Ascendance

20

He was feeling exhausted. Heather was wheeling him to his PT class. He couldn’t even remember his name or who he was still. His hospital bracelet read “John Doe, early twenties, unknown DOB”.

“So are you feeling any better?” Heather asked him. It had been a rough few days, trying foods and becoming violently ill afterwards. At last, they found that baked fish and rice was one of the few things he could keep down, along with apples, potatoes, and leafy vegetables.

He was proud of himself for being able to keep it down. Heather had taken him to see the fish at the tank in the children’s waiting room where the fish immediately hid from him. But there was a new problem. He kept having nightmares. He couldn’t remember what they were but he kept waking up in sweat or crying. Last night was horrible. He had spent most of the night sitting in the shower, letting the cold water run down his body until a nurse put him to bed.

He noticed two women with curly hair approaching them. One had short hair and the other shoulder length hair. His hand twitched but he couldn’t tell why.

“Hey, Heather.” The short haired woman spoke to her.

“Hey, Karenina.” She responded, stopping. “Who’s this?”

“It’s my biological daughter, Erika. We’re finally reuniting.” The short haired woman smiled at the girl in the wheelchair. He noticed the girl was staring at him.

“Do I know you?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember if I do.” He responded, his face turning red. “It’s a long story.”

“I see.” The girl responded neutrally. He sighed in relief when Heather wheeled him away after saying goodbye to the woman.

“Are you okay? Brittany says that you were in the shower all night long.” Heather looked at him, concerned.

“I’m fine.” He looked at the ground. “I just haven’t been able to sleep. I keep having nightmares and I don’t even remember them.”

“I’m sorry” Heather said, gently smoothing his arm. “Did you want to see if the doctor could prescribe something for that?”

“Not really.” He sighed, running his hand through his head. They arrived at PT where there was someone waiting for him.

“Hello, Mr. Doe, my name is Lelia Dawes, I’ll be your physical therapist today.” She smiled at him. “We have to get you walking again so we can discharge you in the group home.”

“Group home?” He asked.

“You’re considered a ward of the state that this time so you would be discharged there and they can help you get back on your feet.” The physical therapist smiled at him. The door opened behind them.

“Is this John Doe?” A voice asked. Chills ran down his back. Why was he doing that?

“Yes, he’s in the middle of an appointment.” The physical therapist spoke firmly.

“That won’t be necessary. We’ll be taking him into our custody.” The man spoke. He didn’t want to look behind him.

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I was wheeled to what seemed like a conference room. Amanda and a few other people plus the Founder were there. I wonder what happened.

“Why am I here?” Damn, didn’t even let me know or I would have actually put on clothes. I was literally in a bra and panties under this gown.

“Two things, the Founder has an heir and we need your help with something.” Amanda responded. She pulls a screen from the top of the room down and the room darkens as the Founder puts something on the projector.

“The staff at the hospital has reported a strange case to our organization. A John Doe in his early twenties was brought via ambulance to their hospital. He has the appearance of a normal human save for his eyes. According to the reports, they’re a very bright blue with large pupils. He was drug tested and came back clean but his blood reports show that he does not have a normal human blood count.” Amanda says. “We believe this is Akenath from Helixion, otherwise known as the Leader.”

What? He’s still alive? Last time I saw him, he was a melty pile of goo. I think of the man we saw in the hall. What if that was him?

“And of course, he has human DNA that doesn’t match our species.” Amanda was talking. How much did I tune out?

“That’s interesting. So he’s only half alien?” A black woman with long nails asked Amanda.

“Yes, ma’am. But we have no idea who the human parent is or where they are.” Amanda sighed. “And according to the medical reports, it seems like he doesn’t have any memories of who he used to be.”

“What if he’s just pretending in order to lay low and attack us?” Karenina asked, crossing her arms. “You could be putting everyone at risk.”

“That is why the state granted us custody of him. He will be taken to the labs and our research on him will continue.” The Founder spoke.

“That’s why he did what he did.” I responded. The others seemed a bit shocked. “You messed him up and now you’re going to screw with him more.”

“The Leader is a monster that his own planet hates. The men in black informed us of that.” The Founder stated. “And you out of all people, know that, Erika.”

“Still, I’m just trying to prevent this from getting worse.” I looked at him. “And if he doesn’t remember now, whatever you end up doing to him will make him remember.”

“She’s right, you know.” Karenina spoke. “Also if he really is faking it, last thing we want is for him to realize we know.”

“I suppose you have a point.” The Founder sighed. “Now I thank you for your time but we have other things to discuss and Erika needs some rest.”

“Thank you.” Karenina wheeled me out. She shook her head.

“I hope they know what they’re doing.” She groaned, muttering under her breath. So do I, Mom. So do I.