Chapter 38
As they flew through the skies in their solar driven craft, the Planeteers and Commander Clash utilized the on board computer to help them zero in on where Wheeler was being held. With every passing image, they grew more determined to stop the evil doctor's plan from succeeding. They felt their hearts racing against the proverbial clock as they saw Blight, in her pink and black business suit, greeting reporter after reporter, promising them the story of the century.
"Oh no, if those reporters see Wheeler, his life will be ruined!" Gi gasped as the number of eager journalists seemed to increase at an alarming speed.
You know, that would be a perfect disguise, Planeteers,"" the commander spoke up as a rush of inspiration washed over his mind. "If we were to go into that press conference under cover, we could take out all the power sources and come to Wheeler's rescue."
"Then we must find out where the main generators are…" Linka began as she called up the specs and diagrams of the meeting hall where the world press was planning to catch their glimpse of the only pregnant man known to human kind. "It looks like there are 5 power sources, 1 master source and 4 auxiliary generators. Unfortunately, Mal appears to be on battery back-up, and he is generating the force field that is holding Wheeler."
"Can you get the schematics of the force field, Linka? We may need to find a way to open or destroy it." Clash popped the clasp of his seatbelt and searched the storage unit for some cameras and other props that would provide the proper cover for the rescue party.
As soon as Linka called up the field's details, she gasped, "Bozhe Moy! Look at this. The force field has an opening at the top, but I think it is too high for Wheeler to reach."
"What if we took out the power and called Captain Planet while the reporters are all bumping into each other in the dark?" Kwame suggested as he collected a camera from the military man and hung it around his neck, managing to cover up his Planeteer insignia perfectly.
"Then when the distraction is going on, I can send a message to Wheeler, and we can have Cap carry him out of the force field," Ma-Ti finished voicing out the plan before donning a long coat and derby, making sure to have a note pad in his pocket.
"Then it is decided," Clash announced, passing some plain oversized T-shirts and hats to the girls before making another trip to the closet for more props. "Operation Short Circuit is now under way." With that, he tossed an orange and blue baseball cap to Kwame and provided the girls with a tape recorder and miniature camera.
"And we will keep in touch through Ma-Ti," Linka said, accepting the tape recorder and pulling her hat down in a way that her face wouldn't be overly apparent.
"Actually, if Ma-Ti needs to keep in touch with Wheeler, we will need another way for the 5 of us to keep open communications. Have you got any listening devices, Planeteers?" Clash asked as he put on a thick Army jacket, dropped a pad and pen into the pocket, and pulled a camouflage cap low to hide his face.
"Yes, we do," Gi brightened up as she laid her mini movie camera aside and rose to produce the requested items. "We decided to get these so we could stay in touch with each other during times when Ma-Ti doesn't have his ring or his power is failing." She immediately passed around the devices that clipped onto the belt and had a hands-free receiver that hooked onto the ear.
Now, it's time," Emile Clash announced after the little plane touched down and the rescue party filed out on their mission.
"Welcome to our little press conference," Blight happily greeted the journalists whom she didn't suspect were Wheeler's eco-buddies.
"Thank you. I'm from the Stars And Stripes. This story is so big the Army couldn't resist checking it out," Clash bluffed before quickly passing by the scientist who was responsible for Wheeler's plight.
"I am with the Miami Herald," Ma-Ti lied as he passed a fleeting glance to his "host" and immediately stepped out of her line of sight.
Gi, Kwame, and Linka also spouted off the names of TV and radio stations as they passed by the disfigured doctor.
"News Talk Radio" Linka quickly said as she ran by, appearing to want a good place to catch a glimpse of the fabulous story.
"I'm with a public access network in Chinatown, San Francisco, California," Gi stated as she made way for her station.
"I am with the University of Florida school newspaper, "Kwame improvised, given the cap he had been wearing.
Another 25 minutes passed by before the rescue team had taken their stations and Dr. Blight assumed her spot at centre stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I have gathered you together today to unveil my latest experiment. Since the beginning of time, men have told their wives and girlfriends that they would get pregnant in their place if they could; well, I have made that possible. I have used a formula I invented to make a man-"
"Now, Commander Clash said in a low voice into his microphone, signaling to the others it was time to shower the entire meeting hall in darkness.
Before Blight could finish her speech, the whole room was snapped into darkness, causing all the confused journalists to start milling around in a complete state of chaos.
"Ma-Ti, we must call Captain Planet now before Dr. Blight turns the lights back on," Kwame softly spoke into his mouth piece and gave a momentary pause before hearing Ma-Ti's cue to go ahead and summon Big Blue. "Let our powers combine…Earth…" he whispered.
