Fourth Birth: The Oakmont Saga, Book 1

Brager gently lifted his daughter’s body, as his wife protested. “She’s still alive! She’ll come back!” she cried.

“Get in the car,” he ordered everyone, limping toward it with every bit of speed he could manage.

As they pulled out of the yard, he pushed the pedal down hard, throwing gravel and ice all over the place. They made it to the Mat-Su hospital in under 15 minutes, with a couple of cops trying to catch them.

He drove straight into the emergency entrance, slamming the car to a stop, jumping out and grabbing his baby girl, and with no regard for his own injuries. As the cops pulled to a stop, all of them in a defensive posture, he tossed his license and government credentials at one of them, and bolted into the hospital, carrying his little girl like a porcelain doll. Several of them were looking closely at the condition he was in and that of the girl he was carrying.

Before a doctor even asked, he laid her on a gurney and waved a doctor over. “She’s suffered some sort of brain trauma. She stopped breathing for approximately three minutes, but we revived her. She hasn’t woken up and seems unresponsive. Her pupils are non-reactive. We have a doctor with us who has special training with the brain. I can’t tell you her credentials beyond that, but she needs to be involved in my daughter’s care,” he told the doctor that stepped up.

“First, I cannot allow some unknown doctor into my E.R. Second, let me assess the situation before you begin telling me how to do my job,” the doctor said, then waved a couple of nurses over.

“Get vitals and take her for a CT and MRI. Get a neurologist here as quickly as possible,” he told the nurses.

“Yes, doctor,” one of them replied.

“Doctor, her pulse is weak and slowing,” one of the nurses said, concern in her voice.

“Get her into a trauma room,” he ordered, and they all headed into the back, leaving the Brager’s, Aliyah, Rebecca and Stone in the waiting room, feeling helpless.

“What has happened to this young lady?” a nurse asked as she caught sight of Aliyah.

“I think my arm is broke,” Aliyah replied, looking like she could barely stand up.

“Well, let’s have a look at you,” the nurse said, and escorted her to an examination room, with Rebecca following.

Several other nurses and doctors began seeing to all of them, as all of them suffered from the explosion. It took a while, but most of them received treatment for minor burns and a few stitches.

After Randy was treated, having suffered the worst of them, with the possible exception of Aliyah, one of the cops came to him, returning his wallet. “Mr. Brager, I assume your reckless driving had to do with this emergency?” the cop asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Are you going to use your position to wave the ticket?” the cop asked.

“I wouldn’t abuse my position. However, in this case, this was truly government business. It unfortunately caught my daughter as a victim,” Randy told the cop.

The cop looked at him for a moment. “Well, Mr. Brager, being the current situation, I understand your motivation and can’t say I wouldn’t do the same. Please be more careful, should this occur again,” the cop said.

“Thank you, officer,” Randy said, shaking the cop’s hand.

“Good luck with your little girl. I hope she’s alright,” he offered.

“Thank you. I appreciate that. I pray she is,” he replied.

The cops left and they waited for several hours before the ER doctor returned. In that time, Aliyah and Rebecca came back, Aliyah now sporting a purple cast on her arm, along with a couple of stitches on her forehead. Her leggings were gone and she was still limping as they walked back in. She looked like she was about to fall over from exhaustion.

“Is the girl we’re treating your daughter?” the doctor asked.

“She is,” he replied.

“First, her heart has stopped several times while we were working with her. She seems stable now, but we can’t determine what’s wrong. Her CT scans and MRIs are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The neurologist is still studying them. We have no idea, but we suspect that the jumbled brain waves are the reason for her comatose state. We also suspect that it’s the reason her heart has stopped. We honestly don’t know if it will stop again, so we have her in the PICU, until we get a handle on this. I don’t know your position on life support, but I’m not quite ready to list her as brain dead,” he said.

“Doctor, I need to see the brain scans,” Rebecca said.

“What credentials do you have to warrant seeing them?” he asked. She pulled out her ID and handed it to him.

“Alright, I suppose I can’t stop you, but no one else is allowed back there.”

Rebecca left the group, heading back to the radiology room. She entered an office, where there were several monitors, all with different images on them from many different angles.

“Are all of these Melanie?” she asked.

“Is that her name?” the doctor asked.

“Yes.”

“All of the images are from her.”

“The pattern is very different, but at least there’s brain activity,” she remarked.

