Picking
up the Pieces
The next day Jonny
took Jessie to the doctor. Race had
wanted to come along, but Jonny had refused. He had told him that it was time that the two of them began dealing with
the situation. This was one small step
they could both take without coming apart and they needed to do this on their
own. Neither Race nor Benton had liked
it, but in the end they had let them go.
Dr. Mason did
an exam, drew blood and questioned both of them closely. But neither one of them was very
forthcoming. The most she was able to
ascertain was that their parents appeared to know about the situation. Finally, she gave up. She assured both of them that Jessie
appeared to be fine and that the pregnancy appeared to be progressing
normally. Then she looked at both of
them closely.
"So have you
decided what you are going to do now?" They looked at each other and then at her in confusion.
"What do you
mean, "do"?" Jessie asked her.
Dr. Mason
looked at her. "You have alternatives
to having this child, Jessie. You could
put it up for adoption. Or you could
terminate the pregnancy." It took a
moment for the last statement to sink in. When it did Jessie went white and swayed in her seat. Jonny's arm tightened around her and he said
fiercely, "Don't EVER say that again. We won't give the child up. Never. And we wouldn't . . . "
he swallowed convulsively " . . . couldn't . . . ever do THAT." He was beginning to shake.
Dr. Mason rose
and came around her desk quickly. She
laid a calming hand on their shoulders and said soothingly, "It's all
right. It's my duty as a physician to
be sure you know all of the alternatives, good and bad. Right now we need to wait for test results. I'll call you in a few days and we can go
from there." She watched the two of
them leave her office and then turned and picked up the telephone. It only took her a few seconds to reach the
Quest Compound.
"Benton,
what's going on here? Those two are
little more than children. And they are
on the edge of a nervous breakdown. How
did this happen? Of all the young
people I know I would never have expected . . . "
"I know,
Barbara. It is a long story and not one
they are ready to talk about just yet. Is Jessie okay?"
"As far as I
can tell without the test results. And
it will take a few days to get those back. Benton, I want to warn you, I believe I really set Jonny off. He was pretty upset when he left."
"Why? What did you say?" He was immediately concerned. The calm over this situation was very fragile.
"I gave them
some alternatives to keeping the child."
Benton rested
his head in his hand. "And . . . ?"
"Jessie damned
near fainted and Jonny got furious."
Oh, Lord, he thought. "Where are they now?"
"They
left. I assume they headed home."
"How long
ago?"
"Five minutes,
maybe, not much more."
"Okay. Thanks for the warning, Barbara. We'll watch for them."
"Benton, one
other thing . . . "
"Yes?"
"I don't know
what happened here . . . they won't tell me . . . but I have an idea. I need to ask you one question. A yes or no answer will do and based on that
I'm going to give you a piece of advice. Can you give me that answer?"
"I don't
know. Ask your question and then I'll
tell you."
"Is the child
Jonny's?" There was a long silence.
"Yes."
Dr. Mason
swore. "Benton, this makes no sense . .
. "
"I'm sorry,
Barbara. I can't tell you anything
else."
"Get them
professional help, Benton, and soon. I
can give you names if you need them."
"I don't know
that they'll be willing to go."
"Try. It's important."
"I'll see what
I can do."
"Call me if
you need anything."
"I will. And Barbara, thanks."
"Anytime." He returned the receiver to its cradle and
sat there for a few minutes. A quiet
voice behind him said,
"The doctor is
concerned." Benton turned to see Hadji
standing behind him.
"Yes, but not
about their physical condition . . . at least not yet. She's more concerned about their mental
state at the moment."
"That is
understandable. Jonny has not come to
grips with what happened here. And
Jessie still starts shaking at the sound of raised voices or slamming
doors. This will not be easy. And the ghost of Surd is haunting them
both. Even though I am convinced that
we were able to destroy all of Surd's program and that the brainwashing was a
one-time episode, neither one of them will so much as enter the computer lab in
the lighthouse. And Jonny has even gone
so far as to ask me to sleep with my door open and listen for him in case he
gets up in the middle of the night. He
is terrified it will happen again."
