The Night The Dreams Died

Awake

Chapter 1

I

Liz opened her eyes and looked around. It might have been like any other morning, but it wasn't. She wasn't sure how she knew this. Maybe it was just a feeling. Maybe it was because her memories were so foggy. Maybe it was because her room didn't look like her room. She looked at the walls. They were white. The strange thing is, she couldn't remember what color they were supposed to be. But something in her was sure that it wasn't white. It had an unfamiliar feel to it.

Liz turned her head to the other side. Ouch! She must have been sleeping very badly. Her neck hurt when she tried to turn it. She tried again, this time forcing herself to move the sore muscles. That's when her eyes met the other woman's. It was hard to say which one was more surprised.

"Who are you," Liz started to say, but her mouth felt like cotton, and her tongue refused to move. Something mumbled did come out though, and the other woman ran from the room calling for "Mister Parker."

Within seconds, Jeff Parker was in the room… with Nancy close behind him. Then the other woman came back in.

"She's awake, Mister Parker! Your daughter is awake! She spoke!"

"Liz?" Jeff looked into Liz's eyes, and Nancy held Liz's hand in hers and wiped a tear from her own eye.

"Liz, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, Dad, sure I hear you." Okay, that didn't exactly sound like it was meant to. Liz moved her tongue around slowly in her mouth. It felt like she had been given Novocain and her tongue was still numb. What came out sounded more like, "Yay-duh… Shy ear you." There was nothing wrong with her ears. Something must have made her tongue swell.

"It's alright, Lizzie. You don't have to talk. Just relax," Jeff said. "Can you nod your head?"

"Yeh Da'." This wasn't going to be easy. "Da'… con I 've s'wabber."

"Get her some water," Jeff said to the other woman. "Just a little in a cup."

The woman nodded and hurried off to find some water. Well, at least her Dad had understood her. Whatever was happening, she could talk. Not very well… but maybe that would change when she got some water to moisten her tongue with. She hoped so anyway.

The woman returned moments later with the water, and Jeff held it for Liz as she sipped it. Her throat felt parched, and it was hard to swallow. She gagged on the first swallow.

"It's alright, Lizzie," Jeff said. "Go a little slower. Here. Try it again."

Liz took another sip. This time it went down. It felt good… so cool in her throat… on her tongue, too. Her tongue moved more freely now and felt a bit less heavy. But her throat still ached.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, Lizzie! I'm here!"

"Whe'm… where am I?"

"You're at home, Lizzie. You're in your room."

"No… S'nah my room."

"It's changed," Nancy reminded Jeff softly. Jeff nodded.

"We had your room painted and redone for you before you came home, Lizzie. We wanted it to be…" Jeff's voice trailed off. "If you don't like it, we can put it back like it was."

Liz didn't answer. She was having trouble remembering how it had been… how it was supposed to look. She just knew that this wasn't it. This was all too… clinical.

"Da… Daddy?"

"Yes, Lizzie?"

"Wha's wron' w'me? Why can' I talk?"

Jeff looked at Liz for a moment. He seemed to have no immediate answer to give her.

"Damn," Jeff said silently to himself. He had had four months… four months and ten days, to be exact… to think of what he should say when she woke up… if she woke up. Why hadn't he planned for something as simple as this before now?

Jeff shook his head slowly. "Don't think about that now, Lizzie. We're here for you. That's what's important. Everything's going to be alright."

Liz rolled her head back and stared at the ceiling. Even the ceiling looked different.

"Dad… I hab to know. I ca't move my arms." Liz made another effort, exploring any possibility of getting out of the bed.

"Did I hab… an acciden'?

Jeff nodded slightly then shook his head. "No, Lizzie. It wasn't your fault. Nothing you did."

"I ca't move my legs."

Jeff closed his eyes momentarily and his lips started to quiver. He quickly pursed his lips together in an effort to mask his emotions, but Liz noticed.

"I… I can't move, Dad… can I…"

Jeff tried to smile at Liz through the tears forming in his eyes.

"You've been asleep, Liz. We weren't sure what you would be able to do. We still aren't. But the doctors said…" Jeff swallowed and his voice trailed off again.

It wasn't necessary for him to continue. Liz understood.

"Can I 've s'more wat'r?"

"Sure." Jeff held the cup for Liz, and she took a couple more swallows. Her throat was starting to feel almost human again. But it still ached dully. And her stomach ached slightly, as though it were unaccustomed to having anything in it.

"What happened to me, Dad? I need to know. Please. Am I… going to be able to move my legs or arms again?"

Jeff looked at Liz, and she could see the intense caring –and the pain- in his eyes. She saw it in her mother's, too. This was obviously very hard on them. For a moment, Liz forgot about herself.

"It's alright, Dad. If it's too painful, you don't have to tell me right now."

That seemed to be the last chink in the wall holding the waters back. Jeff broke down and began to cry. After he managed to find his voice again, he looked at Liz and held her and Nancy's hands together in his. Then, steeling himself, he looked directly into Liz's eyes with a deep earnestness.

"You were shot, Lizzie… at your graduation."

Thoughts began to flood back into Liz's mind, and she gasped, as the memories began to return.

"Graduation… I was at the graduation… with… with… you and mom… and…"

"Max! Where's Max?"

Jeff didn't answer.

"I have to know," Liz said, her voice trembling. "And Isabel…"

Jeff licked his lips slightly but shook his head.

