Chapter 19

Suzi’s head throbbed relentlessly, an inexorable drumbeat of pain that threatened to shatter her skull. She longed to cry, but even tears felt like shards of glass against her temples. Screaming was out of the question; it would only amplify the agony. If migraines were ranked on a scale, this one was the pinnacle—the top 1% of all headaches, compounded by the top 1% of those migraines. It felt like ten people’s migraines had converged into a single, searing crescendo.

Someone guided her into a wheelchair, and Suzi tried to curl into a protective ball. Her arms flailed, seeking any position that might alleviate the pressure threatening to burst her brain. She retched, though her stomach was empty—no food since breakfast, a distant memory from twelve hours ago. The wheels of the chair rolled across a hollow-sounding floor, leading her into an unfamiliar room.

Then, a splash of water hit her face, followed by another. The coolness was a balm. Suzi cracked open an eye. Ruth had wheeled her into the bathroom, and Rio was dousing her with water.

“Fill. Sink,” Suzi managed to say between the explosions in her head.

The faucet roared to life, and Suzi submerged her face, the stream providing momentary relief. The heat receded, and some of the throbbing subsided. But her legs gave way, and she slid off the sink, collapsing onto the cold tile.

“Mom! You’re steaming!” Rio’s voice cut through the haze.

“What?” Suzi’s consciousness wavered.

“Suzi!” Ruth’s urgency echoed. “You’re burning up!”

“Get. Nurse.” Suzi’s upper body sagged, and she lay there, half-conscious.

Rio sprinted to the door. “Reed! Get a nurse!”

Returning, Rio soaked her hoodie in the sink, then wrapped it around Suzi’s head. The world blurred, and Suzi surrendered to unconsciousness.

When Suzi woke, she lay in a hospital bed, ice packs under her armpits and on her legs. Annie had taken control—perhaps because she was the more extroverted alter.

“Another goddamned hospital bed!” Judy exclaimed in her head.

Even their internal chatter exacerbated Suzi’s headache, though it had eased greatly.

“I’m starting to think you are stalking me,” a familiar voice said.

Dr. Parker—the physician who had cared for her during the days she slept after the attack on Dr. Adamson—stood by her bed.

“Eh, what’s up, Doc?” Annie-infused Suzi grinned, fulfilling a childhood dream.

“Looney Tunes reference, huh? Not a great sign for permanent brain damage,” Dr. Parker quipped.

“Drain bamage? What’s that?” Suzi laughed, her humor returning.

“Mom, be serious!” Rio scolded.

Reed chuckled from the chair in the corner.

Dr. Parker pressed on. “Do you know what day it is?”

“Honestly, no. I’ve lost track. Probably one that ends with ‘y,’” Suzi replied.

“And who’s the President?” Dr. Parker asked.

“Some old white guy,” Annie/Suzi teased.

“Mom!” Rio repeated, exasperated.

The doctor smiled and laughed too. “Okay, okay. Good guess. You gave us a good scare, Ms. Burch. When the nurse found you, your temperature was recorded at 110 degrees, which should have killed you or, at the very least, rendered you catatonic. Your daughter said you were steaming after she threw water on you.”

He pulled an auto-thermometer from the wall, ran it across her head, and stuck it behind her ear. It chirped. He looked at it.

“One-oh-two now. I’d say you are in the clear. Would you be willing to let us draw some blood to test for infection?”

“Take whatever you want, doc,” she said seductively.

“What about a spinal tap to draw fluid to test for meningitis?”

“Ehh, is that some backdoor action? Maybe on our third date,” she joked again.

“Mother! Seriously?” Rio scolded again.

“Okay, seriously. I feel almost normal. A little like I’m drunk maybe, and I still have a decent headache, but nothing like…” She sat bolt upright. “Aiden!”

Reed stood up, startled at her sitting straight up. The doctor pressed her shoulders against the bed and moved the ice bags back to her armpits.

“He’s alive. He’s stable. They have moved him to a sterilized environment, though, so there will be no visitors, I’m afraid. You can look at him through the plastic.”

“They think I brought in a virus or something, don’t they,” she pondered.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I don’t know what they think, but I think you are just fine. You had an extreme reaction to a traumatic event. Different people deal with trauma in different ways, but I’d like to get that blood work and spinal draw regardless.”

She squinted her eyes at him. “Fine,” she submitted.

“Perfect. I’ll enter the orders and get a nurse to draw them.”

“I’ll tell Grandma and Pops that we’ll be here for a bit longer. I think they are getting tired. Can you take us to the hotel later, Mom?” Reed asked.

“Of course,” she told him.

His thumbs shot up in approval before he exited, the doctor trailing behind him. Alone now, Rio rose, crossing the room to her mother’s bedside. Her hand reached out, fingers curling around her mother’s.

“Mom?” The word was a whisper, a plea.

“Doll?” Her mother’s voice was soft, questioning.

Anger surged through Rio, tightening her grip. “What the hell is going on with you?”

Her mother’s gaze locked onto hers, a silent standoff that lasted an agonizing 15 seconds.

“I don’t know. I can’t even begin to explain.”

“But you know something’s wrong!?”

“Yes.”

Tears welled in Rio’s eyes, her voice choked with fear. “How? When did it start? Is it cancer?”

“I don’t know how. I don’t know when. Maybe in the last week, around the time Dr. Adamson was attacked. And no, I don’t think it’s cancer.”

“Then what? A virus?”

“I don’t think so, but these tests should tell us.”

“I’m scared, Mom.”

“Don’t be,” Annie/Suzi soothed. After a pause, she added, “Do you want me to show you? It might be fun! Or scary.”

“Show me what?”

“I can’t explain it, but I can try to show you. You have to trust me.”

“Okay…”

“Hold my hand and look at me. Stare deep into my eyes.”

