7:30 PM PDT
While Marty Jr had driven the DeLorean back to Doc's garage, Marlene and Harmony had headed back to Hill Valley Hospital. As they were walking to the ward Marty was staying in, Clara had excitely greeted the girls.
'Guess what, girls!' Clara said, excitedly.
'What is it, Grandma?' asked Harmony.
'Your grandpa had just regained consciousness,' explained Clara. 'He just came two about an hour ago.'
'Hey, that's awesome!' exclaimed Harmony. Then, turning to Marlene, she suggested, 'Why don't you check up on your dad - and I'll check up on grandpa?'
'Sure, Harmony,' Marlene replied, smiling, 'will do.'
Then, as Harmony followed Clara over to Doc's ward, Marlene walked over to her father's ward.
'Hello, Dad?' called out Marlene, as she walked in.
'Sweetheart!' called out Marty, when he saw his daughter. 'How is my little pumpkin doing?'
'I'm feeling great, Dad,' said Marlene. 'Your younger self just headed back to 1986, now. I'm so glad you're health is improving. Of course, through all this, I've learned to value our relationship more.'
'I'm so happy to hear that, darling,' Marty said, smiling. 'How about, when I get released from the hospital, you and I spend some alone time together? How does that sound? I think you and I should become reaquainted with each other. I never did mean to hurt you my daughter, and I'm sorry if you ever felt that I was not paying much attention to you. It's just that, you need to open up more.'
'Thanks, Dad,' whispered Marlene, as she threw her arms around her father.
'Hey, sweetie,' Marty asked, gently. 'Would you like me to braid your hair?'
'Sure, Dad,' replied Marlene. She then pulled up a chair next to Marty's bed, while her father sat up, and started to braid her hair. It felt nice to have her father's soft hands in her hair. Marlene smiled widely.
After a few minutes, Marty said, 'Now, sweetie, turn around for me, okay? Let me see your lovely face.'
Marlene did just that. She started right into her fathers baby blue eyes, and she began to smile. She remembered how, when she was younger, she wished she could also have blue eyes like her father and brother. She has since, though, come to take pride in her brown eyes. That was one area where she definitely took after her father. She smiled widely. Her father was definitely one very good-looking man at the age of 48. Of course, the rejuvination he had ten years ago did help - but Marlene suspected that her father's youthful demeaner also helped. Her father had very rarely ever yelled or was in the grumpy mood.
'Ah, now there's that lovely smile,' said Marty, as he gently pinched Marlene's cheek.
'Life suddenly looks so much brighter!' Marlene said, cheerfully. 'I think, to celebrate, I'll even go out for ice cream, tonight. Your younger had told me about how I shouldn't stress myself out so much over how I look.'
'Ah, yes, I remember telling you this,' Marty said, smiling. 'It's kinda strange to think that, in one sense, I only told you that about an hour ago - yet, in another sence, it was thirty years ago.'
'It's still kinda hard for me to believe that Dr. Brown really did invent a time machine,' Marlene said, smiling. 'I hope to, one day, be able to take a trip in a time machine.'
'Well, you'll have to talk to Doc about that,' Marty said, smiling. 'You should keep in mind, though, that time travel can be very risky. It is definitely something that needs to be done with caution. I mean, heck, I still remember how it felt to nearly erase myself from existence. I won't say that I didn't enjoy any part of my week in 1955, but I was pretty much under constant stress. Anyway, I would have to say that getting my parents back together definitely ranks up there with being one of my greatest accomplishment - if not the greatest.'
'At least in my case,' Marlene pondered, 'if I was to travel back to 1986 - you and Jennifer would already know about the time machine, and the fact that you are destined to be together.'
'Right,' replied Marty, nodding, 'but it could still be very risky. Like, it could create problems between Jennifer and myself, for instance - and then I could be stuck with the kind of family that I had when I first travelled to 2015. Believe me, Marlene, that was not a very pretty sight.'
Just then, Harmony came burting into the ward, with excitement.
'Grandpa will be okay!' Harmony exclaimed, excitedly. 'Grandpa will be fine. He has now regained consciousness!'
'Oh, really?' Marty asked, his face lighting up. 'This is great news! This is the greatest news that I've heard all day.'
'Yeah, Dr. Brown is doing great for being 96 years old,' remarked Marlene.
'Actually, he's really 104 years old,' Marty clarified. 'You see, he spent eight of his years in the Old West. Then he spent quite a bit more time travelling through time - so he might be even older than that.'
'I guess the rejuvinations really did do a lot of wonders,' commented Marlene.
'Right,' replied Marty, smiling, 'even though some people are still amazed that he manazed to live so long. After all, the full rejuvinations were not open to the public until 2004 - and Doc was technically 84 years old then.'
Then Marty Jr had walked into the room, and said, 'Here I am, guys! How are you, Dad? You look so much better today.'
'I am,' Marty said, smiling. 'Just think, in two days, I will be coming home.'
'We'll definitely have to find a way to celebrate,' suggested Marlene.
'That sounds like a great idea,' added Marty Jr. 'I'll have to talk to Mom about this. We should maybe start having family night again.'
'Yeah, now that's a good idea,' Marlene said, smiling at her brother.
'Well, well, well,' Harmony said, smiling. 'It looks like you guys are one big happy family again.'
'Yeah, that's true,' Marty said, cheerfully. 'It's just that I can't believe that my children have grown so fast. I still remember when you were just really young ones. Well, you two will always be my kids.'
Marty Jr then hugged him father, as he was so happy would be home soon. Then Marlene hugged her father.
