10: A Spiritual Gamble

Alright, once more I, the biographer, am going to intrude on the normal track of this history, to show Alex’s life from a slightly different perspective. This time, like the last, it contains information that Alex never knew about, although I suspect he eventually figured out a fair amount of it. It’s important because it reveals another aspect of his abilities that hasn’t yet been addressed, and one that everyone was afraid to mention to him, for fear of how he’d respond to it if he knew.

This chapter is divided into two distinct parts. The first, the discussion between Cate, Alex’s girls and his parents concerning Cate and Alex’s changed relationship, as well as a more in depth discussion about what Alex is currently doing that should provide some useful insights into Alex at this point in his life. The second is again told from Alex’s perspective, a description of how Brooke and Rebecca managed to arrange for him to get tested by the Hospital near his home.

They both happened fairly simultaneously, so don’t try to keep track of what was happening when. However, both are significant because they relate to a change in everyone’s understanding of Alex and the coming role he was to play.

While Alex was away, gone on whatever it was that Becky wanted him to do at the hospital, Cate took the opportunity to finally have a needed discussion with several people. Alex and Cate’s father, Frank, had been grousing for much of the day about his children’s getting together for an incestuous affair. Cate had finally had enough, and decided she wanted to have it out with him, as well as work some things out for herself. So she gathered everyone into the living room to talk.

“Dad, this has been going on long enough,” Cate told him. “I mean, you knew this has been building between Alex and me for a long time, and it never seemed to bother you before. What’s the big deal now?”

“You weren’t having sex with him then,” he complained. “Back then, you were both dealing with it, and I was proud of you both for maintaining control over your baser instincts. There’s a bit of difference between recognizing an attraction, and having your two youngest kids having sex right in the next room.”

“All right, I understand that,” Cate responded patiently, “but you knew it was only a matter of time before it was going to occur. Maybe it might have taken years, maybe another week, but it was bound to happen. Surely you thought about it beforehand. I can understand it being uncomfortable for you, but you should at least have been partially prepared for it.”

“Argh,” he growled in frustration. His wife started to reach out to him, but thought better of it, thinking it would be better for him to get this out in the open. “I really don’t know, OK? I thought I was fine with it. But I was expecting Alex’s exceedingly high morals to get in his way, like they usually do. Plus I figured he would be distracted by all his other women, so that he’d never feel pressured enough to do anything about it.”

“Dad, Alex didn’t feel pressured to do anything. I instigated the whole thing. This thing between Alex and me goes way back. I first started—”

Linda cut her daughter off before she could start reciting her story once again. “Yes, we’re basically familiar with your attraction to him, dear. I think your father’s problem is that he isn’t quite convinced about whether this is all in your best interests or not. I’m afraid he can’t see what the rest of us see when we look at the two of you. He’s simply seeing two kids getting carried away by their own hormones. He’s also worried about the possible repercussions, like if you ever decide you want to have kids. I don’t think he can get past those central issues yet. Until he does, I think you can expect him to be a bit grouchy about it.”

“Humph,” Frank grunted his thoughts on the subject.

“Well, Dad, I hope that Alex and I can show you, given enough time, that we really care for each other. Also, although we haven’t had a chance to talk about it, I have no plans to have his kids or anything. I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I kind of still want my own family and a white picket fence. However, as I’m swept up in more and more of Alex’s world, I can’t honestly see myself very far from him either. I guess we’ll have to work out some sort of compromise. But the important thing right now is that no one can possibly make me feel the way Alex makes me feel, whether we’re fooling around or not. Just like the rest of his girls, I’m so grateful for how he’s always made me feel, that I’m willing to do just about anything for him as a result. If that means giving him up forever, I’d be willing to do that. If it means being chaste, or even surrendering my life, I think I’d be willing to do either of those too. Alex is simply an amazing force in my life, and there’s just no denying the effect he’s had on it.”