"I'm going to
kill that bastard." He raised his head
suddenly. "Where's Race? I haven't seen him all day."
"He left early
this morning. Said he had some errands
to run. I know that he has been
searching for Surd and I believe he was planning on seeing some of his old
associates in the hope that one of them could track him. The farmhouse we had identified as the end
of the line for the video tie in was deserted when they got there. He must have finally become suspicious and
cleared out." They both heard a car in
the driveway and moved to the windows. Jonny was just getting out of the van. He came around, opened the door and helped Jessie down out of the
vehicle. He gathered her up in his arms
and held her against him, just standing there in front of the house. After a minute he said something to her and
they both turned and began walking toward the front door.
The next
morning, as Benton was scanning the newspaper over his morning coffee, a
headline on page three caught his attention.
ESCAPED
MENTAL PATIENT AND FELON FOUND DEAD OF APPARENT SUICIDE
Dr.
Jeremiah Surd, former mental patient and escaped convict was found dead today
in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Augusta. Dr. Surd had been confined to a specialized life
support chair since 1978 when an altercation with police left him totally
disabled. It appears at this time that
Dr. Surd committed suicide by shutting down his own life support systems. Police confirm that a verbal suicide note
was found in the memory archives of the computer system attached to his
chair. Dr. Surd was 52 years old.
Benton looked
up and watched as Race came in and crossed to the counter to pour himself a cup
of coffee. Benton folded the newspaper,
article out, and laid it down in front of him as he sat down at the table. Race glanced at it and returned the look,
face shuttered.
"Is he
actually dead?"
"Yes."
"You're
sure? No mistakes?"
"I did it with
my own two hands."
"Any way to
trace it back to you?"
"No."
Benton's shoulders
sagged and he exhaled on a deep sigh. "Good." He looked up again. "What about Julia and Lorenzo?"
Race
shrugged. "They weren't there. I've got friends still hunting for them, but
I don't anticipate them being much of a problem. Surd was the brains. With
him gone, they're nothing but two-bit crooks."
"Race, Julia
is more dangerous than that . . . "
"We'll find
her . . . and Lorenzo. And when we do .
. . "
Some part of
Benton Quest said he should be horrified at the satisfaction he felt for Surd's
death. It was murder, plain and
simple. But he also knew neither of
them would ever lose any sleep over this.
When Jonny
answered the phone three days later it was with a certain amount of
trepidation. Both he and Jessie had been
jumping every time it rang, waiting for the call back from the doctor. He wasn't sure exactly how Jessie felt . . .
they were still having some problems talking about the situation . . . but he
knew that he wouldn't feel like he could move on until they got those test
results back. With Surd dead, a certain
amount of tension had gone away, but he still felt like he was waiting for the
second shoe to fall.
Hesitantly, he
said, "Hello?"
"Hello,
Jonny? This is Dr. Mason."
Jonny's knees
went weak and he more or less fell into the chair. His voice cracked slightly as he replied, "Hello, Dr. Mason. Do you have the test results back?"
"Yes, I
do. I was hoping that you and Jessie
would be free to meet me here at the office to discuss them."
Jonny could
feel the color drain from his face. He
looked up to see his father standing in the door watching him. "Why? What's wrong? What did you
find?"
"Nothing's
wrong," she reassured him hastily. "It's just that now that we know exactly where we are we need to discuss
things like proper diet and exercise routines, stages of the pregnancy and pre-
and post-natal care. I have a large
amount of material you need to look at and this is as good of a time as any to
do all of this. We want to be sure we
handle this correctly from the beginning."
Jonny began to
breathe again. He had been so sure they
would find something wrong . . . It was
the kind of thing Surd would have done. "Okay. What time do you want us
to be there?"
"Whenever you
can get here."
"We'll be
there in about half an hour."
"Good. I'll see you then."
Jonny replaced
the phone carefully and looked up at his father. "She wants to see us."
