FORSYTHE,” A VOICE SAID, AND something tapped his face. “Forsythe. Wake up already, I don’t have all day.”
Fort opened his eyes, then immediately closed them again. He wasn’t in pain, at least, but his mind still felt fuzzy from whatever they’d been giving him. Another slap on his cheek, and he looked up to find Dr. Ambrose leaning over him. “Okay, I’m up,” he murmured, and she thankfully stopped.
“Good,” Dr. Ambrose said, leaning back. Fort could hear people running outside the door, and muffled shouting. “We’ve got a lot to talk about, and not much time. First, you should be totally healed now. Jia fixed your ribs, leg, and ankle.” She gave him some side eye. “You only fell, like, ten feet, Forsythe. Next time try not to land on everything breakable all at the same time.”
“I broke all of those things?” Fort said, sitting up slowly and feeling around his ribs. Everything felt totally normal, which made sense, since Jia’s magic would have restored his bones back to their nonbroken state. “Did Gabriel…”
“Not as bad,” she said, frowning. “We kept him sedated, though, until his father decided what to do with him. He’s expelled now, if that helps.”
Fort sat up straight, his eyes widening. “Wait, you let him go? You know he can teleport, right? You can’t just—”
“Who are you talking to, Forsythe?” she said, glaring at him. “Of course I know that. And I said we needed to wipe his memories. But Colonel Charles outranks me, and he said he’d be taking his son home. What was I supposed to do, arrest them both?”
“Yes!” Fort shouted. “He almost let the Old Ones come back!”
“Let’s not get into who’s releasing what Old Ones here,” Dr. Ambrose said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m told you pulled a stunt just like that yourself. You’re lucky no one was permanently injured from that dragon you took on a joyride around the world.”
Fort’s face turned bright red, and he coughed to hide his embarrassment. “Yeah, okay, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do.”
“That’s the first intelligent thing I’ve heard you say,” Dr. Ambrose told him, sitting down on the bed next to him. “And don’t forget, I did warn you about Gabriel. He didn’t handle losing his brother well. Not that anyone would, but Colonel Charles thought you might be able to help Gabriel with his grief, because of your father. I’m pretty sure he didn’t think that you’d inspire his son to almost destroy humanity instead, but we all have our blind spots.”
Fort sighed. “I didn’t know he was Colonel Charles’s son, or stepson. He never told me. I saw all the special treatment, but I didn’t make the connection.”
“Next time I’ll put up a blinking neon sign or something,” Dr. Ambrose said, patting his shin. “How else do you think he would have gotten permission to use the book of Healing after classes? Not to mention that he and his mother have been staying here for months, over in the government-family section of the facility.” She shook her head. “They brought a bunch of VIPs down here to keep them safe once the first attack happened, just in case. Probably didn’t help Gabriel to get over things, being surrounded by soldiers and having those skeletons on display.”
“He was studying the Summoning book,” Fort told her. “He almost learned how to make a portal himself. If he had—”
“In some ways, we’re all lucky you stole it,” Dr. Ambrose said as the noises outside increased. Something was definitely happening. “Plus, even if you took him along with you, another fine choice you made, at least you were around to pull him back. Otherwise we’d all be knee-deep in Old Ones right now.”
This was all too much to process, and Fort had much bigger questions on his mind anyway. “How’s my father doing?” he asked. “Has he woken up yet?”
Dr. Ambrose shook her head and nodded at the curtain around Fort’s bed. “No, and I’m not sure when he will. His body is in great shape for a man his age, so he should be awake. I took an EEG, but it didn’t explain anything.”
Fort’s dream of Sierra came back to him. “But you saw something odd in the EKJ, didn’t you?”
“EEG. Electroencephalogram. Measures electrical activity in the brain. And yes, I did see something unusual in his readings, but nothing to concern yourself with.” She raised an eyebrow. “But how did you know that?”
“Just a guess, since he didn’t wake up,” Fort lied. “But you think he will? He’s going to be okay?”
Dr. Ambrose started to speak, then paused. “Yes, I do, Forsythe,” she said. “I think he’ll be fine. But I can’t say when he’ll wake up, or why he hasn’t yet.”
