CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT - CAN YOU REMEMBER?
Today was the day.
Brian couldn’t eat as he sat in the breakfast hall with a dismal bowl of cereal. The food was good, home grown and home made in a local village he’d been told. It tasted so much better than the artificial stuff he was used to in his own time. He closed his eyes. That time seemed so far away now. He’d become so deeply involved with this time that he almost felt like he was beginning to forget his old life.
He spooned up some cereal and then let it drop. He couldn’t eat. He placed the spoon back down and then checked his watch. There was another forty minutes before he was to go down to the med centre and see B. They were going to wake him up today.
No matter how many times Brian and Sammy assured themselves and one another, there was still a terrifying possibility that everything would go wrong. Over the past twenty-four hours Brian had heard everything about B’s behaviour from the violence to the incredible mental abilities. How was that possible? Did the human mind really possess such terrible actions?
He was running his hand through his hair, messing up the curls and making them stick up in every direction. He wanted to cover his face up and stay in the darkness forever. Everything would be easier in oblivion it seemed. He tried to say a prayer to God, begging him to let B be all right. The boy had been through so much. Brian had never known anyone to have such a terrible life.
Standing up, he took the bowl and placed it on the side with everybody else’s empty crockery. It was no use trying to swallow anything else. If he forced himself then he would only bring it all back up in a violent attack of nausea.
Sammy was already in the med centre by his brother’s side. He turned and smiled at Brian. “You too, huh?”
Brian nodded as he pulled up a seat beside him. “I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t do anything.” He stared down at B. He’d only visited him a few times and each time he looked no different. B’s face was still pale, his hair still stuck to his forehead. “Why does he look so ill?” he whispered.
“He’s been asleep for so long. The doctors say he’ll regain some colour the moment he wakes up, but he’ll definitely feel a little faint.” He ran a hand over B’s arm. “They say medical readings indicate he’s back to normal, but they don’t know the damage that’s been done to his mind. That’s something no one could ever measure. The same goes for memories.” Sammy paused for a moment and Brian saw him gulp and bite his lip. “But from what I saw, he seemed to be regaining some of them. He’ll be fine.” His voice was firm, but the paleness of his face gave him away.
Nick entered the room, a tray of medical substances in his arms. He stopped as he saw them both. “I should have known,” he said softly as he offered a smile. “We just need to wait for Rob to get here and then we’ll wake him.” He placed the tray down and began to load a syringe up. “This is what we’re going to use.”
Brian nodded numbly. He couldn’t believe that when B woke up they could be faced with a monster. B had only woken up once since arriving home, according to Sammy. He’d then proceeded to destroy the entire room before they’d sedated him. He reached out and placed his hand over B’s. He looked so far from that violent creature. But then again, he had looked just as sweet on the hill. Brian had never thought he’d destroy anything.
Sammy nudged Brian slightly and, looking up, he saw another doctor come striding in. Rob, the head doctor. He nodded at the two of them. “I thought you’d be here early.” He glanced at Nick. “Everything ready?”
Nick nodded. His lips were pursed, as they always were whenever he was nervous. He held out the needle for Rob to take. The older doctor was checking some readings and he nodded in satisfaction. He glanced at Brian and Sammy. “Okay, everything looks good and we’ve done everything we can for him. Now it’s up to him. He might try and panic a bit when he wakes up, try and keep him calm and reassure him. He might be disorientated so don’t be surprised if it takes him a few minutes to remember who you are.”
Brian could not bring himself to even move or give any kind of reaction to Rob’s words. He’d be sick if B did not remember. He looked across at Sammy and saw that his face was as set as his own.
“We understand,” Sammy croaked.
“Right,” Rob said. “We have another needle prepared in case there is a problem. We’ll have to put him back to sleep until we think of something else, but I’m hoping and I’m confident there should be some improvement at least.”
Some improvement, but not a complete recovery. Brian could feel his heart. It felt like it was going to leap out of him.
Rob was leaning over and pressing the tip of the needle against B’s upper arm. Even though he hated needles, Brian watched intently as it pierced the skin. A thin trickle of blood began to run over the skin. Gently Rob pulled the needle away and then took several steps back to give them room.
