Chapter 29: Reunited

March 31st, 2017

Rick came back to the world slowly in a familiar way to when he came out of his time coma. He could feel the soft linens tucked around him, hear the soft beeps of medical equipment, and the murmurings of voices. His eyes felt heavy-almost as if they had cement on them, and he struggled to open them.

“Is-is he waking up?” a familiar far off voice asked.

Finally, Rick was able to get his eyes open, and when he did, it took him a moment to register who was sitting next to his bed.

“Mom?” he asked weakly. “D-Dad?”

His mother put a hand to her mouth, trying to hold back her tears. His father, gave him a smile, and then took off his slender glasses so he could wipe his own tears away.

“We’re here Rick.”

Rick’s eyes filled with tears, his heart soaring.

“M-Mom! Dad!” he said jubilantly, reaching out to them. His mother squeezed his hand.

“Everything’s going to turn out now.” his father said softly. That’s when Rick thought of something.

“W-where’s Cadi?” he asked, feeling worried. His mother put a hand on his cheek.

“She’s going to be fine Rick. But you both are going to need some time to recover. You two almost died of hypothermia.”

“Is she awake yet?”

“Not yet. But she’s getting better. She’ll probably be up in the next couple of days.” his father explained.

Rick tried to think about what had happened when they went out into the blizzard, but it all seemed like a blur once things started to get really cold…

“What exactly happened?” he asked.

“Well,” Mr. Wille began. “Some people found you and Cadi out in the snow, and they took you straight to the hospital. Mr. Johnston had made sure that a new alert was put out about you two, so when you were brought in, the authorities were notified, and they called for us. We drove all night to get here.”

“And-where… are we?”

“Augusta, Maine.”

“Huh…”

Rick wanted to ask his parents a million more questions-like what they had been doing while he and his sister had been gone, or if they had any idea where Harry and Emille were, or what was going to happen now that they were back. But he was feeling more and more tired, so he decided to ask just one and see if he could get to the others.

“Have they-found-Harry and Emille yet?” he asked quietly. His parents exchanged glances.

“No... Not yet…” his mother said slowly. Rick swallowed a lump in his throat that he didn’t realized was there as there a little bit of silence for a moment.

“Um… Rick… While you were… with them, did they-hurt you and Cadi?” his father asked. Rick felt his mouth grow dry and his chest started to feel tight. He thought about all the times they would strain them to use their powers, or when Emille slapped them, or when Harry would punch him. He almost lied and told his parents no for some reason, but then he remembered that they weren’t in danger anymore and he could say whatever he wanted.

“Yes.”

As he said this, his parents paled.

“Were there any times where it was life threatening?” his mother whispered. Rick thought back to the whole reason why he had been in a time coma. Slowly, he nodded.

“You don’t have to talk about it just yet.” his father told him. “But the police do need to know what happened so Harry and Emille can be properly prosecuted.”

Rick nodded again, taking in a couple of deep breaths. He felt really tired, and his eyelids felt heavy.

“Well, you should get some rest sweetie.” his mother told him sweetly. “And don’t worry-we’ll be right here…”

Rick gave her a small smile and then closed his eyes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Rick.”

“...”

“Rick.”

“...”

“Rick!!”

Rick’s eyes flew open, and he slowly sat up, feeling a woozy and sore. He turned and immediately smiled.

“Hey Cadi.”

His little sister was in a hospital bed next to him, and even though she still looked weak, she had a huge smile on her face.

“Mom and Dad said not to wake you up, so I waited till they left.”

Rick chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“You little t**d.”

“Yup.”

“Where’d they go?”

“I think they went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. They said they’d be back in about half an hour though.”

Rick felt very contented. They had done it. They had escaped. He no longer had to worry about scientists wanting to kill them, or the cold, or food. Maybe they could just be normal kids now.

Well, as normal as kids with time powers could be.

“Hey Rick-.” Cadi said, interrupting his thoughts. “Did you see? We’re on tv!”

Rick looked up to where she was pointing, and saw that there was a television mounted up on the wall. He looked around, found a remote, and turned it up.

On the screen, there was a picture of him and his sister standing next to a bike. A reporter was saying something about them.

“After almost a year and a half, these two missing siblings have finally turned up. Hungry, cold, and near death, they somehow escaped their captors. The details are still unclear what Harry Penegar and Emille Wilson were doing, but they are still at large. If anyone has any information about these two, they are encouraged to call this number. Rick and Cassidy Wille were both in the ICU until yesterday, and they are expected to make a full recovery.”

Rick squinted at the screen, noticing that the date was April 1st. Something in the back of his mind kept bothering him… He thought back to what Mary had said… “See you on April 9th.”

It wasn’t April 9th yet.

His stomach started to churn as he glanced at his sister, who seemed so fragile in the hospital bed with all the tubes hooked up to her.

Was something else going to happen?

But how could it?

He was sure that there were most likely police making sure they were safe-not to mention that everyone knew who Harry and Emille were. There was no possible way that they could get to him or his sister.

Was there?

“Hey you two.” a familiar voice said in the doorway, causing him to jump. Rick and Cadi turned to see that it was Mr. Johnston. Behind him, were their parents.

“Mr. Johnston! You’re ok!” Cadi exclaimed happily. The teacher smiled.

“Yep. Thanks to you. It was quite a walk out of those woods though I have to say…”

“And-what exactly did Cadi do?” Mrs. Wille asked curiously.

“Oh she just healed him. That’s all.” Rick said nonchalantly. “That’s also the reason why neither of us had frostbite.”

Their parents stared at them.

“You-you can heal people?!” their father exclaimed in disbelief.

The rest of them couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction.