Joey was driving the ambulance with the lights off, determined to get out of the area of the airport before they were seen. She didn’t have a license, had in fact only gotten her learner’s permit a couple of weeks ago when she’d started Driver’s Ed. But it didn’t worry her. She’d driven a lot, although not ambulances.
Her father hadn’t had much of a childhood, but he had found and restored a wrecked dirt bike, which he’d driven throughout his teenage years. He still rode, although a much better bike now. On her brother’s 9th birthday, Dad had gotten him a little 65 cc dirt bike, apparently without consultation with her mom. But her brother had never really gotten in to dirt biking, much to her mom’s relief. At age 6, Joey had discovered the bike, and by age seven had discovered junior motocross. She’d dominated the 65 cc division for two years, and finally had wanted to move up to the 100 cc division.
Joey had always thought that her father was fearless, afraid of nothing on earth. But when he told her mom that he was thinking of buying her a bigger bike, an incident had occurred whose memory still lived in Guerin family lore. What she and her brother called “the mom look”, Dad called “the Maria look,” and even her father melted before it.
She’d never gotten the bigger bike, and had retired from junior motocross. Although way too small, the 65 cc bike had gotten her from her home to the old railroad crossing, and now rested in the back of the ambulance with Drew.
She’d helped the swelling in his spinal cord, and thought he’d likely be OK for at least a couple of hours. That would be time enough to do what she had to do.
As she drove the ambulance back toward Roswell, she went over again in her mind what she would need to do. She needed to ditch the ambulance somewhere, far from Drew and close enough to her house that she could get there on the dirt bike. All traces of her must be eliminated from the ambulance, fingerprints, footprints, hair…anything. She needed to get back to her house, pack some supplies, and then get back out to Drew.
She’d need her dad’s bike then, and she hoped fervently that she could be back out of town before Grandma and Grandpa went to their guest room to wake their granddaughter for Saturday breakfast. She knew she hadn’t much time as she watched the sun start to peek above the horizon. Then she saw the police cruiser coming down the road in front of her.
The New Mexico State Patrolman was looking for an ambulance, and as he crested the rise was startled to see one coming toward him. But as he got closer he could see in the morning sun that this was not a civilian ambulance like the one hijacked near the Roswell airport with the critically injured teenager inside, but was rather a military ambulance, in desert camouflage paint, and bearing the markings of a medical company at Ft Bliss Texas. Must be some maneuvers going on out here, he thought to himself as the ambulance passed. He was a military veteran, having had a four year tour in the Marines. He looked at the young troop driving, short blonde hair tucked in her cap, wearing desert cammies, and shook his head. The recruits looked younger everyday. She hardly looked old enough to drive, much less to be a soldier. ‘You’re getting old, Marine,’ he told himself as he drove on, continuing to scan for a white ambulance with blue lettering saying Roswell EMT. He had to find it. That injured kid might die if they didn’t.
Joey (AA/CC teen) [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
As the sun came above the hills, Joey maneuvered the bike up to the entrance, keeping on the hard rock and maneuvering slowly. She would leave neither disturbed dirt nor tracks on the rocks to mark her passage. She had scanned continuously for anyone following her, and scanned again for any evidence of watchers as she had left the road and gone into the hills. She looked one last time before reaching out to the edge of the cliff. As her hand touched the spot there was a momentary flare of white light there, and the mouth of the chamber opened to her left. Still wearing the heavy pack, she wheeled her father’s bike into the opening and touched the wall again, closing the entrance behind her.
The hissing noise of the respirator greeted her, softly pumping oxygen into Drew to match his breathing. She noted the respirator was not triggering the breathing, but was merely assisting Drew’s own breathing. The sedative must be wearing off. That was good. She would need him awake to help her make the connection, but needed his neck exposed as well, risking further injury if he moved too much. She would wait for just the right moment, when he was awake enough to see her, but too sedated to resist. She would need to wait patiently for that long.
Looking into his face, she felt a shiver as she suddenly doubted if she could really do this. She wished Uncle Max was here, he was a natural. She’d spent most of a summer practicing with him, but had never attempted anything this complex. It would require all her concentration, and all her strength, and even then her skill might not be adequate to do the job. But as she looked into Drew’s face she asked herself, how could she not try?
She straddled the litter unhooking the spring that held the halo in place, and then unscrewing the four cruel-looking points that pierced his scalp to embed in the bone of his skull. She undid the Velcro of his neck immobilizer exposing his throat and the sides of his neck, leaving his head cradled in the back of the immobilizer. Then she crouched above him, waiting for the right moment.
As Drew started to wake, he remembered the last thing he saw before going to sleep, the crying face of his mother. As he tried to move his right arm and felt no movement, no sensation at all, he squeezed his eyes shut in despair. How he wished it had been a dream. But it wasn’t. He opened his eyes, still groggy from the drug, to see what new horrors the day would bring…, and he stared up in surprise into the face of Joey Guerin.
“Joey…????” the boy said, still not sure of what he was seeing.
“You’ve got to look at me Andrew!” she said. “You’ve got to look at my eyes.”
‘Look at Joey’s eyes? Sure, he’d look at Joey’s eyes. She had beautiful blue eyes. He loved looking at her eyes, but what were they doing here,’ he wondered?
He felt her hands touch his face gently, and then slide down along the sides of his neck. Her eyes filled his vision, filled his mind…….. <flash> ... <flash></b> <flash> ...<flash>...<flash>...<flash>..an ambulance attendant, duct-taped to a fencepost out by the airport, his face blindfolded<flash>looking down at Andrew on the gurney, tears falling like rain on his chest, wondering if she can do this….
As she felt the connection start, Joey slid her hands down from his head to cup together behind his spine. She saw/felt the white light start… >flash</b>flash<Shaking hands in line with his teammates, and seeing the bluest eyes in the world<flash>a 14 year old Andrew, looking in the mirror, practicing a dance invitation again and again<flash>Utter despair, when a 13 year old Joey says “we are too different…” <flash>a 15 year old Joey at cross-country practice, walking a cool down lap<flash>
Joey strove to feel the nerves, to sort them, to push them toward one-another with her mind. It was so hard, harder than anything she’d ever done, it took more energy than running a marathon, she couldn’t do it, it was beyond her…..but she wouldn’t stop, she’d keep working, if she died in the connection she’d keep working...... <flash>Drew on his bed, looking at her picture in the Junior high school yearbook with dreamy eyes<flash>…<flash>…<flash>…and then the darkness reached up and claimed her.
The hissing noise of the respirator greeted her, softly pumping oxygen into Drew to match his breathing. She noted the respirator was not triggering the breathing, but was merely assisting Drew’s own breathing. The sedative must be wearing off. That was good. She would need him awake to help her make the connection, but needed his neck exposed as well, risking further injury if he moved too much. She would wait for just the right moment, when he was awake enough to see her, but too sedated to resist. She would need to wait patiently for that long.
