Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel Read Online Free PDF Page A

The two walked out of the door, retracing the path the nurse had taken to call
them. They stood outside the room 449. Doctor Fahim paused at the door for a moment, his
hand on the knob. No sounds came from inside. He pushed open the door and the two entered
the room.
Inside the small, cozy room, they found the young boy sitting up straight in his bed, his
eyes closed tightly. He froze at the sound of the door opening, and slowly opened his eyes.
     
“Hello, Neel.” Doctor Fahim said softly, his gaze intent as he stared at the young boy.
     
CHAPTER 2: Alpha Child
    It had not been a good day for fourteen year old Neel Dervin. He had gotten up late for
school. He had forgotten to do the work and had been unable to submit his math homework at
school, leading his teacher Ticolo to compare his ability to follow orders unfavorably to that
of a monkey‟s. The front tire of his cycle had caught a pin and punctured just as he was
setting out for his coaching institute, making him late for tuitions as he got the puncture
repaired. And then the car had crashed into him, very nearly killing him.
    Neel woke up feeling unusually drowsy. He opened his eyes to what seemed like a
strange new reality. His mind was swimming, and he was experiencing a vague feeling of
disorientation. His senses could not seem to focus very well. He was conscious of being
under starched white sheets, sheets that did not belong to him. He lifted his head and
registered that he was definitely not in his room. Again it seemed difficult to focus his eyes
on anything. The room seemed very sharply defined and hazy at the same time. He was dimly
conscious of someone getting up and leaving the room, but by the time he had looked around,
the person was gone.
    Neel sat up slowly in the bed, trying to get back his bearings. Bits and pieces of
memory were hovering in his mind. An image floated through his brain. A car crashing into
him. Blinding pain. Darkness. A violent shudder passed through Neel‟s frame as the images
became clear, and his heart beat wildly. He stared around the room, reminding himself that he
was safe now. Hewasn‟t on the road any longer. He was perfectly safe, here in this room.
    But where was here, exactly? Neel knew he was in some sort of a hospital room. An IV
drip attached to a stand was placed next to the bed. A bedpan was kept nearby. Someone had
placed flowers on the small table at the side of his bed.
    Neel squeezed his eyes shut tightly. He was finding it almost impossible to focus his
eyes. Images seemed very sharp when he looked at any one thing, but everything became a
blur if he turned to look from one direction to another, as though he was watching them from
a very fast moving car. He was also having trouble telling the depth of the images his mind
was receiving. It was as though the entire world had suddenly become flat and two
dimensional. Everything seemed far away and near at the same time. His arms seemed at
once stretched thin and yet oddly bloated. There was a steady thumping in his ears. It took
several moments for him to realize he was listening to his own heartbeat, louder and clearer
than it had ever been before. He clutched the bed sheets tightly as panic rose inside him.
    He still had his eyes closed when he heard footsteps outside the door. The sound of the
door opening came to his ears. He opened his eyes and saw that a tall man with a lean frame
and a young girl with long black hair tied back in a ponytail had entered the room. The girl
closed the door behind her. The old man stared at Neel for a moment, and then said
something quietly.
    Neel stared at the man uncomprehendingly. The words had sounded as though they
were coming from a badly tuned radio, garbled and indistinct, but loud. The old man came
closer, still speaking.
    It was then that Neel began to feel truly frightened. The man‟s words seemed
incredibly slow. In fact, everything about the two newcomers, from their speech to their
movements, seemed