The scene was chaotic at the town line. Ms. Cordwain tried to calm down an injured and confused Héctor. Katherine was unconscious on the side of the road, and the 'outsider' was still in the crashed car.
"Who are you? What's going on?" Héctor looked around, scared and confused.
"Héctor..." Ms. Cordwain tried to calm him down.
In the distance, sirens were heard approaching. He reached to touch his wounded shoulder and winced in pain.
"No, No. Let me see. Let me see." Ms. Cordwain touched his arm and examined his injury. "You were just grazed. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Héctor backed away from her, still scared. "Get away!"
Jack pulled up in the sheriff's car with Clark in the passenger seat and Laura Reed in the back seat. Both were wearing their super suits.
"Héctor, please..."
"Who are you?"
Clark got out of the car and ran towards Héctor and Ms. Cordwain, with Laura Reed following behind. "Are you guys okay?"
"I'm at the town line." Jack called for backup on his cell. "Two people down. Maybe three. There's a car pretty banged up with..." He noticed the car's license plate. "Pennsylvania plates."
"What's going on?" Clark asked, helping Ms. Cordwain to her feet.
"He crossed over the town line." She explained. "He doesn't remember."
Laura Reed kneeled beside Héctor, trying to comfort him.
Jack approached a now alert Katherine on the side of the road and stood over her.
"Hey, handsome." She groaned. "Here, I didn't think you'd notice."
Jack knelt and pressed on her side. Katherine yelled out in pain. "Your ribs are broken."
"That must be why it hurts when I laugh. Did you see her face?" She gloated. "Her one true love, gone in an instant!"
Ms. Cordwain turned at the sound of her words. She lunged at Katherine and repeatedly smacked her in the face with her boot.
"Cordwain! Are you insane?!" Jack shouted.
"Yes, I am!"
"You can't do this!" Clark tried to pull her away.
"I can if you let me go."
"You don't want him to see that." Jack warned.
"I'm a stranger to him."
"Murder is a bad first impression."
"What would Héctor want you to do?" asked Clark.
Sirens blared as an ambulance arrived, distracting Ms. Cordwain long enough for Clark to pull her off of Katherine.
"Over here!" Clark called as the paramedics stepped out of the ambulance.
The paramedics headed towards Katherine first, but Jack directed their attention to the driver of the car instead.
"No! Her! Take care of her. She can wait!"
Laura Reed, who was still tending to Héctor, overheard Jack. "What?"
"There's someone in there."
"Stay. I'll be right back." She said to Héctor, who stood by the sheriff's car.
Jack and Laura Reed watched as the paramedics examined the unconscious driver of the car.
"Do you know this woman?" Jack asked.
Laura Reed shook her head. "I've never seen her before."
"That's because she drove into town." Clark spoke up.
"From the outside?" Laura Reed looked confused.
"Looks like the world just came to Pixfare." Jack realized.
"Ambulance incoming. ETA one minute. Ambulance incoming. ETA one minute. Dr. Whale, please report to the ER." A voice announced over the hospital PA system. Alone in another room, Dr. Whale listened to the announcements as he drank. "Dr. Whale, please report to the ER. OR staff, stand by. OR staff, stand by." He didn't move from his seat as several hospital workers shouted, trying to find him.
Katherine and the driver of the car were wheeled into the hospital on stretchers by the paramedics, while the rest of the group from the accident site followed behind them.
"I don't know what you're doing." Héctor said frantically as Laura Reed led him inside. He was led to another room by a different nurse.
"Car versus pedestrian." A paramedic informed the nurse. "Chest trauma from the wheel. Pedestrian has contusions, broken ribs."
"Go to x-ray. Pedestrian first." The nurse instructed.
"Hide her." Jack pointed at Katherine.
"What?"
"Find a room and hide her." Jack ordered.
Ms. Cordwain came running through the entrance. "Héctor. What's going on?"
"Get her out of here." Clark shouted, blocking her way.
"What's happening? Héctor!"
"I'd like to know that myself." Bart commented.
Two staff orderlies approached closely from behind.
"Héctor! Héctor!" Ms. Cordwain called.
Michelle and Laura Reed watched the struggle in shock.
"Everybody, calm down!" Dr. Whale soon arrived at the scene. "Ms. Cordwain, everything will be fine. He's in good hands here. I promise." He put an assuring hand on her shoulder.
The twins were sleeping in their bedroom when they got a phone call on one of their cell phones.
"I'll get it." Oscar said getting up, rubbing his eyes, putting his glasses on, and picking up the phone. "Rivera residence. What do you want? It's the middle of the night. What's going on?" He asked, sleepily.
"Sorry to wake you guys up, but you have to come to the hospital." A nurse explained. "There's been an incident at the town line and three new patients came in."
"What?!" Oscar looked surprised. "Well, call the other nurses and doctors. We'll be on our way, and can we bring our family?"
"Already done. Maybe later. Right now, just you two."
Felipe slept while covering his head with a pillow to block out the noise when his brother woke him up.
"Vamanos, hermano. We have to go to work."
"Come on, can it wait till morning?" Felipe said, muffled under his pillow. "I'm trying to get some sleep."
Oscar told him about the urgent phone call. They quickly began to get dressed and ready, which was loud enough to wake everybody up.
"Shh. We'd better keep it down." Oscar hushed him.
"What's going on?" Miguel asked, who was out of bed.
They both turned to face him. "We got called-"
"-to go to work."
"What?"
"We won't be long. Just go back to sleep."
The twins grabbed a quick cup of coffee and rushed to the hospital, but the family heard the echo of the car throughout the house.
"Where could those two be going at this hour?" Elena grumbled.
"The hospital." Miguel said.
"What for?" Rosa asked.
"Let's go back to bed." Victoria said. "I need my beauty sleep."
The others agreed and also headed back to bed.
Ms. Cordwain watched Héctor as he slept in his hospital bed. Her mind flashed back to when they brought him home after he almost faded from Final Death. He was bedridden for weeks and they didn't know when he would wake up. She snapped out of it, reminding herself that they were in the living world. He was alive and wasn't being forgotten. She slowly leaned over and kissed him on the lips.
Héctor slowly woke up, but when he saw her, he started screaming and pushed her away.
"No, no, no, no, no." She tried to apologize as he continued to scream. "No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
A couple of nurses entered the room, trying to calm him down.
Ms. Cordwain began to back out of the room. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She left out the door.
In another room in the hospital, Jack interrogated Katherine.
"Where's Evelyn?"
"What?" Katherine tried to get up but saw she was handcuffed to the bed. "Again? You're really into this, aren't you?" She tried to move again, tugging at her handcuff, but it was too painful. "Man, that hurts."
Jack stood up and stepped to the side of the bed. "Told you. You cracked a few ribs. Where's Evelyn?"
"You look good, I must say. All 'Where's Evelyn?' in a commanding voice. Chills."
"You have all sorts of sore places. I can make you hurt." Jack lunged forward as if to press on her ribs, causing her to wince in pain. When he pulled his hand back, she relaxed and sighed.
"I have no idea where Evelyn is. She has her own agenda. Let's talk about something I am interested in, my satchel. May I have it back?"
"You're awfully chipper for a girl who just failed to kill her enemy, then got hit by a car."
"Well, my ribs may be broken, but everything else is still intact, which is more than can be said for all the other bad days I've had. Plus I did some quality damage to my foe."
"You hurt Héctor."
"I hurt her heart. Héctor is just where she keeps it."
"Keep smiling, lady. You're chained down, she's on her feet, armed, dangerous, and you hurt her man. If I had to pick a dead girl of the year, I'd pick you." Jack turned and left.
Katherine started tugging at the handcuff holding her to the bed. She winced in discomfort, before trying again.
In the lobby, the group had the driver's cell phone and was trying to hack into it.
"We gotta get into her phone. Let me guess another passcode." Clark took the phone from Laura Reed.
"You can't guess. There are a million possible combinations." She said, frustrated.
"Ten thousand." Michelle added.
"Ten thousand."
Jack came up to them. "Here, let me try. I have a thing. And we do know something. There was stuff in her car. Rental agreement, maps, receipts. Her name is Gina Mendell." He successfully unlocked the phone. "Now, let's see." He began to root through it while the others watched and found several phone numbers and pictures of Gina. "Pictures of her alone at a bunch of Eastern Seaboard tourist locations. Got a LinkedIn account, and she tweets pictures of her food. I'll keep looking, but I think what we have here is just a well-documented, real-life, ordinary girl."
"So whatever's kept random people from stumbling into Pixfare for the last 28 years..." Michelle began.
"It's gone." Laura Reed finished.
Clark looked worried. "Anyone could drive in. Why are my instincts telling me that's a bad thing?"
"'Cause you've seen any movie where they find something magical and study it to death." Bart commented. "Think about what they'd do to a bear." Michelle gave him a look.
"Oh, and her friends and family?" Laura Reed added. "They're going to come looking for her soon."
"Let's try not to overreact." Jack suggested.
"Bart's right. We don't need outsiders here." Clark mentioned.
Jack then had a thought. "Katherine says she doesn't know where Evelyn is, and God knows what she's gonna do. If other people come in here, that's not gonna be good for anyone."
"We need to find Derek. Tell him we know he was framed." Laura Reed planned.
"Mum's been tracking him, but no luck. He's gone underground."
"But what if Evelyn finds him first? I don't wanna think about the damage those two could do together. This could not have come at a worse time!"
"It's okay. The lady's being patched up right now. She'll probably be on her way home by morning." Jack assured.
"Not quite." Dr. Whale soon entered the lobby. The group turned to face him. "She's bleeding into her chest cavity. It's not a full flood, you know, but pretty soon she'll be drowning in her own blood."
"So make it stop. Aren't you a doctor?" Jack reminded him, but Dr. Whale looked hesitant.
"Look, letting her die is easy. I can do that if that's what you decide."
Jack looked horrified. "Let's take this somewhere private."
The group entered a small examination room to talk.
"It's not really murder if we let her succumb to her injuries." Dr. Whale informed them.
"I'm pretty sure it is." Jack still looked upset.
"Of course we save her." Laura Reed added.
"Obviously." Clark agreed.
"Well..."
"Bart!" Laura Reed gave him a look.
"We gotta think this through. If we save her and kill the whole town, is that really better?"
"So we have to choose between our lives and hers." Michelle said.
"We can worry about the town later." Clark spoke up.
"Which doesn't mean we should abandon it." Laura Reed argued.
"I know, but let's worry about Pixfare after we've saved a life." Laura Reed nodded. Clark turned to the doctor. "Dr. Whale, prep for surgery." Dr. Whale nodded and left the room.
"Anyone else noticed he's drunk?" Laura Reed wondered.
No one said a word until Gina's phone suddenly started to ring.
Jack took the phone out of his pocket. "Someone's looking for Gina. How long before they come here?" Clark and Laura Reed exchanged a look.
"Treatment care coordinator, dial the ICU nurses' station." A voice said over the PA system. "Treatment care coordinator, dial the ICU nurses' station."
Clark found Dr. Whale staring at Gina's watch. "What's that?" Clark asked.
"Uh... Just the lady's personal effects. I get the best watches this way." Clark gave him a look. "Joking. As far as you know. It's too bad it's cracked."
"I thought you'd be scrubbing in by now."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to do that."
Clark looked at him, unsure if he was telling the truth. "Arm okay?"
"I'm not drunk."
"Okay, just… Let's save this woman, alright? I don't care what she saw. We don't let go of people."
"Right. Of course not." Dr. Whale nodded.
Jack and the group were waiting in the hospital lobby. Gina's phone, now on silent, began to vibrate. On the screen, the incoming caller was listed as 'Him'.
"Same person again." Bart rolled his eyes.
"'Him.' Cute." Jack remarked.
"Probably a boyfriend." Clark guessed.
"We could answer it, just let him know she's okay." Laura Reed suggested.
"She's not okay." Jack said.
"She's alive. We could let him know she's alive." Michelle advised.
"No. The police could trace it here instantly." Clark refused.
"He can activate the 'find your phone thing' without us picking it up." Jack said. The phone stopped vibrating.
"That settles that." Bart said, giving up.
Laura Reed was getting antsy. "Oh, my nerves can't take this. Is the surgery almost over?"
"I think it takes..." Jack started when he noticed a nurse enter the lobby. He scanned around the room as if looking for someone, and then was about to leave when Clark stopped him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, wait. Any news?"
"No. I was just looking for the doctor."
"He's not in the OR?" Michelle asked, curious.
"He never came in."
"Then page him." Jack ordered.
The nurse turned to a nearby phone and dialed a number.
"He wasn't looking so good earlier." Clark informed them.
The nurse held the line. A beeping sound was heard nearby.
"He's here." Laura Reed announced.
The beeping sound was coming from a laundry basket filled with dirty scrubs. Jack looked through it and found the pager inside Dr. Whale's lab coat pocket.
"No, but his pager is. He's gone." Jack figured it out.
Ellen sniffed Dr. Whale's lab coat, trying to pick up the scent.
"Got the scent?" Clark asked.
"Boozy."
"Just find him and bring him back." Jack instructed. "We'll watch Katherine and figure out options if Whale doesn't come back."
"Maybe he didn't even run. Maybe Evelyn grabbed him for some reason." Laura Reed guessed.
"I don't think so." Clark disagreed. "He's been in a rough place since he brought Derek's fiancé back to life."
"Maggie?" Laura Reed asked, curious.
"Back to life?" Jack looked shocked.
"And had his arm ripped off and put back on." Clark continued.
Laura Reed couldn't believe it. "Wait. Maggie came back?"
"Like some kind of Frankenstein?" Jack added.
"That's Whale. The Doctor. And Maggie was his..."
"What went on here while we were gone?" Laura Reed wondered. Clark shook his head as if saying 'you don't want to know.'
"Ellen, get going. Bring back Dr. Frankenstein." Jack urged. Ellen turned and left. "We're going to send this guy back home with bolts in his neck."
"She'll find him." Laura Reed assured.
"Yeah, but what kind of state is he going to be in?"
Dr. Whale was running down the main street.
Evelyn entered Derek's house and began to look through his things. She scanned the glassware in the kitchen, then smelled the clothes hanging in his closet. Evelyn then entered Hilary's room, where she found an old picture of Hilary and Derek. She looked over the dresser and found an old craft made by Hilary. It was a mold of her handprint with the words 'To Daddy' written below it. She smirked and took it with her.
In the middle of the night, Hilary walked across the graveyard to Derek's family crypt. She slid the sarcophagus over and headed down the stairs. "Dad? Hello? Hello? Hello? Dad?" She called.
Behind one of the walls, Derek was in a hidden room. He heard Hilary's voice and walked over to one of the screens on the wall. He pressed a button, and the screen showed Hilary searching the crypt.
"You in there? Can I come in? Dad?" Derek opened the door to the hidden room. "Dad? Dad?" Hilary entered and hugged him.
"Hilary, I'm so glad you're here." Derek hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much when... I have to let you know, I had nothing to do with Felix."
"I know. I always knew."
"I was framed. I don't know how. I-It just seems like everything..." He looked at her, surprised. "You knew? How did you know?"
"Simple." With an electric zap, Hilary transformed into Evelyn. "Because I did it."
"Mother." Derek's eyes widened in shock. "You... I thought we stopped you. How did you get through?"
"Determination." Evelyn explained. "I had to see you." She started getting emotional. "I needed to tell you that I know why you sent me through the door. And I know why you tried to have me killed. And it's... it's all right."
"I think it's not all right."
"I love you. I just... I've always shown it in all the wrong ways. And I never should have sent you to boarding school. I'm so sorry. When you cried, it all changed."
"You framed me, for the ant." He suddenly realized.
"Temporarily, so you could see what these people really think of you."
"You made an airtight case. Anyone would believe it."
"I didn't want you to reject me. Not again."
Derek shook his head. "You wanted me broken."
"Receptive."
"You are the most manipulative..." Derek started, furiously, but then calmed down. "No, I won't even argue. Come with me. We're going to town." He walked towards the door.
"It's the middle of the night."
"I don't care. We'll wake them up. Jack and Hilary and the family of idiots, and you can tell them how you lied. You owe me that."
"And then you'll let us start over?"
"I don't see that happening, Mother. But I am… I was trying so hard to be worthy of Hilary. And I deserve the same thing from you."
Evelyn nodded. "You're right. For you, dear, anything."
At the harbor, Dr. Whale stood at the edge of the dock. He stared at Gina's watch in his hand.
"Dr. Whale?" Ellen called out to him.
"Don't come near me!" He tossed the watch into the water and jumped off the dock.
Using her bear abilities, Ellen was quickly able to grab Dr. Whale by the neck of his coat before he fell in. They sat side by side on the dock.
"I wanted my name to stand for life." He admitted. "But everybody just thinks it's the name of a monster." He chuckled. "I guess they're right about that. The Witch says that magic has a price, but from where I'm sitting, it seems that science does, too. Every time I try to save a life, someone else dies."
"Hey. Yeah, look, you're Frankenstein. And I'm a bear. I almost attacked my daughter. Syndrome thought he was punishing us by erasing who we were, but I think he underestimated how much bad stuff we wanted to forget."