Frank closed his eyes, leaned his head back and groaned. “God, I know, I know. I’m well aware of Alex’s affect on everyone’s life lately. It’s all anyone talks about around here anymore. If this wasn’t so close to me I’d probably be on his bandwagon as well. Lord knows I’ve given him much more freedom than I’ve given any of my other children. In fact, the only reason why I’m not more upset is simply because you’re doing it with Alex. If you were having an affair with Becky or Melinda, heaven forbid, you can bet I’d have lost my temper a long time ago!”

“Well, you’ll be glad to know that, because of Alex’s high ideals, we probably won’t get too far,” she conceded. “I’m convinced that Alex fully intends to give up on all of his women, including me, as soon as either Kitty or Chalise say they want to get serious. Geez, if they only had a clue, I can imagine watching the bodies fly as each one raced to get there first.”

“You really think so,” Linda asked her daughter.

“Absolutely,” Shani assured her. “I’ve been with your son long enough to know how he thinks, and he’s serious about his own sense of honor. I think the only reason why he’s still having sex with us is because he thinks it’s part of his responsibility to us. But once either one says ‘yes’, he’ll quit us all without a look back.”

“Well, at least there’s a little hope there,” Frank acknowledged. “I can always count on girls’ basic jealousy.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t count on it too far,” Linda warned him.

“You know,” Cate began, subtly trying to shift attention away from this topic, now that she’d gotten her father to admit as much as he had about his own feelings, “I’ve been wondering about Alex’s abilities a bit, lately, in regard to Chalise and Kitty. Their relationship just doesn’t seem right somehow.

“You’d think, with all he’s told them, and especially with the clueless way he keeps expressing himself, that they’d both have taken off for the hills. I know you keep talking about a possible effect Alex is having on the people around him, but I think there’s more to it than that. Or maybe it’s in addition to that. Alex seems to know just what he can say to people, who he can trust, and what he can get away with.

“If anyone else had pulled that stunt with Darrell they’d be ground beef by now. But Alex puts him down to his face, then just walks away happy as a clam. I don’t think it’s necessarily any influence he had over him, after all they’d just met, but I do think he picked up on Darrell’s subtle traits and played them like a fine fiddle.

“He’s like that with Kitty and Chalise, too. He tells them the most outrageous stories, and they just say, ‘Oh, we’d never dream of telling.’ He tells Chalise’s mother he plans on making love to her daughter in his own room, and invites her to come and watch, and she says, ‘OK, I’ll think about it, but go ahead anytime you feel the urge strike you’.

“I’d like to feel each of you out on this topic, because it might also impact on Alex’s and my relationship as well. I’m not sure, but he may be playing to my own weaknesses and strengths too. Maybe, despite his denials, Alex really CAN detect people’s emotions?”

Everyone sat and considered this, largely because the same thoughts had occurred to each of them. This ability Alex demonstrated, repeatedly, of always knowing just what to say, was astounding. Somehow, amazing things didn’t seem to be random around Alex, which only led one to think it had to be due to his abilities somehow. Either that, or maybe God really was watching over him.

“No,” Shani replied, “Alex doesn’t have our ability to detect emotions, at least the way it was before he affected us. I’m sure of that. We discussed it quite a bit, and he repeatedly denied having experienced anything similar. If he’s showing any similar abilities now, then it’s something he’s picked up recently.”

“Do you think maybe it can be passed from one person to another?” Natalie asked, sounding hopeful as she did so.

“No, I’d seriously doubt it,” Cate replied. “Otherwise it would be a lot more widespread. You’d find Watchers clustered together if it did. Instead they seemed to be completely statistically random. I couldn’t figure out any commonality among those I observed.”

“Maybe dealing with all of that energy triggered something in him? You’ve said that those with the innate abilities have slightly brighter auras than other people,” Frank suggested, being drawn into the discussion despite his recent sour mood.

“I don’t think so,” Shani said. “I’d guess he’s been carrying that energy for a long time. I doubt it started when he came to New Orleans. I’m thinking he’s been generating that much energy since he was born. Too bad there’s no way to test that, though.”