"Fire…" Wheeler said in a voice so quiet that he could barely hear himself.
"Wind…"
"Water…"
"Heart…"
Somehow, Cap already realized the situation at hand, so he dispensed with his usual announcement of powers combining. Instead of materializing into the blue skinned superhero, he immediately transformed into electricity and found his way through the top of the force field where Wheeler was imprisoned.
"Are you Ok, Wheeler?" Cap, who had assumed his normal form, queried as he looked to the captive with concern in his brown eyes.
"I will be once you get me outta here, Cap," the grateful redhead answered as the hero drew closer and tenderly touched the youth's swelling ankle.
"I'd better get you back to the geo-cruiser before the dreadful doctor gets the emergency lights on and the panicking reporters and photographers regroup." With that, he wrapped his arms around the horizontally challenged Planeteer and lifted him with a mighty grunt. "Aaahh! No offence, but you're getting pretty heavy, Wheeler."
"Looks like you gotta work out some more, Cap." The newly rescued Brooklynite quipped as they flew to safety.
Cap smiled and joked, "Well, with all these eco missions and having to recharge after getting hit with pollution, I just haven't been all that motivated to go to the gym."
"Planeteers, I think I saw Cap fly out with Wheeler," Gi whispered into her microphone after she caught a half second glimpse of some bare feet and red boots shooting upwards from behind the heavy curtains.
"Mission accomplished, Planeteers," Clash said in a low voice, "now back to the geo-cruiser; our work is done."
Cap had just gingerly set Wheeler down beside the yellow plane, allowing him to lean on one of the wings, when Commander Clash and the other eco-activists returned to the meeting point.
"Where is Captain Planet going?" Ma-Ti expressed his curiosity with the raising of one eyebrow.
"I dunno. He just set me down and zoomed off somewhere," was Wheeler's reply.
"Did blight hurt you?" Gi inquired, rushing forward to offer the redhead some support, for he was finding it hard enough to stand on his own two feet.
"No, I misjudged the force field and stupidly tried to jump for it, guess I wasn't thinking straight. All I could think of was getting away from the press and rescuing Trevor. Sure am glad the demented doctor didn't get him too."
"So are we," Kwame breathed a sigh of relief, "Gaia said it was Trevor who alerted us to your capture."
"Anyways, I hurt my ankle when I landed," the injured man explained with a sheepish look shimmering in his blue eyes.
Contrary to the redhead's expectations, the others didn't ream him as he was anticipating, they understood perfectly what he was doing; the urge to escape before the press caught sight of him and his determination to rescue his life long friend had made for rash thinking.
"Come and sit down, and we will have a look," Linka beckoned as Kwame stepped in for Gi and helped Wheeler half limp/half hop into the geo-cruiser.
"It's a nasty sprain, Wheeler; your ankle is already ballooning. I'm gonna have to wrap that up," the Thai girl said, catching sight of the obvious swelling.
A dog tired and mentally exhausted Wheeler nodded as Linka carefully examined the wounded limb while Gi ducked out of sight to fetch the first aid kit. After a few basic examinations, they confirmed that it was just a sprain and bandaged it up tightly to support it.
"You will have to stay off your foot for a few days, Yankee," Linka spoke firmly but kindly, helping him to settle back into the seat and apply the belt.
"And now, Ladies and gentlemen," Blight continued once Mal brought up the emergency lights and the media had composed themselves once more, "I present to you, the world's first pregnant man!" With that, she signaled for the curtains to part, revealing a slumped figure behind the shimmering field.
Gasps from the photographers and reporters could be heard, and they began to move closer in order to get a better picture or look at a man who was the first to be afflicted with a female condition. Suddenly, the form behind the force field sprang to his feet with a satisfied grin crossing his light blue face.
"Now you don't believe Dr. Blight could really make a man pregnant; do you?" the elemental hero laughed, prompting the journalists to start filing out of the meeting hall in fits of laughter.
"I hate you, Captain Planet!" the foiled villain screeched as her press conference fell apart at the seams with her reporters leaving in droves and the super-being shooting up and out of the large room.
As Blight stood screaming at an entity that had long since zipped away, Cap zoomed over and beamed, "I don't think blight is terribly happy Planeteers so my work here is done, the power is yours." In seconds, he split into five orbs of light that floated back to their respective rings.
Back on Hope Island, Trevor couldn't help thinking that Wheeler really was coping remarkably well considering all the trials he had been going through, and the computer genius couldn't help being worried about his friend in his delicate emotional and physical condition. He knew he wouldn't feel at ease until he knew the freckle faced youth was home. Although he believed God was looking after him, he couldn't help being nervous. His spirit wanted to say everything was already fine; however, his flesh said that things wouldn't be fine until Wheeler was sitting in front of him. After swilling a glass of cool water from a plastic tumbler, he peered out the window before he began pacing the floor.
