I Can Not Tell a Lie But I Kind Of Have To
The News Story
After forty five minutes of sitting in a waiting room with three other people (an old man who was paler than a ghost, a little girl sitting on her mother’s lap crying and rubbing her stomach, and a teenage guy reading a magazine with a screwdriver stuck in his leg), the doctor said he would see us. Then after getting an x-ray for my hand and a cat scan for my head, the doctor told me what I already knew; my hand was broken and my head was fine.
“But I would like for him to stay overnight,” he said, looking at me, “just for observation.”
“Will he be okay?” Mom asked worriedly. The doctor smiled.
“Yes, he will be fine,” he insisted her. “You two can probably go get coffee or something while I put Neil’s cast on.” Mom looked at me as though I was dying but Dad put his arm around her and led her out of the room.
“There isn’t much time,” the doctor said quickly, turning to me. “I’m Dr. Charles Selrack. I work at Conquest but I was sent here to watch over you.”
“You and everyone else,” I mumbled. “Well, what can you do?” He took my broken hand in his own and closed his eyes. I felt the strangest sensation pass through my hand. It felt as though my blood had been replaced with ice water and my skin felt warm, like someone had place it in a bucket of hot water. Within a few seconds of this weird sensation, the pain immediately went away. I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers, staring at it miraculously.
“You fixed it!” I said amazed.
“I’m a healer,” he said. “But before your parents come back, I need to explain something urgent. You must stay away from your friend Kyle Finch.”
“Why?” I said shocked.
“The commodore has his reasons,” Dr. Selrack said, turning around.
“Who’s the commodore?” I asked curiously.
“Pretty much the leader at Conquest and the principal of the academy,” he responded. “Now, what color cast would you like?”
“But you fixed my hand,” I said. He turned around and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, yeah, my parents don’t know it’s not broken anymore,” I mumbled. “Uh, blue’s good.” He came back over and started wrapping my hand.
“What’s wrong with Kyle?” I asked, as he wrapped my hand.
“Nothing’s wrong with him, it’s just... a little difficult to explain,” he said. “You’ll learn about it when you go to the academy.”
“When’s that?” I asked.
“I’m not the one who determines it,” he said. “It’s usually your tutor who will decide when you’re ready or if you’re needed earlier than expected, the commodore will make contact with you.” My tutor… that would be Millie. Oh great. I’m never going to make it to HQ Academy.
Dr. Selrack must have read my expression because he chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about Millie. She’s a little rough around the edges but she’s one of the best tutors the academy has.”
“But is Kyle going to hurt me or anything?” I asked.
“No, he’s not dangerous,” he said, still wrapping my hand. “Like I said, it will all be explained when you arrive at the academy.” He finished my cast and looked up at me.
‘There,” he said. “The outside of it will harden in a minute.”
“Why can’t it be explained to me now?” I asked. “If it was so urgent for me to keep away from Kyle, then why don’t you just tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t explain it,” he said. “The commodore specifically told me that he wanted to explain it to you himself.”
“Is Kyle a super?” I asked.
“No, he’s not,” he answered. “He just has valuable information that could… I’ve said too much.”
“No you haven’t. Go on,” I said encouragingly.
“Listen to me,” he said sternly. “You have to stay away from Kyle Finch. Is that clear?”
“But-”
“Is that clear?”
“But-” I started to say again but my parents entered the room with coffee in their hands. Mom immediately rushed over and gave me a hug.
“My poor baby,” she said, frowning at my cast. “Does it hurt?”
“Not much,” I said, my mind still on my conversation with Dr. Selrack.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have another patient to see,” the doctor said, walking towards the door. “A nurse will be in momentarily to check Neil into a room.”
“Thank you so much,” mom said, kissing my cheek.
“No problem,” he said, looking at mom, then looked at me. “Remember what I said Neil, okay?” He didn’t wait for a response and closed the door.
“What did he say?” Mom asked me.
“He just told me to be careful with my hand,” I shrugged.
“Who would you like to stay with you overnight?” she asked. “Me or your father.”
“Mom, I’m sixteen,” I said. “I think I can sit in a bed all day without your supervision.”
“Do you think I’d let you stay here in this scary hospital all by yourself?” she asked incredulously.