“Yeah,” Cate agreed, trying to imagine how one could measure the amount of life force someone was accessing.

“So what do you think is doing it, then?” Natalie asked, intrigued by the whole thing, as they all were whenever it involved their favorite subject: Alex.

Anh simply cleared her throat and everyone turned to her, since she was usually so taciturn. When everyone was finally silent, waiting for her to respond, she started speaking and Shani translated for her.

“I think you are putting your horses before your cart,” she began. “It’s not a new ability of Alex’s. It isn’t that he recognizes emotions as much as he recognizes the individuals.”

“Huh?” Cate asked, shaking her head, trying to make sense of what she’d just said.

“It’s simple. Remember my initial theory, about Alex actually having crossed over from the Spirit’s Realm to this one. It takes great power to do such a thing, as it’s very difficult to do. To accomplish it and end up with as much power as Alex has on this side is simply amazing, but not completely unheard of. What I’m suggesting is that Alex may not have been the only one. If Alex was a mighty lord in the spiritual realm, then he would have had many followers, and likely several generals as well.

“I think that, when he decided to cross over, his most loyal followers crossed over with him. Like Alex, in order to prevent doing unintended damage, they were required to forget everything about their origin. However, once here, they’d naturally seek each other out. I keep advising Alex to not think things out, since his conscious self doesn’t know much, whereas his unconscious spirit knows what to do. The same is true here. The rational Alex has no way to know whether to trust someone or not. However, Alex’s spirit would recognize those that it trusts, and would know they could be trusted with anything he told them.”

“So you’re suggesting that Kitty and Chalise are also spirits that have crossed over to the earth?” Frank asked. “If that’s so, then how did they ever find their way here? And how’d they end up in the same grade, in the same school, in the same town as Alex? That’s just too many variables to throw into the mix.”

“Not really,” Anh continued, not having to wait for a verbal translation. “Spirits don’t know about spatial things like geography, but they do recognize power, especially a power that radiates like Alex’s does. More so if it was from a trusted friend. I propose that when they came to the earth, they simply were drawn to where Alex was, regardless of where that was. Even if they were physically born somewhere else, they would have found a reason to migrate to where he lived. I’m sure if they picked a body being born in a nearby hospital, they wouldn’t know where it would eventually be raised. So they’d feel a constant desire or need to move to where he is. Again, their conscious minds would never understand the desire, but their spirits would know they would be more comfortable near their lord.”

“Wow! That’s some theory,” Cate whistled. “As much as I hate to admit it, since it goes against every scientific rationale in my brain, it sure explains a lot. I guess I’ll have to ask them where they were born and how often they moved after that. Man, what a neat theory. I mean it’s neat in that it explains so much, it doesn’t leave any messy unexplained crumbs lying around.”

“Wait,” she asked, suddenly sitting up, her eyes opening wide, “would that also explain Alex and me? I mean, Alex has been affecting me for a long time, but we mostly agree that I don’t have any of the Watchers’ abilities.”

“What? What are you saying, Cate?” Frank asked.

“I’ll explain later, Dad. Basically, the girls proposed earlier that I may have been a Watcher all along, only it was never noticed since it started so early. They also suggested I never noticed the ability to pick up on emotions, because Alex’s power overwhelmed everyone else’s aura. But that’s not the question on the table, I’m interested if this latest theory could account for Alex’s and my relationship?”

Anh thought about this for a moment before giving her considered reply. “Yes, I’m sure you’d want that to be the case. My initial thought would be to say no, because he doesn’t seem to sense your emotions or personality. Instead he seems to give you some of his energy. The birth order is odd, too, but I guess that Chalise is close to your age as well, and it would make sense that Alex would have had to be the first to cross over.” Cate nodded her head at this newest information. “Well then, I guess it would be possible. Again, it would explain a lot. It would explain why you are so protective of your brother, because your spirit is trying to protect your lord as it always did in the spirit world.”

“It would also explain why she and Alex ended up in bed together,” Allison offered.

