‘E r, no…’ Theo stammered, feeling very exposed under the newcomer’s gaze. ‘I was just talking to …ah…’
‘An invisible friend?’ the woman suggested, with a glint of mischief in her eye.
‘Something like that,’ Theo murmured, looking down at his hands.
‘Theo, my name is Michelle,’ she said, taking a seat by the bed and offering her hand, which Theo shook uncertainly. Her fingers were long and slender, and there wasshe wore a small emerald ring on the one on her left/ right handpinky of her left hand.
‘Are you another doctor, here to run more tests?’ asked Theo.
‘How did you put it? “Something like that”!’ Michelle smiled, brushing back her hair. ‘Let’s just say I’m here to ask some questions, and maybe even help you.’
Nobody can help me, Theo thought. Because no one understands what I need to do.
‘What was that?’ Michelle asked.
Theo looked up in shock. He didn’t think he had spoken but maybe his lips had moved. ‘I was just thinking that no one can help me,’ he admitted.
‘Ah,’ Michelle sighed. ‘I know the feeling. And it must be especially daunting in your case, now that you’ve decided to save the world.’ Theo blinked in wonder. ‘I read it in the newspaper,’ Michelle whispered confidentially. ‘Tell me, Theo – whatever gave you that idea?’
For some unaccountable reason, Theo felt like telling her the truth. She didn’t seem like any other doctor he had ever met. Against his better judgment he might have told her about the Storyteller – if only to share the burden of the enormous quest that lay upon his shoulders. But Bozo had taken an instant dislike to Michelle and he shook his head vehemently.
‘Don’t tell her a thing,’ the Bloon hissed.
‘I …I had a dream,’ Theo limited himself to saying.
‘Ah, a dream.’ Michelle smiled, looking thoughtfully out of the window. ‘Dreams are wonderful, mysterious creatures – no?’ She glanced at Theo to see if he was following. He was and so she continued: ‘You know, Theo, most people hear voices in their heads from time to time. The trick is to know which ones to listen to.’ She looked up at Theo, who by now was in something of a daze.
‘She’s up to something,’ Bozo declared loudly. ‘I don’t trust her an inch.’
Theo flinched but then remembered that no one could see or hear the Bloon. Just as well, he thought. Bozo wasn’t exactly the diplomatic type.
Michelle looked around at the hospital ward with an unimpressed look on her face. Everything in sight – from the walls to the sheets – was a dreary off-white. Even the few splashes of colour in the form of cheesy posters only accentuated the bleak sterility of the place. A few flowers here or there and the odd toy didn’t change the fact that the ward seemed like a large waitingroom. ‘I’ve always thought that hospitals are excellent places to get sick,’ she observed. ‘Do you feel at home here, Theo?’
On this at least he could be honest. ‘No, not at all,’ Theo sighed. ‘I mean, some of the nurses are nice but the doctors are mostly awful. They talk about me as if I wasn’t there. Then, when they pass by, it’s like they’re disappointed to see that I still exist. And I’m not even sick!’ Theo gave vent to the feelings of frustration that had built up over the past week. ‘I just can’t remember anything before waking up here,’ he continued. ‘And they act like it’s some kind of a crime. Anyway, I shouldn’t even be here because…’
‘Because it’s hard to save the world from a hospital bed?’ Michelle suggested with the hint of a wink.
Theo couldn’t help but nod. It seemed like the first time since he’d woken up that anyone had taken the time to find out how he felt. ‘It’s like I have something very, very important to do,’ he explained. ‘But I don’t know how or where to begin. It just seems impossible.’
Bozo stared at him in disgust but Theo didn’t pay him any mind. He just looked up at Michelle in a silent plea for help, and he suddenly seemed far older than his years. Michelle nodded and thought for a moment before she reached into her shoulder bag and drew out a pack of Tarot cards. They were earthy brown on the back and she spread them in a fan across Theo’s bedside table.
‘Pick a card, any card,’ she laughed.
‘What are they?’ Theo asked.