“Come on, Karen,” Dad moaned. “He’s two years from being tried as an adult. He can drive. He is perfectly capable of staying here by himself.”
“Tried as an adult?” I repeated, staring at him.
“Well, we all know you’re going to jail sooner or later,” he shrugged.
“Fine,” Mom huffed. “We’ll leave you here, ok? But if you need anything, just call. We’ll go home and I’ll come back and bring you a few things.” A nurse walked in, handed me a robe, and gave a few papers to my parents to sign.
“Stop babying him,” Dad said, signing the papers. “We’ll bring him the newspaper to entertain himself with.”
“Um, actually, could you bring my laptop?” I asked, as the nurse gathered the papers and left.
“When I was your age, we used rocks to entertain us,” he said, pointing his finger at me. “I’ll bring you David Copperfield. That ought to keep you entertained.” And then he left. Mom kissed me on the forehead and gave me a spine crushing hug.
“Karen!” I heard Dad bark. She gave me another kiss and left the room. I rolled my eyes, changed into my robe and walked out of the room. A nurse walked over with a wheel chair.
“Sit down,” she said, pointing to the chair.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I don’t even know why I’m staying overnight.”
“The doctor was concerned that if you hit your head hard enough to knock yourself out for an hour and a half, then you might have a minor concussion,” she said. “Sit.” I took her order and sat down in the chair. She rolled me into the elevator, pressed the button, and the doors closed.
“Now, seeing as your 16 and five months old, you will be in the children’s ward,” she said.
“You’re kidding,” I said.
“No, unfortunately, I’m not,” she said as the doors opened revealing walls painted with jungle animals.
“How old do you have to be to not be in the children’s ward?” I asked, as she pushed me down the hall.
“16 years and six months,” she said. “You are one very unlucky boy.”
“I’m not a boy,” I grumbled, remembering that burglar had called me that too.
“You will be sharing a room with Holden,” the nurse said, turning into a room that had fish painted on the walls. I saw a little boy about ten years old sitting in the bed nearest to the door. He was coloring in a Power Ranger coloring book and looked up at me.
“Hey,” he said in a nasally voice. The nurse leaned down to my ear.
“He’s the devil child, that’s what he is,” she warned me. “I’d sleep with one eye open if I were you.”
“Thanks,” I said meekly, standing up and sitting on the bed next to the window, and the nurse left. I looked over at Holden. He looked pretty innocent to me. He had unusually long brown hair that covered most of his skinny, pale face. His small left hand held a red crayon and was coloring in a Power Ranger. He stopped coloring, peeked around the corner to see if the nurse was gone, and continued coloring.
“You’re The Wonder,” he said, nonchalantly. “My dad’s told me all about you.”
“Um…” I trailed off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah you do,” he said, picking up a blue crayon. “You want to know why I’m here?”
“Why?”
“I can’t control my powers and keep hurting myself,” he said, setting the crayon down and looking at his masterpiece. “This is my fourth time in the hospital this month.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You can stop pretending,” he said. “I know you’re The Wonder.” I didn’t say anything.
“I can’t go to the academy yet,” he said, turning the page. “I’m too little. But Dr. Selrack said that he was trying to get the commodore to let me in early. He keeps telling him that I keep hurting myself and I need to learn to control my powers.”
“What-”
“I can control fire and heat,” he said, picking up the red crayon again. “But I keep doing it accidentally and I burn myself.”
“Oh, sorry,” I said but he just shrugged.
“All the doctors and nurses here think I’m just playing with matches and won’t learn my lesson,” he said. “But Dr. Selrack always vouches for me. He heals my burns, you see? But of course I’ve got to wrap them up and all. Did he heal your hand?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Um, how old are you?”
“I’ll be ten in about a week,” he said, setting the crayon down and looking up at me. His hair covered his eyes.
“Um, do you mind if I turn on the TV?” I asked, nodding at the television set that was hanging from the ceiling. He nodded, and I grabbed the remote from the table in between us. I pressed on and flipped to the local news station.
“In other news, a house was broken into today around 4 PM,” the newscaster said. “But it was no ordinary burglar. This burglar had super powers. Luckily, The Wonder was flying by this neighborhood, heard a crash, and went to investigate. For the full story, let’s go to Ulanda Pearson.” The scene cut to a young woman holding a microphone, standing in front of my house.
