Chapter Four "Revelations"

     It was days later before she was allowed to sit up again. She was moved into a private room and visitors were finally allowed to see her. Linda and her mother were constantly there holding vigil over Isabella until they felt she was ready to see her friends again. The first two were Amber and Jessica, her first friends in Asheville. Jessica was just as upset as Amber when they finally saw her. She was thinner and looked weak. This was not what they expected, and it made it worse for them. They let Kelly in along with Ashley and the others who were all still in their uniforms hoping that would cheer her up.

     The physical therapy began, and she had no idea that she would have to learn how to use parts of her legs again. It was just a matter of getting them under her, but she was feeling the urge to push through it. She hated feeling helpless.

     It was roughly the third day of her stay in the private room when Kelly showed up with another friend. She recognized the hooded little girl immediately and almost cried knowing what it took to get her to visit the hospital. Katie pulled her hood back to reveal her wig and the doll-like face behind the familiar sheer covering. It looked thicker this time as she approached Isabella and was helped up onto the side of her bed so she could sit with her. She did not say anything at first. She just found Isabella’s hand and placed it on her leg first so she could touch it then held it affectionately against the side of her face. “I’m so sorry.”

     “Why? It’s not your fault.” Isabella rubbed her face.

     Katie turned her head as if looking at Isabella, but she was reading her. “I am new to some of the things that are given to me. I don’t always understand what it is that I am shown within my mind. I saw something in you that was different from our friends, but I didn’t realize that it was that injury.”

     “And now you do.” Isabella hugged her. “Look, no one is perfect, especially me. It’s not like I’m a god or something. I’m just a girl.” She hugged Katie back and then motioned for Kelly to join her. “Now I want to share something with you…both of you.”

     “Okay.” Kelly kissed her on her head. She touched her gently.

     “Yeah, that’ll have to grow back.” She sighed. “Just when I was starting to get some hair like you…um…Kelly.” She smiled.

     “I get it,” Katie whispered.

     “Yeah, the doctor said it had to go for now.”

     “That just sucks.” Kelly pouted and rubbed her own hair.

     “But that’s not what I want to talk about.” She squeezed Katie’s hands. “When I had that experience with you and Jessica.”

     “What?” Kelly went around to the other side of the bed.

     Isabella smiled. “Yeah, sit down.”

     “She had an OBE,” Katie said in her matter-of-fact way.

     “How?”

     Katie turned her head toward Kelly. “Like she could just do that willy nilly.”

     Isabella giggled. “You two.” She snorted a bit. “Anyway, I did. You don’t need to know why really, but I believe it was in preparation for what happened to me…well…when I was here…I guess here. Anyway, I saw myself again, but this time it was very different. I wasn’t traveling on the outside of myself. I was inside of myself…an Inner Body Experience.”

     “You saw your guts?” Kelly looked confused.

     “Let me explain.” She took Kelly’s hand too. “I was floating above myself looking at my body lying on the bed in the emergency room. The nurses were rushing around putting things into me and trying to get me back.”

     “Are you saying you were dead?” Kelly whispered.

     “In a way, yes…but not too because while my body was just there, I was not. Who I am was floating above it, then I rushed away in a flash upwards into a strange place. It was beautiful and peaceful. I saw people up there walking around with robes on just going about their business, then one of them, a man with the most intense bluish glowing eyes looked at me and pointed down a long path. I knew to take it without saying a word. I walked along the path and came to a gate. I went through the gate and into a garden. In there was a massive stone with a carving of what looked like a door or window, and in that, I was watching events of my life passing by with certain ones being shown to me like examples of choices I had made with different results to show me how my choices made the outcomes I had. I saw how Lucy played into this as well. But I also saw us together, I guess in the future. I was told not to tell anyone about certain events other than to allow them to happen for a greater reason. I was told to keep my body clean and free from meat and dead animals. I was also told some other things that I just have to trust were just for me. I really want to share them, but I was warned to keep those to myself.”

     “So why are you telling us this?” Kelly asked.

     “Because I was allowed to share parts of what I saw like the journey and the bigger things, but it was those things just for me that I had to keep to myself.”

