Chapter 26
Same Disclaimer applies
As we were twisting away in the bright lights, I pondered what we just did.
We were responsible for killing four people and changing the past. Who knows what effect that would have on our future?
Would we be sent to a post apocalyptic world like last time? Or maybe, just maybe, what we did had no effect on anything and we would end up just like we started, on the spaceship with the General.
Slowly, we stopped spinning. Jon leaned over and started to hurl.
“Sorry guys, I have motion sickness,” he tried to explain.
“It’s ok Jon, It looks like we’re in the perfect place for that…” I started to say as I looked around. There were excessively bright lights and the empty room we were in was decked out in white. We could see people in lab coats and scrubs were running every which way while we were surrounded by unused medical equipment.
(Where are we?) Kel asked with wonder as he started to morph.
“This, this is a hospital. Where sick and injured humans go to get better,” I answered ,“But why are we here?”
“We obviously changed something in the past Rae. We all saw it. Maybe this place has something to do with the consequences of that change.” Jon pointed out.
Just like that, an orderly and hospital security guard opened the door and came up to me.
“Are you Rachel Berenson?”
I nodded my head.
“Everyone has been looking for you. It was like you disappeared for a good while there.”
“Well, sorta-”
“Who are they?” The security guard pointed his baton at my friends. Luckily, Kel had turned himself into a human so that we wouldn’t attract any more attention.
“Oh, these are my friends.”
“Well, come on. Your father needs you, especially during a time like this,”
I looked up at the rent-a-cop. His silly brown and black uniform was ill-fitting, like he still needed time to grow into it. He barely had whiskers on his face.
Why should I care about what you think?
“As it is, I need to take you to your father. We’ll figure out how to get your friends home. They’ll need to wait in the security office.”
I waved goodbye to them as I was escorted down the hall and into an elevator. My friends went who knows where.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Oh, to the ICU, the intensive care unit.”
INTENSIVE CARE!
And they hadn’t said a word about Mom at all.
What if-?
No Rae, you can’t think like that!
Finally, we got to the right floor and the elevator doors squeaked open. I looked down the hall and saw a very forlorn-looking Dad sitting near the entrance to a room in his wheelchair.
I ran down the hall.
“DAD!” I screamed
A nurse turned around to shush me, but I fell into his arms.
“Rae! You’re safe! We didn’t know what happened after you left us in the barracks…we hoped you find your way here…”
“Our powers brought us here Dad.”
He nodded his head.
“Where are all the generals? Do they know we made it back to Earth safely?”
Dad looked puzzled.
“What generals?”
“You know, the generals that took us up to the Blade Ship in their spaceship?”
He just blinked at me.
“Rachel, maybe you need to sit down for a second. Time travel works in mysterious ways. None of that ever happened in this reality. After Nathan, Shawn, Michael, and Wayne were killed, and before you guys came here…your mother and I told the government of their treason. They found out the Blade Ship had re-entered the dark side of the moon and they sent a missile to take it out.”
“So that means Mom and Uncle Marco were never kidnapped and tortured.”
“No, and this also means that you changed the future by changing the past, so whatever happened to them no longer exists in this timeline.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Dad, you never got drunk…
Then I got curious.
“So, where’s Mom?”
Dad sighed.
“Rachel, there were, some…complications…after your mom and I…after we stopped fighting. Your Mom…she was” Dad looked like he was about to burst into tears. Already his eyes were bloodshot. “Your Mom was pregnant.”
PREGNANT? Well that explains everything…
“About 3 months. But the morphing, and the fighting, it was very hard on her. Almost immediately after we told the government everything we knew, she started having pains. We rushed her to the hospital but it was too late. They said she lost the baby but she’ll be okay.” Dad shook his head and the tears started to pour down his cheeks. “I’ll never understand. Our family has been through so much. Maybe it was the universe’s way of evening things out.”
I could feel something hot and wet on my face too. My tears.
“No Dad, No! It’s not fair!”
He brought me in for another embrace.
“Shh, Rachel, believe it or not, we’ll all get through this. We will.”
I wiped some tears away from my eyes. “Can I see her?”
He nodded his head. “She’s been looking forward to seeing you.”
Dad took my hand and we rolled/walked into her room.
Mom looked haggard. There was an IV coming out of her arm and her eyes were halfway shut.
“They have her on some pretty good painkillers, but you can talk to her. She’s still awake. ”
I went over to her and gave her a hug.
“Mom,” I whispered.
“Hey baby,” she said softly. “I was so worried about you when you disappeared”
“Well I made it here. I’m so sorry Mommy.”
“Shh, honey, it’s not your fault. You did some heroic things to save us.”
I paused for a second.
“Wait, you remember, about the torture, and the alternate timeline?”
“All of it. I’m sub-temporally grounded, remember?”
I nodded.
“I just care that my babies are safe, each and every one of you.”
She stroked my cheek.
“I still can’t believe my baby, the wildcard,” Mom sounded like she was getting woozy.
WILDCARD.
“Maybe we should give your mother some space.” Dad took me to a secluded area of her room.
“I should call my parents. Knowing you, they probably don’t know you’re here.,.” Dad took his cell phone out of his pocket. “Darn, no service!”
“This IS a hospital Jake,” Mom managed to mumble loudly from the bed.
“You’re right, I’ll use the payphone, honey.” Dad shook his head and rolled out of the room.
