? Mom, we have to find my clothes!” Sara jumped up and went out the door to go look for a nurse with Charlie close on her heels. Mina was so worried she didn’t hear the slight knock on the door.

“Oh! Well, what seems to have gotten our patient all worked up?” Mina looked up at the handsome doctor who spoke and was speechless; he looked familiar. It took a moment for Mina to put two and two together. It was Robert Martin, Nan’s future stepdad.

Mina had to clear her throat a few times before she could speak. “My clothes, I want my clothes.”

“Oh, I believe a nurse should have put those in a bag for you, I don’t think that they were salvageable.” He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh, no, I needed something…” Mina paused, unsure of how to proceed without giving away too much information. Dr. Martin didn’t seem to notice as he looked over her charts carefully.

He grinned at Mina, displaying very even and white teeth. His light brown hair had just the touch of grey at the temples, and his eyes were a deep hazel. “I’m sure that whatever it is the nurses can get if for you. How are you feeling?”

“Mmm, good. I guess,” Mina offered. “Thirsty and hungry though.”

“Not surprising with what you’ve been through. You came in with a fever, and you were dehydrated. But your fever broke last night, and other than your sprained ankle and a few deep cuts, you are on the mend.”