“You’ve looked at brain scans for her before?” the radiologist asked. The man was a burly man, and very hairy, but seemed to be a gentle man, from his soft speech.

“I’ve been looking at almost weekly scans of her brain for the last several months,” she confirmed.

“So many? Why?” he asked.

“Please forgive me, but that’s top secret,” she replied.

“How are a child’s brain scans top secret?” the doctor asked.

“That’s also top secret. I’m really sorry I can’t tell you, but I truly cannot,” she said, still focusing on the images, turning between them.

“What’s this?” she asked, pointing to a black area, surrounded by deep red.

“The black area is the brain stem, the core of a person’s automatic functions, like breathing and heart beat. Without it, they die. We’re keeping her alive right now with machines. The only reason we aren’t declaring her brain dead is because of all the other activity,” the doctor told her.

“What did she do?” Rebecca mumbled. She pulled out her phone and called Mike back at Oakmont. “Mike, I need you to listen closely. You need to come here and take a look at some images. Don’t let anyone know where you’re going, if you can help it. Bring John with you, if at all possible. We’re at the Mat-Su Regional Hospital in Wasilla, AK. Get here as quickly as possible,” she told him.

“Who are you bringing and why should I allow them in my radiology department?” the doctor asked.

“He’s the head of our mental training department. The man I asked him to bring is our chief radiologist. Both have expertise in this area that you simply don’t have. I mean no offense, but it’s the truth,” she stated.

“I won’t allow some unknown person into this lab,” he said.

“I can have the federal government take full control, if you insist, which would likely shut you down altogether, at least until we finish our work,” she threatened.

“You would shut down the only hospital for miles, just for this one girl?” he asked, incredulity in his voice.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Is she that important?” he asked.

“Yes. She represents billions in research dollars,” she said, knowing she had to give some justification. “We don’t need to go there, if you will allow us to do what’s needed, without interference, but I’ll do what I must to insure we can do what we need to.”

The doctor looked at her for a long time, before storming out, his face red. “No one’s ever spoken to him like that before,” the radiologist said.

“I didn’t want to.”

“I understand you needing to bring in experts. The neurologist pronounced her brain dead and left, but there’s clearly activity.”

“Will he attempt to pull the plug?” she asked, referring to the doctor that just left.

“He might have before you mentioned bringing in the federal government, but he probably won’t now.”

“Very good.”

“Listen, I understand that there’s obviously more to this than a simple brain injury and there’s also stuff that’s secret, but can you tell me what I’m looking at? I’ve never seen this type of activity. This amount of energy should kill her.”

“She has a very special brain. We were studying her and others not that long ago, but that ended, for reasons I can’t go into. The men I called have their own view on how this all works, which is why I need them. They’re currently in the lower 48, but will be here in a few hours.”

“There are others with brains like this?”

“There are none like her. Well, maybe not. There might be one other, but there are a lot of these type of brains. God, I’m sounding like the head docs!”

“What, can she read minds or something,” he asked, a sarcastic smile on his face. She looked at him sharply, before realizing he was being sarcastic. It was enough for him to catch her reaction, though.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“If you breathe a word of this, you’ll be locked away for the rest of your life.” He didn’t respond, getting an uncomfortable look on his face. “I’m not the bad guy, but there are those out there that would have no problem doing what I just promised and more to insure your silence.”

“Keep these images fresh and take new ones every two hours, until my colleagues arrive.”

“Ma’am, I’m not sure the doc will let me.”

“If he stops you, call me and I’ll have it taken care of,” she said, writing her phone number on a sticky note and handing it to him.

When she returned to the waiting room, she dropped into a chair very hard, jarring her teeth. “What’s wrong?” the Brager’s both asked together.

“The brain stem is completely shut down. She’s only alive because of the life support systems. The neurologist declared her brain dead and left,” she said, and was interrupted.

“My baby girl’s dead!?” Becky wailed.

Rebecca didn’t get up, but said so they could all hear, “No, she’s not. There’s still a lot of brain activity. The neurologist doesn’t understand the patterns I’m seeing. I’ve called in a couple of colleagues that have a unique perspective.”

“Who did you call?” Stone asked.

“Mike and John. I told Mike not to let anyone know where he’s going,” she said.

“That’s dangerous,” he replied.

“I need their knowledge. She really might be dying, but I don’t know. They have a different perspective on this than I do, especially John,” she said.

