Chapter 24

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It wasn't the kind of fiery blast Nick knew from holomovies, or from his own imagination, or even like the one that had felled his satellite rocket.  Just a low crack. 

The Mercedes his parents had just gotten into jolted backwards several inches, and then came to a halt.  The only signs that anything had happened were the cracked windows and the smoke that was shooting through the chinks like the steam from a boiling coffee pot.

"Doctor! Call a doctor!" Nick screamed as he ran towards the car. He was simultaneously alerting emergency services through his MindWave.

Over Nick's satellite link, Laura's voice cut in. Nick! Where are you, Nick? I've just found evidence the National Unity Church is going to attack your family. Satellite coverage over New York was usually pretty good, but in this underground parking lot the signal was only strong enough to allow for low quality audio and video transmission.

Nick ignored her and kept running. He reached the car before any of the stunned security personnel and yanked at a door handle. 

The handle was hot, and the door was either locked or jammed.

Nick needed to get the door open. He desperately bashed through the deeply cracked bullet proof window with his right hand.  Broken shards of glass cut through his suit and into the flesh of his arm, and three of his knuckles felt like they were broken. After a moment of shock, he used his MindWave to dull the pain and help coordinate his panicked movements. He reached through the broken window with his uninjured hand, found the door lock, undid it, and pulled the door open.

His mother rolled out of the car and onto the ground. Her face was burned away, bone peeking through the blood and ash. Nick made a deep whimpering noise and nearly retched.  Then he gathered himself, stepped over his mother's body and reached through the flames towards his father.

To do so, he had to reach across the length of the back seat, exposing his arms to the inferno within the cabin. Ignoring the pain, he pulled his father out and set him gently on the concrete ground of the parking garage.

His father's body was half burned, half untouched. He coughed and moaned weakly.

Nick's suit had burned away and his arms were covered with bloody blisters, strips of flesh sloughing off in some places, but he barely noticed.

***

"You can't remove a patient from this facility without the correct paperwork. And the patient currently is in no condition to sign the forms," a woman's voice cut through the blackness, followed by receding footsteps.

Nick stirred, and forced an eye open. He saw a familiar face framed by long red hair. "Laura.... What are you doing?" he mumbled through his stupor. Why was his vision so hazy? Had the doctors drugged him?

Laura gave him a reassuring smile. "Time to get you out of here."

"Out ... of here? I need...hospital," protested Nick weakly. The image of his father dying in his arms came back into his mind and he blinked back tears.

Laura turned to the two suited men who flanked her, her movements and speech cursory and commanding. "Take the whole bed. Unplug the machinery. Just leave the IV in."

As the guards moved swiftly to obey her commands, Laura returned her attention to Nick. "This hospital is for humans. I have something better for you than the primitive care offered here. And also, the security here is terrible. If we can get into your room, anyone else can."

Nick groaned as he tried to sit up. Laura's presence made him wary.

Laura walked forward and put her hand on Nick's shoulder. "The painkillers you're on are making you drowsy. Use your MindWave to counteract them. Release serotonin."

Nick blinked as he accessed his MindWave and ordered it to release the hormone that would increase his alertness. In a moment, he felt the web of drowsiness fall away from his mind.

He saw that instead of one of her normal flowing white gowns, Laura was wearing what looked like a matte grey flight suit with padding around the shoulders and torso, and thick metallic bracelets around her lower arms.

"Do you remember what happened?" Laura asked.

Nick couldn't bring himself to say the words, so he just slowly inclined and declined his head. First Sarah, and now his parents. He had terrible fights with everyone he loved, and then they died. Now he recalled enough to make him not just wary around Laura, but furious at her. He suspected that she had been behind the bombing that killed his parents.

"It's good that you remember. And now, we have to get out of here."

A surge of fear helped him clear the remaining fog from his mind. He was acutely aware that he was helpless and Laura was accompanied by at least two men. "Where are you planning to take me?"

"A better hospital."

"You built a hospital?"

"No," she said with a wink. "Your father did."

Before Nick had a chance to respond, another suited man at the door spoke sharply. "My Lady!"

Outside the room, two police officers were arriving.  "This room is under police guard. All of you out, right now!" one of them shouted, while the other dropped a cup of coffee as he spoke softly into a radio headset. Both had their hands on firearms.

The two suited men who had disconnected the monitors from Nick's body and were preparing to push his bed out of the room smoothly reached towards their jackets, as if preparing to pull out weapons.

With a flick of her eyes, Laura ordered her acolytes to stand down.

The two officers pushed their way into the room, hands still on their weapons. "All of you leave, now!" commanded the first one through the door.

A look of contempt and anger flashed across Laura's face, but she forced it into a smile and turned towards the police. She could not hide the haughty and condescending tone in her voice. "This patient wants to leave this hospital and is entitled to do so."

"I said get out of this room!" barked back the officer, drawing his pistol.

Laura calmly raised her right arm in the direction of the two guards. Her hand was open and empty, as if warding off the threat of being shot, and yet instead of flinching away, she leaned forward slightly.

There was a flash of light followed immediately by a sharp sound like a clap of thunder, which Nick felt in his bones as much as he heard with his ears. The two officers grunted and fell to the floor. A nurse who had just run to the doorway also leaned heavily against the door frame and slid to prone position.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Nick.

Laura gestured towards one of the suited men. "Give Lord Vinicius the form to sign so we don't have any more drama."

The acolyte pulled a small folder out of a pocket in his suit and removed a neatly folded piece of paper and a pen. He smoothed out the paper, removed the cap of the pen, and, with a deferential bow of his head, carefully put both on Nick's chest as he lay in bed.

"What's this?" Nick asked, bewildered.

Laura walked over to his bedside and explained: "Just a petition to be released from the hospital's care. They can't keep you here against your will."

"I can't sign it." Nick gestured with his chin to his heavily bandaged hands.

"Easy," said Laura with a little grin. She briskly pulled a cord out of a side pocket in her flight suit, and used it to connect Nick's MindWave to her own. "You can use my hands."

Now that her MindWave was connected directly to Nick's, Laura spoke to him via the device, so her own guards could not overhear.

Don't worry about the police officers. It's just an electro laser.

Are they - Nick didn't dare finish the sentence.

Dead? No! Laura's tone suggested she was amused by the idea. Just stunned, as if I used a Taser on them.  Imagine the public relations disaster if we barged into a hospital and started killing nurses. It's all a misunderstanding over some silly paperwork. So please go ahead and sign the form.

I'm not going to. I'm staying here. Despite her show of force, Laura couldn't actually kidnap him. As soon as she was gone, he would demand to speak to the police immediately.

She smiled at him, like a mother reasoning with a recalcitrant child. Oh Nick, do you really think you have any choice?

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False Idols (and its sequel Do No Evil) are available for sale elsewhere but this novel is free on Wattpad.

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