With a weary look, she rolled the child down two doors and on the right. Fortunately, the person lying on the bed was sleeping peacefully.
“Alik! Alik! That’s my brother, Alik! Oh, thank you, God. My brother!” Evan was crying fresh tears, but this time, of joy. He hugged his brother with unrestrained happiness. The nurse looked on with tears in her eyes. Thank God, he found some of his family.
“Mmmm...ugh…ouch. Evan, dude…get off me.” Alik smiled through his fogginess. The pain medicine they’d given him to help with the concussion was working wonders now. “Where are Mom and Meg?” Alik asked. He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea hit him and he lay back down even before the nurse had a chance to object.
“Meg is upstairs. She had to fight a…” Evan realized he couldn’t say ‘metahuman.’ So he changed in mid-sentence, “…a bad guy who hurt her leg pretty badly. They’ve stitched her up and she’s gotten a blood transfusion. I made them use my blood, Alik,” again acutely aware that the nurse was listening, “because of our special blood type.”
Alik frowned, then understanding slipped into his eyes, “Right, our special blood type. Good thinking, Ev. What about mom? I brought her to the ambulance. She was beat up really badly, Evan. Do you know where she is?”
Evan’s eyes were crying again with the realization that the mangled faced woman was his mother. “Yeah, Alik, I saw mom. She’s here. They’re trying to help her, but she looks really…”
“…bad, I know.” The brothers huddled together on the hospital bed and prayed for help as tears continued to flow.
Chapter 62 Old Friends
A familiar voice interrupted the boys’ quiet discussion.
“Nurse, would you please make arrangements for Alik Winter to be moved to the same room as his sister, Meg?”
Everyone turned to see who just spoke. Dr. Andrews smiled genuinely at the boys.
“Dr. Andrews? You came!” Evan jumped from the bed and ran to the kindhearted doctor who had helped them back when their mother first disappeared.
And then another familiar voice spoke, “I couldn’t let dad have all the fun.” Cole peeked around the curtain with a mischievous smile.
“Cole! Oh, man it’s good to see you guys!” Alik called from his bed.
“What do you say, nurse? Can we get all these kids in one room?” the doctor asked politely.
“Of course, doctor. I’ll see what I can do.” Nurse Betty smiled and squeezed Evan’s shoulder as she left to make arrangements.
Chapter 63 Just the Beginning
“I’ve reviewed your mom’s file myself. I can’t stress enough to you how fragile her condition is. She has a long road ahead of her.” Dr. Andrews was sitting in the large hospital room where Meg and Alik had been transferred.
Evan was sitting on a chair between his siblings, so obviously thankful to be back together.
“When she’s stable, I’d like to have her transported back to my hospital in Kansas where I can oversee her treatment, personally. Would you guys be okay with that?” Dr. Andrews asked.
“Well, we wouldn’t want to be away from our mom…” Meg’s voice trailed.
“Oh, of course not! You three would come with us. You could stay with me and Cole as long as your mom was still sick. After that, Margo would decide where you guys live,” Dr. Andrews said.
The boys looked over at Meg. It was she who could tell if the doctor was earnest.
Meg smiled widely and answered for all of them. “Yes, thank you, Dr. Andrews. I know our mom would agree. As soon as you feel she can handle the trip, we’re in.” This time her eyes caught Cole’s and held it for a moment. She sensed a wave of affection pouring from him and blushed.
“What’s going to happen with Dr. Williams and The Institute?” Evan asked.
“Yeah, how are we going to explain to the police why we did what we did to get mom? No one would believe the truth.” Alik’s blue eyes looked bloodshot. He really needed to rest.
“You remember my friend, Greg Burns? He’s working on that part for us. Try not to worry too much. You three just focus on getting better. Okay?”
“Dr. Andrews, I have to tell you before I forget,” Meg began feeling sleepier by the minute.
“Williams told me there were others, dozens of metahumans he’d created. He went on and on about his devotion to this ‘super race.’ He bragged about how powerful they were. He kept hinting about all the ‘great things’ he would have them do for mankind.” She breathed deeply and forced herself to go on though fatigue and medicine were trying to drag her under.