‘No one believes in stuff any more,’ she sighed. ‘It used to be that people took all they saw to be real. Just like that. Now everyone needs explanations and reasons to believe in anything. OK, if it helps, think of it this way: you already have all the answers inside you, Theo. You just need, let’s say, a mirror, to help you see them.
‘Now,’ she said, taking his hand and placing it on top of the cards. ‘When you roll dice or you read the leftover cornflakes in the bowl or you pick a Tarot card, it’s like you take a picture of everything that’s going on around you. It’s like a photo of the situation you’re in. And if you’re ready to see it, then there may be some clues to show you what to do next. Do you want to take a card?’
Theo nodded. Under Bozo’s disapproving eyes, his fingers began to run lightly over the cards until his hand felt like staying in one place. All the cards looked the same but one of them seemed to call for his attention more than the others. He placed his middle finger on the card and slid it out into the middle of the table.
‘Before you turn it over,’ Michelle said, ‘think of everything that’s happened until now, and all the questions you have in your mind.’
Theo clenched his eyes shut and remembered it all: waking up to the Storyteller’s message; Bozo’s entry through the open window on the night of the storm; the dream of seeing the Storyteller in Bloonland; and the hospital in which he was confined, tormented by the malevolent figure of Dr Bunsen. Apprehensively, he turned over the card to reveal The Fool.
He could sense Michelle smile before he looked up to ask how to read it. Bozo, too, seemed to be interested in the card. He was staring at the image with a mixture of fear and wonder.
‘What does it mean?’ Theo asked.
‘What do you see?’ Michelle responded.
He looked at the card again. ‘Well, there’s a man in funny clothes with all his possessions tied up in a little knapsack on a stick that he carries over his shoulder. He’s walking off a cliff – but he doesn’t seem in the least bit scared.’ Theo scratched his head. ‘In fact, he seems pretty happy about the idea of falling to his death. I don’t get it.’
‘Seems pretty foolish – no?’ Michelle smiled. ‘To leave solid ground behind and step out into thin air. And to be cheerful about imminent disaster. He’s not called the Fool for nothing. At least, that’s how it seems. Most people think it’s crazy to leave behind what they have in exchange for the unknown. The thing is, Theo, even the ground beneath your feet can move. And sometimes, if you want to grow or learn or accomplish something, you have to leave your common sense behind and trust your intuition. Like the Fool.’
Like leaving the hospital, Theo thought. The only reason he’d stayed so long was that he had no idea how to survive in the outside world. What chance did a child and a Bloon have of making it on their own? Where would they sleep? What would they eat? Never mind looking for a cure for the Storyteller – they’d probably end up starving to death.
And even if they somehow found a way to survive, the authorities would look for him everywhere, as if he was a criminal. Once they caught him, it would be very hard ever to escape again, and then he’d never be able to find the Cure. The Storyteller would die and the entire world would simply fade away. Running from the hospital seemed like madness – but then what else could he do?
‘Look again, Theo. What else do you see?’
Theo studied the card once more and suddenly understood why Bozo was staring at the image in shock. What Theo had first taken to be a small dog following at the heels of the Fool was nothing other than – a Bloon! It even looked a little like Bozo.
‘I told you she was up to something,’ Bozo moaned.
‘Really, now, my dear Bloon. Can’t you see he’s trying to think?’ Michelle wagged her finger.
This time both Theo and Bozo stared at her in astonishment. ‘You can see him/me?’ they asked at the same time.
‘It’s hard to miss someone who’s blue with yellow eyes, yellow teeth and a tail that doesn’t stop twitching. Especially when he keeps accusing me of trickery.’
‘But why are you the only one who can see me?’ Bozo asked, flabbergasted. ‘I’ve been pulling faces in front of the nurses for days now.’ ‘Wasn’t I just saying that no one believes what they see anymore? A Bloon doesn’t make sense to them, so their brains reject what their eyes see.’
‘What about you?’ said Bozo.
‘I guess you could say I’m not your average Hooman.’ Michelle grinned, as though she didn’t have the slightest intention of explaining any further. She glanced at her watch. ‘Guys, it’s been a pleasure, but I’m afraid we’re out of time. The hospital must have realised by now that the pass I gave in at reception didn’t check out with the computers.’
