Many of the characters within this story, and the universe they inhabit, are the intellectual property of Jason Katims Productions.
Roswell: Re-Imagined
Written by Horatio Jaxx
Chapter 13: Time to Go
Three days after being shot, Liz Evans was given reluctant permission to leave the hospital. Because of the nature of her original wounds, Dr. Whitesell could not help himself from being reserved about each new step in the progression of her recovery. The soul reason for that reluctance was the speed that Liz's wound had healed. All the evidence at this time suggested that the wound had healed at a pace consistent with someone shot three weeks earlier, rather than three days. Dr. Whitesell along with several other doctors could not make sense of Liz's condition when considering the gunshot injury that she recently endured. It was only because of Liz's insistence on leaving that Dr. Whitesell agreed to let her go.
"The follow up examines are important," Dr. Whitesell lectured Liz and her parents. "I want you in my clinic every other day."
"For how long," Liz quickly questioned as she gently tucked in her blouse?
"Considering where you seem to be in your recovery, it probably won't be long." Dr. Whitesell laced his answer with an inflection of exasperation.
"Can I go to school?" Liz anxiously inquired a second behind.
"No," Dr. Whitesell promptly countered. "I don't want you to exert yourself."
"I won't do anything strenuous," Liz quickly promised.
"We'll talk about it when you come in Saturday," Dr. Whitesell responded.
Nancy hovered about Liz anxiously looking for ways to help ready her to leave. Liz successfully deflected these offers up until the moment that she sat down to put on her shoes. Her slow and careful movement to bend over was more than what Nancy could bare to see. She quickly knelt and began fitting on her shoes over Liz's objection.
It was a quarter past eleven o'clock, Tuesday morning, and Liz was anxious to reclaim her life. She was still sore from the shooting and the operation, but she felt well enough to do everything she normally did, minus working in the café and participating in gym at school. The rush to get back to school was not fueled completely by a desire to get everything back to normal. Liz wanted to see Max Evans. She wanted to look at his face and see how he responded to her. She wanted to hear what he had to say about what happened the Saturday just past. She wanted to ask him why bits of his life were now memories inside her head.
On top of these new memories that were in Liz's mind, she was also experiencing a need to hide what she knew. She was aware that the feeling was not coming from her. The bits of new memories in her head were saturated with that sensation. She rationalized that the need was not her obligation, but she wanted to give Max a chance to explain himself before she spoke of this to anyone other than Maria.
As soon as she finished tying Liz's shoe, Nancy stood up and backed away. Liz slowly got up on her feet and tested their snugness. She was quickly satisfied that her shoes were not on too tight or too loose. She then walked over to a waiting wheelchair and gently sat herself in it. Nancy and Jeff anxiously offered her helping hands, but Liz ignored them as she went. The orderly standing behind the chair kept his hands gripped firmly to it.
"How long should we keep nursing her, Doctor?" Jeff questioned plainly.
"A minimum of three weeks," Dr. Whitesell insisted quickly. "I don't want her doing anything remotely strenuous or physically tiring. After that I'll assess her condition every other week. If I'm still not seeing any complications after three months, then I may have to cut her loose altogether and find someone new in need of my services."
Jeff and Nancy were pleased to hear that. Liz was buoyed by that too, but not to the same degree. She had confidence that her body was on the mend. She saw the repeated doctor visits as more of a formality than a necessity.
"I would like to schedule some tests in about three weeks," Dr. Whitesell continued with nearly no hesitation. "With your permission…"
"What kind of tests?" Nancy quickly questioned with alarm.
"These tests will have nothing to do with the injury and are perfectly harmless," Dr. Whitesell quickly assured. "And they'll be no bill submitted to your insurance or to you for them."
"Then why does she need them?" Jeff challenged.
"Mr. and Mrs. Parker, your daughter is, for lack of a better term, a medical miracle," Dr. Whitesell announced with a modicum of excitement. "The speed of her recovery is absolutely unprecedented. The real testing will occur on a microscopic level. I'll just need to take some blood and tissue samples for laboratory analysis. They'll be no risk of any kind to Liz's health, I promise you."
"I don't want to do any tests," Liz's swiftly asserted at the end of Dr. Whitesell's speech.
"Miss Parker, there might be some aspect of your DNA that has medicinal value," Dr. Whitesell implored.
"Mom, Dad, I don't want to do these tests. I just want to go home," Liz pleaded with plaintive looks to them both.
Jeff and Nancy noted the depth of Liz's distress and became instantly conflicted about how they should respond to Dr. Whitesell's requests.
"I don't think you understand," Dr. Whitesell continued with a direct plea to Liz. "The findings of these tests could turn out to be something worth publishing in every major medical journal on the planet."
Liz ignored the weight of Dr. Whitesell's argument and the sincerity in his voice. She continued to look to her parents as she argued against it.
"Mom, Dad, please, I don't want to be tested and examined and probed. I just want to put this behind me."
Dr. Whitesell thought to renew his request with a different tact, but Jeff suddenly cut him off.
"We're going to pass on that for now. We'll discuss it with Liz when we get her home. And maybe when she's had time to think it over, we might have a different answer for you. But for now, we're going to have to pass on that."
Nancy silently agreed with that answer with a shake of her head. Dr. Whitesell was disappointed with that answer, but he could see he was not going to get a different one at this time. However, he was not prepared to give up on the idea.
Liz's distress about these tests was not driven by a fear of what the doctor might find. Her concern was driven by a fear of what they would not find, an explanation. She feared the questions and investigations that could possibly derive from that mystery. The urge to keep the secret of Max Evans within her was motivating her actions. But she told herself that urge would only last until Max Evans answered for what he had done to her. After that she was determined to act as she thought fit.
With nothing more to say between them and Dr. Whitesell, other than their farewells, the Parkers left the room and then the hospital. Liz abandoned the wheelchair at the front of the hospital. As her father drove her towards home, Liz felt a relief to be free of the round the clock attention of the hospital staff. It was not that she was ungrateful for their medical expertise, but she came to the opinion, shortly after the operation, that their services were no longer needed. She was confident that she would mend with rest and time. She preferred to do this at home surrounded by the trappings and comforts accumulated during her sixteen years of life.
When Liz got home, she found a restaurant full of people waiting there for her along with a banner welcoming her return. She tried looking for Max Evans among the many faces in the room, but there were too many to take in with just a scan. Maria, however, was there; front and center, and she greeted her with a gentle hug. Amy De Luca was next to welcome Liz home, and she did so in the same fashion as her daughter. After the second hug, Nancy quickly set her daughter down to visit with her many friends and acquaintances from a resting position. Liz's view of everyone was obstructed much more by that vantage. She quickly inclined herself to the thinking that if Max was there, she would likely see him in due course.
Over the next thirty minutes, Liz held court at a center table as her friends moved about her. One by one she assured her visitors that she would soon be as good as new, and she thanked each in turn for their good wishes. Kyle advised her that the two men responsible for the shooting had confessed and that there would be no trial for her to attend. Liz gave her thanks with a sigh of relief. That was due to her feeling of embarrassment for being the person who got shot. The idea of having to relive the event in a court was a humiliating thought. She was extremely thankful for that bit of news and expressed it with a very large smile, but it was a stray comment spoken by someone behind the partition of people in front of her that intrigued Liz more than any other.
"I'm surprised Max Evans isn't here."