Looking into his face, she felt a shiver as she suddenly doubted if she could really do this. She wished Uncle Max was here, he was a natural. She’d spent most of a summer practicing with him, but had never attempted anything this complex. It would require all her concentration, and all her strength, and even then her skill might not be adequate to do the job. But as she looked into Drew’s face she asked herself, how could she not try?
She straddled the litter unhooking the spring that held the halo in place, and then unscrewing the four cruel-looking points that pierced his scalp to embed in the bone of his skull. She undid the Velcro of his neck immobilizer exposing his throat and the sides of his neck, leaving his head cradled in the back of the immobilizer. Then she crouched above him, waiting for the right moment.
As Drew started to wake, he remembered the last thing he saw before going to sleep, the crying face of his mother. As he tried to move his right arm and felt no movement, no sensation at all, he squeezed his eyes shut in despair. How he wished it had been a dream. But it wasn’t. He opened his eyes, still groggy from the drug, to see what new horrors the day would bring…, and he stared up in surprise into the face of Joey Guerin.
“Joey…????” the boy said, still not sure of what he was seeing.
“You’ve got to look at me Andrew!” she said. “You’ve got to look at my eyes.”
‘Look at Joey’s eyes? Sure, he’d look at Joey’s eyes. She had beautiful blue eyes. He loved looking at her eyes, but what were they doing here,’ he wondered?
He felt her hands touch his face gently, and then slide down along the sides of his neck. Her eyes filled his vision, filled his mind…….. <flash> ... <flash></b> <flash> ...<flash>...<flash>...<flash>..an ambulance attendant, duct-taped to a fencepost out by the airport, his face blindfolded<flash>looking down at Andrew on the gurney, tears falling like rain on his chest, wondering if she can do this….
As she felt the connection start, Joey slid her hands down from his head to cup together behind his spine. She saw/felt the white light start… >flash</b>flash<Shaking hands in line with his teammates, and seeing the bluest eyes in the world<flash>a 14 year old Andrew, looking in the mirror, practicing a dance invitation again and again<flash>Utter despair, when a 13 year old Joey says “we are too different…” <flash>a 15 year old Joey at cross-country practice, walking a cool down lap<flash>
Joey strove to feel the nerves, to sort them, to push them toward one-another with her mind. It was so hard, harder than anything she’d ever done, it took more energy than running a marathon, she couldn’t do it, it was beyond her…..but she wouldn’t stop, she’d keep working, if she died in the connection she’d keep working...... <flash>Drew on his bed, looking at her picture in the Junior high school yearbook with dreamy eyes<flash>…<flash>…<flash>…and then the darkness reached up and claimed her.
Last edited by greywolf on Sat Nov 22, 2008 12:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Andrew struggled to awaken from the abyss. He had never known such fatigue, he had never struggled so hard, just to wake up. He felt like a huge weight was pressing down against him, pinning him to the ground. It was an agony of effort just to open his eyelids, and even more effort to focus his eyes after that.
There wasn’t much light, but as his vision cleared, he saw the face of an angel with her head lying on his chest, her arms encircling his neck in a hug. He felt the weight of her body pressing down on him…..he FELT the weight of her body?? He tried to encircle her body with his arms, but found they were paralyzed, unable to move…….no, not paralyzed, he saw, but restrained by straps fastened to a medical gurney. He worked one arm free, then the other, and started to encircle the waist of the angel and stopped instantly? He reached to his neck and pushed….no pain. He moved his hands before his face, wiggling his fingers. They all worked. He felt his toes move at his command. A dream??
But it couldn’t be. He was on a medical gurney, wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown, IVs still plugged into his arms. But he could move. And he could feel. And he remembered the visions, not just the sights, but the sounds and the…feelings, that he knew to be those of Joey Guerin.
He remembered the hit, the devastating injury, not just as he had seen it, but as she had seen it, as she had felt it, even before it occurred. And the others…..she LOVED him. She had loved him since she was nine years old. How incredible was that?
He looked into her sleeping face. He didn’t know how it had happened, but he was no longer injured. He could feel her as she lay on top of his body, her breasts pressing against his chest…………..her BREASTS pressing against his chest???
He was afraid to move. He knew this was a dream, and that somewhere he was asleep and still paralyzed, but if his only solace was to be his dreams, this one was too good to cut short. He lay there in the dim light, with his arms around her, content to enjoy the moment. Gradually the fatigue overtook him, and he fell back to sleep, a gentle smile on his face.
There wasn’t much light, but as his vision cleared, he saw the face of an angel with her head lying on his chest, her arms encircling his neck in a hug. He felt the weight of her body pressing down on him…..he FELT the weight of her body?? He tried to encircle her body with his arms, but found they were paralyzed, unable to move…….no, not paralyzed, he saw, but restrained by straps fastened to a medical gurney. He worked one arm free, then the other, and started to encircle the waist of the angel and stopped instantly? He reached to his neck and pushed….no pain. He moved his hands before his face, wiggling his fingers. They all worked. He felt his toes move at his command. A dream??
But it couldn’t be. He was on a medical gurney, wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown, IVs still plugged into his arms. But he could move. And he could feel. And he remembered the visions, not just the sights, but the sounds and the…feelings, that he knew to be those of Joey Guerin.
He remembered the hit, the devastating injury, not just as he had seen it, but as she had seen it, as she had felt it, even before it occurred. And the others…..she LOVED him. She had loved him since she was nine years old. How incredible was that?
He looked into her sleeping face. He didn’t know how it had happened, but he was no longer injured. He could feel her as she lay on top of his body, her breasts pressing against his chest…………..her BREASTS pressing against his chest???
He was afraid to move. He knew this was a dream, and that somewhere he was asleep and still paralyzed, but if his only solace was to be his dreams, this one was too good to cut short. He lay there in the dim light, with his arms around her, content to enjoy the moment. Gradually the fatigue overtook him, and he fell back to sleep, a gentle smile on his face.
Joey tried to drag herself back to consciousness. There was something she needed to do, something important, something life or death, but she was so…..tired. Then it flooded back to her, the game, the tackle, the words of the doctor in the emergency room…..
Her eyes came wide open in terror, and then in the dim light they focused on…..Drew. He had his arms around her. She had collapsed onto him, and she lay on top of him on the gurney with her arms around his neck.
Drew had a contented smile on his sleeping face, and his arms briefly tightened around her as he moved in his sleep. Apparently his arms now worked she thought. Looking down she saw the hospital gown covering him, and through it she could feel the tone of the muscles beneath her, where he had previously been paralyzed. They seemed to be working too. She hoped everything was working and thought…..don’t go there girl, now was not the time to let the alien hormones go into overdrive.
She couldn’t believe the flashes she’d gotten in the connection. He LOVED her. He’d loved her from afar since he was ten years old.
But he loved the HUMAN Joey, she reminded herself with gathering gloom. And then she looked up into his face. She had to tell him. There was no other way to explain where they were, in a chamber with old alien pods, with a door that was solid rock, unless she opened it for him. There was no other way to explain iridescent handprints on both sides of his neck that wouldn’t fade for two or three days.
