Disclaimer: Roswell, and its characters do not belong to me. Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox have that particular pleasure. I'm simply borrowing them until the Season 2 DVD's get released.

Tomorrow's Yet to Come

Chapter Twelve Rocky Mountain Meeting

Liz, Liz, help us. Help!

"Sir, sir, can you hear me?" a voice called, penetrating Kyle's mind through the layers of unconsciousness. "We're going to get out of here, just hang on a second."

"Ava," Kyle said, weakly. "Where's Ava?"

"We've got the young lady out already, she's in the ambulance, on her way to the hospital," said the voice.

"No blood work," said Kyle, struggling to open his eyes. "None."

"Sir, let's not worry about that right now," said the voice. "We need to get you out of here." Kyle opened his eyes, squinting against the bright light that filled the car. He saw the face of a concerned fire fighter leaning over him. "Okay, we're going to try and lift you out now, sir, okay?" Hands reached in and started to ease Kyle from the crumpled car, and he screamed.

"No! Stop! My leg is stuck!" shouted Kyle.

"Hold up!" shouted the fire fighter. He looked down into the car and tried to ease Kyle's foot out. "You're stuck but good, son. Someone grab me the Jaws of Life," he yelled. The fire fighter turned back to Kyle and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, sir, we'll get you out. Just hang on for a second."

"Screw me," Kyle shouted. "Where's my wife? Where's Ava?"

"She's in the ambulance, sir. We're preparing to evacuate her to the hospital now."

"Do not, give her any blood," demanded Kyle. "Do not test her blood, nothing. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," said his rescuer, reaching for his radio. He relayed the message to the departing ambulance, and then turned back to Kyle. "Okay, I told them, now I just want you to relax. We'll get you out of there and a minute."

"I'm sorry, sir," said Kyle, trying to control his fear and his temper. "It's just that transfusions are against our religion. I didn't mean any disrespect."

"That's okay, son," said the fire fighter. "Now, I just want you to lay back, and put on these goggles, and I'm going to cover you with this blanket. Stay covered, as soon at the jaws get here, we'll get you out." The fire fighter turned his back to retrieve the Jaws of Life, and Kyle slipped his hand down near his foot, and used his powers to free his foot from the twisted wreckage of his car.

"Hey! Hey!" shouted Kyle. "I got my foot out." The fire fighter turned back to Kyle and looked into the car.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said. "How the hell did that happen?"

"I don't know," said Kyle. "I just kept wiggling my foot, and there it was. Can I get to the hospital to be with my wife, now?"

"You got it," said the fire fighter. Two EMT's wheeled a gurney over to the car, and lifted Kyle out and onto the stretcher. They carried the stretcher over the bumpy ground and placed it into the ambulance. One of the EMT's climbed into the back beside Kyle, while the other started the ambulance and drove off towards the hospital.

"What's you're name?" asked the EMT.

"Kyle Valenti, and my wife Ava is in the other ambulance," answered Kyle. "What day is this?"

"Today is Thursday," answered the EMT as he checked Kyle's pulse and temperature and respiration. "Do you have any idea how long you were down there?"

"We were driving through Tuesday night, around dusk," said Kyle. "We stopped for dinner a couple of towns back. I forget the name of the place, but Ava grabbed one of their take out menus. It's probably still in the car."

"Take out menu?" queried the EMT. "Are you two planning on settling down around here?"

"No, we're on our way back home to New Mexico. Ava just likes to collect the take out menus from the places we've eaten," said Kyle. "It's a bit weird, but it makes her happy."

"Don't feel bad," laughed the EMT. "My girlfriend collects those itty bitty teaspoons. I mean, what's the point in those, you can't use them for anything."

Kyle laughed, then winced in pain. "Ouch, that smarts," he said. "I think I broke a couple of ribs or something."

"You've had broken ribs before?" asked the EMT, lifting Kyle's shirt to examine him.

"Yeah, I played football in high school," explained Kyle. "Ow, hey, watch it, will you," he shouted when the EMT touched a particularly tender area.

"Sorry," said the EMT. "I understand that you won't authorize any transfusions or blood work to be done, is that correct?"

"Uh, yeah, they go against our religious beliefs," said Kyle. "Just get me to the hospital, let me get my wife, and we'll rent a car and be on our way."

"Let's just get you to the hospital, Kyle. That's all we're focusing on here," said the EMT, as he continued to examine Kyle's abdomen and chest area.

"Mr. Valenti," said the doctor, pushing back the curtain to the cubicle in the emergency room. "I'm Dr. Wilson, and I'm just going to check you out, and then we'll talk."

"No, we'll talk now," said Kyle, struggling to sit up on the emergency room table. "I want to know how my wife is."

"Your wife is still unconscious," said the doctor. "That's one of the things we'll talk about after I take a look at you."

"I'm fine. Just take me to see my wife!" shouted Kyle.

"Mr. Valenti, I'm going to insist that you calm down," said Dr. Wilson. "I'm afraid you are more seriously injured than you realize, and unless you let me examine you, you could be in serious danger. You won't do your wife any good if you don't take care of yourself."

"Fine, let's get this over with," said Kyle. He leaned back on the gurney, and glared resentfully at the doctor.

"Okay, we're going to need a few x-rays," said the doctor, stepping back from the table. "Someone will be down in a few minutes to take you to radiology."

"Yeah, thanks," muttered Kyle.

"Excuse me," said a voice from the other side of the curtain. "I'm looking for a Kyle Valenti. He was brought in from an accident a short time ago."

"Right this way, Sheriff," said a female voice. " I believe the doctor is done with him."

"Dad?" whispered Kyle incredulously. He looked expectantly at the curtain, and felt his hopes crash down around his feet when a tall blond man entered the room.

"Mr. Valenti?" said the man. "I'm Sheriff Nickerson." He held out his hand to Kyle. Kyle reached out and shook his hand, and groaned at the pain the exertion caused.

"You'll pardon me if I don't get up, Sheriff," said Kyle, with another groan. "You're here about the accident?"

"Yes, I am, but before I get to that, can I just say, you looked incredibly disappointed when I walked in here. Were you expecting someone else?"

"Expecting? No, not really. My dad is the sheriff in Roswell, New Mexico, and when I heard someone say sheriff out there, I,"

"You figured that by some miracle, it was your father," continued Sheriff Nickerson.

"Yeah," said Kyle, a bit sheepishly.

"Well, I'm not him, but I can get word to him right away, how would that be?"

"That would be great," said Kyle. "I didn't even thing about contacting him yet."

"Well, I'll take care of that," said the Sheriff. "But for now, I have a few questions for you about the accident. Do you feel up to talking?"

"Sure, if we make it quick, I guess they want to take me up to x-ray or something," said Kyle.

"What happened out there, last night, Kyle?" asked the Sheriff. He took out a notebook, and waited for Kyle to answer.

"Happened? Nothing really," said Kyle. "We were just driving and talking."

"How did the accident occur?" asked the sheriff. "Did you see what the other car looked like?"

Kyle looked at the sheriff, his confusion apparent. "What other car? We were talking." Kyle paused and thought for a moment, he didn't want to tell the Sheriff that he had taken his eyes off the road to look at Ava. "An animal ran in front of the car, I think it was a deer. Anyhow, I swerved to try and avoid it, and my car went onto the shoulder. I started to get control again, when it hit a rut, or a rock or something. We went crashing down into the brush, and that's the last thing I remember. There wasn't any other car involved, Sheriff."

"You're sure?" questioned the sheriff.

"Absolutely," answered Kyle. "Why?"

"Well, we received an anonymous tip about your car," the sheriff responded.

"Maybe somebody saw it from the road and called it in," said Kyle.

"Except for your car was so far into the woods, it couldn't be seen from the road.

"I'm sorry," interrupted a nurse. "We need to get this man up to radiology. You'll have to finish this later."

"No need, we're done here," said the sheriff. "Kyle, I'll contact your father for you right away."

"Thanks, Sheriff," said Kyle. "His name is Jim Valenti, and it's the Roswell, New Mexico Sheriff's Department."

"You take care," said the sheriff. He stepped out of the cubicle, and the nurse pushed the gurney out of the cubicle, and into the quiet emergency room.

"Can you tell me where my wife is?" asked Kyle.

"She's up getting x-rayed right now," said the nurse. "The doctor will explain everything to you as soon as possible. Just lay back and relax."

"Mr. Valenti," said Dr. Wilson. "I'm going to be very frank with you. You do have some fractured ribs, which we are going to tape up for you. You're going to need to take it easy for the next several days."

"Yeah, fine, great," said Kyle. "What about Ava?"

"Your wife is still unconscious," said the doctor. "The x-rays have shown that she has a fractured skull, and there is some swelling. We need to operate to relive the swelling."

"NO!" shouted Kyle. "No operating. I refuse to sign the consent forms."

"Mr. Valenti, if we don't operate, your wife could die."

And if you do operate, Kyle thought to himself. You may find out that my wife is an alien, and then you'll dissect her. No freaking way.

"I understand that, sir. But do you understand that our religious beliefs forbid the use of any invasive procedures? Now I demand that you take me to where you have my wife."

"Damn religious nuts," said Dr. Wilson, under his breath. "Fine, I'll have the nurse wheel you to your wife's room." He stormed out of the room, paused at the nurse's station long enough to get someone to take Kyle to Ava's room, then went to the Doctor's Lounge. In the lounge, he picked up a phone, and called the hospital's chief administrator, and began to explain the problem.

Liz and Max walked into the crowded café in Lake City, and sat at the crowded counter. Max passed Liz a menu. They scanned the menu, made their choices, and listened to the snippets of conversations that echoed around them.

"Damned fool religious nuts," said one man. "Man's wife is going to die, and he won't let the doc's operate. Its nuts."

"Maybe nuts, Charlie, but it's religious freedom, and that's what this country was founded upon," said the man's companion.

"I hear they were stuck in their car for a couple of days," said the first man. "Could be that the husband isn't in his right mind."

"Doesn't matter," said the other man. "Doc Wilson got the hospital to file some injunction or something, giving them the right to operate."

Max looked at Liz and squeezed her hand. The slid off the stools and rushed out of the café.

"Now what do you suppose wastheir problem?" said the man, watching them run to their car.

Liz walked up to the information booth in the hospital, and smiled brightly. "Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me what room Kyle Valenti is in?"

The elderly woman at the desk looked up the information and smiled at Liz. "Of course, dear. Are you family?"

"Family? Oh, yeah, family. I'm his sister-in-law," she improvised.

"Now that's nice. Mr. Valenti is in 406."

"Thank you," said Liz. She and Max ran to the elevator and pushed the button for the fourth floor. When the elevator stopped, the rushed out, and looked for the signs to point them in the right direction. Max tugged Liz by the arm as the two ran down the hall. He pushed open the door to 406, and found Kyle, struggling to get dressed.

"Max, thank God," he said. "You have to find Ava, before it's too late. They want to operate on her. She has a fractured skull. Max, they can't operate."

"What room is she in?" Max asked.

"She's down the hall, in 417," answered Kyle. "

Max rushed out of Kyle's room, and ran down the hall to Ava's room. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, taking care to make sure he wasn't observed. He walked over to Ava's bed and stared down at the small blond girl who lay there silently, as if sleeping. He put his hands on her head, and closed his eyes, and focused. Images of the life Ava led flashed through his mind. He saw the abuse she suffered at the hands of Lonnie and Rath. He saw Zan, his doppelganger protecting her. He saw Lonnie subdue Ava, while Rath shoved Zan into the path of the oncoming truck. He saw Zan get up, wave to Ava and run, while Rath and Lonnie laughed and congratulated themselves on the success of their plan.

"Max?" said Ava. "What's going on. Where am I, and why are you here?

"Shh," said Max. "You were in an accident, and you were hurt. I just healed you."

"Kyle, is Kyle okay?" said Ava, struggling to sit up.

"Kyle's fine. Look, give me a minute to get out of here, then call the nurse. Let them see that you're fine."

"Thanks Max," said Ava, smiling at him.

"Your welcome," said Max, but he didn't smile back. He slipped out into the hallway, and walked back down to Kyle's room.

"She's okay," said Max. "She's awake, but we have another problem."

"God, now what?" said Liz, rubbing her hand over her face.

"You know how when I healed you," said Max. "I saw you. I got flashes of you?"

"Yeah, so?" said Liz.

"Well I got flashes from Ava too."

"Okay, you got flashes, so what?" said Liz, confused.

"He found out that Zan's alive," said Kyle.