Chapter 19:

May looked up into Salene's eyes and realized that she had at last rejoined the land of the living. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, perhaps it had only been a few minutes, but by the look on Salene's face she judged it had been much longer. She had been dreaming of her parents; they had wanted her to come with them, to be their little girl again. But there was no going back to that life, she had come to far, done to many things that would have horrified her parents. As much as she hated to admit it, her life was here, with the Mallrats.

Salene gently stroked her face with a hand and then spoke softly, "His name is Ryan."

Whose name, May wondered. Then she heard another voice "My son, Ryan…he would have been proud, don't you think?"

"Yes, Lex, I think Ryan would have been very proud," Salene answered softly before turning her attention back to the baby's mother. "May…May, are you really awake?"

May managed a weak nod in Salene's direction.

"Lex, May's awake. Can you go down to the café and get Trudy or Ellie to fix up some broth or something for her? Bring the baby here; I'll take him for a bit."

May watched Lex gently place the baby in Salene's arms and leave the room.

"Here's you son, May…Isn't he beautiful?" Salene asked softly, holding the child so that May could get her first glimpse of her son.

"Yes," May replied weakly as her vision began to blur with tears. He was here now…there was no denying the truth any longer. This was her son, hers to hold, to love, to raise into a man. But how? How could she possibly raise a child, when she couldn't even look at him, she thought bleakly as she turned her head away.

"It's alright May, you're safe now. Everything is going to be fine. The pain is over," Salene said encouragingly, wiping her brow with a damp cloth, "and I'll take good care of both of you until your regain your strength."

May turned her head and stared up into Salene's eyes. It seemed something had changed between them. Salene had changed…"Now let me just put little Ryan down for his nap and then you and I can chat for a bit."

May was suddenly overcome with a strong urge to tell Salene everything. Perhaps it was her weakened condition or perhaps it had been something she had seen in Sal's eyes, but the burden of lies was becoming too great to bear alone. May watched as Sal headed toward the crib with her newborn baby and settled him down so lovingly for his nap. As the emotions flooded over her, she opened her mouth to let the truth out at last, "Salene, I have something to tell you," she began carefully.

"Yes, May, what is it?" Salene answered, turning back toward the bed.

Suddenly the door to the room swung open, "Alright here's the soup," Lex said loudly from the doorway, "and you better appreciate it, because I had to put up with Trudy lecturing me the entire time," he said as he sat the tray down on the bedside table.

"Thank you Lex," Salene said appreciatively, then added, "Can you take this bag of dirty diapers out to the trash please."

"No…" Lex said immediately, "Let's just get this straight. I'm not a nursmaid and I'm not taking orders from you," he said, heading for the door.

"But Lex, he's your son," Salene countered.

Lex turned on Salene, "Yeah, but I'm not the one sharing a bed with his mother," he said, pointing his finger at her, "You can take out the dirty diapers."

May lay back on the bed and shut her eyes…obviously this was not quite the right time for the truth.

Ruby stood at the bar washing glasses while Lottie dried. It had been unnaturally quiet in the saloon since Slade and Ram had left. Ruby had tried to keep busy, tried to keep her mind off the danger that Ram was walking into. But all morning her thoughts had dwelled on Technos and Mega, lasers and bombs.

She could hear a commotion outside. People were screaming, running down the street. "Stay here," she told Lottie firmly as she went to the door to look out. As she stood looking down Liberty's main street at what had caused the panic, the glass in her hand slipped from her grip and shattered on the floor.

A Techno stumbled up the street toward the saloon. He was obviously seriously injured and was still bleeding from a wound on his head. Slade…the thought sprang to her mind…she had seen him fight before, had seen him knock people unconscious with a single blow to the head.

The Techno stumbled up the steps and onto her porch before collapsing in a heap on the doorstep.

"Lottie, get the medical supplies. Hurry," Ruby called out, kneeling down over the Techno. He was still conscious. "Ram…where's Ram?" Ruby asked insistently.

The Techno shook his head from side to side, "Can't…Can't…go back…to…Mega…" he said, not in response to her question, but from the recesses of his own incoherent mind, "Kill me…he'll…kill…me," he finished weakly and slipped into complete unconsciousness.

Ruby stood up and looked back at Lottie, "Pack you bags, we're going to the city."