In-Jokes: I suppose Adele's looks is me chanelling Flaming Trails' Dr. Gypsy Robinson.

Chapter Seven: Visitors

Gary found out that the reason Lisa wasn't hooked up to the hospital machines because they couldn't monitor her alien physiology properly. After all, a heart monitor couldn't monitor two hearts, and her blood pressure would surely be different than a human's. Pete and Adele had to play it by ear, using what knowledge they had of Lisa's biological systems.

Dr. Adele Stewart, it turned out, was not only Pete's girlfriend, but the niece of the same Dr. Von Braun that wanted to experiment on Lisa three years ago. While she was interested in the idea of aliens and such in her younger years, and Von Braun had taught her everything he'd known at the time, she eventually grew out of it and went to regular medical school. Between her and Pete, they pooled their knowledge to try to figure out why Lisa was in a coma.

Unfortunately, it had been hours since she'd been admitted, and they were still none the wiser. They'd moved Lisa to a standard hospital room and a friend of Pete's, an electronics specialist from the Institute, jury-rigged a few of the machines using components from their old lab to monitor Lisa's alien physiology. Still, only authorized personnel were allowed into the room, and no one seemed to notice the slight discordant tone the new heart monitor was emitting.

Gary also had to go through questioning from the police, for Officer Bradshaw had tracked him down. He told Gary that the guy who robbed McGinty's got away, but they were still searching. Still numb, Gary was only able to give a very brief and vague statement, though the officer seemed satisfied for now and thankfully left.

It was eight o'clock at night when Gary was paged to the front desk. He had no intention of leaving Lisa's side at all, and, so, ignored it. A nurse had to come into Lisa's room to tell him that three people were out front waiting to see him. It had to be Marissa and, perhaps, Sue and Lucy.

"I can't leave her," whispered Gary, not taking his eyes off Lisa's still form. Her irregular right heart was still troubling him, but he couldn't tell Pete or Adele anything, really. While they knew she was alien, he didn't want to give the kid any incentive to want to try experimenting on her, again.

The nurse left the room and, a few minutes later, in walked Marissa, Sue and Lucy. When he didn't register their presence, Marissa called softly, "Gary?"

He jumped at her voice, then settled when he realized who it was. "Oh…hi."

"How is she?" asked Lucy.

"S-stable," stuttered Gary, blinking back tears. "But she's in a coma and they don't know why."

"She saved my life," Sue said quietly, standing beside Lisa and taking her other hand in hers. Her eyes fell on Lisa's x-ray, which he'd left on the end table. "Gary," she asked, picking it up. "Is this Lisa's x-ray?"

He looked up. "Er, yeah, but it's…" He remembered what Pete had told him earlier. "It's a double exposure." He moved to take it from her hands, but she moved away, frowning, examining the negative closely. "It can't be a double exposure."

"Why not?" asked Marissa. She, of course, knew Lisa had two hearts.

"Because there's damage to the one on the right."

"What?" chorused Gary, Lucy and Marissa together, Gary snatching the x-ray from her hands. Sue pointed to what looked like a small chunk missing from Lisa's right heart.

"Gary, what's going on?" asked Lucy.

"Uh…" he hedged. "Excuse me." He raced out of the room to the nurses' station. "I need Dr. Davis or Dr. Stewart, right away."

He stood and stared at the x-ray until Adele walked up to him. She was a petite woman with long red hair, plaited into a braid at the nape of her neck, green eyes and glasses.

"Yes, Gary?" she asked.

He held the x-ray under her nose, pointing at the irregularity. "Take a look at this."

She took the x-ray and looked closely at it. Her eyes widened. "I have to find Pete. Wait in her room."

End chapter seven.