Into The World

#10 - Damage Control

February 9th 2018, 12.05 am, Pearl Manor

How dare you? Anthony glares at his brother who lets out a disingenuous sigh. Meanwhile, his daughter rubs the back of her head, glancing ruefully at a stupefied Jason. I shouldn't have blurted that out. She flits her gaze to her dad who calls. 'Do you-'

'We need to find Carrie,' Tom intervenes. He retrieves his phone and shows the footage to his brother. The guardian rushes in when his sister's physician arches his brows. 'Now that she's here, we need to take her back,' the shapeshifter says. 'That's why I'm here.' Anthony creases his forehead, 'Her treatment hasn't concluded yet. You must know that since you've hacked into our systems.'

'But she's out of the critical phase,' his brother counters. 'I've studied her charts.'

'Dr. Banks,' Jason says, suppressing the gazillion thoughts that gallop across his mind, as he views his comatose sister in the live footage. 'Where's her room?' The physician sighs, 'You've read the charts and yet, you want me to discharge her?'

'Right now, we - I mean, you - need to prove that you are not the mastermind behind the January attacks,' his brother replies. 'What do you mean?' He says, baffled. 'Guys,' Eliza chimes in. 'We can have this discussion later. First let's see the patient.' She looks at the physician who exhales sharply. He steps back, allowing his daughter and brother to enter, 'I'll only take Jason, since he's family.'

'Thank you,' The guardian says, mollifying his agitation. 'No,' Eliza says in a firm tone. 'I wasn't aware of the patient when I took over this place,' She pauses, looking into her dad's staggered eyes. 'Now that I'm dealing with the repercussions of your act, I get the say of what happens.' She glances over her shoulder to face her uncle, 'Please come in.' She turns around, 'and please lead us the way, Dad.' The guardian frantically nods in concurrence, 'Yes, Dr. Banks. I want to see Carrie.'

'We both need to talk after this,' An infuriated Anthony mutters to his brother who walks in. He turns away and beckons Jason as he storms into the hallway. Eliza exhales slowly, rubbing her tensed shoulders as she heads to the front door. What I did was right.

'He did have a valid reason of bringing her here,' Tom says, glancing at his niece. 'I know,' She replies, checking the locked door. 'But he should've told me about Carrie, and the fact that a world exists outside this manor,' She pauses, glancing at the glossy floor and then at him,' Even when I took over as the owner of Pearl Manor, he didn't bother to tell me anything.'

The shapeshifter approaches his heart-rending niece. 'I still can't believe that Dad thinks I'm still a puny, inadequate kid,' She stifles her tears when he reaches her. 'Liz, your dad-'

'I'm fine,' she says, shrugging off her distress. She looks at the receding physician, 'We should catch up to them.' She walks past her uncle, patting her haggard face. Tom follows her, his heart stinging in remorse. I'm sorry.

...

'He's here.' Alexa says, nudging her dormant colleague. She gets up from the bench, watching a semi-composed Anthony enter the wide hallway. 'Yes, I'm here,' Nathan replies, jolting awake. He slouches his back as he gets up, navy eyes drooping in exhaustion, 'Alex, can you please deal with this? Right now-' He trails off when he notices Eliza and Jason behind the approaching physician.

So that's the boy who came here. Failing to keep his leaden eyes open for another millisecond, the all-round elementalist turns back to head to his room; but his Herculean friend's grip stops him, her eyes recognizing the fourth person heading in their direction. 'Ow! Let go,' he cries when he feels his hand's going to be ripped apart from his body the next second. He slowly shakes his hand from her loosening grip as he turns around, 'Why did you-' Drowsiness vanishes in a jiffy when he notices Tom amongst the approaching group. 'Sorry, I missed your calls,' Anthony says. 'I had gone upstairs to search for her.'