Giving a little sliver of hope to the Brager’s with her pronouncement, they all sat and waited for six more hours before a weary Mike and John walked into the emergency room. Mike spotted Rebecca immediately.

“Good to see you Aliyah,” he said, catching sight of her, his eyebrow rising at the site. She only nodded slightly in response, still hurting and exhausted. “I won’t turn you in, I promise,” he said, smiling slightly.

“I’m not worried about that. I want her to get well,” she said.

“Take us to her,” John said, being more forceful than was his usual demeanor.

“The radiology lab is this way,” she said, starting to guide them.

“No, I want to see her,” he stated, emphasizing the last word.

She paused for a little while. “To be honest, I don’t know where she is,” she admitted.

“Well, find her,” John commanded. None of them were used to this from him, and it shocked all of the people from Oakmont.

Aliyah stood up and came over. “I can lead you,” she said, taking his hand. They all followed Aliyah, as she limped down the hall. She led them down several halls and around several corners before coming to the PICU.

“All of you can’t come in here,” a nurse said as they all walked in.

“We need to visit that girl over there,” Rebecca said, not stopping for the nurse.

“If you don’t leave now, I’ll call the police,” the nurse threatened.

“If you do, the federal government will come in and shut this hospital down while we continue to work with her,” Rebecca replied, with a threat of her own.

“That’s ludicrous,” the nurse replied, starting to pick up the phone.

“Gamble if you will but we’re all federal employees and that girl is under federal protection. This girl is her roommate and led us to her, so she’ll stay with us.”

The nurse looked uncomfortable, but was more amenable as they showed her their DoD badges, and then all washed up properly, without being told. “Alright, but I’ll have to report this to the chief doctor.”

“I understand,” Rebecca replied, as they all approached Melanie’s little room. They slid the door open, and immediately noticed all of the equipment attached to her.

She had tubes in her mouth and IVs in her arms and other wires and things attached to her. Although Rebecca had worked a bit with medical issues, having worked with these kids for so long, she had no idea what most of the stuff was.

“Sweetheart, please come back. I can’t stand to lose such a pretty and nice girl like you,” John said, taking her hand gently, tears streaming down his face. “I know you can hear me, so please fight. Things haven’t been real good for you, but you’re home now and your parents are worried sick about you. Aliyah is beside herself,” he said, squeezing her hand a little and putting it down gently, then patting it lightly before turning and walking back out.

As the rest came out a moment or two later, he looked at each person. “Show me the images,” he said, and followed as they continued around more corners and down a couple more halls. It wasn’t a very large hospital, and she was in the PICU, so they didn’t have far to go.

As they walked in, the radiologist acknowledged them with a slight wave. “The doctor is speaking to the police about this. Just wanted to warn you,” he said.

“Aliyah, would you tell Mr. Brager about this? I think he might be able to fix the situation,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied, and went limping off, in her half-dead gait.

“Do you really have that much authority?” the man asked.

“I don’t, not any longer. Her father does, though. At least, I’m fairly certain he does,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t get your name?” she said to the man.

“John Cramer,” he said, giving a very proper bow.

“I like this man,” her John replied.

“Well John, this is our personal radiologist, who is also John. Mike is a friend and colleague of mine, and I’m Rebecca,” she said.

“A pleasure,” he replied, acknowledging each in turn.

“Doc, we need an array of monitors like this,” John from Oakmont said, admiring the bank of monitors. She didn’t bother to tell him that she no longer worked at Oakmont.

Without looking back, he sat down and began his normal perusal of images, taking only a moment to get used to the new environment. Within a couple minutes, he was flipping through images at his usual pace.

He stopped at one particular image, magnifying in over 400 times before stopping on a pinprick of white. She only knew he magnified in that much as the display showed the magnification as he increased it.

“How did you find that?” the other radiologist asked.

“I’ve been working with these kids for a while and know what I’m looking for,” he replied, as if it were actually that simple. The other John seemed to know that too and looked awed by the new John’s ability.

“What is that?” Rebecca asked.

“It’s another micro energy burst, but this one is different. It’s not the buildup of energy, but a leftover of an event. She transferred a massive amount of energy to do this. I’m surprised her brain isn’t completely fried,” he said.

“It isn’t?” she asked, a little shocked.

“No, ma’am. She’s alive in there, but I’ll bet she hurts really bad, looking at this. There are several of these spots, some located on the pain centers of her brain. She’s in a world of hurt right now.”

“What about the black area, which controls her bodily functions?” she asked.

“Oh, that’s nothing. It’ll start back up in time. I’m glad you got her to a hospital. She wouldn’t have lasted very long like this, but it’ll restart soon. Maybe a day or two. What worries me is how much she remembers. There are a lot of these energy spikes in her primary memory regions, both long and short term. There are several in her telepathic sphere, as well as those odd spheres we never figured out, although I think I have some guesses on that,” he told her.

“How long would she probably have lasted, after the initial event?” she asked, curious as to his observations and assumptions.

“From initial event, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. Possibly a little longer, considering how strong willed she is. Her heart might have tried to stop a few times before that, but the complete system shutdown would have been a little later,” he stated.

Thinking back to the ‘event’, she thought his time was a little short, but not by much. What really surprised her was that her system started shutting down as they arrived. “John, you really are a work of art. Your assessment is almost exactly how it happened, although I think you were a little short on the time. From the event, she lasted closer to half an hour, maybe a little less,” she said.

“With her, that doesn’t surprise me,” he replied, looking back at Rebecca.

“Why with her?” she asked.

“Because, she has a very strong will and wants to live,” he told her, again shocking her.

“How do you know this? She definitely seems like she’s ready to die,” she said.

“She’s suffered a lot, and might feel like it would be a good escape, but she wants to live, regardless of that. I can feel it in her,” he said, the last comment added almost under his breath.

“John, are you a telepath?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, an unusual sternness to his voice. She didn’t push more, although his response was odd.

The next few days were grueling. The doctors wanted to pull the plug, since the neurologist, along with another neurologist brought in for a second opinion, both claimed she was irreversibly brain dead. Randall Brager had to get his superiors involved to stop them, but that also alerted the group behind the Oakmont project as to Melanie Brager’s whereabouts and condition.

On the fifth day, Melanie began breathing on her own, although the neurologist claimed this was reflex only. She still wasn’t breathing strongly enough to support her life, but it gave hope to those close to her, as they all knew what the radiologist from Oakmont said.

During this time, Randall Brager arranged for Brian Stone and both Johns to become part of the Division of Woodlands Protection. The local John was recruited to save him from potential trouble by becoming knowledgeable of the telepathy program. Randy had always believed in taking care of those that helped him, if there was any way, and in this case, there was.

Melanie was transferred home on the seventh day, partially to avoid further trouble from the doctors at the hospital, who were discussing court action to remove life support. The two radiologists made regular visits, the John from Oakmont always talking tenderly to her, and encouraging her to come back so he could smile again.

After a month of no change, when everyone was beginning to give up hope of recovery, Aliyah made her daily visit. She had settled in very well, becoming another daughter for the Brager’s.

“Melanie, I miss you. Please come back to me,” she cried over her friend, who looked like a sleeping angel to her. She cried there for a while, and began to feel something. It was as if Melanie was struggling to breathe.

“Becky, come quickly! Melanie’s having trouble!” she screamed. Within a minute, both of her new parents were in the room that had been converted to a small hospital room.

“Randy, get the nurse,” she commanded her husband, within the first few seconds. The nurse examined Melanie and looked at the equipment, paying particular attention to the respirator.

She slowly peeled the tape off, which held the tube against Melanie’s face. Aliyah started to panic, thinking they were letting Melanie die, after all that time. She was quickly pleased to see Melanie settle into what looked like a calm peaceful sleep. What everyone was unaware of was the struggle going on behind her peaceful outward appearance.

It seemed like forever before I was able to actually think again. I knew it had probably only been a little while though. For some reason, I felt like I’d done this before, but I couldn’t remember when or why.

I wished the pain would go away. It was horrible and wouldn’t stop, constantly pulsing and gyrating through my consciousness. There was nothing else there, but the pain.

Amazingly, as that understanding touched the awake part of my mind, the pain did let up a bit, although it didn’t go away. But, at least it was less.

As the pain finally began easing, I started sensing something else. It took awhile for me to understand what it was, though. I kept hearing voices, which again took time for me to begin understanding. That understanding did come, and I heard them constantly telling me how much they loved me and wanted me to come back. Where had I gone, that I needed to come back?

For some reason, I felt like I wanted to die and that I might still, but I wasn’t sure. Why would I want to die? I was young and had my whole life in front of me. I knew some bad things had happened to me, although I was having trouble remembering what they were, but that was no reason to want to die.

Oh well, that wasn’t important. I couldn’t make myself wake up, for some reason, and that really bothered me. That was important.

I started struggling against the bonds my own mind seemed to have on me, holding me in this sleep like state. That was when it suddenly hit me. I remembered the voices and realized I wasn’t hearing them anymore. How did they go away? When they started, I couldn’t turn them off, no matter how hard I tried.

“Melanie, I miss you. Please come back to me,” I heard. Where did that come from? Who was it? It didn’t sound like a grownup and I didn’t have any friends…or did I? I couldn’t remember.

Whoever that was, she...yes, it was a she...definitely seemed to want me to wake up and she seemed to be concerned about me, honestly and truly concerned. Although I knew that wasn’t likely, if it was true, it meant someone liked me. That was kind of an exciting thought. Wanting to discover the truth about this girl I heard, I needed to know how I could get out of this trap I was in.

With renewed vigor, I started trying to fight against my own mind, hoping to find a way to wake up. I had no idea of time, the way I was. Of course, I wasn’t sure if anything was even real. The voice may have been my imagination, teasing me with the dream of having a friend. That was a dream I gave up a long time ago, or was it just last year? God, I couldn’t remember anything and what I did remember was all jumbled up and out of order.

“God, please help me. I know you’re a great God and can do anything, so please help me. I want to wake up. Thank you for everything. In Yeshua’s name, amen,” I said where no one but me and God could hear.

I went back into my thoughts, pushing the limits of my black prison, inside my own mind. Without warning, there was a hint of light and the pain intensified in my eyes. I felt myself scream in agony, although I couldn’t hear it.

I wasn’t sure how long it was after I screamed that I felt something touching me, poking at me. I tried to swat it away, but my arms wouldn’t respond.

Even though I saw light, I couldn’t make out anything and I couldn’t move. I was still in my prison, but it was just a little bit brighter. Not much of an improvement and I had a lot of new pain for the price of that.

Even with the pain, it didn’t take me long to get tired of this modified version of prison. I needed out and I needed out now. Somehow, I imagined myself slamming against a wall, trying to force myself out. Pain shot through every part of my body, and it was like an explosion in my head.

As I was reeling from that new onslaught of pain, images of a boy trying to do bad things came into my mind. I knew I’d seen him before, but again I couldn’t remember where. Suddenly, the name James came into my thoughts and I knew that was who he was. Somehow, I also knew he wasn’t a good person.

Why couldn’t I get a memory of someone nice? Why only a bad person, assuming that was a real memory and not another creation of my mind? No, I felt that it was real, but I couldn’t remember anything else about him or how I knew him.

Putting that aside, like many other strange pieces of memory, I started bashing against my prison walls again, accepting the pain as the price for freedom. I struggled and struggled, feeling little weaknesses form as I continued my relentless assault.

Finally, I felt like I could move my hand and I tested it. Surely enough, I thought I was moving my right hand and then I started moving the left. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

Opening my eyes, I saw a lot of bright painful light. I closed them back, and then started opening them slowly. What I saw once my eyes finally started working looked like my room, but there was all kinds of hospital stuff all around, lots of it attached to me.

What happened? Why was I like this? “Daddy!” I screamed, terrified and shaking.

Several grownups ran into the room, none of which I knew. There was a very muscular man, who looked a lot like a policeman, or maybe some kind of soldier. A woman was with him, who seemed somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t place her. She had long, wavy, dark brown hair. Her skin was smooth and wrinkle free, but she looked like she might be in her late thirties. There was another woman with them that had to be a nurse, and she came straight to me.

“Melanie?” she asked.

“Who are you?” I asked, an unexplained feeling of panic taking over. I tried to pull away from her, curling up as much as I could. She pulled back, surprised and concerned with my reaction. I was shaking really bad and couldn’t make myself stop.

“Where’s Momma? Where’s my Daddy?”

“They went out for a little while and asked us to watch you guys,” the dark haired woman replied. “How do you feel?”

“Okay,” I replied, not letting them know how much I hurt right then. I didn’t know who these people were and I didn’t want to tell them anything they might be able to use against me, even though I didn’t know why they’d use it against me.