Brian exchanged a look with Sammy and then he crossed to B’s other side so that they were either side of him. He’d see one of them then whichever way he looked at first. He reached out and took one of B’s hands, gently rubbing the fingers and begging him to awaken.
B was still perfectly still and for a moment Brian wondered if the drug had taken effect. Before he could look at Nick or Rob though, B’s eyes were flickering. His fingers twitched and curled about Brian’s own. A tiny sigh escaped his mouth and then he moved as if to make himself more comfortable upon the bed. Slowly he rolled towards Brian and then his eyes opened to stare at him with their greenness.
Brian opened his mouth to say something. He saw a mistiness in B’s eyes before it cleared and he just stared at him.
“Hey dad.” He smiled.
Two words. That was all it took. His face crinkle for a moment and then he felt like a bubble was rising in his throat. The moment it reached his mouth, he burst into tears. His chest heaved and he clutched B’s hand tightly. Every nightmare involving his son was swept away by tears. None of that mattered anymore. All the pain he’d felt was worth it just to see B now. He silently thanked Bri for not letting him fall into oblivion. He would have missed this.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” B asked urgently. He was blinking sleep from his eyes as he tried to sit up. He did not seem to even be aware of what he had suffered recently.
Even though he tried to answer, no words came to Brian. Eventually Sammy pressed his hand upon his brother’s shoulder. “We were worried about you. You’ve been sleeping for some time.”
Brian turned his head and he saw Sammy’s smile and the tears that he was desperately trying to hold back behind his blue eyes. B and Sammy stared at one another for a moment and then Sammy suddenly pulled B close. The older brother didn’t say anything. He just smiled and clutched B.
Brian smiled at them both. A wave of calm had passed over him. B was going to be okay. Sammy would always look after him. After everything Brian had seen recently, he knew more than ever that there would always be people to take care of him. Darren and the others could easily have feared B and forgotten about him, but they had made every effort to make sure that this happened; that B got better.
After a few moments B pulled away from Sammy and gazed about the medical centre. His eyes were misted with the remnants of sleep and a puzzled frown had appeared upon his face. He pressed a hand to his head and then he turned towards Brian. He gulped as he felt the teen’s eyes tracing his face. He knew what he was going to find.
“I-I’m confused,” B whispered. “You look different, but I still know your appearance. You’re… younger.”
“I’m from the past. You were staying with me.” His mouth was dry. He did not know if he wanted to ask the next question. How much of B’s mind had been obscured by forgetfulness. “Do you remember?”
B seemed to be thinking about it. “You took me to the beach,” he said softly. “I remember.” He closed his eyes and the calm contentedness vanished. “I remember.” His voice was closer to a sob. “I thought I’d been dreaming. My dad…”
Sammy wrapped his arms about B instantly and the younger brother clung to him. Tears had begun to run down his face. His eyes opened and he stared at Brian. Although Brian tried, he found he could not read behind those green eyes. He only knew that B did not hate or resent his presence when he reached out a hand over Sammy’s shoulder. Wordlessly Brian placed his own hand upon it.
The doctors were still standing nearby and only Brian and Sammy knew what their true purpose was. Eventually Sammy released B, but the younger boy kept his hand with Brian’s.
“How much do you remember?” Sammy asked. “You’ve been ill and it’s important that we know.”
B’s hand was trembling slightly, though Brian only knew because he could feel it. He ran a hand through his lank fringe. “Not much,” he confessed in a whisper. “Images. Dad. I thought it was a dream because there was two.” His eyes met Brian’s. “You were there when he…”
“I was,” Brian affirmed. “He was happy to see you again. Very happy.”
“Where was I?” B asked. “It felt like I was there for a long time.”
“A Gerai base,” Sammy answered, placing his hand on B’s arm. “They kidnapped you when you were staying in the past.” He nodded towards Brian.
B’s face remained expressionless. “I remember being kidnapped. I don’t remember the base.” His fingers had tightened on Brian’s hand.
“Do you - ” Sammy began.
“I don’t remember the base,” B repeated instantly. “At all. I remember dad and that’s it. Nothing else.” His voice was firm and he stared at his brother. Brian did not even see him blink.
“Okay then,” Sammy nodded. “The rest isn’t important. You don’t have to think about it.” He rubbed B’s arm.
