Chapter 4

Pete became aware of someone gently washing his face with a cloth. He heard water and he felt cold. The person began wiping his hair, soaking it with each stroke. He opened his eyes, staring at the ice water he was submerged in up to his chin. He still felt like he was on fire, his vision was blurry, and his mind was foggy, but the water did dull the pain and it did make it easier to breathe. He couldn't remember the last day he was able to get a deep breath.

"Do you remember when you had pneumonia?" he heard mother asked. She appeared where he could see her, smiling at him. In one hand she held a washcloth.

He barely shook his head.

"You were four, and such a little talker." She leaned out of sight and continued soaking his head with cold water. "But when you had pneumonia you just laid still and quiet. You were so hot and wouldn't sleep, but you hardly cried. You laid in my arms and you just watched me. When I gave you cool baths you never fought them – that's how I knew you were really sick. You hated baths until you were six."

He felt her kiss his head. He leaned his head into it and she pressed her cheek against his head.

"I love you, sweetheart," she quietly told him.

Pete closed his eyes, enjoying the simple pleasure of the cold water and knowing his mother was nearby.

"Did you want me to call Amanda?" Jane asked.

"No."

"She would want to be here. She still cares about you."

"That's exactly why I don't want you to call her."

"Pete—"

"Amanda has her life."

"But she—"

"I have the people I need here now. Please, mom. Please, don't."

Jane laughed softly. "You have a strange family, but okay. I won't call."

He heard a door open and someone walked up to the tank. A hand was placed on his shoulder, under the water.

"Pete," Doctor Calder said.

He almost opened his eyes. "Yeah?"

"We're going to pull you out of here in a few minutes and you're going back down to imaging. We're going to take another look at your kidney. It's swollen, but we can't tell why."

Pete didn't care. He nodded once.

The door opened and closed. He was alone with his mother again.

The pain suddenly drilled into his side and his mind swam.

"I wish dad were here."

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Artifacts die, momma. You need dad."

Jane stared at Pete, confused. "You… You said that to me when you were four, when you were sick."

"Yes," Pete murmured as he slipped away into unconsciousness. The straps in the tub held him up again, keeping him from slipping under the water.

Vanessa returned with a gurney and two nurses. She moved out of the way, staring at Pete, stunned.

#

Pete opened his eyes, staring at the light overhead. This was where he met Genna in his sleep, but it felt like years had passed since he'd been back. He felt fingers brush against his arm.

"Pete," someone said.

Pete turned his head. Genna lay on the floor with him, watching him. She reached out, laying her fingers over his. She looked as sick as he felt.

"Didn't know dreams got sick," Pete said.

She almost smiled. "I'm hurt."

"You are? How did you get hurt?"

"I was climbing this mountain near Iquitos. I lost my balance and landed on my side. I know I broke ribs but something else is wrong. I'm in this horrid hospital; I think I'm going to die here. I'm sorry Pete."

"Sorry for what?"

"That I'm going to die and take you with me."

Pete shook his head, looking back at the light. "You're a dream. It doesn't work that way."

"Oh God, you… Oh Pete!"

He looked at her horrified expression. "What?"

"Did you get hurt? Did…" She held up her hand that had several red spots on it. "Did you cut your hand? Was this you?"

Pete lifted his hand up, the one he'd cut on the fence when he was chasing the thief. The cuts mirrored red spots on her hand.

"Yeah."

"Did you skin up your side and knee catching someone?"

He dropped his hand. "Yes."

She wormed her way closer. She laid her hand on his face. Tears sparkled in her eyes and then across her face as they began to fall.

"We are out of time, Pete. You have to remember me. I wanted it to happen on its own because any other way… I don't want to go back in the teapot, Pete, but I can't lose you either. You're the closest thing I have to family. Get the teapot you brought back from Seattle and look at it or touch it or yell at it, just do something with it. It's the key but I don't know how you need to use it."

"I don't understand."

"We're like conjoined twins."

"The teapot? From Seattle?"

"Yes." Genna laid her head on his shoulder.

"We're conjoined… Like twins."

She didn't comment.

"Where is Iquitos?"

Genna didn't answer.

#

Pete opened his eyes and heard the end of hearing something crashing in the hallway. Something metal made a whir-whir sound as it spun to a stop.

Pete moved, looking for a call button on his bed. He had to see the teapot.

Someone moved in the room and then Myka appeared.

"Hey," she said as she took his hand.

"Mykes… I… know what—"

"Your kidney is swelling, but they don't know why. It doesn't appear to be bruised or injured."

Pete gripped the bedding under him, forcing through the pain. He had to be able to talk. "Go back… To the Warehouse. Get the teapot… We brought back… From Seattle… And bring it… To me."

Myka stared at him.

"A genie cannot fix this, Pete."

"No genie. I need to… See it. I need to… Remember something…"

"Remember what?"

"I don't know. Please… Bring me that teapot."

She looked uncertain. Pete reached out and wrapped his fingers around her fingers. She was so cool, it felt so good.

"Don't you… Trust me… Anymore?" Pete asked.

