Take a Chance.

Enter the River if you wish, but that will cost you your identity.

Chapter 1: Burnout

“Calypso!”

“CALYPSO!!”

“What?!” I snapped. I prepared to dropkick whoever was bothering me, but saw Elysia propped up on my hospital bed.

“The doctor told me to wake you up.” She smiled a toothy grin. “He says that you’re getting discharged today!” She hopped off the bed and did a little dance. “Now we can continue playing our game!”

I looked around and frowned. My head was a bit fuzzy. “Elysia, remind me what happened again.”

Her smile slipped off. “You fainted again. Near the lake. IIt was so scary seeing you lying there.. Mom said it was the 3rd time this month. I…I thou-thought you were going to di-die…” She quivered and climbed back onto my bed and curled up beside me.

I gently ran my fingers through her hair and spoke softly to sooth her. I slowly noticed her muscles relax. Seconds later, a snore escaped her.

I didn’t notice the doctor and my parents walked in when the door slammed shut behind them. I flinched while Elysia jerked awake behind me.

“Calypso!” My parents cried when they saw me awake. My mother reached me first and hugged me tight, daring to not let go, followed by my father.

“Mrs. and Mr. Lu, I advise not to do excessive physical activity with Calypso as she has just woken up from a vegetative state.

I raise my eyebrows. “So…I was in a coma?”

“Precisely.” The doctor said. He walked to the middle of the room. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mr. Morgan.” He handed some papers to my mom. “These are discharge papers. Sign here please.” 

He walked over to me. “I need to test some vitals Calypso, is that ok?” He asked.

“Fine by me.” I replied. 

He went through the processes, and wrote them down on his tiny notepad. “I need to draw some blood. Be right back.” He said. He exited the room.

An awful silence. The previous excitement wore out the second I woke up and was told I was ok. The tension was unbearable. My parents shuffled and fidgeted near the corner of my room, clearly uncomfortable. That is, until Elysia broke the silence.

“Mom. Dad. Shouldn’t you be more excited that Calypso is finally awake? We almost lost her last time.” Elysia asked, a little high-pitched.

“Well yes, but Doctor Morgan specifically told us not to in-” My dad started.

“He said you shouldn’t initiate excessive contact, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use your words. Also, aren’t words stronger than actions? Or wait, was it that actions are stronger than words? I forgot.”

Oh my goodness. Elysia is so smart for her age. Well…smarter than me at least when I was her age. Amusement swept through me like a cold breeze. Let’s see how this show plays out…

“Elysia! Don’t talk to your father like that. You know that we’re still grieving after the accident. We are still recovering! It’s just so hard to see Calypso like this…” My mother shook, tears threatening to slide down her face.

“But that still doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything about it! You could..throw a party! You can…oh I don’t know, host a family feast for Calypso! The possibilities are endless, and you chose just to come in and tell her “Oh I’m SO happy that you're awake!!!” Elysia mimicked their parents' movement “You have the money too! Doesn’t dad have 6.8 million in his bank account? And mom, you have 5.7 million. That's like 12.5 million. And you couldn’t even spend it on your own daughter. Even a deadbeat can do better than you two.” She spat, storming out of the room just as Doctor Morgan came in. He glanced towards me, then to my mom’s tear-stricken face, then to my dad’s face, turning red every second.

“Is everything ok here, Mrs and Mr. Lu?”

My mother choked out a response. “Yes,,,yes everything's fine.” She said, as she tried to wipe her tears away.

He looked hesitant. “If you say so…” Doctor Morgan walked over to me. “One question: Calypso, are you scared of needles?”

“No,” I replied truthfully. “They never scared me.”

He cracked a grin. “Brave girl.” He doused the needle in alcohol and wiped my arm. He saw me flinch at the intense smell of alcohol and told me. “You can close your eyes if you want.”

“I said I’m fine, thank you very much.” I told him, irritation rubbing against my skin. “Just get on with it already.”

Not even a second later, the needle plunged into my skin, and just as quickly, it retracted.

“Perfect. I’m going to submit this into the lab now. It will take about 5 minutes. For now, please rest. Mr. and Mrs. Lu, please follow me.” He said.

