.............
. . .No Chuck it's not all bad, but you don't know about the other part of your life yet. . .
Every second I spent with Chuck made me hurt all the more. I wanted so bad for Chuck to keep this innocence, to not have to live the life he's been forced into.
It wasn't fair really, for him to have to live his life as a spy and not have a choice. But it wasn't fair for him to forget his whole life either.
"So what do we have to eat?" Chuck asked as we walked into the living room.
The difference in Chuck's actions and speech were undeniable. Even though it was his same voice, he spoke more like a child, and even the way he walked was different. He didn't stand up straight like he usually did. I guess it's because he wasn't used to being six foot four.
"I don't know, what do you like?"
"Chinese food sounds good. Or pizza. I don't really care." He said sitting down onto the couch.
Chinese food or pizza. . . I guess I was right, some things never change.
"Chinese food sounds great." I agreed.
"Pizza sounded better." He said grinning.
"Okay, pizza it is."
"Can we get extra olives?"
I cringed. More olives to pick off. "Sure Chuck, anything you want." I guess some sacrifices could be made.
After I ordered the pizza-with extra olives- I sat down beside Chuck.
"Can we watch TV?" Chuck asked.
"Of course."
Chuck got a goofy grin on his face. I could tell he was excited about the LCD TV in the living room.
And it must've been fate, because the first image that was on the TV when it turned on was the opening credits of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
"This is so cool." Chuck said hardly above a whisper. Only Chuck could be rendered speechless over a TV.
When Star Wars went to commercial Chuck grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels at top speed until he made it to the news. . .
"Chuck why are you watching the news? It's not exactly the most fun show on TV." No response.
I looked at Chuck and saw his blank stare into space. He looked like someone in REM sleep. He looked like he did whenever he flashed on something. . .
As soon as it had began, it ended.
"Wh- what was that- that guy he- he- he's. . . Fulcrum? What's a Fulcrum? What just happened to me?" He asked, panicking and breathless.
The Intersect was still active, in the brain of a man who had the mind frame of a child.
"Chuck it's okay, calm down. . . " I put my hand on his shoulder.
"What happened?" Ellie asked running into the room.
"Nothing, everything is alright." I said giving Ellie a look that said 'we'll talk in a second''
Ellie nodded, and walked into the kitchen.
"Everything's alright? Sarah what just happened?" Chuck asked, still frantic.
How do you explain to an eight year old boy, that his brain contains top secret government computer files?
"Chuck, everything is alright. You see, about two years ago, someone I work with sent you an email that had a lot of pictures in it, and you are a really smart guy, so you remembered every one of those pictures in the back of your mind.
"Well those pictures had a bunch of government files hidden inside of them, and since you remembered them all in the back of your head, every time you see something that's in one of those files, you remember it. We call it a flash. It's kind of like your super power, because it helps you stop bad guys." Explaining the Intersect concept to eight year old minded Chuck was challenging.
While I explained the situation to Chuck he seemed to calm down, but I could tell by looking into his eyes that he was still shaken by the flash.
"So I have secret pictures in my brain, and I'm a superhero?"
Chuck's innocence and grasp on the idea of the computer fies his mind now carries brought a smile to my face.
"Yeah Chuck. Kind of. Super heroes save people and stop bad guys, and they do things that no one else can, and you do that so I guess that makes you one. But every good superhero needs a couple of sidekicks right?"
"I have a sidekick?" He said the word sidekick like it brought a bad taste to his mouth.
"Well, we're more like partners."
"You are my sidekick? Cool. Do you have secret pictures in your brain too?"
"No. I work for the CIA, I don't have any cool powers, but I do get to carry a gun."
"Guns aren't really my thing. . ." Chuck sounded the most like himself when he said that.
". . . And I guess that's a good thing, because Ellie said I got shot. Sarah, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure go ahead."
"Did I get hurt while I was saving someone?" He asked, his soft brown eyes fixed on mine.
"Yeah Chuck, you got shot to save two people." I said, closing my eyes, the scenes of the accident yesterday morning repeating again and again behind my eyelids.
"Wow, I don't like having to get shot, but if it was to save two people I guess it was worth it. You got hurt too. Did you get hurt trying to save someone?"
"Yeah, but I didn't get hurt that bad." Nowhere near as much as you did. . .