“Indeed it would,” Anh agreed. “Your spirits don’t recognize the familial ties the two of you share, so it would be natural for the two of you to gravitate together, just as it would for Kitty and Chalise to naturally gravitate to him, as they have been.”

“Wait, you’re saying that both of my children may actually be imposters from some other universe who snuck into their bodies before they were born? What happened to their natural personalities, or souls, or whatever?” Linda suddenly interrupted. She found this newest theory more than a little disturbing. She suddenly didn’t know if her own kids were really hers or not.

“That’s always been an interesting argument,” Anh said. “Whether souls are born or are simply reassigned. The increase in population worldwide would argue that souls are constantly being created. I’m guessing that, in certain circumstances, if a foreign spirit steps in, it simply inhibits the creation of a new spirit that would have inhabited that body otherwise.”

“So, effectively, my current spirit aborted the previous owner of my body and took it over?” Cate asked, a little stunned.

“Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to say, aborted. More likely moved aside in the predetermined order of delivery. I’d also guess that the new souls, if they existed already, would have recognized the importance and power of the two new entities, so they would have likely voluntarily stepped aside, as it were.”

“Man, this all gets stranger and stranger,” Cate whistled.

“You’re not kidding,” Frank echoed his daughter.

“So, this new theory still doesn’t explain how Alex has been transferring his energy to me?” Cate asked, still trying to work out all the permutations of this new theory.

“Not really. Again, there’s no need to transfer energy in this scenario. Though, you’ve seen Alex voluntarily transfer energy to a complete stranger when he revived that man in the New Orleans. Your feelings of security could simply be an early sign of that ability. Maybe that’s why, even though he didn’t know what he was doing, he did it correctly when asked. It’s possible he’d actually been doing it for years and just wasn’t aware of it.”

“Like his spirit knew how to do it, but Alex didn’t,” Natalie said, catching the drift of the conversation. “It had been practicing it for years.”

“Man, why do we scholarly types even bother to come up with theories, when Anh’s old school superstitions explain everything much better than anything we can come up with?” Cate asked no one in particular.

“It’s because you are asking different questions,” Anh replied, via Shani again. “You are addressing who is attracted to Alex. I’m simply answering why Alex may feel so comfortable with people he doesn’t appear to know. For different questions, different approaches work.”

“Wow, so I guess that makes me a warrior princess spirit, then? Man, that’s so cool!”

“You weren’t necessarily a princess, dear,” Anh answered her. “Spirits aren’t necessarily tied to a particular sex. They trade identities like suits of clothing. That’s an old world explanation for what you call transsexuals, or even gays and lesbians. They are simply spirits which feel more of an affinity for one sex than the other, but who simply chose the first available body.”

“Man, she just keeps going. She stays silent all week, then suddenly she starts spouting ideas like there’s no tomorrow,” Cate said, grinning in pride at her new mentor.

“I’m just glad that you are all willing to accept the feeble offerings of an old woman,” Anh humbly stated. Everyone instantly objected.

“You are definitely not old,” Allison stated. “You’re still young enough to teach this old pro some new tricks. And you’ve clearly been teaching the young amateurs several tricks as well,” she teased.

Frank groaned, which they all ignored. Linda turned to him, however, “Don’t forget, dear, you’re still scheduled for your cunnilingus lesson soon.”

Frank really groaned at that news, just trying to picture trying to learn new bedroom tricks from his son and his entourage of sexy followers.

“Don’t worry, Dad, you and I can learn together. If I’m going to join with the rest of Alex’s girls, I’ll have to learn to fit in myself,” Cate answered. At this latest news Frank simply stood up and left the room, to great effect amongst all the women remaining.

“So just how far could this go,” Natalie asked. “What about Bulldozer, er, I mean Darrell. Would that mean that he’s also one of Alex’s spirit friends, since Alex seemed to play him off like an easy football pass?”

“I’d suspect so, although we’d have to see, based upon his actions in the future. If he gets pissed when he’s dumped by Kitty, then I’d say no. If he ends up spending all his time here, then I would venture to say yes,” Anh replied.