The nurse was still standing on the side of the bed, and I could tell she wanted to examine me, touch me. For some reason, I felt horrified at the thought of her touching me, but I couldn’t figure out why. I’d been to the doctor’s office many times, especially right after the voices started.

Why weren’t they chattering away right then? That was really odd. I’d always heard them, since they started. I’d been trying to turn them off, but hadn’t been able to figure out how, at least not yet.

“Can I go back to sleep?” I asked, hoping to get them to leave my room.

“I need to examine you sweetie,” the nurse said, with a very kind expression. The problem was, I had this feeling of panic at the thought of her getting close to me, much less touching me.

“No!” I screamed, pulling my legs tighter into me and trying to slide away from her, as she came close again. She finally backed up, I guess deciding that it wasn’t worth it.

I still hadn’t figured out why all of this stuff was in here. Had I gotten hurt, or something? That would’ve explained the equipment and the nurse. It must have been bad, to have a nurse at my house.

The nurse looked at the other two, who nodded at her. She left, along with the man and the other woman. “We’ll be right outside if you need anything,” the woman said. I didn’t respond in any way.

After they left, I could hear them talking frantically, for some reason. Ignoring that, I pulled the covers aside and looked myself over. I couldn’t find any injuries, or even any scars. What happened and why was I in this hospital bed?

There were several of those tubes connected to me, along with several sensor type things. I pulled all of it off, of course causing the machines to start beeping in a really annoying way. There was also a tube that allowed me to pee into a bag attached to the bed. Pulling that out was a little more painful and tedious, but I got it out without much real trouble.

I wished they’d all stop! As that thought forced its way through my mind, all of the machines stopped chirping and beeping, all of them going dark at the same time. It was blessedly silent.

That was weird. Oh well, I wasn’t going to argue that small blessing.

I walked to my dresser and pulled out a change of clothes, shedding my nightgown and sitting on my vanity bench. I brushed my hair, but it really needed to be washed to be able to do anything with it. It was sticking out all over the place.

As I thought about that, I saw a pair of earrings on my dresser that touched me very deeply, but I had no idea why. They looked kind of like eagles, in the native style. They were very pretty, but for some reason, they touched me deeper than a simple pretty piece of jewelry.

Unable to figure out the reason for this feeling, I returned to my messy hair. I knew I needed a shower, but I thought the grownups out there would insist on examining me before I could get one. With the overpowering desire for a shower, I decided to try.

Getting my clothes together, and having put my nightgown back on, I put the earrings in. Then, I listened by the door for a little while until I thought they’d gone to the kitchen. If I was right, that’d give me a clear line to the bathroom. Hopefully, Ben wasn’t hanging around close by.

I slowly opened my door, and seeing the hallway clear, I darted for the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I was panting, leaning against the door and barely able to stand up. It was like I hadn’t walked, much less run, in a long time and that little bit had totally exhausted me.

Getting into the shower, I turned the water really hot, letting it run over me after I quickly washed myself. It took a little while to wash all of the tape goo off, but that wasn’t a big deal. I felt dirty all over anyway, so I scrubbed very hard.

Done with that, and still feeling dirty, I sat in the tub, letting the hot water stream over me. I felt dirty, both inside and out. Why did I feel this way? I realized I was crying, something I didn’t do anymore.

Pulling myself back, I wiped the water off my face, got out and started brushing my hair. After brushing my teeth and doing all of the other things needed to get ready, I got dressed and opened the door.

I was shocked and terrified to see all of the grownups waiting outside. “You should have let us remove the IVs and sensors,” the nurse said. I quickly closed the door and locked it again, before they could do anything to stop me. Why were they here and who were they?

“Melanie, we need to examine you to make sure you’re alright. Your parents are on their way home, as fast as they can,” the dark haired woman said through the door. “They’re getting Aliyah as well, so it’ll be a few minutes.”

Who was Aliyah and why did I care if they stopped to get her? I wanted my Mommy and Daddy. Maybe they could help me make sense of what was going on.

“I want to go to my room, please,” I said through the door.

“Alright. We’ll return to the kitchen so you can go back to your room,” she promised.

I listened closely, until I was sure they’d gone. Then, I slowly opened the door and darted for my bedroom, again exhausted from the short run. How long had I been asleep, to feel like this? What could they have done to me? Why was I even thinking thoughts like that?

I couldn’t help it though. I was worried that they could have done things to me while I was asleep, and I had no idea what those things could have been.

