Chapter Twelve
SCOTT
I woke up with a headache. It wasn't a simple one that would go away in a few hours. It was one of the bad ones that would leave me shaken and exhausted. I had hoped that since I was getting good care my headaches would go away. I had had one in the hospital but the painkillers had dulled it. For a few moments, I wondered if I should even get out of bed, but decided to see if eating would help.
Jean had spent the night after spending a long afternoon shopping with Storm. She was still chattering about their purchases this morning and since she was seated right next to me I had a lot of trouble not wincing. My stomach was churning and I could barely eat a few bites. Finally, I cleared my mostly full plate and sought out the cool library in hopes that I could relieve the pain there.
Unfortunately, Jean sought me out a few hours later and set up a checkerboard. She was thrilled when she proceeded to beat me three games in a row. It was a great relief to have Storm summon her to the kitchen so they could bake. I went outside into Storm's garden to hope the sunlight would help as well as to hide from Jean.
I fell asleep on one of the benches. Logan sought me out when I didn't show up for lunch. I cautiously entered the dining room to be met by Jean's exuberance. My head ached so badly I wanted to throw up or cry. Jean prattled on and on. I fought to eat a little. Storm commented on my lack of appetite and asked if I was all right.
"I'm tired. I've got a headache." I explained.
"Why don't you lie down?" She suggested.
I tried to lie down in my room, but spent several hours tossing and turning. The pressure in my head was growing stronger. When Jean found me sitting up she begged me to come outside where she was about to show off her newest trick. I stumbled after her wishing I could lose the headache.
LOGAN
Jean was rounding up Slim. She'd found him awake and was eager to have him there so he felt apart of us, though of course he could not see what she was going to do. We all indulged Jeanie's delight. She was the light and life of our sometimes quiet and gloomy home. Storm, Xavier and I had gathered at the gazebo where Jean was going to perform.
"The child isn't going to do anything dangerous, is she?" Storm asked.
"I don't know what she is doing. She is keeping it a secret from me too." Xavier answered with a happy smile. He loved Jean's exuberance.
I saw her red head appear as she left the back yard to head into the park where the gazebo was situated. Slim was following her slowly. He had walked this way with Jean several times and had once followed Storm out here on his own. I was surprised how uncertainly he was moving. "She's forgotten he may not know the way." I pointed out.
He was listing to one side. I stood up as I suddenly realized that it was not uncertainty that was causing his slow steps. "Jean, Scott's going to fall." I hollered. She turned around in surprise at the very moment the boy dropped into a heap. We raced to his side, uncertain what was wrong.
Jean was trying to get him onto his back when we came up but he was curled up, hands clutching his head. His teeth were gritted and he was moaning. "What's wrong?" Jean asked.
"He's running a fever." Storm cried out. "Jean get some cold water and some rags."
Xavier came up more slowly as our fire headed gal ran back to the house. I scooped Slim up. His whole body was tense with pain and he cried out with the slightest movement. His hands went to the bandage over his eyes and he whimpered. "Is it your headache?" Storm asked. "Is it worse, Scott?"
He did not answer, shuddering as I moved him off the hard path onto the softer grass. Storm was doing her best to find a position for him to lay in that would help relieve the pain.
"Jean's bringing some pain killers with her." Xavier announced after a moment. Scott started heaving and I helped him upright so that he could vomit into the grass rather than on himself. He hadn't eaten enough that day to throw up and after a half a minute of dry heaves he cried out and seemed to pass out.
"Charles, what is wrong?" Storm cried.
"Scott, I'm going to try to touch your mind. Can you tell me what is wrong?" Xavier asked. He closed his eyes and sat rigid for a moment as Jean came racing back, water, rags and blankets following her in a telekinetic bubble.
"Is he alright?" She demanded as she lowered the supplies to Storm's hands. Scott was shaking again.
Xavier opened his eyes. "He gets headaches a lot. Apparently ever since the plane accident. Usually they go away after a day, but this one is the worst he's had." He explained. He considered the whimpering child again. "I wonder…"
He closed his eyes to concentrate on Scott's mind. The boy must have been desperate enough to lower his shields for Jean cried out, as she tasted a bit of the pain racking Slim's scrawny body. It was several moments before Xavier painfully opened his eyes. "I think Scott needs to open his eyes." He explained. The rest of us looked aghast at him.
"No!" Scott cried out, the fear of his power spurring him past the pain for that brief moment.