B nodded slightly. He had bitten his lip and his eyes looked moist again. Brian squeezed his hand. “Do you remember us? And your friends?”
“Of course I do,” B replied. “I could never forget you. Why?”
“You were ill,” Sammy explained. “We were scared in case your memory had been damaged or if you were confused.”
Brian kept his eyes on B, trying to decide how much he actually remembered. His eyes were betraying him, even though his voice was firm and controlled. He was still shaking slightly.
“I do remember,” B whispered. Brian didn’t know what he was referring to. He didn’t ask. He glanced across at Brian. “It feels strange seeing you. I can’t believe…” He lowered his head again.
Brian slipped an arm around him. B was crying for Bri. Brian could never completely be his father. He wasn’t from this time. He didn’t belong here with them, as much as he would like to. “I’m sorry,” he said.
B had leaned his head against his arm, his breathing was faster than normal. He gulped and drew in a rasping breath. “I’m tired,” he said finally.
“It’s natural,” Nick chimed from the side of the room. “Don’t worry. You should try to stay awake for a few hours though. you need some food.”
“I’m not hungry,” B replied.
“Come on BB,” Sammy urged. “We can get something together with dad here. You can go to sleep afterwards. I know you don’t feel like eating either. None of us do, but we have to carry on living.”
B did not reply. Brian saw the haunted look in his eyes. He remembers, he realised he remembers everything. There was so much happening in that base that Brian had never known about. He didn’t know the true extent of what Sammy and B had experienced. Sammy had only told him a little and even he did not know what had happened to B. he guessed that no one ever would.
“It’s over B,” Sammy added firmly. “It’s all over. The last Gerai are gone.”
“That’s what people said last time,” B replied harshly, a little too harshly. Brian saw Nick freeze on the other side of the room. B’s eyes were narrowed and his hand had turned tense. “How do you know they’re right?”
“Because of what I saw,” Sammy replied, not showing any sign that B’s tone had affected him. “I destroyed their research, B. they’ve lost everything. I saw them. They were desperate. They were alone. It’s too late for them now.”
B released Brian’s hand and then laid back down upon the bed, his face against the pillows so that he did not have to look at any of them. “You can never promise,” he said darkly. “You don’t know that they’ll ever leave me alone.”
The voice disturbed Brian. He had never heard B speak in that tone before. There was a chill creeping across his body. What had happened in that base? He remembered the scientist from the Gerai base and the way B had treated him. Brian had not thought about it at the time but B had left him to mental torture with his missing arm. What had that man done to deserve that? B usually would never do that to someone.
Sammy suddenly pulled a small computer chip from his pocket. “I didn’t tell Darren or anybody else about this because I wanted you to be the first to know,” he said in a strange voice.
B slowly turned towards him and his eyes narrowed. “I hate those things,” he said bitterly. “I would rather die than - ”
“I found it in the base,” Sammy interrupted. “I stole lots of things and I was looking through them yesterday. One of them contains a theoretical operation procedure.”
Brian was staring at his son curiously. He trusted him and yet he could not help but think that this would not be good. B would be against any experiments of any kind, especially those devised by the Gerai.
“What kind of procedure?” B asked. His voice held a small warning and Brian realised that the violent tendencies the others had described might take time to completely go away. They might manifest in small moods like this.
“To disable and remove implants in the body.”
B let out a cry. Brian’s head snapped up instantly and he saw every other face whirl towards them. Sammy held out the chip for B. B’s fingers trembled and he gave a sob as he took the chip from his brother. He stared at it.
“It’s Gerai research and I know you hate them for everything, especially their experiments, but this is one you deserve to have. You don’t have to use it. It’s your choice,” Sammy said.
Brian stared across at the blonde and saw the blue eyes flicker up to meet his own. The Gerai’s research had been produced using the blood of others, like B. To use it would be to acknowledge that. B was staring at it still. His lips were trembling. He closed his eyes as tears slid down his cheeks. He bowed his head and then closed his hand around the chip. “Thank you,” he whispered. His other hand reached up to his arm to trace the red scar from his childhood.
Brian placed a hand upon his shoulder and B pressed his face against it. Looking up Brian smiled at Sammy. The blonde’s lips curled and then he reached out and kissed B on the head. “You’re welcome.”