“Can I see him?” he asked, barely able to stop himself from leaping out of the bed and pushing aside the curtain.
Dr. Ambrose looked like she wanted to say no, but instead just sighed. “Okay, but just for a few minutes. We’re not done here. There are some pretty big developments happening out in the world right now, and they’re not going to wait.”
She helped him off the bed, which he was thankful for, as standing turned out to be a bit more wobbly than he expected. But his father’s bed was only steps away, anyway, just on the other side of the curtain, and by the time he reached it, he was feeling more steady.
That was good, because the sight of his father hooked up to various machines and IV drips almost sent him reeling.
“I can only give you five minutes,” Dr. Ambrose said, and walked over to the door. As she opened it, Fort saw soldiers waiting expectantly for her. “Say whatever you need to quickly, okay?”
He nodded, but she’d already turned and left, closing the door behind her. And finally, it was just him and his father.
His dad looked exactly the same as he had back in the Dracsi cave, which shouldn’t have been surprising, as that was just a short time ago. Still, it felt like years, and even now, the fact that his father was lying there in front of him brought tears to his eyes.
He just looked so vulnerable, so small, when he’d always seemed so big in so many ways.
Fort pulled a chair over and sat down, taking his father’s hand. There was so much to say, so much to apologize for, but now that he actually had his dad back, he had no idea where to begin.
“We never did see the Einstein statue, huh?” Fort said, and his voice cracked. The only response was the beeping of the machines, though, and for a moment, Fort just looked at his father, not sure if he could go on.
“I just want you to know,” he said finally, “that I am so deeply, truly sorry that… that everything happened. You’d never have been taken if I’d just…”
He wiped his eyes, his hand coming away almost soaking. Fort let the tears fall as he softly sobbed, laying his head against his father’s hand. “But I fixed it. I came to find you. I didn’t stop… I would never have stopped…”
As he said it, an image of Gabriel freeing the Old Ones appeared in his mind, and he squeezed his eyes closed, willing himself not to think about it. Would he have done the same thing, putting the entire world in danger to bring his father back? The thought made Fort sick to his stomach.
“I… I lost a friend,” he said quietly, picking his head back up. “His brother was taken. I didn’t know that, but my friend tried to rescue his brother, too, and I… I stopped him. To save him, but I still stopped him. And now I lost him, just like Cyrus said I would. And I have no idea what he’ll do next.”
Silence, except for the beeping from the machines.
“If I’d just waited another few seconds,” Fort whispered. “Maybe Michael would have changed his mind. Maybe I should have teleported him back too. But the Old Ones were going to attack, and I didn’t… I couldn’t know. But whatever happens next, it’s my fault. Just like you being taken.”
No response.
“Did I do the right thing? Gabriel could have let them loose on our entire world! But he was just trying to save his brother. I don’t know what I should have done! Tell me, please.” He squeezed his father’s hand harder now, not even bothering to stop the tears. “Please, please, please, just tell me what I should do. I don’t know, and I keep messing up!”
Someone knocked on the door, and Fort realized he didn’t have much time left. He cleared his throat and looked up at his father. “You’re going to be okay now,” he said, hoping he wasn’t lying. “Dr. Ambrose and Jia will make sure of that. You’re going to be okay, and we’ll go home, probably with no memories of any of this, and everything will be back to normal. It has to be. And I’ll… I’ll make this up to you, for the rest of my life if that’s what it takes. I’ll—”
The door opened, and Dr. Ambrose entered, closing it softly. “Forsythe,” she said, not unkindly. “I gave you as long as I could. But I need to speak to you about something.”
“What?” he asked, rubbing his eyes again as he let his irritation show. “What is so important? This is my father!”
She sighed. “I know. But something’s happened in the UK, and it won’t wait.”
She reached and flipped on a television above his father’s head, and the news appeared, showing what looked like a strange black dome surrounded by blue.
“Those were satellite pictures,” Dr. Ambrose said as a news anchor appeared on-screen. “Whatever that dome is, it’s covering half the United Kingdom.”