Myka's face showed her confliction. She looked away, but her fingers tightened on his. She watched something for a long moment before looking back at his face.

"Okay. But when this is over, you are explaining everything to me. The not sleeping, the strange behaviors, all those ghost pains…"

Pete barely nodded.

Myka let his hand go and disappeared from sight.

#

Leena sat with Jane in the waiting room. Both women had cups of cold coffee in their hands and were consumed by their own worry to speak. Leena looked up at Myka when she ran up to her.

"Give me your Harry Kellar chalk," Myka ordered.

"What?"

"Give me your chalk. I have to go back to the Warehouse."

"Claudia is—"

"I really don't have time to debate this, Leena. Give me your chalk."

Leena dug into her coat pocket and handed a piece of chalk to Myka. Myka turned and rushed off.

"What was that about?" Jane asked.

"I don't know…" Leena sat her cup down on a side table, picked up her coat and purse, and followed where Myka had disappeared.

Jane was behind her.

In the hall, Artie and Vanessa were talking and watched as the three women disappeared back into Pete's room. Suspecting something was about to happen, Artie followed.

In Pete's room Myka stopped at a bare wall and drew a door and handle.

"Myka, you shouldn't—" Leena started.

But Myka was already through the door and coming out in the Warehouse office.

#

Claudia turned when a breeze kicked up and watched Myka walk through a door in the wall. Beyond it she saw Artie, Leena, Jane, and Vanessa stared after her – and they looked as confused as she was.

"What's going on?" Claudia asked as she turned her chair to watch Myka rush past.

Myka didn't stop to answer. Claudia jumped up and ran after her. She never realized how fast Myka could walk until she was trying to keep up with her. Down the stairs to the floor and across the Warehouse they went. Claudia tried to ask what was happening until she was too winded to speak. Myka glided through aisle after aisle, clearly set on a mission. They reached the aisle of genie vessels and Myka stopped, looking at them. Myka searched the shelves as she pull gloves from her jacket pocket and pull them on her hands.

"What… Are we… Doing here?" Claudia panted.

"Find the teapot that Pete and I brought back from Seattle."

"Wh… Why?"

"Find it, Claudia."

Claudia walked to a terminal and entered in information. She came up with a number.

"Aisle 257, we're in it. Shelf B. Location 22."

Myka went to the location and stared. "This isn't it."

Claudia trotted down to her. Sitting in that location were two very large vases – also genie vessels, but they were definitely not the twelve inch high gold teapot described in the computer. The two searched the rows but they didn't find the teapot.

Not right away.

"Myka, I found it," Claudia said.

She turned. Claudia was right back at location 22. Myka walked over and Claudia pointed between the vases. Pushed clear to the back, hidden behind an ornate hanging lamp and a dozen censer's of varying sizes, hid the teapot.

"Why is it all the way back there?" Myka asked.

"Good question. Better question. How do you plan on getting it without launching a genie invasion in the Warehouse? I count fourteen vessels between you and it."

"Get me a broom."

Claudia was impressed. She went off in search of a broom and returned with it. With a mouth twisted from concentration and effort, Myka brought the teapot forward inch by inch until it was in safe reaching distance. She sat the broom down and picked it up, looking at it.

"Is that causing Pete's sickness?"

"I don't know. He's asking to see it though."

"He's not going to make a wish, is he? Because we all know how those turn out."

"No."

Myka looked at the teapot. She opened the lid. She always expected a genie, like in 'I Dream of Genie', but they were always empty inside. This teapot had a gray, dusty bottom. She put the lid back on, focusing on the diamond handle embedded in the lid.

"There's something about this teapot that is so… Familiar."

"Did you and Pete bring it back together?"

Myka shook her head. "It's something else. I feel… Guilty, holding it."

"And you're wearing gloves. Maybe that's what turned him into an artifact."

"Get us tawiz amulets."

Claudia went to the end of the row and took two tawiz amulets from a box. She returned, handing Myka one. Myka put one on, made sure Claudia had one on, and then pulled off one glove. She put her hand against the teapot to rub it and the world turned upside down on her. Images and conversations bombarded her. Memories that had been pushed into her subconscious returned with brute force. All the feelings and sensations she'd felt from the time she misused this teapot, to the moment Pete permanently prevented anyone from misusing it again, became clear and easy to recall.

When it was over, Myka found herself kneeling on the floor. Claudia was pushing her up by her shoulder with a worried look. She was winded and her head hurt. She looked into Claudia's eyes.

"There's no genie in this lamp," Myka told her.

"That's impossible. It's—"

Myka got up and jogged over to a wall. She pulled the chalk from her pocket and drew a door.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to go back. Pete needs this teapot."

"Myka, your nose and ears are bleeding," Claudia told her.

Myka didn't stop. She grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open, stepping through space back into Pete's hospital room.

#

Jane, Vanessa, and Artie turned when the door in the wall opened. Myka pushed between them, focused on getting to Pete.

"What is going on, Myka?" Artie asked.

"Pete has to get his memories back."

"What memories?" he and Jane asked.

Myka stopped moving, watching Pete. His eyes almost opened and he stared at her. She smiled.