Her other hand extended, palm up, and Rio placed her hand in her mother’s. Their gazes locked, unblinking.

Nothing.

“Am I supposed to feel something?” Rio asked.

“I don’t know. It’s not working.”

“Maybe your fever burnt it off?”

“Maybe. I could just be tired. I don’t know.”

The nurse entered, and Rio began to retreat to her seat.

“Don’t go. Hold my hand, please,” Suzi implored.

“For a blood draw?”

“I don’t like needles.”

“Mom, you have like 600 tattoos,” Rio retorted.

“I don’t know what to tell you. AND the spinal tap does hurt. I’ll need you to help me hold still as they shove that steel rod into my spine!”

The nurse nodded in agreement.

“Alright, you big baby,” Rio coddled.

The nurse tied the tourniquet and drew five vials of blood. The needle barely registered, the nurse’s skill evident in her gentle touch.

The nurse then positioned her on her side, her gown opened at the back, her body curled into a fetal position.

The nurse warned her, “You will feel a strong stick.”

“Oh, I like strong sticks!”

“Mother!”

“It’s very important that you stay bent,” the nurse continued. “If you straighten, it could cause irreparable nerve or spinal damage. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Annie squeaked, her breath hitching in anticipation. Rio rolled her eyes but held her mother’s hands.

The nurse’s skill in cerebrospinal fluid extraction was less impressive. Her mother screamed but didn’t move. It felt like the woman was digging for gold in a diamond mine. After a minute of excruciating pain, the nurse withdrew the needle.

“Okay. It’s all done. Please stay like this for 15 minutes before you turn to your back.”

“Aw. I like being on my back,” Rio’s mother told the nurse.

“Fifteen minutes.” The nurse repeated and gathered the samples.

“That wasn’t so bad.”

“What!? Mom! You just…” Rio was at a loss for words, unable to believe her mother’s antics.

Reed entered as the nurse left. Fifteen minutes passed quickly as they chatted.

“Hey, help me up. I need to go to the bathroom,” her mother requested.

Reed and Rio assisted her to her feet, waiting until she regained her balance. Her headache had faded, as had the ice in the ice packs. She made her way to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her. Water ran as she leaned over the sink, staring into the mirror. Her focus narrowed to her face, then her eyes. She concentrated until tunnel vision took over, and reality fell away.

Inside Guillermo, there was no headache. But there was a vision, one that was concerning, if not disturbing. All the personalities but Annie, Judy, and J were asleep in their beds. Judas’ room was pitch black as it was before she made her appearance, and the cell room that contained Azailkahbil was empty, with no red-gold bars.

“Oh, fuck!”Annie exclaimed.

“Yeah, no shit,” Judy said.

“What happened?”

“You know what we know, and we don’t know.”

“Judas?” she called.

No reply came.

“Where is the demon?”

“Disappeared when Judas did,” the protective J voiced.

“When did Judas disappear?”

“Shortly after Aiden,” J said.

“Did we leave them all in Aiden’s body?”

No one had anything else to offer.

She willed herself back into reality. She noted that when it is her decision, it is a much smoother transition than it was when she is forced. She used the facilities and returned to her hospital bed, tossing the no-longer-frozen ice bags on the counter. She sat and wondered if she should go have fun or do the responsible thing. Annie and self-restraint did not go hand-in-hand.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Reed asked.

“Nothing. I’m just lost in thought,” she said. “Do either of you have any gummies?”

“There are gummy bears in the vending machine if you want me to get you some,” Reed said.

“It’s a good thing you are cute, sweety. Those would be missing the intricate ingredient that I desire,” the Annie-enhanced Suzi told him.

“Mom, you don’t need weed right now,” Rio told her.

“Well, I don’t think it’s appropriate to seduce the doctor with you guys here.”

“Wow, Mom,” the twins said at the same time.

“You heard how excited he was to poke me.”

“No. You heard what you wanted to hear. He was not slinging innuendoes at you,” Rio said.

Reed sat back and laughed. “I’m sure they can pump Dad with some Viagra if you need to get your rocks off, Mom.”

“Andrew Reed McCord!” Rio yelled at him.

Annie/Suzi laughed.

“Don’t be a stick in the mud, Andrea Rio McCord,” he mocked. “Do you want her having sex with a stranger or her husband?”

“I don’t want to think about her having sex with anyone!”

“Isn’t it good to know that your parents love each other? We had to have sex for you two to be born.”

“Dad is in a coma. That would be rape.”

“Trust me, hon. He’d be consenting.”

“I’m not listening to this.” Rio grabbed her backpack and plastic bag containing her wet hoodie and grabbed the door.

The doctor came in at the same time.

“Oh, excuse me,” Dr. Parker said as Rio left. “Okay, if you are still feeling well, you can go. The nurse will bring in the discharge papers in the next few minutes. We should get the test results tomorrow morning and we’ll give you a call. Unless you have any questions, you can go ahead and get changed.”

“Thanks, Doc,” she said. She slid off the bed, took her clothes to the bathroom, and changed when the doctor left.

Rio met them in the waiting room and told them about Aiden’s new room where Ruth and Owen had been before they left. Aiden was encased behind a taut panel of plastic, a barrier stretched around a rigid frame. The entrance to his room was guarded by an electronic keypad, its crimson glow a stark contrast to the sterile white surroundings. A stern warning adorned the door: ‘No contamination area. No admittance without precaution.’

Beyond the door was a small antechamber, equipped with vents and sprayers, a final line of defense before one could reach Aiden’s bed and the beeping monitors that kept a constant vigil.

They stood, eyes locked on the window, the silence stretching out.

Finally, Suzi turned to her kids, breaking the silence with a question, “So, should we ask them about the Viagra?”