H.E.R.O. - Metamorphosis

by Kevin Rau

Stephanie asked, “What did they do with my clothes?”

  Rael responded, “They cut them off you. It looks like when someone shows up all bloody they do that to find the wounds quickly.” I wonder if I should mention that I've got clothes in the car, being as we aren't trying to escape now, it's not so pressing to get her out of this hospital gown, or at least not into full clothing....

  Stephanie coughed slightly as she 'heard' that line, and looked at him in surprise. Rael narrowed his eyes suspiciously and said, “You're acting strangely.”

  Her reply was, “You shifted your hand....”

  Lance gave Rael a dirty look and said, “Rael, be polite to her. We're in a hospital.”

  Rael sighed. It's something he could have been accused of a minute or so before that, but not at that moment. She's covering something up. But hey, she didn't want to be put down, so I'll ignore it. Come to think of it, carrying even little Steph in my arms like this ought to be tiring after a while, but she's so light....

  The elevator arrived on the Lobby level, and they walked to the front desk. The lobby was busy, due to the many incidents happening all over the city.

  Then, the whispers started, as Stephanie heard the mental voices of every person in the entire lobby. There were a good dozen people in close proximity, causing her to receive mental pictures from them at the same time as well. She was overwhelmed with the max influx of information as a dozen floating televisions filled her vision. Mental voices from everyone in the large room echoed in her mind as though they spoke from immediately next to her. She couldn't figure out a 'switch' to turn it off, and had a difficult time just thinking her own thoughts.

  Images flashed in her mind's eye from the recent injury experiences of several people. The sound of voices were loud in her ear. It was as if all of these people crowded in immediately around her and spoke in a normal voice at the same time. She couldn't get her own voice in edgewise to cut into it.

  More voices added to it in the background, the whisper of voices speaking from somewhat further way. If she could get in a clear thought, she would have thought that those sounded like the hubbub of a noisy restaurant.

  Rael and Lance arrived at the front desk. There was a brief line, and the group received several odd looks from people. One man, off to Rael's left walked full speed into someone standing there; his eyes locked onto the back of Stephanie's gown.

  Then, Rael noticed the expression on Stephanie's face. Her mouth opened and closed, as if she tried to say something. Her eyes now blinked rapidly, and she stared off into space as though she wasn't focused on the here and now at all. Her head twitched occasionally.

  Rael said, “Hey, hey are you all right?” No response. “Hello? Anyone home?” Rael shifted position and used her feet to tap Lance. “Lance, something's wrong with her.” He shifted his grip on her legs, and slapped her backside to shock her. There was no effect.

  He shook her, said her name forcefully several times in her ear, and tried to keep from breathing much when right by her head.

  She heard her voice several times, and then more often, as the people in line turned around to look at her group, and question why someone was repeating her name. More and more people had the mental image of her in Rael's arms. Her mind's eye overflowed with 'screens' displaying what they were looking at or thinking. So many that they overlapped, and the sound that appeared to come through them merged with the buzz of mental voices from those further away.

  She forcefully thought, Get away. Get away from me. Everyone get away from me. Somewhere in the cacophony of voices all speaking, her body reacted, and the tingling sensation rushed across her entire body.

  Rael smelled something, and his senses were overwhelmed for a moment. He had to get away from there. People stumbled backward, moving away from them. Lance felt an urge to move away from her for a moment, but he wasn't about to leave his friends now that they were finally together. He shook his head, and the effect, off.

  People in a twenty foot radius cleared away from them, and those slightly further than that looked confused, and slowly moved away as well. Only one man and one woman didn't react, apart from Lance.

  Even the hospital personnel left the desk area and scattered further away.

  Rael gave Stephanie a wild look and dropped her. He ran off toward the front doors at unbelievable speed. Lance dove at her, but ended up diving too low, expecting her to be near the floor when he got to her. He unceremoniously dove his face into her breast.

  She fell a foot ... and then stopped in the air.

  The voices receded to a safer, noisy background level, as though in a busy restaurant. She finally had control over her own thoughts again. Only three floating images remained in her vision.

  Lance moved back a foot, keeping his hands under her, but still a foot below her body. Even with the pallid skin tone from the poisoning incident, his face was a brighter shade of red as he blushed. “Whoa, you're floating.”

  She stared at him. “I don't think I want to play with this here.”

  He nodded, stood up and very gently grabbed her around the back and legs. He lowered her legs, and they went down until he set her feet on the floor, standing upright. “Stay here a moment. Those workers don't look like they are coming back here. I felt you do something, you wanted people to move away from you.”

  He leaned over the desk, grabbed a pen and pad of paper, moved to write a note and his fingers snapped the pen in half. Ink drenched his fingers. He scowled, grabbed another, wrote down his name and Stephanie's, and requested to please check them out of the hospital immediately, along with the date and time. Then, he walked over to the workers, glancing back to make sure she was all right. She looked confused. He waved at one, and handed her the note. “Please check us out; we can't stay in this room.” The hospital worker's eyes flicked back and forth between Lance and Stephanie. She nodded and took the note.

  He walked back to Stephanie. What the heck, what's good for the goose.... He scooped her up carefully and walked toward the entrance. He noticed that most people in the area stared at Stephanie. He'd have considered himself as the target of their eyes, but few made much eye contact with him. Stephanie's head whirled with the concepts of these mass of pictures and voices she heard, and then the idea that she could float or fly as well.

  Some people near the entrance walked quickly away from it, glancing back at Stephanie several times.

  Lance thought, Well, this is interesting. I'm used to people looking at me and clearing out of the way, but never for little Steph. Hmm, where did Rael run off to? How the heck did he sprint out of the lobby so quickly? I'm going to have to smack him for dropping Steph, though. That was uncalled for.

  Stephanie heard his thoughts clearly, and smiled at the thought of Lance defending her honor.

  Chapter 14 – Out into the World

  Third Person Perspective