With the lives of everyone in her family riding on how well he took the news, she had to tell him. There’s always risk, she decided, but for her entire life, whenever she’d played she’d played to win. She knew there was no turning back, no way to avoid what was coming, so she might as well play to win.
Drew felt warm and at peace. His eyes started to open, but were squeezed back shut by a yawn. It had been a beautiful dream. He could almost feel her, lying against his chest…… He COULD feel something warm, lying against his chest. He opened his eyes with a start, and realized he was looking at the bluest eyes in the world.
“Good morning Andrew,” she said with a smile. “Although actually I think it’s early evening.”
He pulled his arms away from her quickly in embarrassment vaguely relieved that they would even move, kind of sorry he couldn’t leave them right where they were…..was this actually REAL?
She rolled off of him and sat beside him, still wearing the same smile. He looked at her with a million questions. They seemed to be in a cave of some kind, and he could see a dirt bike standing behind her. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, although he could see riding leathers and a helmet on the floor behind her. He was on an ambulance gurney, a sheet tucked around his legs still held down by a strap, with his respirator and his halo lying beside it. He was wearing a ridiculous hospital gown, saying Property of Roswell Memorial Hospital, as if anyone would want to steal it.
And he recalled the visions he’d had, the visions of himself from her perspective. Could they be true?
“Where are we? How did we get here?” he asked afraid to ask the questions that he really wanted to ask; ‘Had the visions been real? Did she REALLY love him?’
“We’re in sort of a cave in Southeastern New Mexico,” she replied still smiling. “You got here by an old Roswell tradition, an alien abduction, from your ambulance on the way to the Roswell airport.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “An alien abduction?” he said stifling a laugh. She continued to smile. “And how did you get here,” he asked, grinning back at her.
Her eyes twinkled and she replied, “You know, I asked that question to my dad once when I was about seven. He got red as a beet and avoided me for the next week. Eventually Mom told me.”
“Not that kind of ‘get here’,” he replied, feeling himself starting to blush. Joey was FLIRTING with him big time. “I mean, were you ‘abducted by aliens’ too?” he joked.
Again her eyes , her beautiful blue eyes twinkled at him as she looked at him with a coquettish smile. “I’m not the abductee, Drew, I’m the abductor…”
Her eyes came wide open in terror, and then in the dim light they focused on…..Drew. He had his arms around her. She had collapsed onto him, and she lay on top of him on the gurney with her arms around his neck.
Drew had a contented smile on his sleeping face, and his arms briefly tightened around her as he moved in his sleep. Apparently his arms now worked she thought. Looking down she saw the hospital gown covering him, and through it she could feel the tone of the muscles beneath her, where he had previously been paralyzed. They seemed to be working too. She hoped everything was working and thought…..don’t go there girl, now was not the time to let the alien hormones go into overdrive.
She couldn’t believe the flashes she’d gotten in the connection. He LOVED her. He’d loved her from afar since he was ten years old.
But he loved the HUMAN Joey, she reminded herself with gathering gloom. And then she looked up into his face. She had to tell him. There was no other way to explain where they were, in a chamber with old alien pods, with a door that was solid rock, unless she opened it for him. There was no other way to explain iridescent handprints on both sides of his neck that wouldn’t fade for two or three days.
With the lives of everyone in her family riding on how well he took the news, she had to tell him. There’s always risk, she decided, but for her entire life, whenever she’d played she’d played to win. She knew there was no turning back, no way to avoid what was coming, so she might as well play to win.
Drew felt warm and at peace. His eyes started to open, but were squeezed back shut by a yawn. It had been a beautiful dream. He could almost feel her, lying against his chest…… He COULD feel something warm, lying against his chest. He opened his eyes with a start, and realized he was looking at the bluest eyes in the world.
“Good morning Andrew,” she said with a smile. “Although actually I think it’s early evening.”
He pulled his arms away from her quickly in embarrassment vaguely relieved that they would even move, kind of sorry he couldn’t leave them right where they were…..was this actually REAL?
She rolled off of him and sat beside him, still wearing the same smile. He looked at her with a million questions. They seemed to be in a cave of some kind, and he could see a dirt bike standing behind her. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, although he could see riding leathers and a helmet on the floor behind her. He was on an ambulance gurney, a sheet tucked around his legs still held down by a strap, with his respirator and his halo lying beside it. He was wearing a ridiculous hospital gown, saying Property of Roswell Memorial Hospital, as if anyone would want to steal it.
And he recalled the visions he’d had, the visions of himself from her perspective. Could they be true?
“Where are we? How did we get here?” he asked afraid to ask the questions that he really wanted to ask; ‘Had the visions been real? Did she REALLY love him?’
“We’re in sort of a cave in Southeastern New Mexico,” she replied still smiling. “You got here by an old Roswell tradition, an alien abduction, from your ambulance on the way to the Roswell airport.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “An alien abduction?” he said stifling a laugh. She continued to smile. “And how did you get here,” he asked, grinning back at her.
Her eyes twinkled and she replied, “You know, I asked that question to my dad once when I was about seven. He got red as a beet and avoided me for the next week. Eventually Mom told me.”
“Not that kind of ‘get here’,” he replied, feeling himself starting to blush. Joey was FLIRTING with him big time. “I mean, were you ‘abducted by aliens’ too?” he joked.
Again her eyes , her beautiful blue eyes twinkled at him as she looked at him with a coquettish smile. “I’m not the abductee, Drew, I’m the abductor…”
Andrew grinned at her and shook his head looking around the cavern. A swirl of emotions went through his head. He was somehow alright, the young lady he’d dreamed about, who he thought couldn’t care less about him was almost hitting on him, and he was in some sort of a fantasy place that didn’t even appear to have a door to the outside.
It made no sense whatsoever, and if it wasn’t so much fun, he’d be frustrated beyond belief. But he looked again at the halo that had once clung to his head and thought the future he saw now was so very much better than the bleak one that he had contemplated such a short time ago it was hard to be upset about anything. Perhaps it was time to just count his blessings and wait for things to sort themselves out, to just enjoy the moment.
He looked at Joey again, still with her funny smile. Now THERE was a blessing he thought, remembering how she had once rejected him. Almost as if she was reading his mind she said, “I really wish we could have gone to that dance, Andrew. But I was afraid to say yes, afraid to get close to you, afraid you would find out about my family, about me being mixed-race.”
Andrew looked at her quizzically. He’d seen her folks at soccer games. They didn’t look particularly mixed race to him, not that it would even matter. But maybe she was adopted. Maybe Maria really wasn’t her birth mother?
“What race is your mother, he asked?” Her eyebrows went up slightly and she smiled at him again. “Mom? Mom’s not the problem. Mom is totally human.”
