Generation 2, Chapter 23 Part 2

 

Peter walked into the silent, semi-dark room where a young man was asleep in a chair beside a young woman. Attempting to be as unobtrusive as possible Peter approached them. He was aware the young woman was quite pretty despite her alien features, he gently lifted her arm to adjust it's position to allow him to take a blood sample. The young man stirred, opening his eyes he jumped to his feet in alarm, demanding "Who are you?"

"I'm Peter Van Winkle. Your father-in-law called you to expect me," Peter explained.

Shon nodded "Yeah I'm sorry I ...."

"Wasn't expecting me so soon," Peter said brushing off his attempt to apologize. "I know but I thought the sooner I got here the better. I'll try not to disturb you too much."

"No it's ok," Shon said sitting down, yawning. "William told me about you. He has high hopes that you'll be able to put an end to the alien menace."

"I hope so," Peter told him busy with the tests he was running and gathering the samples he needed. "It's probably not a good idea to discuss it here. The aliens have been infiltrating our medical facilities to locate the right people to take. That's how they found my son."

Looking down at Evelyn, Peter found himself remembering when he was sitting along side Adam's bed waiting for him to open his eyes and his heart went out to this young man. "My son had been in an accident and had been unconscious for several days before waking. I know first hand how awful the waiting is and how helpless it makes you feel just sitting here waiting." Looking at Shon with concern he continued "I hope you're not wearing yourself out by being here like this. She's going to need you a lot once she wakes up. Do you have anyone who can help?"

Shaking his head wearily, Shon sighed "Evelyn's family has been doing all they can. Jessica isn't much help and I find it difficult to forgive her for some of things she's done and said to her children. Evelyn's siblings all have their own lives. Casey is away at college preparing for finals and exams. Gene can't handle stressful situations and Evelyn wouldn't want him here at the risk of him relapsing," shrugging Shon continued "Beverly's been great coming and checking on me but she's used up all the time she was given and needs to resume her classes. So it's just me."

"What about Patricia, couldn't she help?" Peter asked.

"She is helping by taking care of our son, Robbie," Shon said staring at Evelyn's face as she lay unmoving.

"What about your parents, couldn't they come and help?" Peter asked trying to find someone who could help him through this ordeal.

Grunting angrily Shon replied "my mom abadoned me when I was 12 and my dad hates me. The only family I had was my Gramma and she's gone now."

Peter offered the only thing he could think of to help alliviate some of the stress saying "Shon, why don't you go home for a few hours. Get some rest, play with your son, then come back. I'll sit with your wife until then."

Shon looked at him debating whether he should take him up on his offer. He instinctively liked this guy and knew William trusted him and that was good enough for him. His mind made up Shon said "I could use a good nights sleep and a hot shower. Thank you." Shon leaned over Evelyn kissing her cheek saying "I'll be back sweetheart."

After Shon left, Peter sat down in Shon's vacated chair.  He wondered how William was able to cope, with a daughter in the hospital, a wife losing her mind and a son being abducted by aliens and carrying a hy-brid child and he thought he had problems. Shaking his head, he opened the file he brought along to read. He was researching early abductions, trying to see similarities between the victims then and now. There was a name that felt significant to him but he couldn't remember what it was. As he scanned through the pages he finally ran acrossed it again.

Olivia, David - could that be a relative of Shon's? He continued to read the medical profile and confirmed that this was Shon's father. He had been an early abductee and the aliens almost had a successful pregnancy, except the child was stillborn. It was only after the abduction, that Shon's father started having problems with drinking and experiencing anger issues. It wasn't hard for Peter to imagine why with what he'd been told about the treatment abductees received from the aliens.

A nurse came in to check on Evelyn. As she finished, Peter asked "Do you know how her accident happened?"

"Are you a member of the family?" she asked.

"Yes," Peter told her "I just came in this morning from out of town."

"Oh I'm so glad. Her young man needs someone to lean on right now." She smiled at him before continuing "the police say her brakes went out but that couldn't have happened. My husband was her mechanic and he just replaced those brakes a week before the accident happened. He's a good mechanic and he can't imagine how the brakes could have failed."

"Maybe a manufacturing flaw," Peter suggested.

"Could be but we'll never know. They can't recover the car from the bottom of the cliff." Smiling at Peter again she said "I have other patients I need to check."

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to hold you up," Peter acknowledged as she nodded and left the room.

Peter was dozing in the chair when Shon arrived later that evening, freshly showered and rested. Opening his eyes Peter smiled saying "you look better."

"Thanks, I feel better," Shon said pulling up another chair. "Any change?" he asked hopefully. At Peter's slight shake of the head, he slumped into his chair. "You're welcome to go to the house and get some rest and a shower," he offered.

"Thank you. I think I'll take you up on the offer," Peter got to his feet, hesitating at the door before turning around and asking, "does your father live around here?"

"I suppose so, I don't really know," Shon shrugged "he doesn't like who I married so I doubt he'd care whether she's in the hospital or not."

Debating with himself whether to mention his suspicions or not Peter said "Shon I have a bad feeling that your wife's accident was manufactured." Shon looked up startled as Peter continued "I spoke with one of the nurses and her husband happens to be your wife's mechanic. Did you know her brakes were just replaced a week before the accident?" Shon shook his head. "Brand new brakes just don't fail for no reason. It could be the brakes were defective from some manufacturing flaw but it could also mean they were tampered with."

"You ... you think they were tampered with, don't you?" Shon stammered.

"I know something about obsessive personalities and the harm they can do. I'm just guessing and have no proof to back up my hunch but your father has a personal vendetta against aliens." Handing the file folder to Shon he said "you should read this. Your father had been an early abductee of the aliens and it was only afterwards that he started to drink heavily and have uncontrollable fits of rage."

Shon stared at the folder in his hands. He now held in his hands the reason why his father was the way he was and all he could feel was panic as he thought of the implications. "You think he may be responsible for Evelyn's accident, don't you?"

"It's a possibility," Peter said putting a hand on Shon's shoulder saying "I think you need to take precautions."

"You're right," Shon mumbled, closing his eyes as he thought of the threats his father had made. He knew his father was going to do something, he should have done more to protect his family.

"Shon I want you to listen to me," Peter said kneeling beside his chair. "If it was foul play and your Dad was involved, you can't bame yourself. I know it's hard and it's natural to blame yourself. But you're not the one at fault. Trust me I've been there. Take precautions but live your life. You can't live in a bubble and I doubt you'd want to."

Shon was about to reply when he was interrupted by a soft voice asking "Shon, where am I? What happened?"