It was quiet in the little house. In the stillness, Hector awoke to find someone he hadn't seen in a few years.
"Hey," he croaked.
Bobby woke with a start. He saw his friend looking at him. "Ya okay, mate? Can you see me?"
Hector nodded. "Fuzzy. Thirsty. Where--?"
James came soundlessly into the room with a pitcher of water and a glass.
"Thanks, mate."
The silent man nodded and faded away into the shadows of the hall.
Bobby helped Hector to sit up and take a drink. He drained the glass and leaned back against the headboard. The tall Aussie pulled his chair closer to the bed.
"I feel like hll."
"Mate, you look like it. You put us through several scares. What's going on?"
"It's patchy. Bright lights. Loud noises. Voices…." He grimaced. "I don't know where I start and stop anymore, Crash."
"S'okay, Wreck. We've got some time. Just talk to me."
James stood in the hallway shadows listening to the two men. The more they talked the better off Hector would be in the long run. It was apparent that he had used Bobby Manning for an anchor to resist the drug 'therapy' that had been inflicted on him. Always focus on someone 'they' won't know. The silent man shook his head. His teammate had the knack for meeting the most unusual people. After checking on the sleeping Sue, he returned to his laptop. He needed to be ready.
"So, what do you remember?"
Hector frowned at Bobby and narrowed his eyes. "Everybody seems to want to know what I remember."
"Easy, mate!" The Aussie raised his hands in protest. "You just seem to have a few holes in the old noggin."
The sick man relaxed a bit. "The only stuff that stays clear is the retrieval. That crazy scientist. Kept humming and tapping. He nearly broke my hand." He paused. "It went down hill from there. Lots of fire, explosions. Jaye, I lost track of Jaye…I think I lost her. Dash is gonna kill me…my head hurts…" He pressed his hands against his eyes. "Is she as pretty as she sounds?"
Bobby frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Who?" Jaye? Mara?
"Sue."
"Oh."
"Oh? Is that all you can say? Quite possibly the most beautiful voice I've heard in a long time, gentle hands and a big heart and all you can say is 'Oh.'"
"Oh, no, mate, I can say a lot more but she's taken, lemme tell you," Bobby leaned back in his chair. "At least, she will be if her and Jack ever get a clue."
"Ahhhhh…..one of those kind, eh? We got a couple of 'em on our team too." Hector pointed toward the hall.
"You mean James?"
"James? Who's that—" he shook his head. "Never mind. Yes, James."
"You mean that's not his name?"
"I think you know the line that goes here, Fed-boy. 'If I told you, I'd have to kill you.' Only in his case, even I don't know his real name. And that's okay."
"So what's his call sign? Stoney?"
"Ha ha. But I can't tell you that either. I—" he grimaced. "…I can't tell you what I don't know. My head—" Hector pressed his temples. "No. Gotta stay here. Can't let them in my head. Gotta stay here, now…can't…find them. I can't see them anymore…Mara?" He looked ahead but didn't see anything.
Bobby was there, grabbing Hector by the shoulders. "Stay with me, Wreck…Stay with me here. You know Mara isn't there. You told me yourself. She died three years ago. Right before you were going to propose to her. It was a brain aneurysm."
"No, I saw her there!" He rubbed his eyes. "I saw her. She was at the hospital. She came to take me home. Her and Althea."
"Althea, mate?"
"My daughter. I can't see her anymore." He stared at the man in front of him, tears brimming. "Where did she go?"
Helpless and with out an answer, Bobby looked up and was surprised to see James standing just out of Hector's line of sight. He watched as the silent man signed slowly 'A W's cousin. Thirty now. Picture not real.'
Lowering his voice, the tall Aussie gave his friend a good shake. "Snap out of it, Wreck! It's in your mind. It's not real. Althea is your cousin. She's not your daughter."
Hector slumped over and curled on his side facing the dark window. He pressed his head with his hands. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, "Yeah, but did you ever want something so much, that you'd even hold on to a dream?" He closed his eyes. "Just leave me alone for a while."
James signed for Bobby to stay put then left as silently as he'd come.