“How many of these spirits might Alex have brought with him?” Natalie asked.

“There’s no telling, although, again, it would require a great amount of energy to carry them across. It must have substantially weakened Alex on this side when he did so.”

“So you’re saying that Alex had more energy when he was a spirit?” Allison asked.

“I’d assume so, although I’m not completely sure. I’m uncertain where he gets his energy from here. I think he’s pulling it in, instead of it simply being left over from when he transferred here. That may explain why he was able to carry so many over with him, and why he has so much power now.”

“Where would he be pulling it from? Could he be pulling it from his home world?” Linda asked.

“That’s one area where I don’t have a clue,” Anh answered. “I think he managed to figure out how to access a tremendous amount of energy. It was that source of energy which likely allowed him to cross over, to bring so many of his loyal followers across with him, and which accounts for what he’s able to do now. I’d be willing to guess that he could do much more with it, but his intelligent mind is holding him back.”

“What about us, the ones he’s activated?” Allison asked. “Could we all be fellow spirits as well? Would that be why we’re the only ones receptive to his powers?”

“Again, I can’t be sure, but I would doubt it. I think your ability to sense emotions, which seems to make you receptive to Alex’s powers, exists separately from Alex. You could sense emotions from others who were clearly not fellow spirits of Alex’s. There’s also the simple matter of numbers. For all of us to be fellow spirits, then he would have had to have brought over tens of thousands of followers. That is just too many to seriously consider.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Allison reluctantly acknowledged, “Although it would have helped explain why we feel no jealousy over Alex.”

“Then again,” Anh laughed, “I could just be a confused old lady with a lot of silly ideas brought over from a country that no longer accepts them. I might be wrong about everything.” She smiled as everyone looked confused by this last comment.

“Well,” announced Shani, finally tiring of being restricted from the conversation due to her providing the translation for Cate and her parents, “I think we all have a lot to consider here. I think we should all think about this before we wear ourselves out. We can talk about it later.”

“What about Alex? Should we tell him all this new information?” Natalie asked, feeling bound to always help him in any way she could.

“I wouldn’t think so,” Shani said. “It may affect his behavior, and we can’t be sure it’s true anyway. The last thing we need is to tell him he’s infallible with certain people and then have him fail in his relationships. We should watch how those relationships develop. Maybe we can tell him later, but I suspect we should simply remain silent regarding these little details.”

“Man, that’s going to be hard,” Natalie stated. “I haven’t had to lie to Alex yet.” All the women agreed with her on that front.

I managed to get to the hospital in decent time, luckily there wasn’t much traffic around there that time of day. Carbondale Memorial was hardly the closest hospital to me, but it was both bigger and busier than the others and it was closer to the Amtrak station that Brooke and Rebecca used to travel here. Cate managed to get a ride home with Susan Siegel, Vicky’s sister, so I didn’t have to worry about her before coming here. As I was getting out of my car I saw Becky also getting out of her car, so I hurried over to join her.

“Hey, I’m glad you got here. I couldn’t see doing this without you being here,” I told her.

“Yeah, I’m anxious, too,” she said, giving me a quick hug hello. “I’m hoping we can get a decent look at what’s going on inside your head, although you led me to believe it isn’t a done deal yet?”

“No, the girls mentioned we still have to convince the guy in charge, but they told me to just play along with whatever happens and they have it all planned out. Somehow that makes me even more nervous.”

Becky laughed, “Yeah, your women keep you guessing, but isn’t that the whole reason guys keep us women around?”

“Well, the girls are telling us to hurry, they’re inside waiting for us at the moment,” I told her, so we both rushed inside.

When we entered, they were impossible to miss. Both Brooke and Rebecca stood beside a balding man of average height in a white doctor’s coat, bearing the formality of someone in charge. He also had an assistant with a clipboard beside him, so I assumed he was in charge of the decision making process.