Andrew shook his head slowly, smiling at her. It was obvious that she was enjoying this and that she was toying with him. He wondered how long she would keep the alien joke going. Who could tell, he decided. This was Roswell after all.
“I’m getting hungry,” she said. She walked over to the pack on the floor, while Drew sat up and tried with limited success to cover himself with the hospital gown. He wished he had a pair of pants, or even just some underwear.
She pulled a couple of microwave meals out of the pack, some bottles of water, some plastic forks, and a small bottle of Tabasco sauce.
As she held up two meals she said, “It would look like the menu tonight is either …..Salisbury steak with potatoes or ….Lasagna. Which would you like?” she asked playfully.
Andrew decided that if she could flirt, he could too, however bizarre the situation. He smiled and replied, “Lady’s choice.”
She smiled again and handed him the Salisbury steak. They both opened their meals, watching one another’s eyes. She reached for the Tabasco sauce and opened it as Andrew took a bite. It wasn’t really cold, but it wasn’t warm either. He hadn’t eaten in almost a day so even the congealed fat really wasn’t all that bad. It actually tasted pretty good, he decided, maybe it was the hunger, maybe it was just the good company.
As he chewed the first bite she watched him intently. She had started to put Tabasco sauce on her lasagna, and her hand seemed to just continue to sprinkle more Tabasco as she concentrated on watching him. When he took the second bite she shook her head from side to side gently, apparently oblivious to the amount of Tabasco sauce she was putting on the lasagna.
He chewed and swallowed hurriedly.
“What?” he said.
“How can you bear to eat it cold like that?” she asked, the Tabasco continuing to anoint her lasagna.
“I don’t see a microwave…?” he replied with a smile.
Joey said “Oh,” with a sort of embarrassed look on her face, she set down the Tabasco bottle and held her hands out above both trays. As she took away her hands, he saw a wisp of steam come from each tray, and felt the heat radiate from the plate he was holding. She looked into his eyes with an interested smile as she resumed drowning the lasagna in Tabasco sauce.
Mechanically, Andrew dipped his fork into his tray and brought it to his mouth. He chewed on the warm potato far longer than he really needed to, trying to come up with something to say. Finally he swallowed and said, “This isn’t a dream, is it?”
The beautiful blue eyes smiled up at him as she picked up a fork full of lasagna.
“No,” she said, “it isn’t.”
She chewed slowly, watching him.
He took another forkful of his food and chewed it very slowly still looking at her.
She took a second bite of the lasagna, adding more Tabasco to her tray as she chewed. Andrew claimed in later years that it was probably her tolerance for Tabasco sauce as much as anything else that finally convinced him.
Being as nonchalant as possible he said, “So…..tell me a little bit about your Dad……”
It made no sense whatsoever, and if it wasn’t so much fun, he’d be frustrated beyond belief. But he looked again at the halo that had once clung to his head and thought the future he saw now was so very much better than the bleak one that he had contemplated such a short time ago it was hard to be upset about anything. Perhaps it was time to just count his blessings and wait for things to sort themselves out, to just enjoy the moment.
He looked at Joey again, still with her funny smile. Now THERE was a blessing he thought, remembering how she had once rejected him. Almost as if she was reading his mind she said, “I really wish we could have gone to that dance, Andrew. But I was afraid to say yes, afraid to get close to you, afraid you would find out about my family, about me being mixed-race.”
Andrew looked at her quizzically. He’d seen her folks at soccer games. They didn’t look particularly mixed race to him, not that it would even matter. But maybe she was adopted. Maybe Maria really wasn’t her birth mother?
“What race is your mother, he asked?” Her eyebrows went up slightly and she smiled at him again. “Mom? Mom’s not the problem. Mom is totally human.”
Andrew shook his head slowly, smiling at her. It was obvious that she was enjoying this and that she was toying with him. He wondered how long she would keep the alien joke going. Who could tell, he decided. This was Roswell after all.
“I’m getting hungry,” she said. She walked over to the pack on the floor, while Drew sat up and tried with limited success to cover himself with the hospital gown. He wished he had a pair of pants, or even just some underwear.
She pulled a couple of microwave meals out of the pack, some bottles of water, some plastic forks, and a small bottle of Tabasco sauce.
As she held up two meals she said, “It would look like the menu tonight is either …..Salisbury steak with potatoes or ….Lasagna. Which would you like?” she asked playfully.
Andrew decided that if she could flirt, he could too, however bizarre the situation. He smiled and replied, “Lady’s choice.”
She smiled again and handed him the Salisbury steak. They both opened their meals, watching one another’s eyes. She reached for the Tabasco sauce and opened it as Andrew took a bite. It wasn’t really cold, but it wasn’t warm either. He hadn’t eaten in almost a day so even the congealed fat really wasn’t all that bad. It actually tasted pretty good, he decided, maybe it was the hunger, maybe it was just the good company.
As he chewed the first bite she watched him intently. She had started to put Tabasco sauce on her lasagna, and her hand seemed to just continue to sprinkle more Tabasco as she concentrated on watching him. When he took the second bite she shook her head from side to side gently, apparently oblivious to the amount of Tabasco sauce she was putting on the lasagna.
He chewed and swallowed hurriedly.
“What?” he said.
“How can you bear to eat it cold like that?” she asked, the Tabasco continuing to anoint her lasagna.
“I don’t see a microwave…?” he replied with a smile.
Joey said “Oh,” with a sort of embarrassed look on her face, she set down the Tabasco bottle and held her hands out above both trays. As she took away her hands, he saw a wisp of steam come from each tray, and felt the heat radiate from the plate he was holding. She looked into his eyes with an interested smile as she resumed drowning the lasagna in Tabasco sauce.
Mechanically, Andrew dipped his fork into his tray and brought it to his mouth. He chewed on the warm potato far longer than he really needed to, trying to come up with something to say. Finally he swallowed and said, “This isn’t a dream, is it?”
The beautiful blue eyes smiled up at him as she picked up a fork full of lasagna.
“No,” she said, “it isn’t.”
She chewed slowly, watching him.
He took another forkful of his food and chewed it very slowly still looking at her.
She took a second bite of the lasagna, adding more Tabasco to her tray as she chewed. Andrew claimed in later years that it was probably her tolerance for Tabasco sauce as much as anything else that finally convinced him.
Being as nonchalant as possible he said, “So…..tell me a little bit about your Dad……”
‘Well,’ thought Joey, ‘…that actually went pretty well’.
She could tell, as she related the story of a handful of alien orphans growing up in Roswell, that Drew would never be a threat to her family, that their secret would be safe with him. He would never tell.
But that was only part of what worried her, the worry she kept under the false mask of humor, bravado, and flirting. She’d done all the right things, she realized, to convince him that aliens were harmless, that they were no threat. But they were still …alien. As she looked warily into his eyes, she wished desperately that she could know how he saw HER now that he knew the truth. Was the little girl kicking the soccer ball that she had seen in his mind now a hideous monster? A harmless monster, perhaps, but still an…alien, still something other ….., other than what he could care for?
