Makenna returned to her school and landed in the parking lot. She was improving at landing.
People stared at her, but Makenna ignored them.
She examined the lot and sighed when she saw that, yes, the ambulance had arrived. It had parked as close as it could to the crowd of officers surrounding Tracey, and its lights flashed.
Makenna saw the paramedics, but her jaw dropped. She was too late!
The officers had moved aside, and a gurney rested beside Tracey.
Makenna knew the paramedics were performing CPR on him. She saw the medic's arms moving up and down.
"Oh no!" Makenna yelled. "I'm too late!" She brought her hands to her mouth.
Caleb soon joined her and said, "Makenna!"
However, Makenna pushed by him and hurried toward her friend. She tried to approach him, but an officer pulled her back and gave the paramedics their space.
"Tracey, no!" Makenna yelled. She waited for him to turn into ash. She was 99% certain he would now.
The paramedic pushing hard and fast on his bare chest, Dr. Johnson, begged, "Come on, kid! Breathe!" He removed his hands from Tracey's chest and quickly put a defibrillator on it. He failed, though, to revive his heart.
After his first attempt, one of Dr. Johnson's partners calmly but worriedly said, "No response."
Dr. Johnson refused to give up and tried again with the defibrillator.
"No response," his partner spoke again.
Dr. Johnson kept on trying, and his partner kept on repeating, "No response."
Makenna broke down in tears and begged, "Please, no. Tracey, no!" She closed her eyes and returned to his mind. Inside, she saw its world crumbling.
"Don't do this to yourself, Tracey!" Makenna begged. "Please! You can't die!" She sprinted through his mind and moved out of the way as images of rocks fell toward her.
Makenna found herself standing before a vast, beautiful ocean and saw that she was on Merlin's Island. It told her that all Tracey wanted was to go home.
"I'm going to take you home, Tracey!" Makenna promised. "And you're going to get better! Just, please. Trust me one last time." She dropped to her knees. "Tracey, please. Don't die. Don't turn into ash. I promise to do everything I can to help you. I promise to never lie to you again. I promise I'll be a better friend." She cried in and out of Tracey's mind.
Inside it, she stuck her hand into the ocean's water and felt as it dropped, and the sea became shallower. "Please," Makenna repeated. "I'm so sorry for everything. I'm so sorry I let Peter treat you that way, but I promise I will never let someone pick on you the way he did. I'm going to help you with your struggle, both against the Human World and the Octopus Man. I won't let him take you in the future—I swear to it. We'll become merfairies together and will defeat him. Trust me. I'm begging you, Tracey. Trust me." Makenna closed her eyes and sobbed as hard as she could.
Tracey's mind world was close to fading away, but Makenna didn't give up. "We'll become the most awesome fairy team ever, Trace. I know we're going to be friends for the rest of our lives. You have to understand that I care about you. You may not think that, but I do. You have been accepted into the Delling family, Tracey. You're not alone, not anymore." Makenna continued to sob. Her tears fell like fountains. "I am a Metamorphic Fairy," was her last line, "and it is my duty to protect my fairy friends."
Makenna kept on crying, but then suddenly, Tracey's mind world began to rebuild. Rocks returned to their rightful location, and Makenna gasped when she felt the ocean rising.
Everything around her brightened. For the first time, a sun appeared, and its rays scanned the Metamorphic Fairy. "What's going on?" she choked out. Makenna felt herself lifting off the ground and looked down.
A flash of bright light blinded her, and like before, she started to spin. "Ahh!" Makenna screamed.
Tracey's mind world continued to brighten while she spun. Before she knew it, Makenna popped out of his mind and returned to the real world.
She inhaled and exhaled.
Another officer held her arm and asked, "Are you all right, Makenna?"
Makenna found herself resting on her hands and knees. She lifted her head, and her eyes landed on Tracey and the paramedics. They still used the defibrillator on him, but Makenna could tell they were worried. All hope was lost. Tracey was dead.
Dr. Johnson repeated, "No response." His eyes watered. He tried the defibrillator one last time, but Tracey still didn't respond. Dr. Johnson took the defibrillator off his chest and whimpered, "We were too late." Right after he said that, sadness flashed across everyone's face.
Gina, sitting on Caleb's shoulder, lowered her head. "No," she sniffled. "Not my friend. Not my best friend."
The Charleston County police officers took off their hats and held them before their chests.
Mr. Gheesling and Dr. Medford, also watching the scene, pulled each other into a hug.
Dr. Johnson set the defibrillator down and shook his head. He peered into Tracey's white face and lowered his own head. After a bit, he slowly lifted it, and his eyes landed on a tuft of black hair that rested on the left side of Tracey's nose. Dr. Johnson lifted his hand and reached for it.
Makenna watched, crying, and waited for the wind to turn Tracey into ash.
Dr. Johnson's hand reached his face, and he prepared to pull the tuft aside.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Tracey gasped and snatched the paramedic's wrist!
Everybody jumped, but none jumped as hilariously as Dr. Johnson.
Makenna's jaw dropped. Gasps came from all over. The paramedics did it! They revived Tracey!
