Chapter Nine: New Findings

While he was waiting for Lisa to be returned to her room, Gary noticed the bag of her clothes and belongings resting on a chair. He went through it and pulled out her red jacket, holding it close to his body, breathing in the scent of her. More tears sprung to his eyes.

"I can't believe this…" he whispered hoarsely. His hands slipped to the pockets of the jacket and pulled out the Rascal Flatts concert tickets. "The concert…it's tomorrow night. Doesn't look like she'll be going…and she was so excited."

"You never know," said Marissa. "She might pull out of it before then. Lisa's a remarkable person."

"I know." Gary agreed, tucking the tickets safely back in the pocket of the jacket.

A pair of voices halted any further conversation as Pete and Adele wheeled a still-unconscious Lisa back into the room. An x-ray negative was resting on her lap. As the two doctors transferred Lisa from the gurney to the bed, Adele said, "Something's definitely going on, Gary. Her wounds have healed. Not by much, but enough to show a change when examined closely enough. And, take a look at this x-ray." She took the negative and held it so Gary could see, Sue and Lucy coming up alongside to peek.

"I don't see what – "

"I do," said Sue. She picked up the old x-ray and held it next to the new one and pointed. The chunk that was missing from Lisa's right heart was smaller, now, than it had been.

"She…she told me she healed fast," said Gary, who had returned to Lisa's side, holding her hand. "But she's never been shot before."

"The bullet must have clipped her heart," said Sue. "That could be what's causing the coma."

"I think she's right," said Lucy. They were beginning to believe, now, with the evidence staring them right in the face. "If we go by the x-rays, it's healing slowly."

"So are the gunshots," said Pete, bending over Lisa, listening to her hearts with his stethoscope. He pulled down the right shoulder of her hospital gown, where a gauze pad was covering one of the wounds. He pulled it down to show a raw, red hole in the flesh that looked partially healed, then covered it again. "The ones in her left leg are the same," he said.

Adele spoke up. "Truthfully, Gary, we don't have enough knowledge of her physiology to really know what's going on in her body. She's not human, and things with her work differently, you know this." She paused a moment. "Maybe…maybe Uncle Walter could help – "

"NO!" Gary shouted. "That maniac is getting nowhere near her, understand?"

Pete broke in. "I see where she's going, Gary. Look, the Doc knew a helluva lot more about her than anybody did. After all, he's been following her for, what, forty years?"

"No," Gary said venomously, glaring. "I don't want him anywhere near Lisa. Ever."

"I'm with Gary on this one," said Lucy. "From what we've been told, your uncle wanted to experiment on her. What would stop him from trying again?"

"Maybe the presence of two FBI agents…" said Marissa softly.

Lucy and Sue looked at each other. Sue said quietly, "Lisa saved my dog…I'll do anything to help her."

End chapter nine.