by Andrew Peed
~//~
I returned to Eastcoft. I wanted to be there when Ryder woke up. I wanted to talk to him. I just wanted to be near him.
Chuck drove me into town. He was a much safer driver then me, given that I had very little formal training.
I met Hothead in the lobby where he paced around the room. Ronnie and Sandy were sitting, looking at the TV. They weren’t really watching it; they were just kind of staring in its general direction.
I walked up and patted Hothead on the shoulder, “How is Vanish?” I asked. It occurred to me that I did not know his or Vanish’s real names.
“She was not feeling well so I made her come and see the doctor.” He said, and like he just realized who he was talking to, his face lit up and he grabbed me in a hug and squeezed.
I yelled in pain and he dropped me.
“I’m sorry. I am just happy that you found her. I owe you everything!”
“It’s alright, just a few broken ribs.” I fell into a nearby chair. “Hothead, what is your name and Vanish’s for that matter.” I gently rubbed my ribs.
“My name is Gera. If you wish to call me Hothead I don’t mind it. Vanish, her name is Liz.” He returned to pacing around the room.
Sam came out of the back wearing a surgical uniform. He had some blood on his hands and shirt. He took his gloves off and disposed of them in a bin.
“What is going on back there?” I stood just a little too fast. I cringed at the pain. My head spun with any sudden movement.
“We had to operate on Ryder. He is fine now.” He pulled his mask off.
“Why did you have to operate?” I forced myself to keep calm.
“The doctors that had him before didn’t try and remove the bullet. The bullet itself was secreting some kind of toxin that was keeping his flesh from being able to heal.” He dropped into a chair.
“I came back to see him. Will I be able to today?”
“Soon enough Grace.” He said, trying to keep from putting his arm in the blood on his shirt.
~//~
After hours of waiting I was finally allowed to see Ryder. He wasn’t awake yet but Doctor Z explained that he could open his eyes at any moment. He also thought I would be the best person for Ryder to see when he awoke.
I brought in a chair and pushed it close to the right side of the bed. I sat down and propped my feet up.
I took his hand.
I watched him breathe shallow for a while until I couldn’t hold my head up anymore and it wasn’t long before I was falling asleep.
~//~
“Wake up, I’m the sick one.” Ryder squeezed my hand.
I didn’t open my eyes, “I’m pretty banged up myself.”
“What have you been up to?” Someone had brought him some food that he was now woofing down.
“Finding you.”
“What about your parents?”
“I haven’t looked into it yet; I was more concerned with finding you first.” I pulled myself up in the chair.
“Well I am here now; let’s get to work finding your parents then.”
“Whoa, calm down. You should rest.” I took a sip of his iced tea.
There was a knock at the door. We both turned to Doctor Z standing in the doorway.
“What’s up?” Ryder smiled.
“Sam would like for everyone to meet in the waiting room.”
“Are you sure that Ryder should be up and about.” I stood.
Doctor Z pushed in a wheel chair. “As long as he stays in this for now, he will be fine. With the bullet removed you should heal much quicker.”
We worked together to help Ryder into the chair and left the room to join the others in the waiting room.
We all sat in the lobby waiting for Sam. Every chair in the room was taken. There were several people that I had not yet met, who lived in Eastcroft.
Sam walked into the room. He was dressed in a business suit, tie and all. He looked very official. He looked as if a huge weight was pressed down onto his shoulders.
He paced around the room.
“I have to go and see the Overseers. For those of you that don’t know, the Overseers are a government committee that protects us from the outside world. I am afraid that they are not going to be happy with what happened on our last mission. They have already warned me once that we were ‘making too much noise’ on our missions.” He said making air quotes.
“What is going to happen?” Sandy asked.
“For now I am going to assure that we are suspending missions for the time being.” He scratched his head, “I wanted everyone to hear it from me. We are going on lock down. Until further notice there will be no missions or any kind of activity.”
I stood, “Is there anything else?”
“No, I think everyone should get some rest.”
Everyone dispersed in a somewhat orderly fashion. I helped Ryder back to his room. We got him into his bed. Then I pulled the chair back up to where it was and got comfortable.
“So what is the plan?” He cringed a little as he tried to get comfortable in his bed.
“I’m going to have to find my parents myself and my sister.” I sighed, “But I’m not worried about it.”
“You still didn’t answer my question.”
“I’ll start by looking for my sister, she should be much easier to find.”
“And what will you do when you find her?”
“I don’t know yet.” I admitted.
“We need to get started as soon as possible.” He said.
“Maybe you should stay here. Sam will most likely insist.” I said.
“Grace,” he said leaning up, but he hissed in pain and laid back down.
“Calm down.” I said gently patting his leg.
“Promise me something.” He said looking particularly pitiful.
“What’s that?”
“Promise me that you will always be mindful and you will always come back.”
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Chapter 1: The Orphans
Chapter 2: Abduction
Chapter 3: Dr. Cid
Chapter 4: Injection
Chapter 5: Heat
Chapter 6: Powers
Chapter 7: Home
Chapter 8: Vanish
Chapter 9: Eastcroft
Chapter 10: ATN
Chapter 11: Block
Chapter 12: Observatory
Chapter 13: Denver
Chapter 14: Truth
Chapter 15: Past
Chapter 16: Emotions
Chapter 17: Sear
Chapter 18: The Will
Chapter 19: PCD-003
Chapter 20: Cram Session
Chapter 21: Descent
Chapter 22: The Core
Chapter 23: The Question
Chapter 24: Opaque
Chapter 25: Gone
Chapter 26: Chuck
Chapter 27: Possibility
Chapter 28: Sister
Chapter 29: Isabella
Chapter 30: Hope
Chapter 31: Flight
Chapter 32: Hospital
Chapter 33: Shock
Chapter 34: Invisible
Chapter 35: Lock Down