"Are they…?"

"I'll read you the story out of the paper if you want," Jeff said softly. I still have it."

Jeff reached over and took a folded newspaper from a drawer and opened it to the front page.

"The headline… this was the day after your graduation… The headline says, "Military commandoes shoot up high school graduation ceremony in Roswell. Five killed. Scores more injured."

Jeff looked up at Liz to gauge her reaction and see if he should continue. Then he looked down at the paper in his hand again…

"West Roswell High School seniors, with thoughts of their future running through their heads, were marching onto the stage to receive their diplomas yesterday, when suddenly their world came crashing down around them in a hail of high-powered gun fire. The bizarre incident, which was blamed on a crazed group of ex-military commandoes who had been on a drinking binge earlier in the night, left four students and the principal of West Roswell High dead and injured scores more. Many of the injured were hurt accidentally in the panic to escape, as others around them fell mortally wounded…"

"Max?" Liz whispered.

Jeff swallowed silently.

"Isabel?"

Jeff swallowed again but did not reply.

"Michael? Michael wasn't there… was he?"

Jeff looked at the paper again and continued to read…

"The evening took an unusual turn early on, when the lights in the room suddenly went out, leaving all the guests in the dark. Guest speaker, Bryce McCain, a three-time Hugo award winning science fiction novelist, had been getting ready to speak when one of the graduating seniors, Maxwell Evans, came to the microphone in an apparent effort to reassure and calm the uneasy guests and students. Some students reported seeing a red dot appear and disappear on Evans' head and chest and on the heads and chests of some other students in the room as Evans spoke. At some point in Evans' impromptu speech, gunfire broke out and a motorbike burst through the doors and up onto the stage, pulling up next to Evans, who jumped on the back with the driver, identified as Michael Guerin, also a student at West Roswell High. The bike spun around and sped back down the stairs and out through the doors it had come in, but Guerin and Evans were apparently struck by several high-powered rifle shots fired from inside the ventilation ducts as they exited. Guerin was able to drive his bike a couple of miles before losing consciousness. The bodies of both Guerin and Evans were found two hours later at the edge of town, where the bike had crashed.

In addition to Max Evans and Michael Guerin, the shooting took the life of the school's principal, Dr. Martin Van Der Shul, and of graduating seniors, Isabel Evans, who by coincidence, was the sister of Max Evans, and Maria DeLuca…"

Liz gasped, and tears came to her eyes. "Maria? Why Maria? She wasn't…"

"She wasn't what, Lizzie?"

"One of them."

Jeff nodded. "I'm sorry, Liz."

Jeff was silent for a few moments. "Are you sure you want to hear more of this?"

Liz nodded.

Jeff looked at the paper again.

"The incident left scores of students and family members injured, most of them as a result of the panic that ensued during the gunfire. However, three students were grazed by gunfire apparently intended for the seniors who died in the siege, and one student, Elizabeth Parker, was shot in the head and back. Miss Parker remains in extremely critical condition this morning at Roswell General Hospital, where she was flown by helicopter after the incident.

In the panic and confusion that followed the shootings, the shooters escaped. However, a number of witnesses were able to provide descriptions of the suspects, including a detailed description of the special military uniforms and service patches that the shooters were wearing. Urgent calls from the sheriff and press to the governor and to officials at the local military base resulted in the suspects being apprehended quickly by military police. A spokesperson for General Haggerty, at the army base, told this paper that the men responsible had been on a drinking binge earlier in the night and believed that they were raiding a Viet Cong encampment. The spokesperson said that the army would be handling their trials, which would be closed to the public, and that all those involved would likely receive court-martials."

Liz closed her eyes. "Court-martials."

"I know," Jeff said. "It doesn't seem like enough for what they did."

"It's not that, Dad. It's not enough. But they won't get court-martials. They'll probably get medals."

"They shot innocent kids… high school seniors at their graduation, Lizzie! They can't just get away with that."

"They already did get away with it, Dad."

"Jeff…" Nancy put her hand on Jeff's arm. "You're upsetting her. She just came out of a coma. She isn't going to remember everything, and her thoughts may be a little… jumbled at first. Let her rest."

Jeff nodded, and his voice quivered. "Sorry, Lizzie. I just… I just love you… so much…" He took a deep breath to calm his voice, "…and I have a hard enough time thinking they only got court-martials for all the suffering they caused. But there are a lot better things we should be talking about right now, honey. I'll get Doctor Jennings to look at you in the morning. Now that you're awake, maybe they can run some new tests that will help you walk again. You're going to, you know!"

Liz smiled. She couldn't feel or move her legs or her arms. She couldn't even feel her hands or fingers, and she wasn't sure if she could move them or not. But at this one small moment in time, she had one good feeling… the feeling of being loved. That would have to buy her some time… until the realities… and the losses… set in.

tbc

Author's note: In the near future, look for the army to try to rectify its single "mistake…" its unfinished business. And the army won't be the only problem facing Liz as she tries to regain some semblance of a life in Roswell. Not everyone is happy with the army's unusual interest in Roswell, and specifically, in Liz Parker. Also, continue to read "The Four Faces of Rath." That story and this one will prove to be inter-related soon, though probably not in a way you would expect. We'll leave it at that. This story will seem to be a radical departure from the "Altered Time" series theme, and in a way, it is. While the other stories run consecutively, in a linear fashion, this one runs separately but is –or will soon prove to be- inter-related.