"The memories of Pete saving the world," Myka answered. "This is going to hurt. Are you ready?"

He barely nodded. "Ready," he whispered

She picked up Pete's hand and pressed it against the teapot. Pete gasped. His heart raced, setting off the alarm on the EKG monitor. Overcome by surprise and pain, he gagged and gasped for each breath. But he didn't let go of the teapot. He curled his fingers around the diamond handle on the lid and the golden handle, holding it in his shaking hands.

The alarm brought several nurses and another doctor. Vanessa was quick to meet them at the door and shoo them outside.

Pete's hands dropped. Myka caught the teapot before it rolled off the bed. His racing heart quickly slowed. His breathing steadied, although still short and shallow. Blood trickled from his nose and ears.

Myka took the teapot away and sat it on the bedside table. She pulled a Kleenex from the box and wiped the blood away. His eyes drooped close and minutes passed.

The EKG alarm stopped and was replaced with a rhythmic beep. Myka laid a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light shake.

Vanessa came back into the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Pete. Pete, you have to wake up. Pete."

His eyes almost opened.

"Pete, wake up. I need you to look at me."

"Whatever that was," Vanessa began, "he was weak before, Myka, this has made it worse. Let him sleep."

"He doesn't have time to wait," Myka told her. "Pete, wake up."

She heard bricks scraping and glanced back. Claudia walked into the room from the Warehouse office, her messenger bag with her laptop slung over her shoulder.

"After what happened in the Warehouse, I thought I might be needed here," Claudia explained to everyone.

"What happened in the Warehouse?" Artie asked.

Claudia leaned in, whispering to him.

Myka focused on Pete. She continued shaking his shoulder until he looked at her. She asked, "Pete, what is the genie's name?"

Claudia stopped whispering and stared. Artie slowly turned his head, staring at Pete. The room held its breath, waiting to see if he was going to give an answer.

"Genna," he whispered.

"Genna. Okay. Does she have a last name?"

He barely nodded twice. "Lemieux. She was in my fourth grade. She was a tom boy and we just followed her around because she was cool." Pete's voice began to fade as he started to drift away. "One time, she got mad at this girl in class, and—"

"Pete, where is Genna. Where is the genie now?"

Pete didn't answer. She shook his shoulder until he looked at her.

"Where is Genna now?"

"Iquitos. She was climbing when I flew."

Myka ignored the part that didn't make sense. "Where is Iquitos?"

"I was flying when she fell." His eyes closed and he was drifting away again.

"Pete, look at me. I need you to stay with me just a little longer, okay?"

A slow nod.

"Pete, is Genna in your nightmares? The ones that are keeping you up all night?"

A slow nod.

"Is Genna the one who is really hurt, Pete?"

Another nod.

"Okay." Myka smiled, laying her hand on the side of his face. "That's all the questions. You can sleep now."

He did just that.

Myka's old, suppressed memories, made her feel guilty. If she hadn't wished to protect the people she cared about, he never would have met Genna, his bug of justice never would have bitten him, he wouldn't have freed her, and they would not be bound.

"I found her," Claudia said.

Myka turned. All eyes went from Myka to Claudia. She was sitting in a chair by the wall with her laptop out, watching her monitor as her fingers flew across the keys.

"Where is she?" Myka asked.

Claudia turned the monitor around to show Myka. She shook a finger at the webpage displayed.

"That logo…"

"That's Vesta Plastics outside of Univille," Artie said.

"She's there?"

"She works there." Claudia tapped the photograph.

Myka had flashes of the genie turning into the young face in the photograph. She saw her curled on Pete's lap and he was saying something to the girl that Myka couldn't hear.

"She's the genie."

"Not according to this," Claudia turned the monitor back to her. "She's Genna Lemieux, twenty-two. She's been CFO for eight months."

"You and Pete were in Seattle nine months ago," Artie commented.

"Yeah. And…"Claudia paused. "According to her calendar she's on vacation. Ah. A flight confirmation email. Don't even want to know how she paid for this trip! Okay, she checked in for her flight that left Rapid City a week ago and landed in Lima, Peru. She rented a car in Lima and checked into a hotel in Iquitos, Peru. She's still checked in there but her flight left yesterday." Claudia did some more typing. "Genna never boarded that flight and her card is still being charged for the room." She looked up. "She's somewhere in Peru."

Artie told her. "Book the next flight down there, go get Steve – he and Leena went to the cafeteria – and go find this girl."

"On it," Claudia said. Her fingers raced across the keyboard. She jumped up, grabbed her bag, and dashed out of the room. Artie turned to Myka. The two stared at each other.

"We'll talk about this later. Don't leave the teapot sitting out." He walked out of the room.

Vanessa stood for a moment before following him out. Myka started to turn around.

"Thank you, Myka," Jane said.

She turned to Jane. "For what?"

"Artie and Leena told me about how Pete has been acting lately, and that they thought he'd started drinking again. Thank you for being his partner and sticking with him."

Myka turned away. Jane didn't know she almost hadn't. Perhaps it was the unconscious memories that convinced her to trust Pete. She just hoped it was soon enough.