“Yes.”
“Good. Then if your ribs were fractured or broken, the tablets would’ve fixed that problem. However, you say your ribs still hurt?”
She nodded.
“Then your ribs are either sprained or simply bruised.”
“Well, are they bruised or sprained?” Jaiden asked.
“I believe Kelly has sprained her ribs,” Dr. Hanson said.
“You can sprain ribs?” Chelsa asked incredulously.
“You’ll be surprised with the amount of injuries the human body can get,” Dr. Hanson said. “You have a mild case of a grade II rib sprain,” he said to Kristi.
“Is there anything I can take or do to speed up the healing process?” Kristi asked.
Dr. Hanson reached into his leather bag and pulled out three containers filled with small gel capsules. He held up one container labeled “internal swelling reducer” and said, “Take one of these every day for the next two days. The pills will reduce the swelling caused by the sprain.” He held up the other container and said, “Take two of these every day for the next three days. They will aid in the healing process and allow your ligaments to heal five times faster than normal.” Last but not least, he held up the last container and said, “These are painkillers. Take them as needed.”
He gave all three containers to Kristi. She wrapped her fingers around the small glass bottles like they were precious gems.
“Thanks,” Kristi said. “How many points do we owe you?” She hoped this doctor’s visit wouldn’t cost a huge amount of points.
Dr. Hanson gathered up his stuff and said, “Don’t worry about paying me. Consider this a gift.”
He opened the door and put a foot out into the hallway. Then he turned back and said, “Kristi, it would be best if you stayed in bed for the next couple of days. And Jaiden, make sure Kristi actually stays put. The supplements and inflammatory pills I gave her won’t be as effective if she’s spending six hours a day riding droid-horses. Good day to you all.”
Dr. Hanson closed the door firmly.
There was a brief pause, and then Chelsa finally asked out loud the question they were all wondering, “How did he know your real names when we never told him?”
chapter twenty-two
Mason wasn’t at school the next day. Nor was he at the school the day after. When Troop questioned the whereabouts of Mason, he was met with a dead end. It was as if Mason had ceased to exist, and that made Troop wonder, Is he like me then? Does he have connections to the Company as well? I’m sure the Company has the power to efface all traces of his existence.
“Did you even hear a word of what I just said?” Jennifer’s grumble yanked Troop out of his thoughts.
He looked around the lunch table. Darrel sat on his left, Jennifer to his right. Bruno, Lee, Tompkins, Lily and Silvia occupied the rest of the seats.
“Yeah,” Troop said.
“Then tell me what I just said,” said Jennifer.
“Help me,” Troop mouthed to Darrel.
Darrel snickered, but came to his rescue. “I’m sure Troop is interested in the after school study group, right?”
Troop nodded, not really sure what study group they were talking about. “Sounds great.”
“Awesome. Now we have a total of twelve people attending.” Jennifer took a sip of her iced tea. “Do you think I should invite Trevor or is twelve a good number?”
“Twelve’s good,” Troop said.
He resisted rolling his eyes when he spotted Bruno shoot a spray of spitballs at the back of a teacher.
“Then tomorrow after school at Frosty Shakes it is,” confirmed Jennifer.
Mason claimed Bruno hadn’t sent him after me. But how do I know he wasn’t lying to me? Troop thought, his attention drifting away from Jennifer’s voice and the general discussion being taken place.
Troop’s mom was back from work early, something that happened about once every few centuries or so. When he walked into the living room, she was already lounging on the memory foam couch, typing some documents. She looked up for a second to acknowledge his presence, then jabbed the holographic keyboard a few more times and powered it off.
“Done for the day,” she said. “Can’t believe I have the rest of the day free.”
Sensing that his mom was in a good mood, Troop decided to try his luck and ask her a question involving a rather sensitive topic. “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Are there other people…the Company may potentially hide?”
Her head snapped up in an instant, like a spring-loaded trigger. “Did something happen?”
“No, no—nothing happened,” he said, perhaps a little bit too hurriedly. His mom didn’t know about his Mason encounter after lessons with Vikens. “I was just wondering if there were others like me that live in the city as well.”
His mom relaxed her posture by a few degrees. “None that I am aware of. I can inquire more information if you would like me to.”
“Nah, I’m good. Thanks for the offer though.”
“Alright. Promise you’ll let me know if anything bad happens.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Just promise you’ll tell me if anyone at school shows the tiniest bit of suspicion about what you are. A replay of four years ago is the last thing we need, not to mention the amount of trouble the Company would be in if word leaked out about you.”
“Yeah,” Troop lied. “Promise.”
“Why weren’t you at Frosty Shakes yesterday?” Jennifer demanded.
“Why would I be at…oh, yeah. The study group,” Troop said. “Did I forget to tell you I had private tutoring afterschool yesterday?”
Jennifer glared at him.
“No need to get all pissed off. It was just one study group I missed. I swear I’ll go to the next one. When’s the next one?”
“This Thursday,” said Jennifer. “And for your information, I am not pissed off—I am very, very pissed off.”
“Jenn giving you a hard time?”
Darrel ambled over, his arms swinging like pendulums by his side.
“Troop forgot about our study group yesterday,” Jennifer complained. “Everyone attended but Mr. I-have-private-lessons-after-school.”
“Oh, give the man a break,” said Darrel. “It was only one missed study group.”
“Exactly what I said,” muttered Troop.
“Fine. I see how this is.” Jennifer let out a huff and stalked over to her girlfriends waiting for her across the hall.
Troop sighed. Then he said, “Who wants to bet fifty points Jenn will be over this by lunch time?”
chapter twenty-three
Jaiden flung open the door of their room, looking for Dr. Hanson. His light footsteps could be heard tapping down the hallway. Chelsa and Kristi looked at each other, mirroring each other’s stunned expression. After a few minutes, Jaiden returned.
“He’s gone,” Jaiden announced after searching the entire inn. “The innkeeper said he checked out as soon as he left us.”
“Did you find out where he is heading?” Chelsa asked.
“No.”
“Well, we better get going as well,” Kristi said. She popped a painkiller into her mouth and swallowed it dry.
“Didn’t you hear Dr. Hanson’s instructions?” Chelsa said. “You’re not supposed to move around for the next few days.”
“We can’t delay our progress anymore. And anyways, Dr. Hanson gave me at least a week’s worth of pills. I should be fine.”
With the painkillers doing their job, Kristi felt back to normal. She was slipping the three pill bottles into her pocket when she noticed there was a slip of paper within one of them. Curious, she pulled the bottle back out from the pocket, and with some difficulty, managed to extract the slip of paper. On the paper it read: