Three months went by with no change in Malcolm's condition. The family had returned home and Hal or Lois visited the hospital every day, sitting with their comatose son for hours. Reese and Dewey had returned to school and Francis had been told there was no reason for him to come home, he would be informed immediately if there was any news about his brother, good or bad. Francis hoped his next visit home would not be for Malcolm's funeral.

Nightmares

Reese Wilkerson felt his phone vibrate. He took it out of his pocket and answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Reese! Its your brother, you know, the one you murdered? I just wanted to say thanks for killing me at age 14! I never even got a chance to shave!"

The scream woke up everyone in the house. Hal looked at Lois, "Reese again? He must have gotten another phone call. I'll go this time." Reese had been having recurring nightmares about Malcolm phoning him ever since the accident. Hal wearily stumbled out of bed and made his way to the boys' room. Reese was still screaming. Dewey had his pillow over his head, trying to drown out the anguished wails of his big brother.

Hal sat on the side of Reese's bed. "It's ok, honey, it's ok. It was just a dream." He patiently patted his son's head and tried to calm him down.

"Dad! Malcolm called me, he's dead! We have to go to the hospital before they throw him away! We have to bring him home."

"Reese, buddy, it was just a dream, Malcolm isn't dead, you just had a bad dream. You have to stop upsetting your brother like this; Dewey can't get his rest if you keep waking him up. Would you feel better if I stayed with you for a while?" Hal didn't wait for an answer. He crawled into his son's bed and held him while he cried himself out. "Dad's here, everything is going to be ok, go ahead and let it all out."

Reese said softly, "I'm not crying. I don't cry, you know that!"

The Next Morning

"Why is everyone looking at me like I have three heads?" Malcolm asked the nurses who had gathered at the foot of his bed. "And why exactly am I in the hospital? The last thing I remember I was talking to my mother and now I'm here. What's going on?"

A tall heavyset man wearing a white lab coat entered the room, he was panting. Malcolm didn't recognize him.

"I just had to come see this for myself! I'm Dr. Landers, young man, how are you feeling?"

Hours later, Hal and Lois had arrived and had been briefed by Dr. Landers and the nurses. Malcolm had simply woken up after 97 days in a coma. He appeared to be just fine and had no obvious mental impairment. Lois and Hal fawned over him, telling him over and over how lucky he was to have made a full recovery. Lois held on to her son and wouldn't let him go until one of the nurses gently pulled her aside and told her she needed to give him some air, she was literally smothering him.

At last everyone had left the room and Malcolm had been sternly told to get some rest and not over exert himself. He couldn't help it; he was totally overjoyed to be alive and was far too excited to just lie down. He reasoned that he had had enough sleep to last his entire lifetime. He rummaged around in the drawers of his bedside table and found what he was looking for, his cell phone and charger. There was an electrical outlet just over his head and he plugged in the charger, and then plugged the charger into his phone. He could get a quick charge in about 10 minutes. He only wanted to make one call. Ten minutes later the phone was ready.

Reese Wilkerson was walking home from school alone. He and Malcolm had walked home together every day since Malcolm was in the first grade so the walk without him seemed especially lonely. He felt his phone vibrate. He took it out of his pocket and answered. "Hello?"

"Hi Reese, it's Malcolm!"

Reese screamed and threw the phone as far away as he could. His nightmare was now happening when he was wide awake. Reese was convinced that he had totally lost his mind. One of the kids walking behind him called 911. He was still screaming when the cops arrived. They tried to quiet him down the best they could and drove him to the emergency room. It took a massive dose of a sedative to calm him enough to tell him his brother had recovered and if he was quiet, he could see him.

The doctors wanted to keep Malcolm in the hospital for another couple of weeks, giving him a chance to fully recover, but Hal and Lois demanded to take him home after a few days. He had completely regained his motor skills and could walk unaided and his mind was as sharp as ever. Slowly, everything in the Wilkerson home returned to normal, except that Malcolm and Reese never fought again. Well, almost never.