Chapter
Eight: Healing
Liz sat back, exhausted from telling
her story, and waited for her parents' reaction. They looked at her stunned. Liz raised her eyebrows and the stillness of the room was broken by a
ragging cough from Jeff. Nancy helped
her husband get through the attack and immediately turned back to her
daughter. Her mouth opened and closed a
few times, as though she was unsure of what to say. "I know this must be difficult to wrap your head around," Liz said,
"I found it hard to believe at first too. But it's true. Max, Isabel,
Michael, and Tess are aliens. And, dad,
you have an alien disease." Jeff stood
and went into the kitchen. Liz's brows
furrowed. "Dad?" she called after
him. He returned a minute later with a
glass of water and some pills. "Jeff,"
Nancy said, "it's not time for another dosage yet." He shook his head. "These
are for Lizzie. They'll help clear her
mind of all that nonsense." Liz rolled
her eyes. "Dad, I'm not taking any of
those pills. I'm telling you the
truth. You have to believe
me." How could she make them
understand?
**
"Max, what's wrong? Has something happened? Where's Liz?" Max stepped into the Valenti's living room, holding up his hands
to stop the flow of questions. "The
four of us have to go the Crashdown. Liz just told her parents the truth, and well, they need to see some
proof." "I don't blame them," Kyle
muttered, "let's go."
**
"What should we do?" Tess wondered,
looking at Liz for an answer. "This is
ridiculous," Jeff said, "you actually believe this, Jim?" The Sheriff nodded emphatically. "I've seen it. I watched my son bleeding to death. Max laid his hand on Kyle's chest and the bullet
disintegrated. He did the same thing to
Liz. If not for those powers, our
children wouldn't be here today." Nancy
held a hand to her chest. She cleared
her throat, nodding at Max. "I want to
see what you can do," she requested softly. Max nodded, giving her a small smile. "Try this," Liz told him, coming from the kitchen with a bowl and a
bottle of chocolate syrup. Max gave her
a confused grin, but closed his hand around the bottle. He then turned it around and squeezed. Pouring into the bowl was honey. Nancy gasped. "That's incredible." Max
repeated what he had done and poured again. The chocolate was back. Jeff was
still unconvinced. "Magic," he stated,
"that's all it is. A magic trick." He released a cough and clutched his stomach
in pain. Kyle picked up a piece of
paper and handed it to Tess. "What's
this?" she asked. Kyle nodded towards
Jeff. "Mindwarp him," he said. "What-warp me?" Jeff repeated. Tess handed him the piece of paper
wordlessly. She closed her eyes and
began the mindwarp. Liz watched her
father carefully as he stared at the paper. "What does it say, dad?" she asked. He coughed and read. "Please
believe us, Mr. Parker. We are what we
say we are and we're only here to help you." Tess opened her eyes. Jeff's
eyebrows dropped in confusion. He
flipped the paper over and then back again. "Where'd the words go?" he asked. "They were never there to begin with, honey," Nancy said. She had been looking over his shoulder the
entire time.
"Now do you believe us?" Liz
asked. "I do," Nancy said. She looked up at Max and Tess. "I think it's remarkable." Standing, she placed a gloved hand on Max's
shoulder. "Thank you for saving my
daughter," she told him. Max
smiled. "It was easy. I love her." Kyle slapped Max on the back. "You love me too, Evans?" Max
laughed and rolled his eyes. "Don't
flatter yourself."
Liz shook her head in amusement and
turned to look at her father. Her smile
faded and she rushed towards him. "Dad?!" she called, her voice panicked, "daddy, what's wrong?" Nancy looked over, alarmed, and rushed to
her husband's side. Valenti held Tess
and Kyle back, as Max too, bent over the fallen man's form. He was pale and slick with sweat. His eyes were closed and one arm was still
flung across his middle. Nobody had
noticed that he had passed out. "Jeff!"
Nancy called desperately, shaking him almost violently. Liz placed her hands over her mother's to
calm her. Nancy looked up, licking her
lips. Tears in her own eyes, Liz placed
two fingers over the pulse point on her father's neck. "I can't find it," she whispered. "No," Nancy whimpered, beginning to shake
him again.
Max gripped Liz's shoulder. "I can try to heal him," he said. Liz's eyes went wide. "Of course!" she cried, pushing her hair
from her eyes, "why didn't we think of that before?" She took her mother by the shoulders and gently pulled her to the
side. Nancy watched bewildered as Max
placed his hands over Jeff's chest. Again and again, Max grunted and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing all of
his energy, but to no avail. He sat
back exhausted, breathing heavily. "I
can't … It's not working." He looked up
at Liz with sad, apologetic eyes. "The
gloves," Kyle spoke up from the corner, "I bet it's because of the gloves. You have to take them off." Max looked down at his hands. "But if you do that," Tess said softly,
"you'll put yourself at risk. If you
touch him, you'll get the disease."