By the time the eco-warriors had returned to Hope Island with the wounded fire Planeteer, Trev's nerves felt as raw as sun burnt skin and his reaction was one of pure shock when Wheeler hopped into the room, supported by Commander Clash and Ma-Ti.
"Lord o' Mercy, what have you done to your ankle, Ginger Dude!" he panicked as he rushed over and helped Wheeler hobble to a seat. He then set his sprained ankle onto a foot stool and began buzzing about asking if Wheeler wanted anything "You need a drink or some aspirin, something to eat…"
"Trev, sit down; the only thing I want right now is to sleep and try and forget this whole stupid thing," the redhead moaned before burying his face in a nearby throw pillow.
The others in the room could see that their friend was crying, as his defenses finally snapped under the stress of his latest ordeal that left him physically and mentally exhausted.
"Hey, Wheeler, its ok mate," Trev settled next to his companion and patted him on the back. "Now stop crying before you make the furniture all wet and snotty," he added with a friendly slap on the back, making the redhead brighten instantly and smile before he settled back against the pillows and went to sleep for a bit.
The dingy room gradually came into focus, and a strange sensation of immobility closed in around the chocolate haired man. What was this? His arms were held uncomfortably behind his back and something was being wrapped around him. As his surroundings became clearer, Trevor gained more awareness of what was going on; someone was winding thick tape around his legs, but why?
When he began asking questions concerning why he was here and where Wheeler was, his queries seemed to go unanswered - at least any answers that were given were not ones that would hold water as far as the Christian man was concerned. It wasn't long before he saw an evil looking woman with a scarred face coming closer to him and quickly tying something over her prisoner's mouth. She had knotted the cloth so tightly that Trev found himself wondering just how anyone could breathe like this. Then the disfigured blonde gestured to Mal's large monitor and left the unfortunate man alone to await something; though he didn't know what.
Trevor watched in horror as Mal's monitor showed Blight's presenting the pregnant fire Planeteer to the world press. He could see Wheeler trying in vain to turn away from the reporters who wouldn't quit pestering him for answers to their nosy questions. He tried everything he could think of, cursing, flipping his middle finger and waving it in front of the cameras, even mooning the reporters. Nothing worked. Despite his silent prayers to God, Trevor felt his stomach twist into many nervous knots, and his heart beat furiously. He struggled fruitlessly against the rough ropes that bound his wrists and the duct tape that held him firmly to the chair, and he thought things couldn't possibly get worse.
Suddenly, the press conference snapped into blackness and was replaced by an ugly green face that chided, "Are we having fun?"
Trevor vigorously shook his head and continued to writhe helplessly in his seat.
"Awww, is someone feeling a little ignored" Blight cooed in a mocking tone. "Maybe you just need some attention too since I've been spending all my time with your pyro pal."
"I say, Doctor, since he's so fond of flame head, maybe we should allow him to share the pregnateer's fate," was Mal's sinister suggestion.
"Why that's perfect, Mal Baby," Blight smiled wickedly as she reached behind Trevor's head and yanked out a couple of strands of hair.
"Mmmmm!" Trev grunted in discomfort as the evil scientist claimed that small piece of hair for her own.
"Since I accelerated the process, it should take only a few minutes to impregnate buddy boy here! Hahahahahahahaha!"
Trevor couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he soon found his T-shirt had been lifted up to reveal an area of skin just above the navel. Oh no, was that where Wheeler got injected; it would be a logical place if an artificial womb were used. Unable to move under his restraints, Trevor watched in wide eyed horror as a syringe came straight at his belly!
In a flash, and before the computer geek could feel pain from the long needle, the events seemed to fast forward, finding Trevor at 8 months pregnancy sitting at his desk running his hand over his own baby belly. His condition evidently forced him to set things up so he could work from his home.
"At least Wheeler's and my kids can grow up together like we did," he mused to himself just before his phone rang. He awkwardly waddled over to where his cordless phone hung on the wall and reached for the handset. "Hello," he cheerfully greeted his caller.
He suddenly felt his heart sink when the voice on the other end, which turned out to be Ma-Ti's voice, explained that Wheeler had killed himself in a desperate attempt to stop the endless harassment he had been receiving from the press for 8 long months. Even more heart breaking, the 18 year old Indian disclosed that Wheeler had penned a suicide note asking Trevor to become the new guardian of his 7 month old son, who was named after the gentle Christian man who was loving enough to see past Wheeler's family life and accept him as his best friend anyway.