"Did she say
there was anything wrong?"
"No. She said something about diet and exercise
and stuff."
Benton heaved
a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was worried . . . "
"So was
I. I still am."
Benton smiled
at him. The first truly genuine,
humorous smile any of them had expressed in quite a while. "Welcome to the world of parenthood, son. That will be a continuous state of affairs
from now on."
Jonny looked
at his father for a minute, not sure whether to laugh or cry. "I feel like I'm so far in over my head that
I'll never get out."
Benton pulled
his son into a close embrace, aching for him. It was unfair that this boy had to grow up so fast. "You may be over your head now, son. But you will always have a lifeline. We were deluded once, but it won't happen
again. Now . . . " he coughed in an
attempt to clear the lump in his throat, "you had better go collect Jessie and
go see Dr. Mason."
Barbara Mason
sat staring at the reports in front of her in confusion. She had been so certain that when the test
results came back she would find that the child had not been fathered by Jonny
Quest. Jessie had been raped. Of that she was absolutely certain. The signs were all there. But she could not believe that of Jonny
Quest. Nor would Jessie be responding
to the boy the way she was if he had done it. But there was no question. Jonny was the father. The DNA
tests didn't lie. So what was going on
here?
There was a
brief knock on the door and Dr. Mason responded, "Come." The door opened and her nurse stepped aside
to let Jessie and Jonny enter. Dr.
Mason looked at both of them closely. They both seemed better than they had three days before, but that
over-stretched look was still clearly present. She smiled at both of them and waved them to the sofa as she rose and
came around the desk to join them.
"Let me start
by saying that all of the tests came back fine. Jessie is in perfect health, the pregnancy is progressing exactly
as it should and there is no reason to think there will be any problems at
all." She could see both of them relax
perceptibly. Yes, there was definitely
something wrong here. And she wasn't
looking forward to the next part. "But
there is something unusual . . . No! No, don't panic on me. It's
okay. I swear . . . " Both of them had gone gray and tears started
to pour down Jessie's face. Barbara
Mason sat there, helpless, as the two young people crumbled in front of
her. They clung to each other like
children, seemingly so beaten they would never be able to continue. Barbara jumped up and buzzed her nurse. "Call the Quest Compound and get hold of
Benton Quest. Ask him to get here as
soon as he can."
"Both he and
Mr. Bannon are here, now."
She sent up a
heartfelt prayer of thanks and said, "Send them in right away." The door burst open almost before she had
finished the words and both parents charged into the room. They took it all in at a glance and asked no
questions. She watched as both men
collected them up and set about calming them down. It took a fair amount of
time, but relative calm finally settled in the office again. When the four of them finally were able to
face her with some composure, she said to them gently, "I was telling you the
truth. There is nothing wrong. Jessie is fine."
Jonny's eyes
were huge as he looked at her. "You
don't understand . . . "
"Then explain
it to me, Jonny. I can't help you if I
don't know what's going on."
The boy
reached out and took Jessie's hand. She
squeezed it hard and pulled it against her body. He took a deep breath and started, "The baby is mine. But we didn't . . . I mean, Jessie didn't .
. . " She thought for a minute he
wasn't going to be able to get the words out. "I raped her." She just sat
there, thunderstruck. Surely this
wasn't possible . . .
But it was
Jessie who responded. "Jonny, that's
not fair. It wasn't you . . . "
"Who else was
it?" he asked harshly, trying to jerk
away from her. "I was the one that
locked you in. I was the one that held
you down while you screamed and fought. I was the one . . . "
"NO. No, you weren't. It was your body, but it wasn't your mind! Surd did this. Just like he made me try and kill my Dad. Do you think it would have been any
different for me if I'd managed to blow him to kingdom come with that
bomb? Surd programmed both of us to do
what we did. We had no control over
it. Jonny, listen to me . . . please .
. . don't leave me alone with this. I
can't do this by myself!"
He stared at
the floor. "I don't understand how you
can even stand to look at me." Benton
made a move toward the boy but Barbara stopped him. She shook her head, warning him off. This needed to be said . . . gotten out in the open. She could tell it half-killed him, but
Benton didn't interfere.
Jessie sat
silent for a minute, looking at him. Then she reached a gentle hand out and touched his face softly. "I can look at you because I know that YOU
would never, ever do anything to hurt me. And I know what you've done in the past to
keep me safe. And however this child
was conceived, it's ours . . . yours and mine . . . and I want it, and
you."
Barbara grabbed
both men by the arm and dragged them out of the room. She shut the door quietly and shoved them into an examining room
across the hall. She looked from one to
the other. Both men looked old in that
instant.
She took a
deep breath before saying, "They need to be alone together for a while, so
we'll give them that time. There are
still some things medically that need to be said, but they will wait. Now, would one of you please explain to me
what's going on here. I simply refuse
to believe that boy did what he claims. I'd sooner believe the moon actually is made of green cheese."
Benton shook
his head. "It's true. He did it."
"Explain this
to me."
"I don't think
. . . "
"Benton, this
is a felony. I'm supposedly required to
report felonies. I don't want to do
that. But you're putting me in a very
awkward position. I need to know what's
going on." In the end they told her the
entire story.
When they
finished, she just stood there looking from one man to the other in
horror. "This is incredible. Benton, you have to report this. That man has to be stopped!"
"It doesn't
matter anymore . . . " he started to say, but she cut him off.
"And how long
will it be before he tries it again? How long are you going to leave your kids vulnerable to this? He's learned how to get at you and he'll
just keep doing it!"
"No, he
won't." was Benton's harsh response.
"Why not!?"
Race's voice
was like ice. "He's dead."
Barbara looked
at Jessie's father and the eyes that looked at her were not the eyes of the man
she knew. This was a man you didn't
cross. It occurred to her that this
wasn't the Race Bannon of Quest Enterprises. This was Race Bannon, the government agent. Rumor had it he had been the best. She was suddenly glad she had not known that Race Bannon. Her eyes fell before his hard gaze. Finally, she said, "Come on. Let's get some coffee while the two of them
say what they need to say to each other. Then we'll pick up the conversation where the two of you came in."
It was nearly
an hour before the door to Dr. Mason's office opened and Jonny looked out into
the corridor. He immediately spotted
his father, Race and the doctor loitering near the coffeepot at the end of the
hall. All of them looked like they'd
had way too much caffeine in the last hour. Benton set his cup down and crossed to his son immediately, a look of
concern on his face. For the first time
in a week, Jonny smiled at him.
"We're okay,
Dad. Really." He looked at Barbara Mason as she walked up. "We're really sorry for our behavior. It was pretty tacky . . . "
"No, Jonny, it
was long overdue. It was a release you
needed. Are you ready to finish our
conversation?" He nodded and stepped
back, allowing the three of them access to the room. But Benton and Race hesitated on the threshold.
Benton asked
his son, quietly, "Do you want us here?"
Jonny crossed
to the two men and stood looking at them steadily. "Yes. We're in way over
our heads. We need your help. We can't do this by ourselves. Please . . . "
Race put his
arm around him and hugged him. "We're a
family. We'll get through this
together." He looked at his daughter as
she stood on the other side of the room near the window. At that look, she ran across the room and
threw herself against him.
"Oh, Daddy . .
. "
Benton took a
shaky breath and said, "Come on. We've
wasted enough of Dr. Mason's time. Let's hear what she has to say and then we'll go home."
They all
settled back on the sofa and chairs in the corner of the office and looked
expectantly at the doctor.
"Let me start
by saying again that Jessie is fine. All of the tests were positive and there is no reason to believe there
will be any problems. But I want to ask
you a question. All of you, without
exception, have been expecting bad news. Are just convinced it will be there. Why? Why are you so certain
something will be wrong here?"