She’d watched him for years but she hadn’t really let herself know how much she’d cared for this young man until he’d been injured, almost killed. That way, not ever having him would not have seemed so bad. But she had now seen into his soul, seen the love she might have had, the love that, were she not alien WOULD have been hers, and the thought of losing it was crushing to her spirit.
Joey talked on about the history of her family, and Andrew tried to listen politely. But it was hard. He felt drawn to her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes. But as he watched, he saw fear slowly creep into those beautiful eyes, fear and sadness. Her face didn’t really change, she kept smiling, but the sadness permeated the room and he saw tears start to form in her beautiful blue eyes. Without thinking he put his hand up to her cheek to caress it softly.
Joey was caught unaware, longing for his touch, but certain of his rejection. As the hand touched her cheek, the connection formed without conscious thought on her part<flash>the most beautiful eyes in the world…no, he thought with a smile, on ANY world<flash>..and she loves ME, this exquisite creature loves ME... <flash> awakening from sleep, being totally disoriented, finding Joey sprawled across his chest, falling back asleep, loving this dream….
As her eyes looked at his she could feel HIS responses to the flashes he was getting from her… <flash> She’s afraid of me, afraid I will reject her because she’s alien. Afraid I will hurt her. How COULD she believe that? <flash> Not again, damn it. Don’t even think about running away from me again Joey, pushing me away again. You OWE me a dance date…. <flash>
Joey’s heart leaped as she saw his intention through the connection. Her body was frozen with disbelief as Andrew moved his hand from her cheek to cup the back of her head softly. He leaned forward as he pulled her towards him. Their lips met in their first kiss and her eyes widened in wonder. Through the connection she felt his love for her, stoking hers higher, in a spiral that was almost terrifying in its intensity. Their lips touched. Their tongues touched. They forgot to breathe for long minutes….
Both broke away, looking at each other and flushing furiously.
Drew spoke first. “Wow.”
Eventually, Joey found her voice, “Uh-huh. Wow.”
‘Well’, she thought trying to catch her breath, ‘that went well.’
She could tell, as she related the story of a handful of alien orphans growing up in Roswell, that Drew would never be a threat to her family, that their secret would be safe with him. He would never tell.
But that was only part of what worried her, the worry she kept under the false mask of humor, bravado, and flirting. She’d done all the right things, she realized, to convince him that aliens were harmless, that they were no threat. But they were still …alien. As she looked warily into his eyes, she wished desperately that she could know how he saw HER now that he knew the truth. Was the little girl kicking the soccer ball that she had seen in his mind now a hideous monster? A harmless monster, perhaps, but still an…alien, still something other ….., other than what he could care for?
She’d watched him for years but she hadn’t really let herself know how much she’d cared for this young man until he’d been injured, almost killed. That way, not ever having him would not have seemed so bad. But she had now seen into his soul, seen the love she might have had, the love that, were she not alien WOULD have been hers, and the thought of losing it was crushing to her spirit.
Joey talked on about the history of her family, and Andrew tried to listen politely. But it was hard. He felt drawn to her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes. But as he watched, he saw fear slowly creep into those beautiful eyes, fear and sadness. Her face didn’t really change, she kept smiling, but the sadness permeated the room and he saw tears start to form in her beautiful blue eyes. Without thinking he put his hand up to her cheek to caress it softly.
Joey was caught unaware, longing for his touch, but certain of his rejection. As the hand touched her cheek, the connection formed without conscious thought on her part<flash>the most beautiful eyes in the world…no, he thought with a smile, on ANY world<flash>..and she loves ME, this exquisite creature loves ME... <flash> awakening from sleep, being totally disoriented, finding Joey sprawled across his chest, falling back asleep, loving this dream….
As her eyes looked at his she could feel HIS responses to the flashes he was getting from her… <flash> She’s afraid of me, afraid I will reject her because she’s alien. Afraid I will hurt her. How COULD she believe that? <flash> Not again, damn it. Don’t even think about running away from me again Joey, pushing me away again. You OWE me a dance date…. <flash>
Joey’s heart leaped as she saw his intention through the connection. Her body was frozen with disbelief as Andrew moved his hand from her cheek to cup the back of her head softly. He leaned forward as he pulled her towards him. Their lips met in their first kiss and her eyes widened in wonder. Through the connection she felt his love for her, stoking hers higher, in a spiral that was almost terrifying in its intensity. Their lips touched. Their tongues touched. They forgot to breathe for long minutes….
Both broke away, looking at each other and flushing furiously.
Drew spoke first. “Wow.”
Eventually, Joey found her voice, “Uh-huh. Wow.”
‘Well’, she thought trying to catch her breath, ‘that went well.’
Andrew didn’t know what had come over him. He’d always been painfully shy with girls. Even though he had liked Joey for so long, it had taken him forever to even ask her to the dance. And although he wanted to reassure her that he didn’t regard her as a bug-eyed monster, he had already known through the connection that she had seen that, had understood that.
He really HAD wanted to kiss her, had fantasized many times about kissing her, but he had never imagined he would actually do something like that, that passionate, when in so many ways they were just starting to get to know each other.
He wondered if this was alien mind control, and she’d somehow forced him to kiss her. If so, he figured he could certainly live with that. Dang, you could toss him in THAT briar patch anytime.
Nope, he decided. He’d felt her emotions through the connection. She’d been as surprised at what happened as he was himself. He thought back to the kiss, their first kiss. Even the MEMORY of it was a ‘wow’. He looked at her differently now than he had before. He struggled to analyze the emotion he felt when he looked at her, and was almost frightened when he identified it. Possessiveness, he had decided.
He wanted her to be his, more than he had ever wanted anything in his young life. He knew they were both considered too young for any kind of meaningful commitment, and maybe he couldn’t ask her for any kind of commitment now. But he knew that not another day of his life would go by when she was not in his thoughts. He knew that he would always be hers.
Joey looked at Andrew, her heart still racing and her face still flushed. She’d seen the kiss coming through the connection, but had frozen in stark disbelief. It had taken her a few seconds to believe it, a few more to even get her mind to cooperate with Drew, and longer still for her to kiss back. Intuitively, she knew her life had just changed immensely, that suddenly she was no longer just a person, but rather a part of a couple, with a completeness to her that she’d never felt before, and a sense of promise of incredible things to come. ‘Wow,’ she thought again, struggling to keep from hyperventilating.
After the meal, Joey returned to the pack. Reaching in she found the clothes and shoes she had borrowed from her brother’s closet and turned to him.
“Cute as you are in that hospital gown, you might be more comfortable in these.” She walked to the back of the pod chamber leaving him to dress himself in private. Ok, well she took one little look, just out of the corner of her eye but saw only his backside, which the gown hadn’t really covered well even when he was wearing it.
Yeah, it was cute alright.
He really HAD wanted to kiss her, had fantasized many times about kissing her, but he had never imagined he would actually do something like that, that passionate, when in so many ways they were just starting to get to know each other.
