Sapphire Angel - Superheroine

Chapter 15 - Attack

The hospital became a bustle of activity moments after the nurse escorted Beth from John's room. Security personnel arrived just as doctors and nurses wheeled John's bed from the room. Beth tried to catch a glimpse of John before a man whisked her to the elevator. He wore a hospital badge containing the words, "Security Director." As she moved next to the wiry man, she heard a few people mention the words "lock down."

The officer took her down one floor, and into a meeting room off the main hall.

"What's your name, ma'am?" he asked, as he guided her to a seat.

"Beth Harper," she replied, looking at him blankly.

"A nurse said you were the one who called for help?"

Beth nodded. "He was trying to kill John."

"Who is 'he', ma'am?"

Beth pondered the question as she gathered her wits. She remembered Stanley's admonishment not to reveal too much.

"I don't know," she said. "I just saw him sticking a needle into one of John's feeding tubes. He sure didn't look like a doctor. John started convulsing. The man threw me out of the way and ran. I called for help."

The man studied her for several moments before nodding.

"Wait here," he said as he rose from his seat. He left the room, and she could hear him lock the door from the outside.

Beth remembered she had her purse. She fished out her phone and keyed in a message for Stanley.

>> At the hospital. Caught a man sticking needle in John's feeding tube. Man ran. John being treated now. Security has me locked in a room here.

A few moments later, her phone vibrated as Stanley returned her message.

>> On our way to the hospital. Sit tight.

Beth frowned. Sit tight. It wasn't like she had a choice in the matter. She slumped over the table and buried her face in her hands. What a crazy weekend it had been.

No words were spoken for several minutes as Stanley and Betsy Devor rushed to the hospital. As the hospital loomed ahead of them, Mrs. Devor finally spoke.

"It was unfair of you to ask Beth to do what she did. She's just a kid, Stanley. She shouldn't need to put her life on the line."

Stanley focused on the road ahead, speaking but not meeting her eyes.

"She's not a kid, Betsy. She's 21. And it was the only way. If we want to save John, we need to take some chances. And Beth is more capable than you think, even without her powers."

"Beth is an impressive young woman, but she has no training for this. I love our son as much as you do, but there's no guarantee there's anything that can save him. And we could lose both of them if you put her into harm's way."

"Do you think I want to send her out there?" Stanley snapped. Betsy straightened, but said nothing.

"I'm sorry," he continued in a gentler tone. "I shouldn't talk to you like that. Just sometimes I have to make tough decisions. But they're not reckless decisions. Knowing her abilities, I liked her chances of not getting hurt. So that made it a risk worth taking, given the stakes."

"Oh, Stanley," Betsy Devor said with a long sigh. "You have a young woman running around in a costume, like straight out of a movie or comic book. This is so crazy."

"Maybe it's not me making her do it, Betsy. Maybe this is her destiny." Stanley immediately regretted his words. He had said too much. He was happy to have their conversation cut short as they pulled into the hospital parking garage. Stanley took the first spot he could find, wedging his sedan in a narrow space between two minivans. They exchanged glances, and Betsy Devor shook her head before they exited the vehicle. They rushed for the hospital entrance, not knowing what they would find.

————

Beth looked up when the door opened and she saw Stanley enter. Finally a friendly face. After the security director had left the room, a police detective had questioned her. When finished, he had left her cooped up in the hospital meeting room.

The young woman met Stanley's eyes and fought back tears. She rose and went to him, nestling her head against his chest and grabbing his shoulders in a hug.

"How is he?" she said, afraid to hear Stanley's response.

"I just finished with the doctors. The immediate threat has passed. Thanks to you getting there just in time, and the quick work of the medical team, they managed stabilize his vitals. But his underlying condition hasn't improved."

Beth took Stanley's hand and squeezed it. She couldn't imagine what he must be going through.

"I'm so sorry, Stanley."

He gave what was clearly a forced smile.

"We'll get through this," he said.

"Who are these people? Why do they want to hurt John?"

Stanley released her hand, stepped back, and looked up at the ceiling.

"These are bad people, Beth. The Hazmat suits and chemicals you found in the basement tell us something. They tell us this was dangerous work. And the way they reacted to you stumbling upon their work tells me they want nobody to know what they were doing. What could the motivation be for that kind of secrecy around a dangerous project? Nothing good, I'm sure."

"Companies try to keep secrets all the time, though," she said, although the words sounded hollow to her ears.

"They don't go to these lengths to kill people."

"I know you're right, Stanley. But that still doesn't tell us what they're doing."

Stanley grimaced. "I wish I knew, Beth," he said. She felt the pain in his voice and could see the guilt on his face. She realized he blamed himself for not being able to figure this out.

"I'm ready, Stanley."

"Ready?"

"To put on the costume. To be Sapphire Angel. Or whatever I am when I wear it. Not as a full time thing, but to stop these people. To save John. Seeing that man standing over his hospital bed made it clear. I have to help."

As she spoke the words, she thought of her words to John. The average Joe gains powers but is reluctant to use them, until his loved one dies because of his inaction. He then embraces his destiny, and goes on to vanquish evil. John wasn't dead yet, but she couldn't wait to embrace her powers. Maybe clichés were clichés for a reason - because they spoke eternal truths. Maybe she needed to stop fighting those truths. Or at least stop fighting until she saw this to an end.

Stanley pursed his lips, paused, and nodded.

"Are you sure? This may be more dangerous than we thought. My investigator was headed to the house of that Fizzure scientist, Philip Gruden, to see what he could dig up. That was several hours ago, in the dead of the night. He hasn't reported back in, and I can't reach him on his mobile. I tracked his car, and it's located at a rural park along the Susquehanna River, about fifteen minutes from here. I was headed there when I got your call. I worry something might have happened to him."

"Let's not beat around the bush, Stanley. You worry that the Fizzure people got their hands on him, and he's dead."

Stanley sighed. "Yes. But maybe not. Maybe they captured him instead. They might want to find out who he's working for, and what he knows. So maybe he's still alive. Or maybe they don't even have him. Maybe there's another explanation for this."

Beth shook her head. "There's no other explanation Stanley. We both know it. This needs Sapphire Angel."

As Beth said the words, she stopped herself from snorting. She was calling herself Sapphire Angel. Not only had she accepted the name, but she referred to herself as if she was two different people. In a way she was. The Beth Harper from two days ago would never have thought about running headlong into danger. But much had changed in two days, including her. Seeing a loved one dying, and nearly being murdered, did that to a person.

"Okay, then," Stanley replied. "Let's get to work. The police detective said he's done with you. So let's go get your costume. Then off to check out my guy's car, and Gruden's house."