All of them
were silent for a long time. It was
Race that finally answered. "You never
had any reason to know the man that caused this. He was warped . . . vicious, vindictive, without conscience or
morals, and incredibly brilliant. This
entire situation was planned for maximum effect and damage. Not only would he plan to cause the pain he
did, but also he would do anything he could to insure that he would inflict the
most damage possible. Just when you
think you're getting things put back together is when the next blow hits."
Dr. Mason
sighed. "Well, I would say he
tried. But it looks to me more like
insurance than attempted mayhem." All
of them looked at her in bewilderment. "We found traces of fertility drugs in Jessie's system. From what you tell me, I would say he hedged
his bets and fed her drugs to insure that when the act occurred she would
definitely end up pregnant. He didn't
want to gamble."
"But . . .
but, how?" was Jessie's question. "I
haven't been taking anything. And
everything I've been eating has been eaten by those around me as well. And I don't see how he could have gotten
anything into the home food supply anyway. . . "
Dr. Mason was
quiet for a long time, thinking about it. And the longer she thought the grimmer she looked. Finally, she leaned back in the chair and
put her head in her hand. After a
minute she looked at Benton and Race. "I'm beginning to see . . . I don't think I really appreciated until
right this instant what you meant by 'without conscious or morals'. Oh, my God . . . "
Benton
extended a hand toward her in concern, "What?"
She looked at
them all for a minute. "Do you have any
idea how many cases of new teen pregnancy I've had in this office in the last
six weeks? Twelve. Plus Jessie. In a town of 1100 people . . . in a high school of 150
students. I would say he put it into
the school's water or food supply." Benton and Race looked sick. "I'll have to call the Health Department and have it checked. And if he's that devious, the location has
to be targeted at the girls. Feeding
this particular drug to boys would reduce their fertility . . . and that would
be counter to what he wanted."
"The water
fountain in the girl's locker room at the high school . . . " They all looked at Jessie. She looked from one to the other. "It's tasted funny for the last couple of
months. Funny enough that we've all
been complaining about it. They've
checked it a couple of times and found nothing wrong. The maintenance man kept telling us it was our imagination."
Dr. Mason rose
quickly and buzzed her receptionist. "Get me through to the Director of the State Health Department,
pronto. I want to talk with her
personally. Don't take no for an
answer."
But it was
Jonny that made the leap that none of the rest of them had considered. "Dr. Mason, I've heard about drugs like
this. They're used by couples who have
trouble getting pregnant. To increase
their chance of success. What happens
when someone who doesn't have a problem uses them?"
"They cause
multiple births." There was a deathly
silence in the room.
Finally, Jonny
asked the question. "How many . . . "
Dr. Mason
shook her head. "I don't know at this
point. But I do know there is more than
one. The chromosome screen shows
evidence of both male and female genes. There's at least one boy and one girl. There may be more. The only way
to tell for certain is to do an ultrasound. And I'm not prepared to do that yet. It's a little early. The results
might be inconclusive and, while there is no evidence that ultrasound hurts the
fetus, I prefer to wait until initial development is a little further along
before subjecting the child, or in this case, children to it."
All of the
adults waited with trepidation for Jessie and Jonny to say something. The two of them sat, side by side holding
hands, thinking about the situation. Finally, Jonny raised his head and looked at Jessie. She stared back at him.
And suddenly,
like sunshine erupting on a gray and rainy day, Jonny grinned. "I'm gonna have a son!"
Jessie gave
him a sharp shove. "You're gonna have a
daughter, too, you dope!" And suddenly
they were both laughing and hugging each other. There was a touch of hysteria underlying that laughter, but there
was honest excitement there, too. The
three adults exchanged astonished looks. The resiliency of these two was absolutely amazing.
After a minute
Jonny stopped as though thinking of something else. He looked at Race. "A
daughter . . . that means . . . "
Race grinned
at him broadly. " . . . late nights, worrying
endlessly, dating, and boys who are interested in her a lot sooner than you're
ready for . . . "
"Oh, God . . .
" And everyone dissolved into
hysterical laughter again.