“Thank you Chet,” said Ulanda Pearson. “The break in today took place at 476 Cheschire Drive. Fortunately, no one was hurt and nothing was taken from the residence but a woman was in the house at the time of the break in. The Wonder happened to be flying above when he heard a crash and went to investigate. I am here with Chief of Police, William Neamsburg. Sir, can you tell us what happened today?”
William Neamsburg described it just as I had described it to him earlier that day. Holden continued coloring, ignoring the TV.
“And why was The Wonder stricken in agony when you arrived?” the reporter asked.
“He told me that he had attempted to penetrate the other man’s mind but the man used a defensive technique that causes the mind reader to experience a sharp pain in their head,” William Neamsburg said.
“Do you think that The Wonder is no longer capable of using his mind reading power?” the reporter asked. Holden jerked his head up.
“Now, why would you say that?”
“Well, he’s a superhero,” the reporter said. “He should be able to use his powers without being doubled over in pain. Do you think he’s not strong enough?”
“Strong enough to do what?”
“To protect Breezy Point,” the reporter said. My temper started rising.
“I have complete confidence in him,” William Neamsburg said proudly.
“But if your squad hadn’t reported to the house at that time, the other man would have strangled and killed The Wonder. Do you honestly believe that we should depend on a superhero who had to have the police save him?”
“Look, lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about but without The Wonder here, the whole town would be in mortal danger.”
“But The Wonder had his hand broken and a head injury. It sounds to me like he’s getting weak.”
“I’m not weak,” I said through gritted teeth to the TV. Holden said nothing but was watching intently.
“He’s not weak, he just had a moment of weakness,” William Neamsburg said.
“So you admit it. You think The Wonder is weak,” the reporter said. I couldn’t take another minute and turned the TV off.
“It’s all a lie,” I mumbled angrily to myself, still not believing what I just watched. I sudden burst of light came on beside me and I saw a ball of fire floating above Holden’s right hand. It disappeared almost as quickly as it came but his hand was raw and burned now. He didn’t even seem to notice it though.
“That makes me so mad,” he said through clenched teeth. “You risked your neck to save that lady and all you get in return is a concussion, a broken hand, and a reporter saying you’re weak.”
“I’m gonna go get a nurse,” I said, pushing my covers back. “You need your hand fixed.”
“It’s okay,” he said, looking down at his hand, as though just noticing it. His hand was shaking and looked like a bear had just ripped off the top layer of skin. He held it close to his stomach and reached over and pressed a button on the side of his bed.
“The nurse is on her way,” he said, wincing a little. A minute later, a nurse walked in, looking frustrated, and carrying a roll of gauze, a small pan, and a tube of ointment. She filled the pan up with cold water from the sink and set it on the tray at the foot of Holden’s bed. She pushed the tray to Holden’s right side.
“Okay, just soak it,” she said, taking his right hand and placing it in the pan. He winced at the cold touch but relaxed.
“Thanks,” he said quietly. “Where’s Dr. Selrack?”
“He’s off duty,” the nurse said. “Honestly. How did you burn yourself this time?”
“Hot water,” he said. “I was washing my hands and the water was too hot.”
“Is that so?” she said skeptically, crossing her arms. Holden looked down, and the nurse turned her attention to me.
“Didn’t anyone hook you up to your IV?”
“No,” I said. She rolled her eyes and turned around, prepping the IV. About a minute later, she stuck the needle in my arm, and taped it down.
“Ouch,” I said, rubbing it. “That actually kind of hurt.”
“Well, it’s a big needle,” she said, walking back to Holden. She took his hand out of the pan, dried it, squeezed the ointment on his hand and wrapped it in gauze.
“Be more careful sweetheart,” she said, leaving the room. After a few moments, I spoke.
“You okay?” I said gently. He nodded.
“Dr. Selrack’s not here to heal it,” he said, lying down. “I’ll have to deal with it until he comes back tomorrow.”
“Anything I can do?” I asked.
“No, not really,” he said. “Sorry you had to see that. Whenever I get angry, I… well…”
“It’s okay,” I said.
“So, what’s it like having more than one power?” he asked curiously.
“Don’t you have more than one power?” I asked. He shook his head.