I just pushed my chair closer to Mom’s bed. I didn’t want to be away from her, not for one second. I feared that I would be taken out of this reality. So I held her hand.
Yeah, we definitely had a bond. One that neither time nor space nor crazy evil overlords could break.
Dad came back a few minutes later.
“I told your grandparents, they said you escaped from our museum?? Rachel, are you not aware that you’re still on punishment?”
“But I saved the world!”
“That’s not the point! Well maybe it is, but anyway. You’re grounded for two more weeks.”
Two weeks! That meant that I couldn’t go to the winter dance!
Dad wasn’t fair. I saved the world and this was the thanks that I got.
“Uh, Mr. Berenson. I found these kids out in the hallway, they said they were with your daughter…I was going to take them to the security office, but I figured you might have a better idea of what to do with them.”
“They’re a long way from home. Just leave them here with me. I’ll take care of them.” Dad motioned for them to come over to where we were.
My friends looked back and forth at each other, petrified. I guess being around Dad did not make them all warm and fuzzy inside.
“How long are they going to keep Mom here?” I asked, somewhat changing the subject.
“Only for tonight, they want to keep her for observation, to make sure she’s okay. I’m staying at The Washington Hotel. It’s the Presidential suite, so there will be plenty of room for you and your friends.”
The Washington. Oh did I have a story to tell him about the alternate reality in that place.
“Honey, it’s 6 o clock. Visiting hours are over. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” Dad rolled over to Mom and gave her a quick peck. Then she turned over and went to sleep.
Feel better Mom. Especially after everything you’ve been through.
That night, Dad took us over to The Washington. Oddly, there were no problems with the front desk staff this time around.
“Okay, guys in one room, girls in the other.” Dad ordered, eyeballing Derrick the entire time.
“Mr. B. can I just say something?”
Dad turned around and paused in his wheelchair, ready to listen.
“I like your daughter. But I would never do anything to disrespect her. Ever. All I care about is her happiness, and if you truly don’t want me to be around her, I understand. I just want Rae to be happy.”
Dad looked shocked. Then he softened his stance
“Well young man, I will have to talk to your parents before you and Rae can start seeing each other. I just want to make sure you are as sincere as you say you are.”
He rolled away to his bedroom.
“So I guess that means we can be together, huh?” Derrick asked with a twinkle in his eye.
I reached for and squeezed his hands.
“Hopefully,”
“OOOOOOO” Tanya and Becky both said.
“Yeah, yeah, guys.” I couldn’t help but hide my grin.
Dad’s not being an ogre. We really must have done a number on the world!
The next day we all took a spaceship back home. There was a large crowd waiting for us. Reporters and news vans were milling about everywhere.
“Mr. Berenson, what exactly happened in Washington? And why is your daughter involved?”
“No comments until the press conference.” Dad said sternly.
I saw Grandma and Grandpa, Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. They were standing next to a few cops, with Tommy and Melissa in tow. When I walked off the spaceship, they ran over to me. A few minutes of Rae-getting-the-life-squeezed-out-of-her happened.
“Oh Rae, we were SO worried after you disappeared from the museum. Don’t ever scare us like that again, okay?” Grandma touched my chin.
“I promise,” I fell into her hug.
Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop made their way over to Mom and helped her down the spaceship ramp. I guess they heard the bad news last night, because they didn’t look happy. We got escorted to a limousine that was waiting for us and it took us to the museum, where the press conference was going to be held.
Oh joy, the perks of being a mini-celebrity.
Mom sensed that I was nervous and she patted the seat next to her. I made my way to the back and sat next to her.
“Don’t worry, I hate press conferences too, believe it or not.”
I broke out into a small smile.
“I’m glad to have you here, Mom. I’m glad we saved you.”
She kissed my head.
“I’m glad you did too. I’m glad you did too.”
“So we stopped the alien threat and were able to neutralize their most dangerous asset, the Blade Ship. Any more questions?”
Mom and Dad were conducting a press conference, and gee, people had so many questions about the aliens. It seemed like we were sitting there for hours listening to them answer the same questions over and over again.
“How did you come across the alien conspiracy, Mr. Berenson?” one reporter asked.
Dad chuckled
“Let’s just say I had some unexpected help on that one.”
“What do you mean by unexpected help?” the reporters were confused.
Dad looked out at the audience and winked at me.
“Sometimes the best plans are the surprise ones. And that’s all I can say without releasing classified material.”
Everyone in the room started to laugh.
After all of this, Dad still thought I was special enough to protect.
Just one question, where was Uncle Marco?
“We were wondering Mr. and Mrs. Berenson, what did happen to Marco?’
“Oh, I can answer that.”
We looked to the side of the room. Uncle Marco came in, looking disheveled.
“You see, I was actually supposed to be there, but I overslept. You can’t underestimate the power of the lovely ladies. It seems that I missed all of the commotion.”
The whole room laughed again. Uncle Marco came up to the podium and kissed Mom on the cheek, and shook hands with Dad.
“I wish I hadn’t, boy, I missed one hell of a battle-”
“Thank you, Marco,” Mom held up a hand. “Now, does anyone else have any more questions?”
The press corps was silent.
“Then our representatives will contact you with any additional information. Thank you so very much for your time.”
The room started buzzing and the cops let me on stage to give my parents more hugs. Some photographers were taking pictures of us.
“What’s going to happen now Mom?”
“Home baby. We’re going home.”