My parents trailed behind him, not before my father glanced back at me.

Click

The door clicked shut. I sat alone, only with my thoughts accompanying me. 

Well that went a little TOO far…

What the hell happened??

Where did Elysia go??

We have to find her!

Think Calypso!

Do something.

Hurry!

“Shush!” I yelled. A nurse came in, and seeing me crazy-eyed, she left the room. I must look like I’m crazy. Which, technically, I am.

“Focus Calypso. Right now, your goal is to find Elysia, and quickly.” I told myself,

But howwww?? My inner voice whined. They have security EVERYWHERE. It’s no use. Just let Elysia rot.

I gasp in panic about what I had just said about my sister. Before I can comprehend what just happened, I feel skin to skin contact and recoil. I had just slapped myself without myself knowing.

Oh Calypso, why can’t you do anything correct? The inner voice sneered.

“Shut up!” I yelled, voice coming out higher than expected.

“I’m going to find my sister.” I said, voice as hard as steel.

I grabbed whatever was in sight. A stethoscope, some bottles of medicine, two bottles of water, and some watermelon flavored toothpaste. Yum. Shoved everything in the pockets of my hospital gown and confidently walked out.

A Doctor eyed me down suspiciously, but let me through when I said I needed the bathroom.

I enter the bathroom and immediately something is wrong. I sigh and figure out why. There. Was. No. Windows.

“What kind of bathroom doesn’t have at least one window?” I sigh. “Clearly whoever installed the bathroom was not qualified to do so.”

I go through stall after stall, hoping for at least a tiny window or vent. Reaching the last one, my hope has been torn into pieces. “Please…” I whisper. I slowly open the door and gasp. A window! Perfect.

“Why is it above the toilet though?” I ask myself. “That’s so weird.”

Screaming, followed by a bang. “Where is my daughter!?” My dad screamed while my mother followed up with her pitiful wails. I was able to catch a glance at my father slamming a doctor into the wall. Ouch.

I was running out of time. I ripped pieces of toilet paper and put them on the seat. I hurriedly hopped onto the seat and tried to pry the window open, to no avail. I fished around for anything, anything, and whipped out the watermelon-flavored toothpaste. 

“This should work..” I told myself.

I evenly spread the toothpaste around the lining of the window and waited. Surprisingly, it hardened the window instead.

“No. No,no,no. This cannot be.” I whispered.

Bang,bang,bang, followed by a shriek. 

“C’mon Calypso, get your head in the game. Lock in.” I told myself

I frantically climbed down the toilet seat and burst out of the stall. I whipped my head left to right and it felt like I had whiplash. “C’mon…there!” At the corner of my eye, I saw a bar of soap. Perfect. I shoved the toothpaste into my hospital gown and reached for the bar of soap. I ducked into the stall and locked it just as people barged in.

“NYPD! Open up!” An officer shouted.

“Calypso don’t do this to us!” My mother wailed.

“Oh no.” My hands shook as I almost dropped the soap bar for the 3rd time. My legs felt like jelly. I heard the crashing of stalls as they moved closer to me. Then, adrenaline took over. I spread the soap bar over and over the window, hoping that it will loosen.

chink….chink….chink

The sound of a bolt bouncing on the floor made me freeze. Not loud enough to be heard by the people outside, but loud enough to tell me that it was working. I hurriedly spread even more of the foamy bubbles and saw more of the bolts falling off. Perfect. Just what needed to be done. The last bolt finally slipped off and the window lurched forward, revealing the outside, or so I called it, “My escape route.”

I shoved the soap bar into my other pocket, then I jumped. I almost slipped but managed to grope for a sturdy rock outside. I heaved myself up and hid in a nearby bush as a police officer kicked the stall door down. His eyes widened in surprise but then regained his cold look. He reported on his radio. ‘“Suspect is not here. May have escaped the premises. Tell all units to proceed to the main entrance.” His voice faded away as units around him retreated. I could hear my mother’s desolate wails as my father tried to sooth her.

I felt bad for one second, then realized my goal. I had to find her. “I’m coming Elysia.” I murmured softly. I gathered myself up and trudged towards the place where I know Elysia may be.