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Chapter 13

Sam and I took Jack to the hospital wing, hoping that the doctors there could remove his chip.

"I don't think we can do that," one said. "Dutch wouldn't be happy." I wanted to punch him in the face.

"What if she doesn't find out?" I asked, the adrenaline coursing through my body wearing off. I started to hurt again.

"Oh, she'd find out. She'd punish all of us for it." I felt like curling up and falling asleep for days. I was exhausted from the happenings before and I wanted the pain to go away.

"Just, please, help him." I started to walk away, but didn't get very far before a sharp, unbearable pain rippled out from my wounds. Pressing my hand against the bullet hole, I realized it was worse than I'd thought. My hand was bloody when I pulled it away. Jack's punch had done some real damage.

Once again, I was stationed to the hospital wing. I didn't even have Jack to keep me company. He spent his days staring off into nothingness. I still tried to convince the doctors to perform surgery on him, despite their stubbornness.

After a few hours they told me I was free to go, as long as I kept the bandages on. I asked if I could take Jack with me, and, since he wasn't technically injured or sick in any way, they let me.

"Why do you care about him so much, anyway?" Sam asked me. She was still a little ticked off about the whole Dutch at gunpoint fiasco.

"If you had gotten to know him, he'd be your brother, too."

"I have a brother," she said with no emotion. "And, chances are, I'll never see him again." We walked in silence to our isolated dorm room. One knock on the door was all it took to let us in. Wendy and Emilicia embraced me in hugs.

Thea smiled and said, "Glad you're not dead, buddy."

"Yeah, well, you definitely didn't have to worry about that," Sam said with attitude.

"What do you mean?" Wendy questioned. "She was obviously in serious danger." She gestured to the new bandages I was sporting.

Sam snorted. "Tell that to her gun. She practically became a murderer."

"Um, who is that?" Emilicia was the first to notice the man standing behind me.

"Oh, guys, this is Jack," I said, glad for the fight to be over.

"Uh, doesn't he work for Dutch?" Thea said. I made an expression and noise that said "kind of". "Harmony! Why'd you bring the enemy here?"

"He's not the enemy! You shouldn't be cross with him, he helped me. He's just a little... Well, a little brainwashed at the moment." I explained to them all that had happened, including the part where I'd almost killed Dutch. I did leave out the fact that Jack was her son, however. I knew he wouldn't want me spilling his secret.

"So, how are we supposed to get the chip out?" Wendy asked.

"Well... I'm not sure. I was hoping you guys would have some ideas."

Sam rolled her eyes. "This is hopeless and stupid. Do you guys really want to help someone who was a part of all this crap?"

"Sam, what's gotten into you?" Thea inquired with a look of worry on her face.

"Harmony. Harmony's gotten into me." Samantha looked at me. "I was there, guys. I saw her. It was like she was a different person. And not in a good way."

"Well, okay, but you can't say Dutch wouldn't have deserved it." Thea shot back.

"Of course! She deserved a punishment. But no one in the world, no matter how evil, deserves to die by another's hands."

"I think you'll be saying something completely different very soon." When I spoke, the room fell into an eery silence. Everyone knew I was right.

Sam breathed out a puff of air through her mouth and opened her eyes, which were turning golden-amber, in frustration. "I need a minute." She stepped back through the doorway and out into the hall. Closing the door behind her, she pressed her hand to her head as if soothing a headache. She leaned against the wood paneling and closed her eyes.

"I heard your argument," said a deep voice from the side. "I get why you're angry." Sam opened her eyes and spun around, only to be facing a tall boy who's face she remembered.

"Oh," she said, "it's you." She went back to leaning against the door. "Sorry for the ruckus. Do you live next door?" He nodded. "So, where have you been all this time? I haven't seen you since you told me my own life story."

"Here and there. I've been feeling pretty lonely."

"What about your roommates?"

"Oh, they're idiots. No use spending time with them."

Sam smiled. "Hey, I never caught your name." She looked up at him. He was about 6 foot to her 5'7".

"Gage," he told her.

"Sam."

"I know." He pointed to his brain.

"Oh, right. You know, I can control electricity."

"Really? That's cool."

"Not as cool as reading people's minds."

"It does have its perks," he said, half smiling. "You know what else I can do?" Sam shook her head. Gage looked at her. She felt a force break down her mind barriers and, before she knew it, she had grabbed his hand. They stood there, holding hands, her unable to pull back.

"Okay, so you can control people?"

"Well, control their thoughts, but thoughts are what make people do things."

Sam nodded slowly. "That could come in handy. But, just wondering, why make me hold your hand?" she said with accusation in her voice. Her eyebrows were raised and her mouth was turned up in a smirk.

Gage shrugged. "Maybe it's 'cause I think you're pretty. Or maybe it's 'cause it was the first thing that popped into my head."

She felt her cheeks get hot and hoped he couldn't see her blush. "Maybe it's both," she said.

He looked amused. "Are you sure you can't read people's minds, too?"

That made her blush harder. "Well, can you make me stop?"

"What, you don't like my hand?" But he still surrendered his control over Sam's brain back to her. She let her hand release his.

"Thank you."

Gage stood in front of her now. "By the way, if you need someone to help you get that chip out of Jack's neck, I went to a medical camp a few years ago. They explained a couple surgery procedures to us."

"Well, thanks, but I'm not the one you should be asking." He raised his eyebrows. "Come with me." Sam opened the door to the dorm room. It was a little stuck, so she had to push. As she walked in, she saw Thea and Wendy on the floor, pushed over from the force of the door. "Oh my gosh, guys! Were you listening?"

We all looked at each other. "No..." I said. "But, hey, it looks like you found our old friend!"

Gage smiled and nodded a hello. "Do you want the chip out?" Sam asked us. I nodded. "Then Gage is our best bet."