He wondered if this was alien mind control, and she’d somehow forced him to kiss her. If so, he figured he could certainly live with that. Dang, you could toss him in THAT briar patch anytime.
Nope, he decided. He’d felt her emotions through the connection. She’d been as surprised at what happened as he was himself. He thought back to the kiss, their first kiss. Even the MEMORY of it was a ‘wow’. He looked at her differently now than he had before. He struggled to analyze the emotion he felt when he looked at her, and was almost frightened when he identified it. Possessiveness, he had decided.
He wanted her to be his, more than he had ever wanted anything in his young life. He knew they were both considered too young for any kind of meaningful commitment, and maybe he couldn’t ask her for any kind of commitment now. But he knew that not another day of his life would go by when she was not in his thoughts. He knew that he would always be hers.
Joey looked at Andrew, her heart still racing and her face still flushed. She’d seen the kiss coming through the connection, but had frozen in stark disbelief. It had taken her a few seconds to believe it, a few more to even get her mind to cooperate with Drew, and longer still for her to kiss back. Intuitively, she knew her life had just changed immensely, that suddenly she was no longer just a person, but rather a part of a couple, with a completeness to her that she’d never felt before, and a sense of promise of incredible things to come. ‘Wow,’ she thought again, struggling to keep from hyperventilating.
After the meal, Joey returned to the pack. Reaching in she found the clothes and shoes she had borrowed from her brother’s closet and turned to him.
“Cute as you are in that hospital gown, you might be more comfortable in these.” She walked to the back of the pod chamber leaving him to dress himself in private. Ok, well she took one little look, just out of the corner of her eye but saw only his backside, which the gown hadn’t really covered well even when he was wearing it.
Yeah, it was cute alright.
During Joey’s lifetime, the status of the aliens in Roswell had been pretty peaceful, but supplies had been left in the cave years ago, so it could be a refuge if it was ever needed.
Joey noted with amusement the four cases of Snapple, covered in dust. The “best if used before” date printed on the label was before she was born, she realized. A half case of Tabasco sauce appeared almost as old. ‘That’s my dad,’ she thought to herself. But she did find what she wanted, a couple of sleeping bags in fair condition, the camp toilet that they would place back behind the old pod mechanism, out of sight of the main chamber, and some LED lanterns.
They discussed their folks at home. Andrew’s parents had last seen him critically injured, and then knew only that he had been kidnapped. But there was no good way they could be reassured, short of seeing Andrew himself. Certainly the police were involved, and there would be no way to hide the handprints on his neck from the police and physicians who would surely examine him on his return.
Both teenagers regretted the terror his parents were living, but both realized that it could mean death to Joey and her entire family if he went home too soon. As soon as the handprints had faded, he would return home. Neither had yet come up with a really satisfactory explanation to give his parents.
Neither thought the idea of him telling them he’d been kidnapped and cured by his new girlfriend the alien was really advisable.
Joey was probably in even more trouble.
Her grandparents had been promised a cell phone call if she couldn’t make it back by curfew, a curfew now 23 hours behind her. She’d never made the call. Drew at least could claim truthfully that he was sedated, immobilized, paralyzed, and asleep when he disappeared. Joey had no such excuses. Her grandparents had almost certainly gone to her house and at least discovered her father’s dirt bike missing. They were either going to be very worried, or very mad, most likely both.
She and Drew had decided that once he was returned home, they really shouldn’t see each other or try to date for at least three months, while the furor of his return from kidnapping and unexplained cure from his spinal injury died down. Privately, Joey expected to be grounded by her parents at least most of that time. She hadn’t yet decided if she would even tell them about what she did to Drew, about kidnapping him and healing him. Or about her telling him…. everything.
She wasn’t sure how her father would react to finding out she’d spent two or three days and nights alone with a boyfriend, and really didn’t care to find out if at all possible. When everything died down, she would just begin casual dating with this kid she knew. That’d work, she decided. At least with Dad. Mom, she feared, could read her too easily.
As night approached, they washed up as best they could, and placed the sleeping bags side by side on the floor. Both were tired, not yet fully recovered from the healing. It had been a long and most eventful day. They lay there in their sleeping bags, the chamber barely lit by one of the lanterns. They said their goodnights, not really trusting themselves to be more intimate, still reeling from that first kiss. Sleep came quickly.
Three hours later Joey had a nightmare. She saw again Andrew on the ground, the trainer and ambulance crew rushing toward him. She whimpered in her sleep, watching him lying there. Both teenagers continued to sleep, but somehow his hand found hers, and the terror passed. They slept side by side, both at ease and content.
Joey noted with amusement the four cases of Snapple, covered in dust. The “best if used before” date printed on the label was before she was born, she realized. A half case of Tabasco sauce appeared almost as old. ‘That’s my dad,’ she thought to herself. But she did find what she wanted, a couple of sleeping bags in fair condition, the camp toilet that they would place back behind the old pod mechanism, out of sight of the main chamber, and some LED lanterns.
They discussed their folks at home. Andrew’s parents had last seen him critically injured, and then knew only that he had been kidnapped. But there was no good way they could be reassured, short of seeing Andrew himself. Certainly the police were involved, and there would be no way to hide the handprints on his neck from the police and physicians who would surely examine him on his return.
Both teenagers regretted the terror his parents were living, but both realized that it could mean death to Joey and her entire family if he went home too soon. As soon as the handprints had faded, he would return home. Neither had yet come up with a really satisfactory explanation to give his parents.
Neither thought the idea of him telling them he’d been kidnapped and cured by his new girlfriend the alien was really advisable.
Joey was probably in even more trouble.
Her grandparents had been promised a cell phone call if she couldn’t make it back by curfew, a curfew now 23 hours behind her. She’d never made the call. Drew at least could claim truthfully that he was sedated, immobilized, paralyzed, and asleep when he disappeared. Joey had no such excuses. Her grandparents had almost certainly gone to her house and at least discovered her father’s dirt bike missing. They were either going to be very worried, or very mad, most likely both.
She and Drew had decided that once he was returned home, they really shouldn’t see each other or try to date for at least three months, while the furor of his return from kidnapping and unexplained cure from his spinal injury died down. Privately, Joey expected to be grounded by her parents at least most of that time. She hadn’t yet decided if she would even tell them about what she did to Drew, about kidnapping him and healing him. Or about her telling him…. everything.
She wasn’t sure how her father would react to finding out she’d spent two or three days and nights alone with a boyfriend, and really didn’t care to find out if at all possible. When everything died down, she would just begin casual dating with this kid she knew. That’d work, she decided. At least with Dad. Mom, she feared, could read her too easily.
As night approached, they washed up as best they could, and placed the sleeping bags side by side on the floor. Both were tired, not yet fully recovered from the healing. It had been a long and most eventful day. They lay there in their sleeping bags, the chamber barely lit by one of the lanterns. They said their goodnights, not really trusting themselves to be more intimate, still reeling from that first kiss. Sleep came quickly.
Three hours later Joey had a nightmare. She saw again Andrew on the ground, the trainer and ambulance crew rushing toward him. She whimpered in her sleep, watching him lying there. Both teenagers continued to sleep, but somehow his hand found hers, and the terror passed. They slept side by side, both at ease and content.
Isabel Ramirez walked alone through the desert, looking around her. She hadn’t been here in years, she realized. ‘How long had it been? Before the twins,’ she thought, ‘and they were almost thirteen.’
How the time had passed since that day, years ago, when she had walked hand in hand with her brother through the night, away from the pod chamber, and toward the road where her car was now parked, parked very near the spot that Dianne and Philip Evans had found them. Jesse was at a week long bar association meeting and she’d pulled the girls out of class to come visit her Mom and Dad, and to see Grandma Ramirez. The girls were with Jesse’s mom right now.
Jim and Amy had called everyone on the alien network in Roswell when they had awakened to find that their grand-daughter had not come home from the football game. Hoping that she had simply gone back home, they had gone to the Guerin house. Discovering that her riding leathers and helmet, as well as Michael’s bike were missing, they were slightly reassured, but still concerned. She had never done anything like this in the past. Michael, at her age, had disappeared all the time, but given the foster home he had, that was probably to be expected. But this was so unlike Joey.
Everyone on the alien-network had been contacted, Kyle and Ava in Albuquerque, Liz and Max in Phoenix, the Parkers, the Evans, and eventually her. It was when Jim Valenti had heard from his police sources about the kidnapped Roswell High student that they started to worry. They worried mostly that Joey might have known the kidnapped boy, and might be on a one-girl vendetta to track them down. But to their knowledge, Joey hadn’t even known the injured boy. Joey had been at West Roswell High only about 6 weeks, and the missing boy wasn’t in her freshman class. But if she had known him, she might have gone after the kidnappers. It was something her father would have done, and they had long ago decided that she was indeed her father’s daughter.
So far, nobody had told Michael or Maria. There was really nothing they could do; the cruise ship wouldn’t touch an island that had any air service for another two days. Everyone had decided it was senseless to worry them, when the two of them couldn’t do anything to help. But Jim Valenti had indicated that after 48 hours, ten o’clock tonight, a missing persons report could and should be filed, and that would force them to call Michael and Maria.
As she approached the pod chamber she realized that this was probably a wasted trip. There was no reason to really expect her niece to be here. But it was one of a number of places that were being checked, and right now there were in Roswell only three people who could open this door besides Joey. The twins were playing with Grandma Ramirez right now, so that left only her. She reached toward a spot on the wall and the door appeared before her.
How the time had passed since that day, years ago, when she had walked hand in hand with her brother through the night, away from the pod chamber, and toward the road where her car was now parked, parked very near the spot that Dianne and Philip Evans had found them. Jesse was at a week long bar association meeting and she’d pulled the girls out of class to come visit her Mom and Dad, and to see Grandma Ramirez. The girls were with Jesse’s mom right now.
Jim and Amy had called everyone on the alien network in Roswell when they had awakened to find that their grand-daughter had not come home from the football game. Hoping that she had simply gone back home, they had gone to the Guerin house. Discovering that her riding leathers and helmet, as well as Michael’s bike were missing, they were slightly reassured, but still concerned. She had never done anything like this in the past. Michael, at her age, had disappeared all the time, but given the foster home he had, that was probably to be expected. But this was so unlike Joey.
Everyone on the alien-network had been contacted, Kyle and Ava in Albuquerque, Liz and Max in Phoenix, the Parkers, the Evans, and eventually her. It was when Jim Valenti had heard from his police sources about the kidnapped Roswell High student that they started to worry. They worried mostly that Joey might have known the kidnapped boy, and might be on a one-girl vendetta to track them down. But to their knowledge, Joey hadn’t even known the injured boy. Joey had been at West Roswell High only about 6 weeks, and the missing boy wasn’t in her freshman class. But if she had known him, she might have gone after the kidnappers. It was something her father would have done, and they had long ago decided that she was indeed her father’s daughter.
So far, nobody had told Michael or Maria. There was really nothing they could do; the cruise ship wouldn’t touch an island that had any air service for another two days. Everyone had decided it was senseless to worry them, when the two of them couldn’t do anything to help. But Jim Valenti had indicated that after 48 hours, ten o’clock tonight, a missing persons report could and should be filed, and that would force them to call Michael and Maria.
As she approached the pod chamber she realized that this was probably a wasted trip. There was no reason to really expect her niece to be here. But it was one of a number of places that were being checked, and right now there were in Roswell only three people who could open this door besides Joey. The twins were playing with Grandma Ramirez right now, so that left only her. She reached toward a spot on the wall and the door appeared before her.
As the door opened, Isabel saw Michael’s dirt bike inside, Joey’s helmet hanging from the handlebars and her riding leathers folded over the seat. As she entered the chamber Isabel said loudly, “Joelle Michelle Guerin, you are in SO much trouble.”
As Isabel walked in to the pod chamber she saw two sleeping bags on the floor, a wide-eyed teenage boy sitting on one, a wide-eyed teenage girl sitting on the other. Joey looked up at her as if in shock, then turned to the boy.
“Drew, I’d like you to meet my aunt Isabel.” Looking back at her aunt, she said, “Aunt Izzie, this is my friend Andrew Douglas.”
Isabel’s first thought was that Joey’s parents were going to ground her until she was an old maid.
Her second thought was disbelief that Joey could have done anything as rash as bring a human boyfriend to the pod chamber of all places. All the boy had to do was reveal the existence of the place, and all their lives were in danger.
Her third thought was that there probably wasn’t much danger at all from this boy, because Michael would likely dismember the boy when he found out that Joey had had him over for a sleepover.
She looked at Joey in absolute amazement, not believing that her niece could possibly have done what she so obviously had done.
But then Isabel noticed the ambulance gurney along the side of the pod chamber, and the respirator beside it. She looked back at the boy and in the dim light saw iridescent handprints along his neck. She looked at his face, a face she remembered from the local evening newscast and from the headlines of the paper back in her car.
She looked at her niece in awe. Sure, Max could have done it, and even she and Michael might have been able to stabilize the boy, until Max could get there. But she had no idea that Joey had that kind of healing power, that kind of control.
She remembered that the missing ambulance had been found abandoned, miles from the Guerin house. Her niece hadn’t just healed this boy, she’d subdued two ambulance attendants and kidnapped him to do it. Somehow she’d gotten him out here, the ambulance back, and then had returned to heal him. She looked at the boy, the pod machinery, and then looked questioningly back at her niece.