Dr. Whale agreed, nodding. "Yeah."
"But we can't let it stop us. He gave us a chance to start over and I want to take it. I think you should, too."
"I wasn't such a bad guy, you know. I wanted to bring life back. He never got over our mother. If I could've just brought her back..."
Ellen interrupted him. "That woman in the hospital, someone keeps calling for her. Maybe a husband. A father. Maybe there's still some stuff you can fix."
Derek was driving in his car with Evelyn in the passenger seat.
"Nervous?"
"Not about owning up to what I've done." Evelyn pulled out Hilary's handprint craft. "Oh. 'For Daddy.' Aww, that used to be you." She said, mockingly.
"When were you in my house?"
"I haven't had the pleasure."
Derek looked at Evelyn holding the handprint. "That was in my house. You think I don't know where that was? It's one of my most prized possessions."
"Well, let's be honest. Taking me to be pilloried by the town might gain you some points, but, as long as Jack and his family are here, she's not really yours. Not like she was when she made things for her one and only daddy. You've been too bad for too long, and now they see you as a… a snake. You don't want their love at all. What do you want?"
"My daughter back." Derek pulled the car over into an empty parking lot.
"And I want my son back. I meant everything I said earlier. I'm so sorry. I can do better. I won't push you away again. Let me into your heart. Together, we can get her back again."
Derek started tearing up, leaned across the seat, and put his head on Evelyn's shoulder. She put her arms around him.
"How?"
"Oh... I have a few thoughts."
Dr. Whale and Ellen arrived back at the hospital, where the group was seated in the lobby.
"You're back." Laura Reed stood up.
"Finally." Jack said, relieved.
"I don't know why everyone's so worried. I was just stretching my legs." Dr. Whale looked at Ellen. "Now I'm gonna go do this thing." He started to walk away but briefly turned around to face Ellen again who gave him a questioning look. He nodded and then continued.
Later, Dr. Whale met up with Ellen and Michelle in the hallway.
"Where are they?"
"Getting coffee from the machine. What's the verdict?"
"She'll live."
"You did it?" Michelle looked surprised.
"Thank you. Monster to monster." He said to Ellen.
"You did it!" Michelle cried, excited.
Dr. Whale smiled in relief. They entered the lobby, where Jack and company approached them.
"She's going to make it?" Clark asked.
Dr. Whale nodded. "She's got some recuperating ahead of her. A few weeks, maybe, but yes. She's going to live."
"Thank goodness." Laura Reed smiled, relieved. Clark clapped Whale on the shoulder.
"Or me." He smiled.
"I want to talk to her." Jack spoke up.
"She's waking up now."
"Already?" Michelle asked, amazed.
"I waited a couple of hours to tell you in case she, you know, keeled over. But so far, so good."
Laura Reed and Clark looked at each other.
"All right, then."
"Well, let's talk to her."
Jack shook his head. "We're not talking to him as a group. We're not a group sheriff."
"But we've been doing this together." Laura Reed said.
"We're trying to convince this lady this place is normal." Jack reminded them. "In a normal town, the sheriff goes in and asks a few questions. He doesn't bring his parents in with him."
"That's probably true." Clark agreed.
"We'll be right here, then." Laura Reed nodded.
Jack headed off toward the patient's room.
The Riveras were talking about how worried they were that Hector lost his memories. Imelda had told them all about the incident at the town line.
"Oh no. We lost Papá Héctor again." Miguel began to cry.
Luisa put her arms around him. "It's ok, mijo. We'll find a way to fix it."
"But how?" Enrique asked. "We don't know anything about restoring memories."
"After years of us forgetting him, now he forgets us." Victoria commented.
Miguel had an idea. "What if I play music for him like I did for Mamá Coco?"
"You can try that." Victoria said. "But what if it doesn't work? It's not like we can recreate the events of the last Día de Muertos to help him remember."
"That's not a bad idea." Rosa mentioned.
"I'll try showing the photo of the three of us." Imelda added.
"But what if it doesn't work? What if..." Luisa said, worried.
"Don't worry. We'll do everything we can to help restore his memories." Oscar said, cleaning his glasses.
"That's right. This family sticks together no matter what." Elena agreed, firmly.
"But what if he still doesn't remember us?" Miguel asked.
"Then we'll think of something else." Elena assured. "We don't leave one of our own behind."
