CHAPTER 17…
ANOTHER PART OF ME
The wind blows silently as a man walks on the street corner trying to find a place to stay. He has shoulder length curly black hair and is dark skinned. His eyes are luscious brown and his cloths seem to be in perfect shape. The wind blows against his face and he looks up at the midnight sky. The stars twinkle and there is silence. He smiles knowing that no one can hurt him. But then, the sky turns red and the man looks around himself. Suddenly he's pulled into a chair, no matter how hard he tries to fight to get out of it, it won't let him move. He looks up and those beautiful stars turn into faces. Then those faces turn into people who are all sitting in a courtroom. The man looks around pleading desperately for help. He hears a bang from a judge's hammer and he looks up at him.
"Michael Jackson, on behalf of committing these crimes, you are sentence to 12 years in prison, without any chance of probation." The judge slams his hammer but Mike fights back.
"NO! I didn't! I couldn't! I wouldn't!" Everyone laughs at him. He backs up and runs into more people laughing at him. Cameras are everywhere and blinding him. They flash to his right, to his left, behind him, in front of him. He is surrounded. He looks down as they rip his cloths off of him and throw him in a cell. The floors are dirty and all he has on is boxers. He cradles in a corner, but even that can't save him. Suddenly, his skin begins to turn multi color. He screams for help, but no one is there. He sees his face change, his whole body changes. He cries and hides his face in his arms. The doors open and his three blessed children are there. Their smiling faces make him batter and he runs for them. But the more he runs, it seems the more he gets farther away from them. He runs with all his might, but they still seem to be getting farther. They stick out their hands wanting him to come, but he can't. He can't even get close to them. He falls back then and lands on some concrete. He looks up and he's in front of the Berlin hotel. He looks up to see a baby hanging there. No one is holding him, he's just hanging. Every one turns to him then and points their fingers at him. Their faces angry.
"You. You. You." They kept saying. Mike backs away but they step closer every time.
"No! Stop it! Leave me alone!" He replies. But they keep coming.
"You. You. You." Finally the stop and again they're in a courtroom. They all laugh at him. They spit at him and he starts to drown. He is giving up and his breath is starting to leave. His hand sticks out trying to reach for someone to grab it.
He sees a flash of people. His kids, Kathy, and Diana. Then shockers come down trying to start his heart. Then the water again. Another flash and he sees his kids crying, Diana crying, but Kathy, standing strong, and praying. His hand is going out of reach. He sees another flash; the doctors are pushing them out of the room. Kathy counter acts and tries to fight them. But Prince grabs her to come with. His hand slowly goes under more. He sees another flash; they're all looking through the window as the paddles come down again. He hears a flat from his heart. They're all crying hard as Kathy starts to tear. She puts her hands on the window and bangs her head against. He reads her lips, they say: Please don't die. Please. The paddles come down again, but still nothing. They all cry harder. Only a few of his fingers are still above the water. Another flash; he sees that Kathy is looking straight at him and she is crying. He sees her pajama top; it shows a picture of him on it, smiling. It read: he can never die; long live the king of pop. His eye's widened as the paddles came down but still nothing. He thought he saw Kathy surprised. The doctors close the blinds and he can hear Kathy screaming and banging on the window form the other side. She flails herself and tries to get back in there but the doctors won't let her. She cries out his name.
"Mike!" He hears. He sees himself going under even farther, then the paddles again. "Mike!" Only his middle finger is available to see above water. "Mike!" His finger disappears. He feels himself loosing breath. The paddles come down once more, but still nothing. Everything is dark then. They gave up on the paddles and he hears them putting them up as Kathy screams. Suddenly a little light appears, just barely for Mike to see. Kathy pushes the doctors out of the way and goes over to his side. She silently cries and leans on his chest. She hugs the lifeless body. "Please don't go, Daddy." Everything is dark again. Then, he sees himself being dragged out of the water by a familiar looking girl. Kathy. She smiles as she has a hold of his hand. His breath comes back and he breathes hard. He leans on her shoulder, as everybody that was in his dream doesn't touch him. They see that he's with Kathy and back away. He looks at her. Her left bang is longer than the others. It's the alter Kathy. His conscious. She turns her head and smiles at him.
