Power (4 page)

Chapter 4
Hospital

Everything was dark. I started to panic until I realized all my other senses had returned. I was lying on something soft and there was a rotten taste in my mouth, like I hadn’t brushed my teeth in days. I could smell the distinct odor of disinfectant and I could hear people talking. I tried harder to listen to what they were saying.

A man that I had never heard before said, “She will be fine, I promise. She’s all patched up.”

A second man took in a deep breath as if he was finally calming down, and said, “That is good. Obviously I knew she would be fine, it is just nice to hear.” Then he chuckled. I knew the sound of this man’s voice. Only Rick talks like that, proper and precise. I tried to make my body show that I was awake, but nothing would respond. “And what of the other, the man she called Alex?” he said.

Alex? What had happened? I tried hard to remember. I met him in the park right after talking to Rick. We had argued briefly, and I had started to cry, which had seriously angered me. I hate crying in front of people, especially Alex.

I tried to hold back the flood of memories that followed, but once they started, I couldn’t make them stop. Damien had shown up, chased me down, and seriously injured me – well at least my insides. I wasn’t sure if I was physically harmed in any way. But Alex….Tears started streaming down my face; I could feel them as they etched crevasses down my cheeks – Damien had hurt Alex.

“I am sorry, Rick, he was dead before I got there,” the first man said. His voice was oozing with compassion, sincerely upset about his last statement.

I tried to scream, I tried to yell or ask for help, but nothing came out. My lips barely separated from each other. I heard a deep gurgling sound, a sound of true loss, just before I started sobbing so loudly it had both men running closer to me. Between sobs I heard Rick call out to me, “Allison? Are you in pain?”

But I could not answer him. I knew, of course, that he meant physical pain, and in that case, no I was not in any pain. However, there was a pain, deep in my chest. A pain I could not explain. They said that Alex was dead. My fiancé, the father of my daughter, dead. And Sam, what was I going to tell her? The sobs grew louder, and I heard footsteps leaving the room.

***

This time it was the sun that woke me, its bright yellow light beat down on me and warmed me all over. I caught a distinct whiff of antiseptic and assumed I was still most likely in a hospital. I could hear people talking far away, but the only noise close by was a radio program reconfirming that the world was still on the brink of war.

I felt like I had been lying in the same position for days. Despite my protesting body, I pushed myself onto my side, desperate to find out one thing – Samantha – how was she? Was she okay? Did she know about Alex yet? How could I ever tell her what happened?

I threw my legs over the side of the bed and forced my arms to push me up into a sitting position. Once I was sitting, I opened my eyes and noticed that I was in fact in a hospital room.

An IV stabbed into my left arm and wires attached me, from various parts of my body, to a number of different machines. There was a curtain separating me from the rest of the room, a TV hanging from the ceiling, and a window to my left. In the left hand corner was a large, old, greenish chair holding an attractive man that knew I had never seen before. He was sleeping at an awkward angle, with his head hanging over one side and his knees bunched up in the other, almost in the fetal position. It seemed so strange that this stranger would be sleeping in my hospital room.

I realized I couldn’t just get up and walk around thanks to the opening in the back of the dress, so I scooted back into the pillows stacked around me, trying to devise a plan for how I was going to get out of here. Inevitably, during my awkward shifting, I sat on a small rectangular box that was attached to the bed, which naturally turned on the TV and in turn woke up the stranger in the corner… oh, the bliss of clumsiness.

“Oh, you woke up?” the stranger asked. “How are you feeling, Allison?” He used my name like he knew me. Did I know this man? I racked my brain trying to remember, but there was nothing at all familiar about the way he looked. His voice, however, I knew from somewhere.

“Um, I’m not really sure. Do I know you?” I figured if he was here this whole time and knew my name, I at least deserved to know who he was. And there was no point beating around the bush.

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is David. I work with Rick.” Like that was explanation enough. After I sighed, he asked, “Are you in any pain?” Though he seemed as if he already knew the answer to that, the inherent concern in his tone helped me figure out where I knew his voice from – he was the other man talking to Rick when I woke the first time.

“No,” I answered, then revised by adding, “a little dizzy and confused is all.”

“Sorry, I’m sure you are very confused. Would you like me to fill in some blanks for you?” he offered.

What an absurd question. One would think the answer was obvious, but I nodded my head when he didn’t go on. “I would like to know where I am, how long I was asleep, why you are here, where Rick is, and most importantly how Sam is… please.” I figured I should at least be polite about it. I wanted answers, and this time I would not leave until I was satisfied.

“Okay,” he started, “you are in the local hospital and you have been asleep for just over two days. I am here because Rick is not. He had to leave to take care of some business and he asked me to apologize for his absence.” Rick was gone? Why didn’t I find that surprising.

“And as for your last question, most importantly, Samantha is fine. She and your mother are aware of your whereabouts. They have both been here to see you while you were asleep,” he paused, as if to allow me to take the answers in, then continued sarcastically, “Anything else?” He gestured to the TV. “The world hasn’t ended yet…”

“Funny. Well I’m glad it hasn’t ended… yet.” I added the extra emphasis on the yet.

I shifted slightly in the bed and reached over to pick up the remote to turn off the noise coming from the TV. “I know…” Sighing, I tried to figure out how to word this right. “I heard you and Rick talking, so I know about Alex.” I took a deep breath and continued, “Does Sam know?” I tried to keep my face serious and stone hard. I wouldn’t allow myself to cry. Not now, not here.

He looked at me for a very long time without speaking. I wished I could read his mind and find out what was going on in his head, but right when I was going to ask him, he answered me. “Yes, she does know. When exactly did you hear me and Rick talking, may I ask?”

“Well, I’m not sure really. Sometime before I woke up completely. I was already here though, because I could smell the hospital.” Thinking about that, he did not say anything for a while, so I added, “So, can you try to explain everything to me, please? I remember most of it, but…” remembering that night, I started shaking. I could hardly believe everything that was happening now.

He looked at me like he was studying me. I lowered my head and stared at my hands as my fingers twined together. Maybe he was having just as hard a time figuring me out as I was trying to figure him out. “Sure. What was the last thing you remember?”

“I remember talking with Rick, then meeting Alex, then…” I stopped, not knowing exactly what had actually happened after that. I knew Damien had come, but did this stranger know about him? Or would he think I was crazy if I tried to explain the things Damien could do?

“Okay, do you remember Damien?” Well, he answered that question.

After I nodded, he continued, “The way Rick told it was that Damien came and tried to kill you. Alex came running after you, as did Rick. Alex was powerless, so he was an easy target for Damien. People like Damien care about nothing and no one but themselves. He wanted you dead and killing Alex made that easier for him. Rick was trying to shield you when Damien started killing Alex, but when you saw what was happening to Alex you used your own power to try to save him by forcing Damien away. The power of pure love is hard for him to stand. Lack of training left you defenseless against your own power though, and you nearly killed yourself. You had power from three people within your body. That amount of power is deadly. If I had not arrived when I did, you would have suffered nearly the exact same death as Alex.”

He paused there, waiting for my reaction, I suppose, so I nodded for him to go on. There was no way I would interrupt him now. I could save my questions until the end. “If there had not been a police officer there, we would have just taken you home to recover. However, with the loss of Alex, it turned out to be a good thing he was there. All he saw was a group of friends being attacked by an apparent mugger, and he called for an ambulance. So, that is how you ended up here.” Pausing, he added, “Would you like to ask your questions now?”

Trying to comprehend everything that had just been told to me and organize my thoughts, I started, “Apparently when you said you work with Rick, you meant that you are both the ‘good people with power’?” The sarcasm seeped into my tone much more than I meant it to.

I guess that was not the question he was expecting because an almost worried look crossed his face. “Yes, so to speak. Is that really all he told you?”