     “So, what now?” Katie asked.

     She looked at Kelly with a smile. “I need these for myself in a color that matches my skin as much as possible.” She rubbed Katie's arm.

     “You’re going to be my twin?” Katie hugged her.

     “Yes, I was told it was okay, and that it would help me keep some of my energy from getting too carried away.” She smiled. “I actually look forward to it.” She smiled again. “I was shown something else. I was taken to a planet of very spiritual people who are more advanced than us. They are much smaller than us too, but they wear something like this only in their own way. It molds to their skin kind of like this protecting them in a way. I was told that this would work for me here. I was shown you, Kelly, making them for me.”

     Kelly smiled. “I’ll get right on it. You want the whole thing right even the inner part?”

     Isabella giggled thinking about it. “Yes, even that.”

     “We’ll get you a wig.” Katie touched hers.

     “That’s fine, but it has to be real hair though. My aunt can help with that.”

     “And there is something else for now…something I really need your help with.” Isabella sat back on her bed to rest her head on her pillow.

     “What?” Kelly made Katie sit on a chair while she sat on the arm of the chair.

     “Katie will understand this part first. When I saw her and Jessica together, I saw them bathed in light…a lot of light. I was told it was because they are male and female. It doesn’t matter what Jessica wears or has on her chest now, but she is still biologically male DNA inside of herself, and when that mixes with Katie who is biologically female DNA, it creates a type of energy between them. Then I was shown Amber and me together…nothing. It was like putting two negative wires together. Absolutely nothing came of it at all.”

     “Really?” Katie asked. “I thought so.”

     “Well, you’re right.”

     “That’s interesting.” Kelly thought a moment

     “So, then I was shown John and Tony together. It was like putting two positive wires together. It didn’t create energy like Jessica and Katie…it seemed to explode, but it was not necessarily a good thing. I was also told not to judge anyone about it. I was just shown this for my own knowledge in a way, but I was told I could share this with some people…you for example. This is what I need help with. How do I break it to Amber that…well…we’re not really supposed to be together like we are at the moment? We’re supposed to be friends.”

     “You might be surprised how understanding she really is,” Katie said. “She is far more intuitive than some of us give her credit for. She’d been in a kind of shell for a while now not doing anything much at all other than dance and studying and avoiding Lucy and her friends. It was a bad pattern, but you changed that mix by coming here. You were supposed to, but you’ve had your road or path corrected of sorts…albeit…a very pointed way I guess.”

     Isabella thought a moment. “I was also shown while in that place some alternate paths my life could have taken based on the choices I made or make. I was shown one life where I was possessed by a demonic force that used me to manifest a very horrific creature. It was eventually cast out of me, but it masked my real issues.” She pointed to her head. “I eventually died in that life cycle not too far from now. I was also shown one where I murdered a bunch of men because of what they did to me or to some other girls. It was one of those things. It wasn’t bad or good necessarily…it was just the result of where my mind was. Then I was told to go back. I was told not to get the surgery, but it was already done. Then I was told just before I came back that there would be a few adjustments to that narrative because of that. I didn’t get to make that choice, the doctor did. So here I am now.” She smiled.

     “We’re glad.” Kelly smiled.

     “And I’m healing just fine, but some aspects of me are turned on that I have to get used to. I…” She looked at Katie. “I see things now that I can’t quite explain. I see lights and spots…energy cords…and it’s very distracting. I have to get used to it, but when I’m covered up, it isn’t as much. I also sense things through my skin, and that needs the thin filter too. I was told that I would have to use this to help people, or I would lose it.”

     “That sounds about right,” Katie said. “I was told the same thing.”

     “You were?” Kelly asked.

     “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d understand that, and I forgot about it until Isabella brought it up just now.”

     “When was that?”

     “Oh, I was really little. I used to speak to my Being of Light all the time, and now I only speak to it at night. It is difficult to manifest that sort of energy in the daytime.”

     Kelly looked at them. “This is out of my scope of understanding.”

     “Okay, it’s time for Isabella to rest.” The nurse came in and made an announcement as she smiled and stood by the door.