With no more warning, the entire scene faded to black, and Trevor felt his body tremble all over. As he was regaining consciousness and leaving the nightmare behind, he noticed he had rolled himself up in his covers, the blankets pinning one arm to his side and the edge of the sheet lightly covering his lips. He slowly became aware of his surroundings and found relief in hearing Wheeler's light snores filling the room.
"I dunno how you do it, Ginger Dude," the dark haired man whispered after freeing himself and sliding out of bed.
Without making a sound, he tip-toed to the bathroom door and slipped into his roommate's dark red bathrobe. After tying the belt, he noticed that his buddy was half uncovered, so he pulled the sheets and blankets over the sleeping form that only twitched once or twice. He then sneaked out to the common hut to make a cup of hot tea for himself so he could calm down after having such a fright.
In the kitchen, the disturbed man found Ma-Ti's herbal cook book and looked up some recipes for herbal teas that would help soothe his frazzled nerves. He simply couldn't get those sights and sounds out of his head, for memories of a long ago college project that involved 15 minutes in a sympathy pillow and the images Gaia had to show him blended together to make one heck of a nightmare! It didn't help that his own subconscious fears threw in some details of their own.
All at once, Trev remembered something a 14 year old Wheeler once told him while spending the night away from his drunken dad - that he wondered if his family would be better off if he weren't around anymore. Those words came back to Trev in a horrible flashback, and they were just as frightening to him as they had been on that mid autumn night 9 years ago when he felt forced to grab a rope from the utility room and tie Wheeler to his bed and run to get his parents. Somehow he knew it wasn't an empty threat, especially when Wheeler had bestowed his electric guitar on him. Fortunately, Trevor and his parents were able to stay up all night with the emotionally disturbed redhead and talk him into not taking his life, telling him that God loved him and wanted him to live as they did; and they felt safe in letting him out of the bed by mid morning.
All these terrifying thoughts came swirling through Trevor's head like a series of tornados that left him feeling completely overwhelmed, and he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. He stood weeping for a few minutes and was able to resume his cooking task as soon as the swimming, salty drops left his eyes and restored enough of his vision that he could read the pages again.
"Oh, God help me," he muttered under his breath, knowing he needed to reach out to his Creator but feeling unable to think of a proper prayer.
As usual, Wheeler's unborn offspring disrupted his sleeping pattern and caused him to succumb to the urge to pee in the middle of the night. As he rose from his bed, he felt his wounded ankle protest, so he stepped gently onto the floor. In a second, he realized something wasn't quite right, and he reached his hand over to the roll away bed, only to find Trevor was missing. Did he need to use the can too? That could not be the answer, for it was too quiet, and the bathroom appeared to be totally dark.
Hobbling into the rest room to relieve himself, Wheeler wondered what might have happened to his best friend, and he noticed the absence of his robe as his shoulder brushed the door on his way back into the bedroom. As Booger happily played with some of his cat nip toys in the nursery, Wheeler grabbed one of the blankets off the bed and bundled himself up snuggly as he set out in search of the quiet Christian man.
This one man search party found the little mission to be a success when he saw the lights shining through the windows of the common hut; so he immediately entered to find his target, his best friend, who was obviously not in the happiest state of mind.
"Whassa matter" Wheeler asked yawning deeply and glancing at the clock to find it was 3am
"Nothing just had a nightmare" Trev stuttered the images still floating through his mind and his hand shaking as he lifted the whistling kettle.
Concerned that his distraught companion would burn himself with the scolding water, Wheeler quickly moved forward, allowing his blanket to slip from around his shoulders and -Youch - putting too much pressure on his already tender and swollen ankle.
Trevor slumped over and buried his face in his hands, and Wheeler finished preparing the drink and made himself one before settling at the table
"Spill it, buddy" he said as Trevor plopped into the chair and accepted the hot beverage
"It was about you" the technician sighed
"Well I'm honored I think... what was I doing" Wheeler pushed, taking a sip of his drink and returning to the kitchen for some biscuits as he realized he was actually quite hungry.
"I don't know, I dreamed that Blight had captured us both and successfully shown you off to the press who were now hounding you night and day and that she had made me pregnant as well saying since we were so close we should have the same fate or something..." Trevor broke off and took a sip of his drink as Wheeler sat patiently sensing that there was more to come "the scene kinda changed at that point and I was sitting in my apartment 8 months pregnant or something and kinda resigned to it thinking at least our kids can grow up together and stuff, then the phone rings and its Ma-Ti telling me you've killed yourself because you can't get any peace from the media and asking if I would look after your son and I... I ... I just couldn't think what I would do if you weren't around and ..." the young man shrugged and fell silent not knowing what else to say.
