Chp. 74 “Aftermath”
After Max’s death it was like I had completely lost track of time, as if I was just walking through life without any meaning. It was hard, the day to day routine, but Avery had been a rock for me, which was honestly the only reason I hadn’t completely broken down yet.
Gage had gone back home immediately with Max’s body, and arranged a funeral and such. We had attended it and everything, but leaving my hometown again was hard. Leaving Max’s grave was even harder, as if I was leaving my best friend behind, and I had to keep reminding myself that he was at peace.
I considered him the lucky one, because even though he had died he didn’t have to suffer anymore. I knew he had been depressed ever since his dad died, and in a way I was happy for him, because I knew he was happy now. We were all devastated though, and it felt as if there was an empty void in our hearts every time we thought about Max.
I just really missed him.
It had been weeks since the funeral, and Avery and I had remained at the Bureau longer than we had planned. There were things we needed to get done before actually leaving, and as I walked slowly through the empty hallway at 8:00 in the morning, I realized just how lonely I actually was.
Avery was asleep in our room, and I hadn’t bothered to wake her up because I was only going have coffee with Roger and Henson. We were discussing further matters, and how the F.P.S. was going to handle the death of Pearce. I hadn’t heard of anything traumatic happening since that day, so I took it as a good sign.
I made it to the lobby where there was the usual café as I spotted Henson and Roger on the far end of the shop, waving me over once I was in view. I walked slowly, breathing heavy as the memory of Max resurfaced, and I forced the tears away for another time.
Now was not the time to cry.
I joined them at the table, and I was grateful neither one of them had bothered to ask me how I was; considering they knew everything I had gone through. Roger looked at me, “Andrea, we have good news concerning Avery’s father.”
I folded my hands on the table, remembering how Avery and I had wanted to transfer her father here to work with Henson. Her father was one of the scientists at the F.P.S, and after Pearce was killed the entire staff had been released. We actually visited him days after Max’s death and he explained everything from how Pearce took leadership and since then he had very limited contact with anyone outside the F.P.S. He had been trapped, along with hundreds of other people, and we had freed all of them.
Henson continued, “His contract was just about to end before Pearce was killed, but now they’re releasing everyone early. I ran it by my boss and he’s accepted, Avery’s father will start working here in one month.”
I smiled slightly, knowing Avery was going to have her father back in her life, at least a lot more than what she had. I was happy to hear the good news, and I was excited to tell her, but I couldn’t run off just yet.
I pressed, “That’s great, but what about the F.P.S.? Who’s going to take charge?”
Roger shrugged, “They don’t know yet, but when Pearce was killed everyone began coming clean about the truth. They’re going to shut the place down for a while until they find someone suitable, but until then we don’t have to worry about anything.”
I nodded, “So no more bad guys?”
Roger smiled weakly, “No more bad guys.”
I looked at Roger and Henson, smiling, “For now.”
They laughed slightly, and then Roger sighed, “Andrea, we have a position for you and Avery. You two could work here, we already consider you Agents. It would be up to you two if you would want.”
I had figured this day would come eventually, where I would be asked to join the force, but I wasn’t sure if it was something I wanted. I had talked to Avery about it once, but I never really got a straight answer out of her about it.
Me on the other hand, I wasn’t sure if this is what I wanted. But maybe it would be best, considering I would be the most valuable agent considering my condition. I was a Healer, what else was I going to do with my life if I never grew old?
I couldn’t just sit at home planting flowers and watching TV show re-runs; I would want to do something for the rest of eternity.
I shrugged, “I… I don’t know.”
Henson sipped his coffee as Roger spoke, “If you didn’t want to we would understand, we just wanted to run it by you.”
Henson looked at me, eyeing me as if he had something important to say. He leaned back in his chair and questioned me, “Andrea, what are you thinking about?”
I was currently thinking about me and Avery, and how we had wanted ot go to school together and just live a normal life. At least that’s what I wanted, but I wasn’t sure about Avery. Maybe once she found out her dad was working here she would want to work here too, but I just didn’t want that.
I wanted normal, but I couldn’t have it.
“How much I just want to have a normal life,” the response exited my mouth without giving me time to think about it. I had never reveled this to Roger, but I had told Henson about how I had wanted a normal life. I wanted to grow old, travel the world, and face life the normal way I had been exposed to.
I didn’t want to live forever.
Henson looked at Roger and then at me, folding his hands on the table as he leaned forward again, “Andrea, me and some other doctors have been doing some research. I believe there’s something you might want to see.”
He stood then, and Roger and I followed him quickly into the elevator that brought us to the floor that held the Lab. I was confused, but I was excited at the same time because for some reason I felt as if good news lied ahead for me.
Which was something I desperately needed right now.
We made our way through the hall and into Henson’s office that held multiple bran scan X-rays, and he pointed to one he had took of mine not to long ago. He circled an area of the brain with a red marker and spoke, “See this tiny gland?”
I nodded, along with Roger who seemed as confused as I was.
He continued, “That’s the gland that produces your Healing hormones. The reason I’m showing you this is because I want to compare it to a normal human.”
