The Elephant Gate

What happened? Kevin felt strange, his limbs heavy and unresponsive. He tried to open his eyes, but his lids refused to cooperate. He tried to call out to Kandi and the others, but in his head there was nothing but silence. Where was Duchess? She was always with him, his faithful canine shadow. He tried calling her name.

"D- d- d-…"

"Kevin!" A low shriek struck his ears almost like a thunderclap. The female voice sounded eerily familiar, as did the cadence of the words. But not similar enough to bring a face to his memories.

Where was he?

He willed and arm to move, and succeeded in moving it slightly. He felt a sudden pressure on her wrist, as if someone was squeezing him.

"Oh my God, he moved. Go get the doctor! Quick." The woman began sobbing. Slowly, from the recesses of his memories, he thought he knew who it was.

"M - mom?" The next thing he felt was her arms clumsily trying to embrace him in the bed.

"Baby. Baby. Everything's going to be alright." She murmured over and over again as he slipped back into the welcoming darkness.

* * *

When he woke up again, Kevin felt much more aware and his body was responding normally. He turned his head to look at the sleeping figure on the couch near his bed.

Although his memories had dimmed with time, he recognized the prone figure on the couch. Somehow, he had been transported back to his own time and place. But how?

As he rolled back on the bed, he felt a hard lump against his hip. He reached down, and grabbed it. It was Kandi's baby tusk, cool and real in his hand. He felt a sudden burst of happiness. It really had happened!

His mother stirred and opened her eyes. Immediately she ran to the bed and sat down on a nearby chair. "Kevin, honey, how are you feeling?"

Kevin felt a sudden lump in his throat. Her voice and concern brought back another rush of memories from before the surgery. "I'm okay, Momma. How long has it been since my surgery?"

His mother looked puzzled. "It's been a day. Your dad went to get some dinner and will be back soon."

There was a knock on the door, and Kevin's physician walked in, along with a group of medical students, their notebooks at the ready.

"This is Kevin Hunter. Approximately a month ago, he arrived with a recurring headache with subsequent nausea. We discovered an Atypical Teratoid Rabdoid Tumor in left occipital region of his brain. This one was unusually slow growing. Surgery was performed about 36 hours ago, the ATRT was approximately 11mm in diameter, with little spread to the surrounding central nervous system. It appears to be completely removed. The patient exhibited signs of seizure activity several times post operatively, but has recently regained full consciousness, with no further seizures and no apparent lasting effects. The patient will undergo six weeks of chemotherapy using gemcitabine as the primary transport, and then undergo month testing for approximately a year to rule out any malignant cells or metastasis."

The students murmured and wrote in their notebooks before leaving his room. Kevin's mother touched the doctor's elbow. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" The doctor nodded.

They sat down on the couch and spoke in low tones, but Kevin could still hear them.

"Thank you for removing the restraints. Kevin hasn't had any seizures since he woke up. But he is talking strange. Was there any brain damage? Will my baby have problems after this?" His mother's voice rose as she spoke, fear plainly between every word.

"We had to remove little of Kevin's brain tissue, and we expect a full healing and repair of any brain function, given his health and his age. However, there is always the possibility that the tumor may return. His speech should not be affected, given the area of the tumor, but it would be best to have him evaluated by a speech pathologist to find any underlying cause." He patted her arm. "I will set up a consult with our physician here. Excuse me, I need to catch up with my students. Take care, Kevin!" He gave a little wave towards the bed before walking out.

His mother put her head between her hands for a moment before she stood up and walked to his bed. She was all smiles, but Kevin could see the moistness around her eyes.

"Let's get you to the bathroom, and maybe give you a little scrub down, how about it?"

Kevin agreed, more to make her happy than anything. As she disconnected him from all the machines but his IV on its pole, he took the elephant tusk and tucked it under his pillow before they walked together to the bathtub chair.