"Oh Trev..." Wheeler looked like he knew he would feel the same without his best mate and he was kind of touched "Well you know that was only a dream, even if Blight had succeeded in showing me to the press well you know what they say today's headlines are tomorrows chip papers. Anyways, if they were hounding me that bad I'd just go live in the arctic or something, you'd have to be a pretty persistent reporter to go there for a story" Wheeler smiled reassuringly.
In reality he was just as scared of what he'd do if the press found out but it didn't do to frighten Trevor with that fact after such a horrible dream...
"It's beyond me how you do it time after time, Wheeler. How do you get into those dangerous situations and go through all those captures without turning into a complete basket case?" Trevor wondered, his hands still shaking from the horrible dream that continued to bug him. "All I had to do was see an image of me getting captured, and I get a nightmare."
"It never gets easier, Specky Techie," Wheeler said after taking a sip of his tea. "When they first brought me to Blight to get me ... Well, you know, it was right outta onna those crime dramas on the tube. They had duct tape over my mouth and around my hands; I was wrapped up in a sheet and tossed into the trunk o' some car; I thought I was a goner. Before I finally realized they weren't gonna off me after all, I remembered thinking that I hoped whatever they did went really fast so I wouldn't feel anything. Oh it was fast all right; it took only two seconds for Blight to shoot that junk into me ... and the rest is history."
"Thank God it was just a bad dream," was all Trevor could think to say as he slurped from his mug.
A few minutes went by, and the two young men decided it was time to return to their room and try to sleep some more. When Trevor noticed how Wheeler's ankle was hurting him, he immediately helped his injured friend to the couch, adjusted some pillows for comfort, and pulled up the foot stool so he would have a place to rest his bad foot. Not too long after that, the redhead began snoring, and Trevor didn't want to be in that bedroom all by himself, especially after having had such a nightmare He crept over to where his buddy's blanket had fallen and silently slid back to the sofa so he could snuggly wrap Wheeler's upper body in it. Sitting on the sofa, he slipped off his spectacles and slid them into the bathrobe pocket. He then grabbed a throw pillow, propped it against Wheeler's shoulder and rested his head on it, cuddling up to his surrogate brother as a loving and protective gesture. Only seconds after he pulled the bathrobe closer around his body and tightened the tie, Trevor fell asleep, leaning against the best friend he had ever had.
Around 4:00 a.m. Ma-Ti woke up and came to the common room for a glass of milk he hoped would help him fall back to sleep. It was one of those nights where a broken sleep cycle proved to be a nuisance to the South American. Before leaving for the rest of the night, he noticed the slumbering sidekicks and sneaked over to where they sat snoring. He then carefully took the large afghan from the beanbag chair and tucked it snuggly around both men, leaving them to snooze peacefully.
The rising orange sun awoke from its apparent slumber, as did the inhabitants of Hope Island. Morning gusts cooled the landscape and were a clear, crisp sign that the winter season was not too far away. On a morning such as this, it was easy to stay snuggled up in bed, enjoying the coziness of the covers and pillows; however, everybody's alarm clock displays did herald the slightly annoying reminder that breakfast time had snowballed along the space/time continuum, forcing everyone to accept a delay in preparing and serving the morning meal.
After Commander Clash and the Planeteers all rose and had their showers, they all hooked up in the common room to begin cooking the first meal of the day. The sight that greeted them was a precious one that touched each of their hearts. Snuggled up together on the couch, Wheeler and Trevor slept peacefully, their bodies firmly bundled in the afghan that Ma-Ti had tucked around them when he had raided the kitchen for some milk.
"The sun's going to cook them," Gi observed as she noticed the patch of morning brightness was beating down right on the snoozing pair. "Let me get this off them." With that, she gingerly freed them from the large drape and smiled at the sight of Trevor curled up in a position that indicated He had fallen asleep while hugging his best friend.
Commander Clash just stared incredulously at the life long pals and turned to his company. "You do not find it odd that two men are..."
"No, Commander Clash, it's not odd at all," Gaia chimed in as she entered the room to bid everybody good morning. "Considering the way they grew up together and the deep bond that formed between them they're more like brothers than friends."
"I have seen twins cuddling up together like that," Linka drew upon her memory of a long ago family reunion that took place not too long before Dimitry and Boris were due to move to America. During this gathering, a storm knocked out the power and forced everyone to keep warm in any way possible. She remembered how her teenage twin cousins, Nicoli and Sergey huddled together and bundled themselves in the thickest blanket they could find; they had even gone to sleep like that!
"I have heard of twins doing that too," Kwame concurred with the comparison. "If not for the fact that they have different parents and birthdays that fall 2 months apart, I would think Wheeler and Trevor were fraternal twins."