“No, until you came along, every super from the beginning had only one power,” he said. “It was kind a huge epidemic when it got around that there was a super with not one, not two, but four powers. I wasn’t born yet but my dad told me all about it. He said that they suspected you weren’t really human.”
“And a non-human can have powers?” I asked.
“Well, yeah,” he said. “There have been supers at Conquest who weren’t actually human. Someone had kind of “created” them, just like Frankenstein created his monster. They were given injections or fed special drugs or something like that.”
“That’s kind of 19th century evil mutation, don’t you think?”
“Not really,” he shrugged. “In fact, if a kid’s born into a family of supers and he doesn’t have any powers, sometimes the parents give their kid the drug.”
“Why?”
“Well, they want their kid to have powers, right? It’s almost a disgrace to be born into a super family and not have any powers. The only other reason why someone would be given power drugs is this. About fifty years ago, this one kid was the academy and something went really wrong. He got really hurt and the only way to save him was to give him a drug that gave him the power to travel between the worlds. So, the kid died and went to world five, where you go when you die, and then came back to our world.”
“There is more than one world?” I said in disbelief.
“Well, technically they’re dimensions,” he said, pushing his coloring book and crayons to the side. “But yeah. I think there are six, maybe six and a half.”
“A half?”
“Well, they’re not sure if it’s a real dimension or not,” he clarified. “It might just be an extension of world number three.” I opened my mouth to ask more but there was a knock on the door. My dad walked over to my bed, glancing at Holden, who had rolled over and pretended to go to sleep, and dropped a book on my lap.
“David Copperfield,” I said, picking it up. “You weren’t kidding.”
“When have I ever kidded?” he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
“How’s mom?”
“Oh, she passed out when we got home,” he shrugged. “She watched the news story about the break in and got really mad at that reporter for calling that super hero freak weak.” Keep it cool, Neil, keep it cool.
“Well, is she okay?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s fine, but I told her I wasn’t going to let her drive back here,” he said. “Did you see the news?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Unbelievable, right?”
“Yeah,” he said chuckling. “I can’t believe it took this town this long to realize that Wonder kid is a wuss.”
“But I would like for him to stay overnight,” he said, looking at me, “just for observation.”
“Will he be okay?” Mom asked worriedly. The doctor smiled.
“Yes, he will be fine,” he insisted her. “You two can probably go get coffee or something while I put Neil’s cast on.” Mom looked at me as though I was dying but Dad put his arm around her and led her out of the room.
“There isn’t much time,” the doctor said quickly, turning to me. “I’m Dr. Charles Selrack. I work at Conquest but I was sent here to watch over you.”
“You and everyone else,” I mumbled. “Well, what can you do?” He took my broken hand in his own and closed his eyes. I felt the strangest sensation pass through my hand. It felt as though my blood had been replaced with ice water and my skin felt warm, like someone had place it in a bucket of hot water. Within a few seconds of this weird sensation, the pain immediately went away. I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers, staring at it miraculously.
“You fixed it!” I said amazed.
“I’m a healer,” he said. “But before your parents come back, I need to explain something urgent. You must stay away from your friend Kyle Finch.”
“Why?” I said shocked.
“The commodore has his reasons,” Dr. Selrack said, turning around.
“Who’s the commodore?” I asked curiously.
“Pretty much the leader at Conquest and the principal of the academy,” he responded. “Now, what color cast would you like?”
“But you fixed my hand,” I said. He turned around and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, yeah, my parents don’t know it’s not broken anymore,” I mumbled. “Uh, blue’s good.” He came back over and started wrapping my hand.
“What’s wrong with Kyle?” I asked, as he wrapped my hand.
“Nothing’s wrong with him, it’s just... a little difficult to explain,” he said. “You’ll learn about it when you go to the academy.”
“When’s that?” I asked.
“I’m not the one who determines it,” he said. “It’s usually your tutor who will decide when you’re ready or if you’re needed earlier than expected, the commodore will make contact with you.” My tutor… that would be Millie. Oh great. I’m never going to make it to HQ Academy.
Dr. Selrack must have read my expression because he chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about Millie. She’s a little rough around the edges but she’s one of the best tutors the academy has.”
“But is Kyle going to hurt me or anything?” I asked.