I forced myself to settle down and wait for Mommy and Daddy to get home. They’d make it all right again and fill in the holes in my memory.

I sat against the wall in the corner of my room for a very long time, before I heard a sound that could only be Mommy. My door opened, even though I locked it and she came running in. Unable to stop myself, I cowered in the corner as she wrapped her arms around me.

Slowly, I started hugging her back, putting my arms around her and grabbing with all of my strength. “My baby girl,” she muttered, between sobs.

Finally she let go and allowed Daddy his turn. He repeated the process, although we were both less emotional than Mommy. Once Daddy was done, a tall girl with long, straight black hair came in, looking at me with a broad grin.

I tried to smile at her, but I had no idea who she was. She seemed to sense this, and looked upset.

“Melanie, do you know who she is?” Mommy asked. I shook my head that I didn’t.

“Do you know who they are?” she asked, indicating the dark haired woman and the soldier man. Again, I shook my head.

“What is the last thing you remember?” she asked.

“I don’t know. It’s all jumbled up, like my puzzle,” I replied. She looked up at the dark haired woman, but didn’t say anything to her.

“Can you think of the last thing you remember that you can clearly identify?” Mommy asked.

“I remember coming home from the hospital,” I replied.

“You remember that?” she asked. I nodded my head that I did.

“Sweetheart, which hospital are you remembering?” Daddy asked, touching Mommy’s shoulder in an odd way.

“That hospital Doctor Mead sent me to,” I told him. There was a look that passed between them, but they didn’t say anything else.

“You don’t remember anything after that?” Daddy asked.

“No, why Daddy?” I asked.

“Sweetheart, you were six when that happened. You’re eleven now,” he said, as Mommy kept tugging on his shirt, obviously not wanting him to tell me this.

“I’ve been asleep for five years?” I asked.

“No sweetheart. You’ve been asleep for a little over a month, but I think you’ve lost a lot of your memory,” he said. Mommy definitely wasn’t happy with what he was telling me.

“Can you hear the voices?” he asked, an odd look on his face.

“No, Daddy. They’ve gone away. Does that mean I’m not crazy anymore?” He looked at the dark haired woman, as if she knew what was going on.

“You were never crazy, angel,” he said, bringing me into a tight hug as he lifted me up and carried me into the living room. He sat down, keeping me in his lap. I cuddled up with him easily, even though I definitely didn’t fit in his lap like I should.

There were odd memories that kept coming into my mind, as if I was older than I knew I was. I’d only gone a few months past my sixth birthday, since I knew we were still in February and my birthday was in November, regardless what they were telling me. There was no way I could be that old. I’d remember something.

Maybe all of those odd memories were part of the voices and why I was sent to the loony hospital. I still didn’t know why they sent me home and I also didn’t know why I was asleep like I was. At least the voices had stopped.

“Daddy, you know how you told me to tell you anytime I hear something weird or think something weird?”

“Yes, sweetheart,” he replied, with a curious expression. “Why do you ask?”

Unsure exactly what to say, I looked down for a minute, thinking of the images in my mind, some of which had the tall black haired girl and even the dark haired woman. There was even one or two with the soldier, although there had only been a couple of those and I could barely catch them. They really didn’t make any sense to me.

“I’ve got weird things in my mind and I don’t know where they’re coming from,” I told him, worried how crazy I really was.

“Like what?” he asked.

“Well, there are some pictures, kind of like my memories, with the black haired girl and some with the dark haired woman, I think you called her Rebecca and the girl Aliyah. They’re really weird though, almost like they happened, but they didn’t,” I replied.

Mommy and Daddy shared looks with each other and then with Rebecca and the soldier. I was a little nervous the way they looked at each other, there was some secret I was not being let in on.

“I’m sorry I’m crazy, Daddy,” I told him, shame blossoming in me, at the trouble I was causing my parents.

“Sweetheart, you’re not crazy and I don’t want to hear you say that again,” he said, his firm voice coming out.

“But I am, Daddy. Why else do I hear voices and see strange things like that? And you sent me to a psycho hospital,” I said.

Daddy looked like he didn’t know what to say, which proved that I really was crazy, but he was in denial or something. I’d read about that, since I started hearing the voices and wanted to understand what Mommy and Daddy might be going through, so I could try and ease their pain.

