Chapter 5

Ralph slept for several hours and felt better when he woke. He took the silly button cap off his head, and the machine started beeping. Ralph sat up, got out of bed, and headed for the bathroom. While he was there, a nurse came running into the room and saw the button cap on the bed. She heard the toilet flush and waited for Mr. Hinkley to come out. She asked, "Are you okay?"

Ralph answered, "Yes, I feel good. When can I get out of here?"

"I'll go ask the doctor," the nurse answered, leaving the room.

Ralph sat back on the bed but didn't put the cap back on, a little agitated by the loud beeping sounds the machine was making. He tried a deep breathing exercise to relax and ignore the irritating sound.

A different doctor than the attending doctor from last night and Dr. Adams, walked into the room. He went over to the machine and turned the alarm off. They both said, "Good morning" to Ralph.

Ralph asked, "When can I get out of here? I feel good and need to find Maria"—using her name instead of just calling her the little girl.

Dr. Adams said, "Let me study your brain wave patterns from overnight first."

The other doctor displayed the patterns and explained, "When they first got the cap on him, his brain waves were very unusual. Parts of the brain that usually are not that active were extremely active, and parts that should be active were shallow. See this second pattern that looks normal. That was Kenjisama telepathically contacting Ralph."

Dr. Adams asked, "What is the other weak pattern over there?"

"From what Ralph and Kenjisama have told us, it might have been Bill Maxwell, Ralph's dead partner, trying to contact him. Watch as Kenji pulls Ralph back to our plane; it disappears. After that, the patterns are normal for the rest of the night while he sleeps."

Dr. Adams looked at Ralph and exclaimed, "That is fascinating. Do you remember all of that?"

"Some of it. I remember the lucid dreams, as Kenjisama called them, prophetic dreams. I remember Kenjisama talking to me and telling me to follow him. I remember hearing Bill's voice calling me. But I don't remember being lost that Kenji said I told him."

As Ralph was talking to the doctors, Eric came into the room with papers in his hand. He listened to what Ralph said and shook his head, thinking, 'Oh great, now we have to worry about heroes having psychic episodes and seeing dead people.'

He jumped in on the conversation, "Ralph, we have a lead on Maria Alvarez."

Ralph got out of bed and went to Eric's side to look at the papers.

Eric explained, "She is nine years old; and was born in San Miguel, Chile, to parents who are farmers. She attends the local school sometimes, but not always because she must work on the farm. The village water system is currently being studied by a private organization interested in local spring and well water purity."

Ralph grabbed the page from Eric and looked at it closely, excited and shaking a little. He shouted, "That's it! The people looking at the water are doing something to it that makes the whole village sick, and they will all die if we don't do something now. We can't let them die! Maria is so important to the future."

Eric told Ralph, "I have already sent a request to the local Heroes to investigate this organization."

Ralph exclaimed excitedly, "I'm going down there to help! I can keep an eye on Maria and the village."

He started to walk out of the hospital room, but Eric stopped him by grabbing his arm and said, "Don't you think you should put some clothes on first?"

Ralph looked down and saw he was only wearing a hospital gown and said, "Oh, shoot, where are my clothes?" looking around.

The doctor said, "You came to the medical center only in your underwear last night."

Eric said, "I'll call Pam to bring Suit." He pulled out his phone from beneath his cape and called Pam as he left the room.

Ralph looked at Dr. Adams and asked, "I can get out of here now, right?"

Dr. Adams said, "Yes, go save Maria."

Pam came in with Suit later. As Ralph was getting dressed, he told her he was going to Chile to keep a watch on Maria and the village. She told him, "Before you leave, go to the control room and have them download the Hero International app to your phone. You'll be able to get instant satellite connections with it and can call me with updates."

"Great idea, baby." He kissed and rubbed her tummy, saying, "See you later." Ralph flew out the door heading for the control room and then Chile.