“No, he’s not dangerous,” he said, still wrapping my hand. “Like I said, it will all be explained when you arrive at the academy.” He finished my cast and looked up at me.
‘There,” he said. “The outside of it will harden in a minute.”
“Why can’t it be explained to me now?” I asked. “If it was so urgent for me to keep away from Kyle, then why don’t you just tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t explain it,” he said. “The commodore specifically told me that he wanted to explain it to you himself.”
“Is Kyle a super?” I asked.
“No, he’s not,” he answered. “He just has valuable information that could… I’ve said too much.”
“No you haven’t. Go on,” I said encouragingly.
“Listen to me,” he said sternly. “You have to stay away from Kyle Finch. Is that clear?”
“But-”
“Is that clear?”
“But-” I started to say again but my parents entered the room with coffee in their hands. Mom immediately rushed over and gave me a hug.
“My poor baby,” she said, frowning at my cast. “Does it hurt?”
“Not much,” I said, my mind still on my conversation with Dr. Selrack.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have another patient to see,” the doctor said, walking towards the door. “A nurse will be in momentarily to check Neil into a room.”
“Thank you so much,” mom said, kissing my cheek.
“No problem,” he said, looking at mom, then looked at me. “Remember what I said Neil, okay?” He didn’t wait for a response and closed the door.
“What did he say?” Mom asked me.
“He just told me to be careful with my hand,” I shrugged.
“Who would you like to stay with you overnight?” she asked. “Me or your father.”
“Mom, I’m sixteen,” I said. “I think I can sit in a bed all day without your supervision.”
“Do you think I’d let you stay here in this scary hospital all by yourself?” she asked incredulously.
“Come on, Karen,” Dad moaned. “He’s two years from being tried as an adult. He can drive. He is perfectly capable of staying here by himself.”
“Tried as an adult?” I repeated, staring at him.
“Well, we all know you’re going to jail sooner or later,” he shrugged.
“Fine,” Mom huffed. “We’ll leave you here, ok? But if you need anything, just call. We’ll go home and I’ll come back and bring you a few things.” A nurse walked in, handed me a robe, and gave a few papers to my parents to sign.
“Stop babying him,” Dad said, signing the papers. “We’ll bring him the newspaper to entertain himself with.”
“Um, actually, could you bring my laptop?” I asked, as the nurse gathered the papers and left.
“When I was your age, we used rocks to entertain us,” he said, pointing his finger at me. “I’ll bring you David Copperfield. That ought to keep you entertained.” And then he left. Mom kissed me on the forehead and gave me a spine crushing hug.
“Karen!” I heard Dad bark. She gave me another kiss and left the room. I rolled my eyes, changed into my robe and walked out of the room. A nurse walked over with a wheel chair.
“Sit down,” she said, pointing to the chair.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I don’t even know why I’m staying overnight.”
“The doctor was concerned that if you hit your head hard enough to knock yourself out for an hour and a half, then you might have a minor concussion,” she said. “Sit.” I took her order and sat down in the chair. She rolled me into the elevator, pressed the button, and the doors closed.
“Now, seeing as your 16 and five months old, you will be in the children’s ward,” she said.
“You’re kidding,” I said.
“No, unfortunately, I’m not,” she said as the doors opened revealing walls painted with jungle animals.
“How old do you have to be to not be in the children’s ward?” I asked, as she pushed me down the hall.
“16 years and six months,” she said. “You are one very unlucky boy.”
“I’m not a boy,” I grumbled, remembering that burglar had called me that too.
“You will be sharing a room with Holden,” the nurse said, turning into a room that had fish painted on the walls. I saw a little boy about ten years old sitting in the bed nearest to the door. He was coloring in a Power Ranger coloring book and looked up at me.
“Hey,” he said in a nasally voice. The nurse leaned down to my ear.
“He’s the devil child, that’s what he is,” she warned me. “I’d sleep with one eye open if I were you.”
“Thanks,” I said meekly, standing up and sitting on the bed next to the window, and the nurse left. I looked over at Holden. He looked pretty innocent to me. He had unusually long brown hair that covered most of his skinny, pale face. His small left hand held a red crayon and was coloring in a Power Ranger. He stopped coloring, peeked around the corner to see if the nurse was gone, and continued coloring.