He hung another scan picture of another brain, circling the same spot but allowing us to see that there was a major difference in the glands.
Mine was much bigger.
“The reason I’m showing you this is because I believe we can possibly, diminish your Healing ability by almost ninety percent, if not a hundred. If that’s what you would want of course.”
I felt my skin tingle at his words, and my heart beat picked up in my chest. If I allowed them to do whatever procedure Henson was pitching I could finally return to normal, and live the normal life I wanted.
I would be mortal again.
I sat in a chair, looking up at him, “Explain this to me more, please.”
Roger and Henson sat next to me, Henson continuing his speech, “I know you want to be human again, you want to be normal, and I believe with this procedure we could give that to you. You see, what we’ll do is do brain surgery, remove most of the gland but it will heal itself into a normal healing gland. Therefore you won’t heal like you’re used to, you’ll have the normal amount of Healing hormones to regulate our body like any normal human, but you’ll still get sick, you’ll take skin wounds like any normal person, and you’ll age. Your body will be brand new for now, but after the surgery you’ll have a normal healing process. We’re talking months.”
I looked at Roger who seemed a little upset over this, and I knew he had wanted me to work here like my father had for so long. I just didn’t want this life, I wanted normal, I wanted to go to school and get a degree. I wanted to buy a house with a picket fence and have the dog running around the backyard.
That’s the kind of life I wanted.
I ran my hand through my hair, wondering if I would want to do this. I would be almost normal, and if worse came to worse I could always meet up with Blaine again and share his power.
But at this very moment I think I understood what I exactly wanted, and I knew I would have to talk to Avery about it first, just to finalize it.
I nodded, “Give me tonight to sleep on it.”
~ ~ ~ ~
I joined Avery back in bed after the meeting with Roger and Henson and I was excited to deliver all of the good news. It was quite and dark in the room, but I could hear Avery’s deep breathing.
She must’ve been having a dream.
I walked around the corner and flipped on the switch to the bed-side lamp, seeing her eyes fluttering behind her closed eye lids. She shifted in the covers as if she was in some sort of distress, and then she let out a blood curdling scream.
“Max!”
This pulled me out of my daydream as I rushed to her, pulling her into me as she awoke sobbing. She buried her face in my chest as she cried, and I felt my heart ache as if an old wound had been re-opened. I cringed as I held Avery, and she sobbed, “Fuck…”
I knew she was hurting, and I knew it was taking a toll on her because it was to all of us. I missed him so much, and I knew it was the same for her. Avery and Max had a weird relationship, but they loved each other, and the fact that Max had died for Avery was only eating at her heart more and more with each passing day.
I waited patiently as she calmed herself down after the haunting dream, and I knew it would get better, I was just wondering when. We both had been having fucked up dreams, waking up in the middle of the night screaming, and there was nothing we could do about it. Not only were we devastated by Max’s death, but everything else that had happened to us was traumatic as well.
You really couldn’t blame me for wanting a normal life.
I whispered, “I have some good news.”
Avery’s eyes looked up into mine and I watched as she forced the tears away. She questioned, “What?”
“Your dad’s starting here in one month.”
I watched happiness flow through her as she realized she was going to have her dad back in her life again, and she hugged me. “Thank you… so much.”
I hugged her, “Thank Henson, he’s the one that worked his magic.”
She hugged me closer, kissing my cheek, “I’ll have to do that.”
I thought about the second thing, the one thing I was actually afraid of bringing up. What if she wanted different things than I did? What if she wanted to work here as an Agent, alongside her father?
She pulled back and saw something else going on inside me, and she questioned, “What are you thinking about?”
I looked into her eyes, knowing if we wanted to have an honest relationship I needed to tell her what I wanted. If she didn’t want that then we would figure something out afterwards, but right now I needed to tell her the truth.
I sighed, taking her and in mine, “Roger has offered us two Agent positions.”
She nodded, smiling, “That’s great baby,” she spoke in a professional voice, “Agent Ryan and Agent Brock.”
I smiled forcefully, knowing I would have to come clean, “But I’m not sure if I want that.”
I looked up at her, seeing confusion written in her eyes. She shrugged, “Well what do you want?”
And so I explained to her everything Henson had told me, ranging from the procedure to how my body was going to react. I explained how I would be a normal human again, and I knew she could hear the excitement in my voice, I was just praying she would be on the same page as me.
I just wanted to spend forever with her.
She stared at me in awe as I allowed her to soak up everything I had just revealed to her. She seemed shocked, but she didn’t seem against it. I mean, why would she be?
I would age with her, I would grow up with her, and we could live our lives together like we had talked about.
I spoke, “Would you like that?”
She smiled then, taking my hands in hers as she leaned into me and kissed my lips, smiling, “I want to be wherever you are, and if that’s back in Jacksonville then I’ll follow you.”
I felt my heart ache in a good way inside my chest, the feeling of love surrounding me as I looked into her eyes. She really loved me, and I knew she meant everything she had said. We loved each other, and I was grateful she wanted to follow me wherever I wanted to go.
She just wanted to love me.
I smiled, “Looks like I’ll schedule a date for the surgery.”