Chapter Twenty One

Erica was glad she had another stop to make; leaving Tyler at his father's house, knowing he would not be coming home that night, well, it just killed her. But her plan had worked, hadn't it? She'd done it so Tyler wouldn't move onboard the mothership, and now, he wasn't.

So why did she feel so terrible?

Erica glanced over at her silent daughter from time to time, noticing the girl hadn't so much as said a word since they left Joe's. Erica knew this was killing her daughter as much as it was killing her, but maybe it was worse for Kaitlyn. After all; Kaitlyn didn't know the why of Tyler's sudden moving out. She couldn't understand the great sacrifice it required of their family. The Visitors were dangerous; Erica would walk on fire before she released either of her children into the V's clutches.

Exactly the reason they were headed to Dr. Pearlman.

Ryan would meet them there, and that was something Erica was still trying to figure out in her mind. Yes, Ryan planned to be there as the official mediator, so Dr. Leah Pearlman wouldn't be suspiscious of Erica, since, after all, she was a rebel Visitor. Any trace back to her and what she would do for Kaitlyn would incriminate her. Still, Kaitlyn was too smart for her own good; what would she tell Kaitlyn?

Nothing. What could she tell her?

Besides, Kaitlyn hardly seemed like she'd be suspiscious. She was still thinking about Tyler.

Well, so was Erica.

"Aren't we going home?" Kaitlyn asked after a few minutes, noticing Erica was taking a different way. Erica swallowed. Here we go.

"No, sweetie, we have to make a quick stop first."

"Where?"

"Well," Erica started. Lie, and lie quick. "There's a specialist I'm taking to you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, baby girl, but I just to have you checked out by a doctor after your accident."

"But mom, I'm okay," Kaitlyn protested.

"You're probably right, honey, but I'm a mom; I worry about these things until all my basis are covered." Erica flashed her daughter a smile. "If I get a clean bill of health from this doctor, I'll admit you were right and buy you an ice cream, how's that?"

Erica caught a hint of a smile.

"Fine, but I don't understand why I have to see a specialist." Kaitlyn whined. "Why can't we just go to my regular doctor?"

"He's out of town." Erica lied. Kaitlyn didn't press the matter, thankfully. Erica was already on edge; coming up with lies for the rest of the afternoon would not come easily.

They pulled into the clinic's parking lot, and as they did, Erica felt her phone buzz. She checked it subtly and saw it was a text from Ryan.

Filled Pearlman in on K and the R6. She will stage a routine check up.

Erica breathed out. Good. Kaitlyn needed to believe this was a simple check up, nothing about Visitor fluid running through her veins keeping track of her every movement. Erica made sure she had her gun strapped to her belt; if the V's could really track Kaitlyn's movements, then they might know she was here, and they might come to stop it from happening.

Well, Ryan would have known if that would happen. He was the eyes and ears behind all Visitor activity.

Erica watched Kaitlyn closely as they entered the clinic, as they signed in, as they sat in the waiting room. It was all a show; there would be no other patients, even the receptionist was a ruse. Still, Erica didn't see any signs of suspiscion in Kaitlyn's eyes as they waited. Erica felt relieved; she couldn't pull Kaitlyn into all of this, the real reasons they were here. It was too much.

"Kaitlyn Evans?" a woman called from down the hall. Erica stood with Kaitlyn and they followed the sound of the voice. Kaitlyn was still so quiet; it was everything Erica could do to keep herself from spilling the beans, telling Kaitlyn everything.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Pearlman." A young woman with a mass of curly hair greeted them when they entered the room. Erica's stomach sank, because her eyes didn't rest on Pearlman, but on Ryan, who was standing in the corner of the room, eyes crossed. Ryan, what the hell are you still doing here? Erica caught Kaitlyn's expression; she also wondered who this guy was.

"This is my assistant, Ryan." Dr. Pearlman said, as though reading Erica's mind. "Don't you worry about him being here, Kaitlyn. All he does is take notes for me. Gets my job done quicker." Pearlman shot Kaitlyn a smile and patted the examining table for Kaitlyn to hop onto. As Kaitlyn followed the doctor's instructions, Erica shot a glance at Ryan. She would give him so much heck for being here! If Kaitlyn really let her mind wrap itself around all of this, her suspiscions would be through the roof. Kaitlyn was too smart a kid to think doctors just had random guys taking notes for them.

"I heard you were in an accident," Pearlman said as she pulled out a stethoscope, motioned for Kaitlyn to take some deep breaths. "I guess your mom's been awful worried, huh?"

Kaitlyn merely nodded, smiling ever so slightly at her mother, who waited by the door, wondering how in the world this doctor planned on extracting R6 from her daughter without causing suspiscion.

Dr. Pearlman checked Kaitlyn's heart, her blood pressure, her eyes, her reflexes, anything a normal doctor would do in a routine checkup. Erica's heart was hammering; sure it all seemed innocent enough, but Erica wasn't interested in the routine checkup.

"Kaitlyn, have you experienced nausea of any kind since the accident?" Dr. Pearlman asked.

Kaitlyn shook her head.

"Dizziness?"

"No."

"Headaches?"

"Not really."

"Any sore muscles?"

Another shake of the head.

"Well, then my diagnosis is that you're a very lucky young lady." Dr. Pearlman smiled. "But I'm going to give you a shot to counteract any of these symptoms. It's not uncommon for headaches and dizziness to manifest itself even a few days after an accident of that magnitude. This shot will fight against that, and then you can keep living your life as though nothing happened."

Erica watched for a reaction, but Kaitlyn only bit her lip in submission. Erica almost breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever that shot was, it had to be what would counteract the R6. Finally, they'd be home free.

Kaitlyn was silent while Dr. Pearlman prepared a syringe with a clear blue bubbly liquid, and only wrinkled her nose slightly when the needle pierced her skin. Erica flashed her brave daughter a smile and only glanced at Ryan, who gave her a curt nod. Erica couldn't help but feel relieved; the Visitors might have numbers and technology on their side, but for today, that didn't matter.

Her children were safe from their monstrosity, at least for another day.

As Erica and Kaitlyn left the doctor's office, Kaitlyn glancing ever so slightly at the tiny pin prick on her arm, she gave a little sigh and glanced at her mother.

"I told you so," Kaitlyn pointed out. "I believe you owe me an ice cream."