Eric and the Quantum Dragon

Epilogue One

General Hospital, 10th District

Sarah opened the door to the private hospital room, stepping inside slowly with no small degree of apprehension. A young boy, red haired and smaller than her, sat on his bed with his back to her, looking out of the window at the rain drenched towers of the city.

“Hi Andrew” she called out gently but the boy did not stir. She walked into the room and closed the door behind her, feeling suddenly uncertain if this was the right thing to do. Sarah walked around the bed and stood between Andrew Frobisher and the window, her eyes seeking out his.

“Hey Sarah” he spoke in a flat monotone, so much like Eric when she first knew him. His eyes glanced briefly at her own then drifted away. Sarah felt despair tug at her heart and pondered anew if she could fix the older boy.

“Andrew, do you remember your last day at school?” she asked him.

He took some time to respond, then slowly shook his head.

“Do you remember getting those Chiller powers?” she persisted. “They were pretty neat!”

“I’m a NOMA” he answered. “I have no Ability” He stared out of the window and fell silent once more.

Sarah sat on the bed beside him and reached out a tentative hand. The boy’s fingers were cold and unresponsive yet she gripped them tightly with her own.

“Andrew, would you like to go on a trip with me?” she asked him. “I know a nice place at the beach. It is sunny and warm and we could just sit for a while”

She didn’t think he was going to respond at all, then his hand twitched in her grip and he wrapped his fingers around hers.

“That would be nice, Sarah” he answered.

“Okay then” she said with enthusiasm. “Just close your eyes and I’ll take us there!”

=====

Warm sun beat down on Sarah and Andrew, their bare feet on the crinkly sand. Surf lapped in and out before them, propelled by a gentle ocean breeze.

Sarah looked at her feet and wondered where her shoes and socks had gone. Andrew’s feet had been in white hospital socks and they were now vanished as well, leaving his pale feet standing bare.

“What is it about taking my shoes?” she wondered aloud. She lifted her gaze and examined the surroundings, seeing the old beach shack against the line of sand dunes. In the distance, far down the sandy beach, silent figures stood watching her and Andrew.

They made no movements except for one on the end, a figure dressed in knee length shorts and a brightly patterned shirt. He waved at her and she waved back, but the group did not come any closer.

“This beach feels nice” Andrew spoke aloud, dragging her attention back to her companion. “The sand feels a little funny though” he added, curling his toes in the damp beach surface.

“Yeah, but you get used to it” Sarah advised him. They were still holding hands so she turned and lead the unresisting boy to the porch at the front of the shack. “Let’s have a seat and watch the waves”

They sat and for some unmeasured time the pair watched the water surge back and forth. Eventually Andrew began to talk, slowly at first then gaining volume and confidence. He told Sarah about how lonely he had been at school, about his fears and worries after the strange events with Mr Albright and Creepy Bob.

He spoke about how the “medicine” had helped him for a while, then it had made him so terribly ill. The fight with Sanderson and the time he had spent at the hospital were fresh and clear in his mind and he wondered at that.

“Everything had been so muddled, so dark that I could not make sense of it all” he told her. “But now it is all there and I don’t feel so strange anymore”

“Is that a good thing?” Sarah asked carefully.

“Yes, it is” Andrew replied and she saw a smile light up his face. He turned that smile to her and his eyes were bright and active. “Thank you, Sarah. Thank you for standing up to Sanderson for me. Thank you for bringing me here, to this wonderful beach. And thank you, for finding me when I was lost”

Sarah looked away, bright red with embarrassment.

“S’okay” she mumbled.

Andrew got out of his chair and stepped to the edge of the old wooden porch, his eyes on the distant horizon.

“I’m ready to go back” he told her. Sarah stood too and joined him, taking his hand in hers once more.

=====

Sarah opened her eyes, seeing the distant towers beyond the window blanketed with driving rain. Andrew was beside her on the hospital bed, his hand still linked with hers.

“That was a nice dream” Andrew spoke aloud then caught himself. “Hey Sarah, why are my socks missing?”

Sarah checked her own feet and wiggled her toes, seeing a few grains of white sand still clinging to them.

“I’m not really sure” she answered. She was in no hurry to take her hand away and Andrew seemed quite content too. “How are you feeling?”

“Great” he answered easily. “But something feels different from before”

“Oh?”

“Yeah” he replied and held his left hand up in front of himself. He focussed on his fingers and a white fog appeared above them, the coldness radiating from it so that even Sarah could feel it. Andrew pointed his fingers at the window and snapped them loudly.

Ice formed like a sheet over the window, a massive starburst of frozen air and water vapour a full meter in diameter. Sarah gasped in surprise and Andrew laughed with glee.

“Guess you aren’t a NOMA anymore” Sarah told the boy.