His newborn heart beat rapidly, and he looked bewildered.
Makenna was so shocked that she fell backward and crawled away from him, gripping her knees.
Tracey coughed and propped up on his elbows, examining the crowd around him.
After a minute or two of intense staring, Tracey opened his mouth and weakly spoke, "Merlin. I am so dead." Agonizing pain exploded in his wings. Coughing again, Merlin's apprentice lay back down, and his eyes drooped.
"We-We did it," Dr. Johnson stammered. "We-We revived him."
From Caleb's shoulder, Gina looked up, and her eyes landed on semiconscious Tracey's bare chest bouncing up and down.
She tried flying to her friend, but Caleb pulled her back. The paramedics may have revived Tracey, but the emergency wasn't over. He still had to get his wings dealt with.
Tracey continued to take deep breaths, but it soon changed to heavy breathing.
He met Dr. Johnson's eyes and feebly begged, "Ple-Please don't take me to the ho-hospital, si-sir. I-I'm all-all right."
"You're not all right!" Dr. Johnson snapped, rubbing his eyes. "You stopped breathing! We had to use a defibrillator! We have to take you to the hospital, son! These wings of yours need to come off! They're too badly infected."
"No!" Tracey said. "Please! Don't let them am-amputate my wi-wings! I-I love them!" He couldn't stay conscious for long—the pain was too intense—but he continued to plead. "Ple-Please, si-sir! Anything but a hospital!"
"It'll be okay," Dr. Johnson said, taking the fairy's hand. "Stay with us, though, son."
Tracey couldn't. He closed his eyes, and his head fell to the left.
The paramedics put an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and worked together to drag him onto the gurney.
Makenna remained seated, her face gray. In all her fourteen years of living, she had never seen something as scary as that. Although, she was somewhat glad they had the paramedics take care of Tracey that time. At least they weren't freaking out about her and him being fairies.
They covered him with the sheet and kept the defibrillator on hand just in case.
When they were sure Tracey was at least a little comfortable, they rushed him toward the ambulance and yelled, "Stay with us!"
Dr. Johnson's hand hovered over Tracey's chest, and his head jiggled back and forth from the jerking of the stretcher, but he didn't wake up. He was dreaming.
Tracey dreamt he flew over the ocean and returned to Merlin's Island. When he arrived, two figures appeared. Though they were only blurry images, he could tell they were related. Tracey never knew his father—he barely remembered his mother—but knew he was looking at his parents.
At the sight of them, he cracked a small smile. "Mom! Dad! You've come back!" Tracey hurried toward them.
Gina appeared behind him and followed.
In his dream, Tracey was himself again, but that wasn't the case outside.
Makenna hurried for him, but Caleb, Jessica, and Jimmy stopped her.
"What's wrong with him?" Jessica asked, but Makenna snatched Caleb's hand. "Not now, Jessica. I have to go after him and get Caleb home. I'll text you about it when I can. Jimmy"—she faced him—"thank you. Thank you for saving my life. I'm so sorry for my behavior lately."
"And I am, too," said Jimmy. "Tell Tracey that I hope he makes a good recovery. Sorry for everything I've done, Fairy—I mean Makenna."
"You're all right," Makenna said. "You may call me Fairy Girl, Jimmy. Thank you again." She hugged him and Jessica.
Letting go, Makenna saluted Dr. Medford and Mr. Gheesling, who had disconnected. She then flapped her wings and outlined Caleb with her magic. Makenna lifted both of them into the sky and flew toward the ambulance. She knew she couldn't ride with Tracey, but she could follow it.
The paramedics loaded him into the back of the ambulance, and Dr. Johnson again said, "Stay with us." He and two other paramedics climbed into the back with the patient, while two more climbed into the front. The doors closed, and the rescue vehicle's siren wailed again. Soon after, it turned onto the main road and headed for Seabrook Island.
Makenna clutched Caleb's hand and gained altitude. She could easily see the ambulance by its flashing lights.
Soon after the ambulance left, Officer Jordan returned from the woods behind the school, holding Peter Nelson. She led him toward a police car and asked, "Did you have this plot planned all along?" in her British accent.
Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he answered, looking away from Jordan.
"Yeah?" she asked. "Well, we can talk about it in court. I'm sure you have quite an interesting story for the judge." She took Peter to the police car, where his father stood.
He glanced at him and asked, "What happened to your nose, Pete?"
"Shut up!" Peter yelled, forcing his father into the back of the car. He made one last attempt to free himself from Officer Jordan. He lifted his foot and kicked her hard in the leg. Kicked her! That would look amazing in court.
His kick had hurt her, but Officer Jordan went ahead and shoved him into the police car. She waved goodbye to Peter, but he glared at her.
Before long, the police car took off, and Jordan watched it leave. Once the flashing lights vanished, she reached for her leg and massaged it.
Officer Hobbs soon approached her and inquired, "Did he hurt you, Lilly?"
Officer Jordan smiled—"Nope"—and removed her hand from her leg, straightening. "That actually felt really good."
Where Officer Camden stood, he brought his radio to his lips and said, "This is Officer Camden. Mission complete."