“You’re The Wonder,” he said, nonchalantly. “My dad’s told me all about you.”
“Um…” I trailed off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah you do,” he said, picking up a blue crayon. “You want to know why I’m here?”
“Why?”
“I can’t control my powers and keep hurting myself,” he said, setting the crayon down and looking at his masterpiece. “This is my fourth time in the hospital this month.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You can stop pretending,” he said. “I know you’re The Wonder.” I didn’t say anything.
“I can’t go to the academy yet,” he said, turning the page. “I’m too little. But Dr. Selrack said that he was trying to get the commodore to let me in early. He keeps telling him that I keep hurting myself and I need to learn to control my powers.”
“What-”
“I can control fire and heat,” he said, picking up the red crayon again. “But I keep doing it accidentally and I burn myself.”
“Oh, sorry,” I said but he just shrugged.
“All the doctors and nurses here think I’m just playing with matches and won’t learn my lesson,” he said. “But Dr. Selrack always vouches for me. He heals my burns, you see? But of course I’ve got to wrap them up and all. Did he heal your hand?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Um, how old are you?”
“I’ll be ten in about a week,” he said, setting the crayon down and looking up at me. His hair covered his eyes.
“Um, do you mind if I turn on the TV?” I asked, nodding at the television set that was hanging from the ceiling. He nodded, and I grabbed the remote from the table in between us. I pressed on and flipped to the local news station.
“In other news, a house was broken into today around 4 PM,” the newscaster said. “But it was no ordinary burglar. This burglar had super powers. Luckily, The Wonder was flying by this neighborhood, heard a crash, and went to investigate. For the full story, let’s go to Ulanda Pearson.” The scene cut to a young woman holding a microphone, standing in front of my house.
“Thank you Chet,” said Ulanda Pearson. “The break in today took place at 476 Cheschire Drive. Fortunately, no one was hurt and nothing was taken from the residence but a woman was in the house at the time of the break in. The Wonder happened to be flying above when he heard a crash and went to investigate. I am here with Chief of Police, William Neamsburg. Sir, can you tell us what happened today?”
William Neamsburg described it just as I had described it to him earlier that day. Holden continued coloring, ignoring the TV.
“And why was The Wonder stricken in agony when you arrived?” the reporter asked.
“He told me that he had attempted to penetrate the other man’s mind but the man used a defensive technique that causes the mind reader to experience a sharp pain in their head,” William Neamsburg said.
“Do you think that The Wonder is no longer capable of using his mind reading power?” the reporter asked. Holden jerked his head up.
“Now, why would you say that?”
“Well, he’s a superhero,” the reporter said. “He should be able to use his powers without being doubled over in pain. Do you think he’s not strong enough?”
“Strong enough to do what?”
“To protect Breezy Point,” the reporter said. My temper started rising.
“I have complete confidence in him,” William Neamsburg said proudly.
“But if your squad hadn’t reported to the house at that time, the other man would have strangled and killed The Wonder. Do you honestly believe that we should depend on a superhero who had to have the police save him?”
“Look, lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about but without The Wonder here, the whole town would be in mortal danger.”
“But The Wonder had his hand broken and a head injury. It sounds to me like he’s getting weak.”
“I’m not weak,” I said through gritted teeth to the TV. Holden said nothing but was watching intently.
“He’s not weak, he just had a moment of weakness,” William Neamsburg said.
“So you admit it. You think The Wonder is weak,” the reporter said. I couldn’t take another minute and turned the TV off.
“It’s all a lie,” I mumbled angrily to myself, still not believing what I just watched. I sudden burst of light came on beside me and I saw a ball of fire floating above Holden’s right hand. It disappeared almost as quickly as it came but his hand was raw and burned now. He didn’t even seem to notice it though.
“That makes me so mad,” he said through clenched teeth. “You risked your neck to save that lady and all you get in return is a concussion, a broken hand, and a reporter saying you’re weak.”
“I’m gonna go get a nurse,” I said, pushing my covers back. “You need your hand fixed.”
“It’s okay,” he said, looking down at his hand, as though just noticing it. His hand was shaking and looked like a bear had just ripped off the top layer of skin. He held it close to his stomach and reached over and pressed a button on the side of his bed.
“The nurse is on her way,” he said, wincing a little. A minute later, a nurse walked in, looking frustrated, and carrying a roll of gauze, a small pan, and a tube of ointment. She filled the pan up with cold water from the sink and set it on the tray at the foot of Holden’s bed. She pushed the tray to Holden’s right side.
“Okay, just soak it,” she said, taking his right hand and placing it in the pan. He winced at the cold touch but relaxed.
“Thanks,” he said quietly. “Where’s Dr. Selrack?”
“He’s off duty,” the nurse said. “Honestly. How did you burn yourself this time?”
“Hot water,” he said. “I was washing my hands and the water was too hot.”
“Is that so?” she said skeptically, crossing her arms. Holden looked down, and the nurse turned her attention to me.
“Didn’t anyone hook you up to your IV?”
“No,” I said. She rolled her eyes and turned around, prepping the IV. About a minute later, she stuck the needle in my arm, and taped it down.
“Ouch,” I said, rubbing it. “That actually kind of hurt.”
“Well, it’s a big needle,” she said, walking back to Holden. She took his hand out of the pan, dried it, squeezed the ointment on his hand and wrapped it in gauze.
“Be more careful sweetheart,” she said, leaving the room. After a few moments, I spoke.
“You okay?” I said gently. He nodded.
“Dr. Selrack’s not here to heal it,” he said, lying down. “I’ll have to deal with it until he comes back tomorrow.”
“Anything I can do?” I asked.
“No, not really,” he said. “Sorry you had to see that. Whenever I get angry, I… well…”
“It’s okay,” I said.
“So, what’s it like having more than one power?” he asked curiously.
“Don’t you have more than one power?” I asked. He shook his head.
“No, until you came along, every super from the beginning had only one power,” he said. “It was kind a huge epidemic when it got around that there was a super with not one, not two, but four powers. I wasn’t born yet but my dad told me all about it. He said that they suspected you weren’t really human.”
“And a non-human can have powers?” I asked.
“Well, yeah,” he said. “There have been supers at Conquest who weren’t actually human. Someone had kind of “created” them, just like Frankenstein created his monster. They were given injections or fed special drugs or something like that.”
“That’s kind of 19th century evil mutation, don’t you think?”
“Not really,” he shrugged. “In fact, if a kid’s born into a family of supers and he doesn’t have any powers, sometimes the parents give their kid the drug.”
“Why?”
“Well, they want their kid to have powers, right? It’s almost a disgrace to be born into a super family and not have any powers. The only other reason why someone would be given power drugs is this. About fifty years ago, this one kid was the academy and something went really wrong. He got really hurt and the only way to save him was to give him a drug that gave him the power to travel between the worlds. So, the kid died and went to world five, where you go when you die, and then came back to our world.”
“There is more than one world?” I said in disbelief.
“Well, technically they’re dimensions,” he said, pushing his coloring book and crayons to the side. “But yeah. I think there are six, maybe six and a half.”
“A half?”
“Well, they’re not sure if it’s a real dimension or not,” he clarified. “It might just be an extension of world number three.” I opened my mouth to ask more but there was a knock on the door. My dad walked over to my bed, glancing at Holden, who had rolled over and pretended to go to sleep, and dropped a book on my lap.
“David Copperfield,” I said, picking it up. “You weren’t kidding.”
“When have I ever kidded?” he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
“How’s mom?”
“Oh, she passed out when we got home,” he shrugged. “She watched the news story about the break in and got really mad at that reporter for calling that super hero freak weak.” Keep it cool, Neil, keep it cool.
“Well, is she okay?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s fine, but I told her I wasn’t going to let her drive back here,” he said. “Did you see the news?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Unbelievable, right?”
“Yeah,” he said chuckling. “I can’t believe it took this town this long to realize that Wonder kid is a wuss.”
♠ ♠ ♠
hey guys! i'm back! but don't expect to see a lot of frequent updates for a while. so i've been writing this story on my school computer but it got collected. i have the story on my home computer but since i have four other family members, i don't always get to get on the computer so during the summer, updates might be kinda slow but i promise, i won't abandon this story. that's one of my pet peeves... those writers who just stop writing their stories cuz i'm like "no! this is good! what's going to happen!!"...
ok, done rambling.