“Basically, yeah.” Not wanting him to start talking again before I asked all my questions, I went swiftly on, “Okay, for my next question, what did you mean when you said ‘If I had not arrived when I did, you would have suffered nearly the exact same death as Alex’?”

Without any hesitation at all he answered, “I healed you. Or to be more precise, I healed your body from the damage done by the excess of power.”

“Oh, is that all?” Once again, the sarcasm was very distinct, yet this time I meant it to come out as strongly as it did. “You ‘healed my body’ with, what, your ‘good power’? Because this all sounds like a load of crap to me!” I was too tired for this again. There had to be some other explanation for all the events that had occurred lately.

Shocked, and maybe even hurt, he countered, “Is everything that happened not enough proof for you? Your fiancé is dead because you did not come with us when you were told to. Was the power flowing through you – not only yours and Rick’s, but also Damien’s – not enough proof for you? I can’t even imagine the pain that amount of power would have put you through! What will it take, Allison, to convince you? The death of your entire family – your mother and your daughter too? We may not always be around to save you. And have no doubt in your mind, Damien will return. You have not used your powers again, and we are shielding you, so he doesn’t know where you are right now, but he will. It will only be a matter of time. I wish there was some way I could impress upon you the severity of this, there is so much more at stake than you can imagine.”

I tried to take that in. Alex was dead. I already knew that, but still, when he said it to me it felt like a slap in the face, or maybe more a blow to the gut. My Alex, the father of my daughter, the man I was going to marry, was dead. He was gone forever. I struggled to wrap my mind around it. I had never lost someone before, not really. My dad died when I was so young that it had always just been the way things were. But this was new.

Was this even real? I momentarily hoped that I was crazy and delusional. My dreams had been so vivid; this could all be a horrible dream. But, of course, I knew it wasn’t a dream. Alex was dead, and this man thought that Damien would try to kill my mom and my baby. Dropping my head to my hands, I rubbed my face and my eyes, trying to calm myself down and comprehend everything that happened.

Surrendering, I asked, “So what am I supposed to do now?” Whether there really was this epic battle between good and evil or not, Damien had killed Alex and would not hesitate to kill my Samantha, so if there was anything at all I could do to prevent it, I would.

“Well…” I didn’t even look up; I couldn’t look at him. I didn’t want to. I wanted to take my daughter and run away. “You need to come with us. We can teach you how to control your power, and until you have full control, we can protect you.”

What was he saying, just leave my family behind; leave my daughter behind? “And Sam and my mom too, right?” I sputtered, looking up sharply to find he was staring at me intently.

At least he had the sense to look genuinely upset. “No, I am sorry; we cannot bring them where we are going. The Compound is hidden from the powerless. They could not come with you.”

“Well then, what would be the point of me going with you? If I stay, they get murdered, if I go, they get murdered. Is there no way I can win?” I started crying. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I was lost, hurt, and scared. I could handle being chased through a spooky forest by a scary demon man, but losing my entire family was inconceivable.

“We can help them. We already have a shield around your house. As long as you don’t go back there, it will remain ok. But the longer you are in one place now, the easier it will be to find you because you aren’t in control of your power.”

He walked over to me and sat down, his legs touching mine, draping his arm around my shoulders. I ignored the sparks of electricity that shot through me at his touch, and despite the fact that I did not even know this man, I fell into his chest and let the tears fall.

“Shh…” He stroked my back tentatively, trying to calm me down.

With red, blotchy eyes, I looked up at him. “What can we do? Tell me how I can save them and I will do it!” And I meant every word. I would do anything for them.

He moved back, still on the bed, but no longer touching me. The space between us was a good thing; I didn’t want to think about the insatiable pull I had felt when we touched, it was too freaky and there were already too many freaky things going on.

“We already have a shield around your house. As long as they stay there we can mask that your mother is
your
mother and that your daughter is
your
daughter. They will be safe, as long as you are not here. Damien and his men are tracking you, not them.