“He knows pretty much everything, Aunt Izzie,” she said, not backing away, not afraid to look her in the eyes. “He had a broken neck. They were going to cut him open and fuse it. He would have been quadriplegic. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Isabel looked at her niece. Her eyes were unblinking, her right hand had found the boys left hand, and she had moved slightly forward, placing herself between her aunt and the young man. The body language said it all. This wasn’t some anonymous young man that she had seen in an ambulance and taken pity on. This was someone very special to her, and when he had been injured she had planned and executed an abduction, then gone to the only place where she could safely use her powers, exhausting herself to heal him. She looked again at the handprints on the boy’s neck, still amazed that her niece had actually been able to heal an injury that severe.
“I think it’s probably time for you to go back to your grandparents, Joey,” she said.
“I can’t Aunt Izzie. Andrew can’t go home until the handprints fade. Everyone must be looking for him. He needs to stay here another day or two.”
Isabel smiled at her niece, noticing the tight grip she had on the boy’s hand. “But YOU don’t have to be here with him. YOU could go home. I’m pretty sure your parents wouldn’t approve of you stealing an ambulance, kidnapping some boy, and then spending the night with him.”
“I’m not leaving him locked in here. If something happened, he couldn’t get out.”
Isabel saw a small smile cross her niece’s face then. “Heck Aunt Izzie, the first date my parents had was when Daddy stole Grandma’s Jetta, kidnapped Mom, and drove down into Texas. When the car broke down they got a room together in some sleaze-o motel. You know that. You were there. How can they gripe about this?”
“Who told you that story,” asked Isabel, struggling not to laugh.
“Uncle Kyle.”
“Well uncle Kyle talks too much, “ Isabel replied.
“and what about the time they both kidnapped Aunt Laurie from an ambulance and spent the week in Arizona?”
“And who told you about that?”
“Grandma.”
Isabel suddenly remembered that her niece had won a debate prize her last year in junior high school. She was starting to figure out why.
“Tomorrow is a school day, Joey. You can’t cut school, just to keep Andrew company.”
“But you could cut high school to go to Las Vegas and gamble using fake ID, huh, Aunt BRANDY? Before you ask, Grandpa Jim told me about having to go there to bring all of you back.”
Isabel finally realized that Michael was going to have to pay for the sins of his youth, and there just wasn’t much she could do about it.
She wondered what it would take to get Joey to agree to NOT tell any of these stories to her 12 year-old twin daughters. Maybe now was the time to make a deal with her on the subject.
She felt the small weight she carried in her lower abdomen. She still hadn’t told her parents or Grandma Ramirez. She and Jessie had been surprised at the late in life pregnancy, but had both welcomed it. Now she began to have visions of raising a teenager when she was in her fifties. It seemed a lot more frightening today than it had only yesterday.
As Isabel walked in to the pod chamber she saw two sleeping bags on the floor, a wide-eyed teenage boy sitting on one, a wide-eyed teenage girl sitting on the other. Joey looked up at her as if in shock, then turned to the boy.
“Drew, I’d like you to meet my aunt Isabel.” Looking back at her aunt, she said, “Aunt Izzie, this is my friend Andrew Douglas.”
Isabel’s first thought was that Joey’s parents were going to ground her until she was an old maid.
Her second thought was disbelief that Joey could have done anything as rash as bring a human boyfriend to the pod chamber of all places. All the boy had to do was reveal the existence of the place, and all their lives were in danger.
Her third thought was that there probably wasn’t much danger at all from this boy, because Michael would likely dismember the boy when he found out that Joey had had him over for a sleepover.
She looked at Joey in absolute amazement, not believing that her niece could possibly have done what she so obviously had done.
But then Isabel noticed the ambulance gurney along the side of the pod chamber, and the respirator beside it. She looked back at the boy and in the dim light saw iridescent handprints along his neck. She looked at his face, a face she remembered from the local evening newscast and from the headlines of the paper back in her car.
She looked at her niece in awe. Sure, Max could have done it, and even she and Michael might have been able to stabilize the boy, until Max could get there. But she had no idea that Joey had that kind of healing power, that kind of control.
She remembered that the missing ambulance had been found abandoned, miles from the Guerin house. Her niece hadn’t just healed this boy, she’d subdued two ambulance attendants and kidnapped him to do it. Somehow she’d gotten him out here, the ambulance back, and then had returned to heal him. She looked at the boy, the pod machinery, and then looked questioningly back at her niece.
“He knows pretty much everything, Aunt Izzie,” she said, not backing away, not afraid to look her in the eyes. “He had a broken neck. They were going to cut him open and fuse it. He would have been quadriplegic. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Isabel looked at her niece. Her eyes were unblinking, her right hand had found the boys left hand, and she had moved slightly forward, placing herself between her aunt and the young man. The body language said it all. This wasn’t some anonymous young man that she had seen in an ambulance and taken pity on. This was someone very special to her, and when he had been injured she had planned and executed an abduction, then gone to the only place where she could safely use her powers, exhausting herself to heal him. She looked again at the handprints on the boy’s neck, still amazed that her niece had actually been able to heal an injury that severe.
“I think it’s probably time for you to go back to your grandparents, Joey,” she said.
“I can’t Aunt Izzie. Andrew can’t go home until the handprints fade. Everyone must be looking for him. He needs to stay here another day or two.”
Isabel smiled at her niece, noticing the tight grip she had on the boy’s hand. “But YOU don’t have to be here with him. YOU could go home. I’m pretty sure your parents wouldn’t approve of you stealing an ambulance, kidnapping some boy, and then spending the night with him.”
“I’m not leaving him locked in here. If something happened, he couldn’t get out.”
Isabel saw a small smile cross her niece’s face then. “Heck Aunt Izzie, the first date my parents had was when Daddy stole Grandma’s Jetta, kidnapped Mom, and drove down into Texas. When the car broke down they got a room together in some sleaze-o motel. You know that. You were there. How can they gripe about this?”
“Who told you that story,” asked Isabel, struggling not to laugh.
“Uncle Kyle.”
“Well uncle Kyle talks too much, “ Isabel replied.
“and what about the time they both kidnapped Aunt Laurie from an ambulance and spent the week in Arizona?”
“And who told you about that?”
“Grandma.”
Isabel suddenly remembered that her niece had won a debate prize her last year in junior high school. She was starting to figure out why.
“Tomorrow is a school day, Joey. You can’t cut school, just to keep Andrew company.”
“But you could cut high school to go to Las Vegas and gamble using fake ID, huh, Aunt BRANDY? Before you ask, Grandpa Jim told me about having to go there to bring all of you back.”
Isabel finally realized that Michael was going to have to pay for the sins of his youth, and there just wasn’t much she could do about it.
She wondered what it would take to get Joey to agree to NOT tell any of these stories to her 12 year-old twin daughters. Maybe now was the time to make a deal with her on the subject.
She felt the small weight she carried in her lower abdomen. She still hadn’t told her parents or Grandma Ramirez. She and Jessie had been surprised at the late in life pregnancy, but had both welcomed it. Now she began to have visions of raising a teenager when she was in her fifties. It seemed a lot more frightening today than it had only yesterday.