I couldn’t take it, though. Tears blossomed in my eyes, I jumped out of Daddy’s lap and ran to my room, curling up in the back corner of my closet, something Daddy said was his baby girl being cute. I was still a little kid, so I was okay with that.

“Where did she go?” I heard a voice ask.

“I think I might know,” I heard Daddy say.

“Mr. Brager, can I talk to her...please?” I heard the dark haired woman ask him.

“Alright. I’m honestly not sure what to say right now,” he replied.

A moment later, the closet door opened and the dark haired woman crawled in, sitting down beside me. She gently put an arm around me, making me instinctively tense up.

“Melanie, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. Your parents trust me. Would you trust me, please?” She seemed nice and Mommy and Daddy did seem to trust her, so I relaxed a little, making her smile at me. I saw it since I was watching her so closely.

“Melanie, how old are you?” she asked.

“Six,” I replied.

“You kind of said that earlier, but I wasn’t sure I heard you correctly. You’re actually eleven years old. It’s currently February 14, 2015. You were in a coma for over a month, almost two, after a really bad accident. The doctors thought you were dead and several thought your parents should let you die, but they didn’t want to give up on you. They were right, but a man I know who is very smart and very good at understanding the brain said you were alive and they believed him. He did think you might lose parts of your memory, though,” she explained. That made a lot of the jumbled mess in my mind make more sense, sort of.

“So the black haired girl is my friend?”

“Yes, she is. Not only that, she’s your best friend and also your cousin.”

“I’ve never had a friend before,” I said, excited at the idea, even though I didn’t know her.

“Melanie, would you come out of the closet with me? I would like to ask you some questions that might help us understand just how much of your memory has been lost, but I would like to be a little more comfortable.”

I really didn’t want to, but I nodded my head and said, “Okay”. I said it so softly, I was surprised that the woman heard it.

Once we were out of the closet, I crawled onto my bed, although it wasn’t my bed, and pulled my legs up to my chin. I was really nervous and worried, but I knew they needed to know.

“Melanie, the first thing I’m going to do is find out what you remember of your education. We already know a lot of your memories are gone, from your daily life, but sometimes, the learning stays,” she said, and I nodded that I understood.

“Alright…,” she said, pulling out a tablet and getting questions from it. She asked things about math and physics and chemistry, then she went into the different areas of social studies and some English.

“Although I can’t be absolutely certain, due to how intelligent she is, she seems to have retained all of her knowledge. My guess is that she’s lost connections for everyday events that happened to her. I’m no expert, but it’s possible that it’ll return in time, but I really don’t know,” she said, looking at Mommy and Daddy.

The black haired girl, Aliyah, had been watching me closely the whole time Mrs. Wilde was asking me questions. She looked upset, but I didn’t know what to do to make her feel better, and I hated that she was hurting because of me.

I would’ve really liked to talk to her, but I didn’t want to interrupt the adults talking, and they looked like they’d go on forever. Then something weird happened. It was like my mind reached out, and it was almost like a phone call.

Melanie, is that you, I heard. I jumped hearing a voice in my head and fell off the bed, banging my head on the equipment beside it. Getting myself off the floor, I climbed back on the bed before anyone could help me.

“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my head. “Must have been a hiccup or something,” I told them. They returned to talking and I looked over at Aliyah.

You don’t know what you did, do you? she asked in my mind, as I started thinking that she must have done it, somehow.

No, I thought you did it.

Nope, you did it. At least that still works. You have a lot to learn, she said, and I could feel a smile in her thoughts, which made me smile.

“Mommy, can we go outside?”

“Sweetheart, it’s -5 right now,” she said.

“That’s alright. We’ll get dressed good and be careful,” I promised. She looked over at Daddy who just shrugged his shoulders. “Alright, but if you feel tired or anything, come back in,” she said. I nodded, with a smile on my face.

Let’s go, I told Aliyah.

You need to speak with your mouth some, or they’ll start wondering, she said to my mind.

That makes sense, I guess, I replied, and we headed out, getting our winter gear on, and starting to rebuild a relationship that I’d apparently forgotten.

“Rudie, she’s awake,” John said. His excitement was on full display in his voice.

“That’s wonderful!” Rudie replied, also sounding excited. “Let’s hope her father can keep her safe, now.”

“That might not be a problem. She has some serious memory loss, and it looks like she’s lost her telepathy,” John told him.

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Rudie said.