"They might as well be fraternal twins, Planeteers," Gaia added. "Trevor might have grown up the youngest of 3 sons, but that doesn't mean he never knew a lonely moment. His brothers are 5 and 10 years older than he is, and their personalities are very different from his. Because of this, they often did their own thing together. At first, Trevor was too young to tag along; and when he got older, he wasn't interested in what his brothers liked, or they had already moved out. So, as far as Trevor was concerned, Wheeler had become more of a brother to him, and they had gotten very very close. Since Wheeler's an only child, Trevor's the closest thing to a brother he will ever have. Ever since they met, they have both done each other a great deal of good."
Within a second, Gi found her eyes shifting from the sleepers' faces to Wheeler's hideously swollen ankle "Oh my gosh!" she gasped, not caring if she woke the Brooklynites up. "What have you done to your ankle, Wheeler?"
"Huh? What?" the redhead yawned as he had been yanked from his tranquil state.
"You over did it on your ankle last night; didn't you?" the Asian reprimanded her pregnant Planeteer pal.
"That was my doing," Trevor weakly muttered as he, too, stirred awake. "I had a really bad dream and came out here to fix a hot drink. Wheeler musta woken up and found me missing and decided to hunt for me. I was boiling some water, and he jumped forward because I guess he thought I would burn myself."
"Well, I'm going to have to wrap this up again; and, Wheeler, you can't put any weight on it, none at all. Understood?" the water Planeteer declared, fixing the patient with the sternest stare she had ever shot anyone's way.
"Let me get Wheeler's old crutches," Ma-Ti offered as he turned to the door.
"Given his current shape and condition, would the crutches not be too unstable for him?" Kwame observed. "Perhaps, Wheeler should use that old walker I had to use after I bruised my hip 4 years ago.
Upon seeing Ma-Ti's plan to exit the room, Trevor decided to tag along for a second before stopping for his shower. "What did you do, knock over a medical supply store?" the computer techie questioned when he saw the South American opening the door to the storage hut and revealing a variety of second hand mobility aids.
"We would end up with something every time somebody was injured in a mission. Our health care plan covered the purchase of the crutches and canes, and they even bought Kwame's walker. I still remember when we had to get the wheelchair after Wheeler had come home from the hospital with that broken arm and leg..."
It was good to be home from the hospital, and Wheeler truly enjoyed lying in his new double bed. The pillows were quite fluffy, and the covers were as cozy as could be. If not for the plaster casts on his arm and leg, he would be in a state of 100 comfort. A gentle knock sounded off, and the convalescent Planeteer knew he had company coming to see him.
"Hello, wheeler, how are you feeling?" Kwame haled as he lead the party of 4 into the largest of the Planeteers' bedrooms.
"OK, I guess, just wish I could go outside and get some fresh air. This lying around here and doing nothing gets old really fast."
"Well, we brought you something to fix that very problem," Ma-Ti announced as he and Gi toted in a deep blue wheelchair and opened it by the redhead's bedside.
"Hey, cool, thanks, guys," Wheeler smiled, grateful for the chance to leave the confines of his room and overcome his cabin fever. "You rented a blue one? I always thought those places just had black ones," he added as he remembered he had never seen colored wheelchairs when he and the Planeteers had gone into medical supply stores to obtain other pieces of equipment they needed.
"You are right; all the rental places had black chairs; we bought this one at the Salvation Army store at a bargain price."
Wait a second; did he say "bought" - not "rented" but "bought!" A feeling of deep hurt swam over Wheeler, and hot tears heated his eyes, stinging them as they rolled out and down his cheeks.
"I can't believe you! Just wait until they take this thing off my arm; I'll kill you! Glad to see my friends think I'll never walk again!"
"It is not that, Wheeler," Linka attempted to soothe the youth who was clearly feeling as if his best friends were betraying him. "The rental stores were asking ridiculous prices for monthly payments. We had gone into the Salvation Army store to see if we could rent a chair from them. They quoted a price, and we paid it. It was not until we had it loaded in the geo-cruiser and Kwame asked when the next payment was due when they told us that the chair was not for rent; we had bought it."
"We know you will walk again, Wheeler" Kwame stepped into the conversation, his voice gentle and full of brotherly tones. "This was the best way we could get you a chair and let you out of that bed without paying the sun and the moon for it."
"And once you're all better, we can store it away. One eye-opening thing that came from your accident; we learned that any of us could get badly injured on a mission. We really had been lucky for the first 3 years." Gi said as she rolled the chair a little closer to the edge of Wheeler's bed. "We'll just have to hope nobody will need it; but it's practical to have it just in case."
Seeing the logic in his friends' arguments, Wheeler felt his heavy heart grow lighter, and he sat up a little so the Oriental lady and Kwame could help him transfer from the bed to the waiting wheelchair.