"Not like the last time." Luisa said.
Soon, the Riveras rushed inside the hospital with the help of Oscar and Felipe as fast as they could, still dressed in their nightwear.
Imelda led them to Héctor's room. "Now, let me go in first, and then I'll bring you all in."
The family agreed to go to the waiting room. They began talking amongst themselves about the situation.
"I brought our family to come and try to help you remember." Imelda explained to Héctor before stepping out of his room to get them.
The Riveras began to feel worried about the situation. Elena told everyone to stay calm and assured them that they would figure out a solution.
"What are we going do?" Miguel asked." We just got him back and we lost him again."
His parents assured him things would be ok.
"What's going to happen with Papá Héctor?" Rosa asked.
"Don't worry, Mija. He's going to be fine." Carmen assured.
"Let's hope Abuelo's okay." Victoria said.
Imelda then came into the waiting room and said they could see him now.
"Any news from the nurse?" Elena asked.
"Not yet."
"I'll ask one of the nurses about what's going on with Papá Héctor." Enrique said.
They did their best to provide answers, assuring that they were doing everything they could. The hospital did indeed get a bit crowded with patients who were confused about memories of their cursed and real selves. Miguel played with his fingers, nervously.
Imelda led the family to Héctor's room but stopped at the door. "Now everyone, stay calm. We don't want to do anything to scare him." Everyone entered the room. He looked surprised by the number of people.
"Papà Héctor?" Miguel came closer. 'It's me, Miguel, your great-great-grandson." Héctor gave the boy a strange look. "Remember me? We're family."
"No. I-I don't have any family. I've always been on my own."
"No, you have a family." Rosa said, "I'm your great-great-granddaughter."
He shook his head, obviously not believing them. "I-I'm sorry, but I-I don't remember you."
The family looked at each other, concerned. The situation was worse than they thought.
Elena came over and gave Héctor a tight hug. "Ay, pobrecito! Estas bien, mijo?"
Hector pushed Elena away. The family was shocked. No one had ever pushed her away.
"Don't do that to your granddaughter." Imelda scolded.
"W-what granddaughter?" Héctor said, confused. "I told you I don't have a family!"
"Yes, you do. We're all family." Imelda insisted, gesturing to everyone.
Miguel began to hold on to his mother. She wrapped her arms around him. Imelda looked at Héctor, worried. Miguel had an idea. He took out his guitar and started to play. Héctor just stared at him, confused.
"I don't think it's working." Rosa noticed.
Imelda had to do something. She started singing La Llorona. The family was wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Hector started feeling scared and immediately called for the nurses.
"Maybe we should go." Victoria suggested.
Imelda was about to say something when the nurses came to check on him. "What's going on in here?" One of them asked.
"These people claim that they're my family. I don't have one." Héctor said.
"Yes, you do. We are your family." Miguel insisted. Héctor began to back away again.
"Listen, Riveras, I think it's for the best if you guys leave." The other nurse advised.
The family stepped out of the room, disappointed.
"Sorry it didn't work, Mama Imelda." Miguel said sadly.
"It's ok, mijo. You tried your best." Ms. Cordwain said, putting her arm around his shoulders.
Later, Ms. Cordwain went back to the hospital to try her other idea. "I know you don't remember, but just indulge me. Please." She showed Héctor the torn family photo. He looked at her, confused. "Be careful with it."
He took the photo in his hands. "It's an old photo."
"Yeah."
"It's damaged."
"Just look at it. Focus. It's your talisman."
"It's an old photo."
"We took this before you left on your tour." She explained and pointed to each person. "That's our daughter Coco. That's me, and that's you."
"Okay, here." He tried to hand it back to her. "You... you need to go and take your photo, okay?"
She refused to take the photo and tried to hand it back to him. "No, no, no, no." She was growing desperate. "It's charmed. If you focus, it'll work. It's magic."
"Okay, just go away! Stop talking about magic, and take your photo!" Again, he tried to push it back to her.
"Just look at it." She pressed the photo into his hands.
Frustrated, Héctor ripped up the photo. Ms. Cordwain watched helplessly and horrified. "Just go. Just go away."
"Lo siento." She nodded and sadly left the room, glancing at the torn pieces on the way out.
Jack entered Gina's room in the ICU unit.
She turned her head and saw him. "Doctor?"
"Sheriff Swan, actually."
"I'm thirsty."
Jack walked over to her bedside table and handed Gina a glass of water with a straw. He also set a bag of her belongings next to the bed.
"Here. I have your personal effects. I'm just going to put them here, okay? So, Miss Mendell, I wanted to talk to you about the accident."
"Did I hit someone?" Jack was about to answer but said nothing. "Oh, my gosh, I hit someone. Are they okay?"
"Don't worry about her. I mean the damage was pretty minor."
"Oh, thank goodness." Gina sighed relieved.
"But I do need you to state what happened, in your own words. What you did, what you saw."
"Well, I didn't see anything."
"Well, you were driving."
"Yeah, I mean, I saw the road, of course."
"I just think I might be able to put your mind at ease."
"I was texting. I looked down, just for a second, and when I looked back up, she was right there, and she was too close to avoid. But I know it's not legal in Maine..."
"It's okay. I'm just glad that you were honest with me."
"So, no charges?"
"No. No charges. I'll let you go with a warning this time."
Gina sighed in relief. "Thank you. So when can I head home?"
"As soon as the doctor clears you. We don't wanna keep you." Jack smiled and left the room. He soon joined the group in the waiting room.
"She didn't see nothin'?" Bart asked.
"Free and clear."
"Oh, good." Laura Reed sighed relieved.
"Now maybe things can calm down for ten minutes, and we can catch our breath." Clark said hopefully.
Ms. Cordwain had gone to see Ms. Wood at her pawnshop. The older woman set a box on the counter and pulled off the lid, revealing a blank white globe inside. She took the globe out of the box.
"You're sure this will find my missing relative?" Ms. Cordwain asked, not entirely convinced.
"Oh, trust me. It'll do the trick, dearie." Ms. Wood grabbed Ms. Cordwain's hand. pricked her finger on the point and the top, and dropped a drop of her blood onto the globe. The globe began to glow and rotate. A red map of the world started to appear, with the state of New York dyed in a darker shade.
"There you are." Ms. Cordwain smiled, amazed that it actually worked.
Jack and his parents returned to the apartment by morning. Hilary, Dash, and Violet came down the stairs to greet them in the kitchen.
"You were out all night. Where were you?" Hilary asked.
"Ellen wouldn't tell us anything." Dash added. "Did we miss it all?"
"Cereal okay?" Clark asked, getting bowls from the cupboard.
"Yeah."
"Imelda and Katherine Muntz had a fight and someone got hurt." Laura Reed explained, making coffee. They all gathered around the island.
"We weren't sure if Dr. Frankenstein could fix her, but he did." added Jack.
"Doctor... Oh, that's who Whale is." Hilary realized.
"Yeah, but without the neck bolts."
"The monster had the bolts, not the Doctor."
"Right. But either way, some of us having known him, it's weird." Jack said, glancing at his mother.
"It's not weird. We're past it. We were cursed." Laura Reed reminded him.
"What are you talking about?" The kids wondered.
"Nothing." Clark said.
"Wait..." Hilary got up and went to get her book. "Frankenstein isn't in here. It's not even a Pixar story. That means he comes from another land with different stories."
Jack placed a bowl in front of Hilary. "Eat. I really want to go to bed."
"If the curse went to places with other stories, then who knows who else is in this town?"
There was a knock on the door. Jack went to answer it, but Ms. Cordwain let herself in first.
"Cordwain. We've all had a long night."
"I need a favor from you, Jack."
"It's not a good..."
"You do honor your agreements, don't you? I need to find someone, so we're leaving today. Pack a bag." She ordered, firmly.
"Leaving?" Laura Reed asked, curious.
"Where?" Hilary wondered.
"Wait, find someone... Who?" Jack questioned.
"A member of my family." Ms. Cordwain explained. "It has to be today because every minute I'm here is a minute closer to me beating up Katherine. So it's best for all concerned if I leave, and you're going to come with me. Oh, and if any harm comes to Héctor while I'm gone, you all will face my granddaughter's and my shoes. I'll see you at noon." She turned and walked out, leaving the family speechless.
Gina was still in her room at the hospital. She grabbed her bag of belongings off the table and took out her cell phone. Checking that the coast was clear, she dialed a number.
"Honey? I… I… I know. Just wait. Wait. Just listen. Just listen. Okay? Yes, I'm okay. I… I was in an accident."
/Thanks to my co-writer varzate732 for helping with the Rivera family scenes