"Scott, I don't think the headache will get better unless you let the energy out. Before you've never been able to build up enough reserves for it to be dangerous but I am afraid if you don't release some of the pent up energy you could hurt yourself." Xavier explained. "Logan, bring him to the open. Jean and Storm, stay here."
I lifted the boy again. He was in so much pain sweat poured off his body and he was as rigid as a board. Xavier and I brought him to the open yard and I propped him up so that he faced the empty space and would not hit anything. "We're all behind you and there is nothing you can damage if you open your eyes." I told him, carefully unwrapping the bandage. His eyes were swollen underneath and he looked younger than ever with his whole face revealed. I lifted his head so that he looked at the ground some yards away.
"Open your eyes!" Xavier cried. "Scott you're going to hurt yourself. There is no one you can hurt if you open your eyes."
I think if the pain had been less the kid wouldn't have done it but he'd already proved that he was past the point of endurance. He finally opened his eyes. It took every ounce of my will not to leap up in shock as red, raw energy that looked like light, yet punched the ground with enough forced to make the ground exploded in a little shower of dirt and grass, shoot of his eyes. He screamed as if it hurt him. I wondered if it did hurt or if it was just the shocking release.
Xavier stared in amazement at the power that poured out of the kid. The boy was truly a living weapon. No wonder he'd become a pawn in the gang wars. He'd seemed so weak, the strength of his eyes hidden by the enforced blindness. Jean and Storm disobeyed and drew nearer to get a better look at the raw energy still digging a hole into the yard.
He had his eyes open for five whole minutes before he sighed and closed his eyes, falling weakly into my chest. Now he was limp as a boned fish, either unconscious or exhausted. I carefully wrapped the bandage around his eyes, reminded why the bandage was there in the first place. Xavier stared at the three-foot deep hole the boy's power had ripped into the ground.
"Oh, wow." Jean was the first to speak. Then she turned her brilliant green eyes on Scott. "Scott are you alright?"
"It's getting better." He whispered.
"Should we bring him inside?" Storm asked.
"No. He released enough that I think staying out in the sun will be better for him. Perhaps we should make him more comfortable." Xavier said. Scott seemed to have fallen asleep, but he woke when I picked him up again to carry him back to the patio behind the house. Setting him one of the lounge chairs, I stepped back to let Jean and Storm fuss over him. Xavier watched, his face grim and frustrated as his disability would not allow him to help anymore than he already had.
SCOTT
I slept the remainder of the day outside. It surprised me that the headaches seemed to be caused, or at least worsened, by my power. Even more, it shocked and frightened me that there was a way to release the pressure. I hated the feel of the power rushing through me. It did not hurt. It felt good in fact, and I despised myself for that fact. Something so deadly should not feel so pleasing.
Despite the fact that the headache had utterly disappeared I was still so weak by evening that Logan had to help me walk into the house. He did not vacate my bedroom until I was safely in bed and had managed to eat a little dinner. It felt nice to have him worry. I knew they were all worried.
By morning, I felt much better, though I could feel my guardians watching me anxiously at the breakfast table. They were unusually quiet. I had not realized how much I had frightened them the day before. My ravenous appetite and lack of weakness convinced them that I was better. After breakfast, Xavier asked me to come into his study.
"Scott, the headaches could seriously hurt you. You need to open your eyes more often." He told me.
"I don't want to open my eyes." I told him.
"I know it scares you." His voice was gentle and he laid a hand on my arm. "I promise you that we will make sure you do not hurt anyone or anything."
"You saw what it does. It's too dangerous."
"Scott, we need to do something for you. I want to see you healthy and strong and if you get these headaches often I fear for your safety." He replied. I wrapped my arms around me and stubbornly shook my head. If the headache got so bad I might not have a choice, but I wasn't going to risk it until I had to. "Perhaps we can find something else to help." He suggested slowly.
I let my shoulders slump. I was so tired of fighting. So tired of being blind. "I'm afraid." I told him honestly. "I don't want to go through tests."
"I know. What if we made a deal? We will only look for ways to help you an hour a day and if you ever need to stop we will not continue. Can you give us a chance to prove me mean no harm?" He asked.
For a long time I thought about what he said. Could I trust them not to hurt me, not to turn the examinations I knew would be required into experiments that would hurt and humiliate me? I believed they did just want what was best for me and I knew that the Professor was right. I could not live like this the rest of my life. "Promise me if I can't do it you'll stop." I agreed.