"Hey, guys, look at this!" Wheeler haled as his 6 friends gathered around to listen to the newspaper article he was about to read. "It's right on the front page. "Pregnant Man Is A Phantom, Mad Scientist's Experiment A Failure Or A Fraud? Yesterday, Dr. Barbara Blight called a press conference at the Beauregard hotel, promising to reveal her latest experiment that she claimed to be the world's first pregnant man. After technical hitches had been resolved the claim was found to be false and the pregnancy 'phantom' perhaps no more than a figment of the scientists imagination. This reporter suggests that the 38 yr old spends less time in her laboratory since the fumes appear to be affecting her ability for cool scientific reasoning. Looks like Dr. Do-bad made the papers – just not the way she wanted."
"Serves her right," Trevor stated with conviction in his voice. You had no way to bring charges against her if you wanted to avoid the lime light, but this … let's just say that lady – if you could call her one – got exactly what she deserved. You couldn't get her arrested for some weird medically induced rape, but her name's just been splattered and dragged through the mud. Who's ever gonna trust her word again?"
The week long visit on Hope Island was one full of happiness as well as trying moments for Trevor Summers, and he found himself unable to believe his little vacation was going to end the next day. As Booger gnawed on one of his catnip chew toys under the kitchen table, everybody else was huddled in front of the TV set watching the local news.
"The crowd pleaser at Sun's new product rollout was the Java Station, a low-cost 'zero-administration' network computer" the news anchorman announced to his TV audience. "The NC, as it is often called, for running secure Java-enabled applications over corporate intranets or via the Internet. Equally important to Sun's strategy, though, are the introductions of its Netra j server, an array of software solutions for network computing, and a complete regimen of educational and support services."
Only Trevor seemed to understand and pay full attention to this particular article; however, Wheeler leaned back and tugged on his right earlobe, causing the geek to snicker. Within seconds, Trevor reciprocated and send a silent gesture back to Wheeler by cocking his head slightly to the left and raising one eyebrow. Then Wheeler smiled and shook his head as a 'no" answer and gestured to the man on the screen.
As this wordless communication played out between the two New Yorkers, Commander Clash and the other Planeteers simply looked to them with curiosity coloring their features. They had no idea that Wheeler and Trevor had a secret sign language all their own that they used in order to communicate to each other in school without getting into trouble with the teachers. There was no way they could have known that a tug on the right ear lobe meant "What a dork", nor did they have an idea that a head cock coupled with one raised eyebrow meant "Who me?" Knowing that these guys had been friends since before they could recite their ABC's and 123's in a classroom setting, Clash and the eco-warriors simply accepted the reality that close friends such as these had to have some secrets of their own.
In a minute, Trevor excused himself to use the little boy's room, and the co-anchor, a bleach blonde lady, who clearly looked too plastic with all the make-up she wore, came on the screen and started talking about a parent who had been arrested for abusing her children. The news lady disclosed the fact that this mother claimed she was mistreated in childhood as well.
"Statistics show that children who were abused by one or both parents grow up into parents who abuse their children..." she told her viewers.
This was just what Wheeler did not need to hear, and he collected his walker before clumsily hobbling out as quickly as he could in spite of his condition and injury. By the time Trev had come out of the half bath, he noticed his best buddy was missing.
"Where'd Wheeler go?" he asked his company.
"He probably had to use the bathroom and didn't want to wait for you to come out," Gi reasoned with a shrug of the shoulders.
"But at his current speed, he would have gotten to a bathroom faster if he had waited for Trevor," Linka observed.
"It could have been an excuse to get fresh air too," Kwame pointed out. "He will be back in a minute."
By the time the news segments and the commercials that bridged the gap between the top stories and the weather report had played out, everybody began to suspect that something was wrong. Wheeler had plenty of time to make it back from the bathroom, even on a walker. Could he have fallen? Could he be more severely injured?
"Lemme see what's holding him up," Trevor offered to seek out the absent redhead and headed out the door while the others followed in case any help might be needed. Upon turning the knob of Wheeler's door, he noticed it was locked. "Does anyone have a key? Wheeler musta locked it by accident or something when he closed it."
"Actually, because of our living in hurricane valley, we put deadbolts on our doors; they are more storm resistant," Kwame informed the guest with a smile and a wave of the hand. "Besides, Wheeler is the one with all the keys to the buildings since it is his job to secure the structures during storm preparation."
"Then Ma-Ti has the key..." Gi noted, "So he should be able to open the door."
"I cannot, Gi," the Kyapo shook his head, "because I returned the keys to Wheeler while he was on bed rest."