     “Okay.” Isabella pouted. She looked at Kelly. “Should I talk to Amber?”

     “I will. She’ll listen to me.” Katie said and was helped over to hug Isabella. “I’ll explain everything to her the way I can.”

     “I trust you,” Isabella whispered in her ear.

     “I know.”

     The next day Isabella spent more time in physical therapy getting her feet back like she was used to. She felt stupid in the hospital gown, but it was better than being naked in the cold hospital. She wore a stocking cap but shivered all the time. When she got back to her room, she found Amber and Kelly waiting for her. She was set into her bed by one of the orderlies, then she sat back.

     “Hey.”

     “How are you feeling?” Amber asked.

     “How are you feeling?” Isabella looked at her.

     She smiled. “Katie explained everything. I get it.”

     “You, okay?”

     “Yes…I get it.” Amber smiled. “Sister Elizabeth let us skip the last two classes to pay you a visit. Everyone misses you lots especially Ashley for some reason. You know something we don’t?” Amber smiled in her wry way.

     Isabella smiled. “Yes, but I promised not to tell.”

     “Fine.” Kelly smiled too. “It’s not like we don’t know about Ashley, but we’ll keep that a secret along with you.”

     Isabella looked at them. “Butterfly girl?”

     They both laughed.

     Her bed felt so good after being in the hospital for so many days. It was not quite Halloween yet, and she was wondering if she was even going to be able to do anything. She was a little upset. She was sitting there reading a bit and going over some homework that Sister Margaret sent her. It kept her busy, so she did not think too much. She finally heard the doorbell and some chatter before her door opened.

     “You have two visitors.” Linda smiled.

     In popped Kelly and Amber with a bag and big smiles. Linda left them alone and shut the door as she left.

     “God it’s so good to see you two. I’m bored to death.” Isabella looked at them.

     “So, are you up to trying on some stuff?”

     “Yes, I don’t care if it hurts. I’m tired of robes and t-shirts.” Then she giggled. “That and I tossed all my undies too.”

     They laughed. “This will definitely help.” Kelly moved forward with the bag and dumped it out. “My mom was very busy. She got some crazy ideas…you see, Katie is not…well…”

     “She’s flat on top for the most part,” Amber said very seriously. “You are not.”

     “And?”

     Kelly held up a top. “She made these little pockets for your boobs.”

     “Oh, those are darling. I love it.” Isabella slid off her robe and a long t-shirt.

     “Wow, you’re thin.” Kelly looked concerned.

     “Yeah…” Isabella sat on the edge of her bed and took the top. She slid it on over her head and pulled it down over her face until the seam on top was snug. She fixed her nose until it was perfect then slid her arms into the sleeves and pulled it down fixing her little breast pockets as she worked it down. “This feels so good.” She grabbed the bottoms and pulled them on and up. “No sleeve?”

     “Not yet. Just enjoy the seam for now.” Amber smiled.

     “I’m more like a little moth compared to…oops…”

     “It’s okay.” Kelly smiled. “We know.”

     “Cute moth though…not a Luna like someone we know.” She winked at Isabella. Then Amber handed her a pair of black tights. She let Isabella put them on before handing her a red and black plaid skirt and a black turtleneck sweater. The final piece was a long auburn-colored wavy wig made from real hair. It had been sitting on the dresser on a manacan head just for this moment.

     She looked in the mirror and smiled. “It’s hard to tell I have anything on in some ways.”

     “It’s very nice.” Amber smiled. “I’m jealous.”

     Isabella smiled. “You can wear these too. I won’t mind.”

     “We do, at night.” Kelly smiled.

     “Should we try it out?” Isabella gave them a look.

     “That’s up to you. Are you ready to go out and walk?”

     “Yes…with some help.” She took their hands and squeezed them.

     They ventured out into the streets and walked around the block. No one seemed to notice what Isabella had on because she also had on gloves and a coat. She still shivered even though it was not all that cold outside. They went back and sat on her porch for a bit before they had to go to rehearsals for the Nutcracker. Isabella stayed on the porch with a book and watched the traffic go by as she did. She felt good again.