‘What?’ Theo gasped. ‘You’re not a doctor?’
‘I never said I was. I just came to ask some questions, that’s all. To make sure.’
‘Of what?’
‘To make sure that…. Oops, here come security. Quick, Theo – take this! In case you need a smokescreen.’ She tossed over a small leather pouch and in the same moment two beefy policemen marched in. They each took one of Michelle’s arms and she smiled at them sweetly.
‘Now, now, miss. No more funny business,’ the younger policeman, who seemed to be trying to grow a moustache, said. He looked at Theo. ‘Are you OK, son?’
‘Leave her alone!’ Theo cried. ‘She hasn’t done anything!’
‘Don’t worry, son. It will be all right,’ the other copper said, with a kind smile. He turned to Michelle and grew very severe. ‘Now, Miss, it’s a very serious offence to impersonate a doctor, so you’ll be coming with us.’
‘Be delighted to.’ Michelle smiled and shot a parting wink at Bozo and Theo as she was escorted from the room.
Bozo gave a whoop. ‘One thing you can say for this hospital,’ he laughed, ‘is that it never gets boring. Hey! What are you doing?’ Theo had opened the leather pouch and found a box of matches. Without stopping to think, he heaped all of his correspondence against the wall beneath the smoke detector. He struck a match, threw it on the letters and the whole pile went up in roaring flames.
‘Quick!’ he said to Bozo, who looked on with an impressed gaze. ‘Run down the hall and set off the alarms!’ Bozo gave another whoop and was gone in a flash. Moments later the alarms were ringing throughout the hospital and black smoke was issuing from Theo’s ward. He staggered out coughing and ran into the arms of Nurse Sandra.
‘Come on, Theo. Let’s get outside,’ she said calmly, taking his hand.
The nurses led and carried the children down the hall to the fire exit and the gardens outside. More than a hundred kids stood in their dressing-gowns and shivered in the light rain that was falling. They exchanged uncertain looks, many of them seeing each other for the first time, despite their close living quarters. One or two of them tried to crack a joke, but it was hard to be light-hearted when you were that wet and cold.
As the last of the children was safely rolled out in a wheelchair, the sound of approaching sirens grew suddenly louder and a fire engine arrived outside. The hospital gates cranked open automatically and the vehicle rolled in. Tough-looking firemen jumped out and jogged towards the main hospital building.
‘Quick, Bozo! Now – before the gates close!’ Theo whispered, and sprinted for the main gates. Everybody was too focused on the fire to notice a runaway child. Everybody except for one.
‘Theo! Get back here now!’ Dr Bunsen yelled, dashing after him. Theo’s stomach turned and his blood ran cold as he saw Bunsen give chase. At twice Theo’s size, Bunsen made up the ground rapidly and the gates seemed impossibly distant. Theo sprinted for the exit as fast as possible, until he could barely feel the ground beneath his feet and he could taste blood in his mouth. He wasn’t fast enough, though, and, as the pounding of Bunsen’s feet grew closer behind him, Theo panicked and slipped on the wet grass. He scrambled up again but he knew it was too late. He flinched as he waited for the inevitable hand to grab him by the shoulder.
But it never came. Instead, he heard a loud crack, a yell and a heavy thud. Theo glanced around to see Bozo standing innocently by a garden rake that he’d used to trip up the doctor. While Bunsen howled in agony, Bozo dropped the rake and joined Theo in a dash for the exit. They slipped through the gap just before the gates clanged together. Theo looked over his shoulder and saw Bunsen try to give chase but immediately fall again. Bozo had tied his laces together as a parting thought.
The gates began to open again, however, and there was no time to be lost. Theo ran up to a black taxi that was parked outside. He jumped in the back with Bozo.
‘Please – just drive!’ Theo begged the driver. The Sikh at the wheel eyed the boy curiously for a moment, then gave a waggle of his head and pulled smoothly away.
Moments later a crowd of nurses and doctors burst out into the street, waving their arms desperately for the taxi to stop. If the driver saw them, then he chose to pay no attention at all. He drove calmly into the heart of London. As they left the hospital behind, Bozo plastered his face against the back window and blew raspberries.