Suddenly remembering something his pastor had told him when he lost his job, Trevor found himself quoting the man's words of wisdom. "God doesn't close a door without opening a window."
"Uh ... I'm sorry?" Gi looked to the Christian with confusion in her eyes.
"Wheeler keeps his windows open to let fresh air in. Maybe someone can help me climb through so I can see if he's all right." Catching onto what Trev was thinking, everyone filed around the largest of the residential huts, trying to figure out which window was best to use. Upon passing one opening, they caught sight of their pregnant pal lying on his bed in tears. ""I've gotta get in there and see im!" the loving man declared. "Someone gimme a boost."
"Not here..." the commander whispered, "we need to go around back so he isn't startled. Come with me." With that, he gestured for Trev to follow him to the nursery window, and he lifted the thin man enough that he could crawl through the gap and land on the wood floor with a thud. "Do not become a burglar, Trevor," the soldier jokingly advised.
Trevor passed a wink and grateful smile to the military man before stumbling upright and seeking his best friend in the next room. There on the bed, Wheeler lay hugging a pillow and sobbing.
"What's going on, Ginger dude?" the man of faith gently probed as he sat on the edge of the bed along side the troubled man.
"Nothin's goin' on ... just these stupid girls' hormones that' I gotta deal with until I give birth," Wheeler lied.
"Gimme a break, you can expect someone else to fall for that, but not me. What's really going on? You know you can tell me, buddy."
"It's hard to talk about."
"You always used to say that what your dad did to you was hard to talk about too. I remember you always tried to resist telling me about stuff he did to you."
"Well, this is something new, and Pop doesn't even know he did it to me."
"Come again?"
"He passed on his abusive nature OK!" Wheeler sadly snapped. "He beat me and told me I was no good, and the same thing's gonna happen between me and my kid. I'm gonna beat him or her, and end up getting hated in the end for it. And my kid will be worse off; at least ma was there to take care o' me. My kid's not gonna have a mother."
"You know that doesn't have to be true. You proved that you don't have to turn out like your dad. Everyone in school treated you like dirt because they thought you were a junior lush who was ready to start drinking as soon as you got old enough; but you didn't. You refused to drink or smoke, and I know you will not hit or diss your kid. You don't have that in you, Wheeler. Yeah, your risk factors are higher than someone else's, but you worked hard not to fall into that trap. If God didn't think you could be a good father, He wouldn't have allowed you to have a baby, no matter how weird the nature of your pregnancy is. I have the feeling you're gonna be the best father this kid could ever have."
"Thanks, Specky Techie," Wheeler said, starting to feel a little better.
"Hey, whatter friends for?" After rising from his perch, Trevor stood back and allowed Wheeler to come to a sitting position.
As soon as Wheeler came to his feet, the pair of pals unlocked the door and exited, showing the concerned party outside that everything was fine now.
The night passed all too quickly, as did the morning, which ushered in the news that Trevor's visit was winding down. Lunchtime would bring the brunette's departure, for he would need some time to unpack his bags, reacclimatize Booger back to his home environment, and get himself settled and rested before he would get up early for church the next morning.
"Well, I guess this is it, Specky Techie," Wheeler said as he and his best friend hung around outside the geo-cruiser exchanging their good-byes, or as they put it, their see you laters. "Shoot me an email later, OK?"
"You got it, Ginger Dude." The dark haired man squeezed his dearest friend tightly, only to receive a wriggling gesture from the hidden offspring as well when he absently rested a hand on the bump. "Oh, bye Wheeler's baby," he smiled.
"Hey, he isn't even born yet and he likes his Uncle Trevor," the redhead observed.
"Now it's a boy?"
"For now."
"Trevor, we'd better get going," Gi said as she collected Booger's carrier and passed by to safely stow him in the small craft.
"I'm gonna miss you, buddy," Wheeler said as his powder blue eyes began to mist up.
"I'll miss you too, Wheeler," Trevor choked as he hugged his pal again and then reluctantly drew away to board the plane. "Remember, you promised we could ride the zip wire together once you get back to your normal weight!" he called out, determined he would hold Wheeler to his word
"Just as soon as you can get some time off from your new job and I get thin again, we'll do it!" Wheeler haled back before seeing the door shutting, putting an end to the visit once and for all.
As he sat on a lounger in the sunshine watching the cruiser returning his best friend to his home, Wheeler pulled a red bandanna from his pocket and dabbed his moistening eyes. Departures were never easy, but parting scenes with Trev seemed to sting more than farewells with just anyone else. The deep sense of closeness shared by the honorary twins also resulted in a deeper void they both felt when they were absent from each other. At least the redhead had access to a computer so he and Trev could chat and email.