"You're not going down just yet big guy." He smiles as suddenly a bright light flashes and he hears a hear beat. He sees the real Kathy surprised at it. Everyone is in shock and the Doctors rush around. Mike opens his eyes and smiles at Kathy. Her eyes water and she hugs him more.
"Easy there now girl." He said hugging her back. The others came rushing in and hugged him as well.
******************
After a while of hugging, Kathy and the others just sat there staring at him. Mike sighed and sat up. He looked at them and they looked back.
"So, what exactly made me get here?" They looked at him. Kathy smiled and cleared her throat.
"We were sleeping…"
30 MINUTES AGO…
Diana awoke to feel herself get flung off the bed. She sat up but everything was dark. She got up and turned on the lamp that was right next to the bed. She saw Mike flinging around and making noises.
"No, stay away. No!" She was surprised and went over to him.
"Mike?" He kept flinging himself around and almost hit Diana upside the face. She started to shake him. "Mike! It's ok, wake up!" He went still then. Diana thought he had just finally got some rest. She smiled at him and laughed. "You sure are strange." He didn't move. She shrugged. She got up and was going to get back in the bed when she noticed out of the glimpse of her eye, the blankets weren't moving at all. They always moved slightly, from someone breathing, but they were dead still. She slowly walked back over to Mike's side. "Mike, are you alright?" nothing. She shook him. "Mike?" She shook him more. "Oh god, come on Mike wake up!" But still, there was nothing. She started to panic. "Michael! Come on! Wake up! Michael!" She put her fingers next to his neck to feel his pulse. Nothing. To make sure she had it right, she put her head on his chest for just a little sound of heartbeat. Nothing. She screamed and ran to the nearest phone. She quickly dialed 911. "Yes, hello! I'm here at 239 Ventura Blv. Michael Jackson is having some sort of respiratory arrest, maybe, I don't know, I'm not a doctor. Please hurry!"
"Where is he at ma'am?" The dispatcher replied.
"I know, I got to get him on the floor! I'm only one person. Oh my God! Please hurry! He's not breathing or anything! Mike, please wake up!"
"Alright, we need you to calm down ma'am, we're on our way."
"Wait! What do I do?" Suddenly, Kathy heard all the commotion and silently walked over to the small entryway of their bedroom. She saw Diana in a nightgown panicking and Mike very lifeless looking.
"Diana?" She said. She turned around to face her.
"Oh god, Kathy! Get him on the floor right now!" Kathy didn't take another second. Within seconds, she was pulling him off the bed and laying him on the floor.
"Diana! We got to do CPR!"
"I never took classes about that!" Kathy always was fascinated in medical procedures. Especially the ones where you could save a life automatically. She was a pro at CPR.
"Do compressions!"
"What's that?"
"Put your hands where his heart is and pump!" Diana was still confused and panicking more. "Like this!" She demonstrated then Diana began to do it. "Do 5 compressions then I'll breathe." They stopped and looked at each other. They switched spots. "Ok. I'll do 5 compressions and you breathe." Diana still was talking to the dispatcher.
"What's taking you so long?"
"We're coming ma'am." Diana just hung up then and every 5 compressions breathed. Still nothing.
"Let's switch!" They switched spots and did every 10 compressions then breathed. Each time Kathy would come up for breath herself, she felt hopeless knowing that nothing was working. Suddenly, they heard Paris scream. Kathy looked up to see the three of the shocked at to what was going on. Kathy and Diana were sweaty already. "Come here!" They didn't budge. "Would you all come here!" They rushed to her side. "Prince, put your hand underneath his back!" He looked at her. "Trust me." He nodded and did as told. "Blanket, go get a wet clothe and bring it here, we got to cool him down!" Blanket ran into the kitchen. "Paris, go get some water so we can poor it on him, he's burning up!" She ran into the kitchen as well. Kathy started to get tired of breathing, so her and Prince traded spots. They kept pouring water on him and putting wet cloths on him. Kathy briefly looked at the clock, it had been 15 minutes and they still weren't there. "Where the hell are they?" They kept switching off, when they finally heard the sirens. They barged in there and put him on a stretcher while doing CPR. Only two people were aloud to go with him, so Kathy and Prince went.
They finally reached the hospital and they took the stretcher out. Kathy and Prince ran along side the stretcher until they got into a room. They switched him over to a bed and got the shockers out. Paris, Blanket, and Diana showed up and they huddled together.
PRESENT TIME…
"That's when I started having those flashes." Mike said. They were confused.
"Flashes?" Kathy asked. Mike sighed and told them about his dream, and the flashes, and how his conscious was Kathy's alter self. After he was done, it felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off of his chest. "Oh." Everyone was silent. "So, my alter self is your conscious?" He nodded. She smiled. "That explains it." He was confused. Actually, everyone was confused.
"Explains what?"
"Well, your alter self is my conscious." He smiled.
"I suppose that does explain it." Kathy had a face on as if she were thinking hard. "What?"
"I'm just wondering, why me and you?" Mike was surprised. But agreed with that question. Why him and her? What was it? Then, Mike remembered what Kathy had said, Daddy. She said, 'Please don't go, daddy.' It stuck in his mind. That was what had made him fight. Kathy said daddy. He was her daddy? It didn't quite seem to fit yet. Only two weeks of living with him and she says daddy? He looked at them all and sighed.
"I need to talk privately with Kathy." He said. Everyone was surprised at this. She looked at him then turned to the others.
"Well, you heard him folks." They agreed and turned to leave. They shut the door behind them and Kathy turned back to Mike and sat down in a chair. Everything was quiet. Not a noise was made. "I know what you're wondering." She finally broke the silence. Mike looked up at her. "The million dollar question, why did I call you daddy?" Mike was shocked that she knew. He nodded. "I knew you saw me and the others. The light in your eyes showed that you were going out and I knew it. They glistened with fear, sadness, and loss of hope. You had given up." Mike looked down at his hands and twirled his fingers around each other. She was right. "So I fought for you." He looked at her. "You didn't deserve to go down without a fight. So I fought those doctors back. Then, when you went flat line, I knew you had to still be in there. So, I said what I did."
"But why daddy?" She stared at him and looked down at her shirt. The MJ can never die shirt that she had been wearing.
"I knew you saw this shirt. And, for the past two weeks, you have been the most amazing caregiver there has ever been." She started to break up. "I thought I could never think anyone as a father or mother again. It was devastating. But, you showed so much care, courage, sacrifice, just for me. And for me to deprive you of that title would be a sin." Tears began to form down her cheeks. "You are a daddy. A very good one too." Mike started to tear a little. "And for that, you are my daddy." Next thing she knew, Mike was hugging her like no tomorrow. They both cried silently.
"Then I can not deprive you of the title, daughter." Mike replied. They hugged more. Nothing at that moment could tear them apart. They were family.
***************
After 2 days of worrying for Mike, the doctors gave the all clear. They were heading to the door when a familiar male voice came.
"Well, look who it is. The Jackson's and the Waxon." Kathy turned violently to the male doctor that so long ago thought he was everything.
"We want nothing to do with you." Kathy said hatefully. They turned back to leave when he replied,
"You know, it's sad that you could save a man that somehow survived without any food or water for 3 months and everyone thought he was dead,"
"I'm right here." Mike said.
"Yet," The man continued. "You can't save a 5-year-old from cancer?" Kathy turned to him and everyone was almost positive that she would punch him. She sighed though and looked at him.
"I tried to save Billy. But some people, you just can't save." The doctor made an hmm noise and stared her down. "What's your deal anyways?" she asked. "Ever since I got here two weeks ago, you seemed to hate me. Even before Mike was 'alive'." He said nothing and just turned the other way.
"You'll know all the answers to all your questions soon enough." He walked into a room then leaving them confused.
"Whatever, he's weird anyhow, let's getting out of here! Today is September 15th, a brand new day, and that also means, my birthday is in 3 days!" They all stared at her.
"Your birthday is September 18th?" Prince asked. Kathy nodded.
"That's right, the same birthday as Pope Gregory the great!"
"Pope, why does he matter?" She stared at him.
"I am fully Catholic!"
"Oh." They all laughed.
"I wish you'd give us a heads up on these things." Mike said. They all smiled as the helped him crutch out the building. Meanwhile… you know that male doctor? Yeah, he meant something when he said that. He slowly crept into his office and slammed the door shut. He watched through his window as Mike and the others got into a limo and drove away. The male doctor, also know as Dr. Melancholy, let out a frustrated sigh. He slammed his hands on his desk and glared at his seat. The back of it was showing. His eyes widened as the chair turned around.
"You failed." A male voice was heard.
"I'm sorry." Melancholy replied.
"There's no time for apologies!" Melon was surprised at this. He jumped back. "I hired you to make sure he was dead by that specific date!"
"I will! I will accomplish it! I swear!"
"NO!" Melon pleaded for forgiveness.
"Please! I will! I beg of you!" The shadowy figure looked down at him.
"You know what the consequences were!" It was quiet then. "I guess I have to do the job myself." The figure pulled out a revolver and aimed right at Melancholy's head.
"PLEASE! Forgive me! I swear it will be done! It's not September 18th quite yet!"
"You have slipped too many times! He was 'dead' on June 25th; everyone thought it was to stay that way, what happens? That putrid girl comes and saves his life! I told you the first time I saw her on AGT that she was the one that will cause us so much trouble. But you didn't take precautions! Then, when our plan to kill her parents goes through finally, it works, they die, but I sure didn't expect her to choose to live with Michael! You were supposed to make sure she didn't choose anyone and kill her! Of course, it would be staged to seem like she was jumped next to the orphanage. Then, at her parent's funeral, before she chose, she was supposed to die then, but no! She survived the crash and that's why she picked him! Finally we get to sneak into the house with 'Omer'. He was supposed to kill them, but no, here she comes saving the day again! And then little ol' Blanket shoots him and he retreats! Then, when the kids are staying with Debbie, Kathy was supposed to kill herself, but her stupid strict Catholicism and conscious and heart stopped her! And now this whole thing?!?! We don't know where they're staying and he's not dead yet!" Melon was quiet as the figure stood over him. Melon suddenly had a smile come across his face. He moved away from this figure and went to a drawer. He opened it and picked up something. Remember that blue gushy thing that was on Mike's arm? Well, that's what he pulled out.
"This is what kept Mike alive those two months." The figure raised an eyebrow. "You see, each and everyday I would go into the morgue and give it some water and liquid type food."
"Like a feeding tube, go on."
"Well, when they discovered it on accident, I had accidentally left it on his arm that day." He laughed and smirked then. "That's what ruined everything." The figure was getting ready to shoot him when Melon put his hands up and shook them. "Wait, wait!" The man stopped. "You see, I overheard little Kathy talking about her birthday being on September 18th." He gave a big smile then. "What if, to make it up to you, I'll give you two times the bait." The man raised his eyebrows then. He grinned and put his gun down. He laughed maniacally.
"Alright Henry! I'll let you have one more chance, but this time, if you screw it up, you will pay the consequences." He glared him down as quickly ran out of the exit door from the hospital that connected to Melancholy's room. 'Henry' a.k.a Melancholy gave a sigh of relief. He threw the blue thing back in his drawer and kicked it shut. He looked down at his desk to see that same revolver there. It seemed to write death and jail all over it. Henry picked it up and gave an evil smile. He had a plan.
"I have a big plan for you two, Michael and Katherine. This time, it doesn't just involve one guy, or one gun," He laughed. "Oh, you all will soon find out what it is." He put the gun in front of his face studying it. "And this time," He gripped the gun. "You won't get so lucky." He put the gun down and headed out of his office. The gun remained alone.