As we walked up, my two girls didn’t even look around, as they were busy talking to the head doctor. I’m sure it was for effect, but they were reacting as if they didn’t know I was here. Just as I got to them they said, “ ... as you’ll see. But now that Alex is here, we can begin.” And with that they both turned and greeted me warmly. The man they were speaking to regarded me and held out his hand.

“I’m glad to meet you, Alex; these two have told me a great deal about you.” It was another statement that made me nervous. “My name is Dr. Ryan Moore, and I’m the administrator for this hospital. I’m the guy you’ve got to convince to get access to the tests you all seem so anxious for.” He smiled at this to show he wasn’t necessarily against the idea, but I could tell he was far from convinced yet.

Dr. Ryan Moore was an older man, obviously, since he was leading a hospital, who appeared to be in good shape despite showing quite a few gray hairs. He was thin but well toned, with hard definite angular lines to his face which gave him a sort of accessibility, instead of putting one off. I think his honest smile helped him pull his sharp features off, as it and his in depth glance made you regard him positively.

“This must be your sister, Becky?” he continued, “I hear she’s involved in some kind of genetic research facility?”

I made the necessary introductions, before addressing part of what he’d said. “And, just so I don’t contradict anything they’ve said, just what have they told you about me?”

“Oh, that’s right, they told me you weren’t aware of their machinations. Well, as you may know, they both are looking for work here. Although the hiring for the EMTs is done by a private contractor, I’ve got some input in the decision making process. Rebecca here called me and started shooting the breeze. During our discussion, she asked me if I’m a betting man. When I admitted I was, she told me she figured I was also the type of man who liked to capitalize on a good thing, and that I probably liked to take advantage of new ideas. I was intrigued by her roundabout approach to whatever she was asking, so I asked her to continue.”

“I told him that we were looking to make a deal,” Rebecca said, continuing with the story. “In exchange for access to his MRI machine for some informal tests, we’d make a bet. We’d put up both of our job offers if he’d consider the MRI request.”

“And just what was the actual bet?” I asked, already dreading the answer.

“That’s quite simple,” replied the smiling Dr. Moore. “They bet me that, after showing you my most baffling cases in the hospital, that you’d provide at least one bona fide medical miracle.”

Rebecca was quick to jump in, trying to reassure me. “It’s really very simple, he’s going to show us several cases, all you’ve got to do is look at them and see if maybe you can do something. We know you aren’t medically trained, but with Brooke to guide you, and Ryan’s and my medical knowledge, we should be able to tell you what’s achievable and how you could do it.”

“All you’d need to do,” Brooke continued, “is just what you did before. Just supply energy to where we instruct you. We don’t expect you to cure everyone, but we’ll just see what effect it has.”

I turned and examined Dr. Moore again. “And you just agreed to allow a random teenager to enter your hospital and experiment on your patients?”

He had the grace to laugh, “No, no, they told me what you’d done in New Orleans. Wanting to make sure they weren’t inventing things, I called around. When I did, everyone at the hospital down there started talking about ‘the Angel of New Orleans’. It seems you’ve got quite a loyal following down there.”

“Let me tell you, it’s thoroughly undeserved, as I never professed any of the things they claim I was responsible for,” I insisted.

“Oh, yes, they all told me that would be your response. They also said you’d made a point of repeatedly denying you were responsible for your various achievements, but that the entire police force and emergency room staff would beg to differ with you. So being the betting man they assumed I’d be, I decided I’d take a small chance. I figured I’d either further the wild claims I’d heard, or I’d save the hospital a few dollars for a couple of overqualified candidates.”

“Uh, I hate to ask this, but could I possibly ask you whether you can keep a secret? I’m not actually anxious for any of this to get out into the public yet. I’m still trying to stay under the radar, at least until I finish with high school.”

He laughed again, rubbing his belly in his mirth.

“Yes, they told me that’d be your response. It’s good to see you’re the unassuming young lad they described, instead of the publicity hound I’d feared. Yes, I’ll keep whatever I learn to myself, though I’ll be as anxious as they are to see if the MRI scan shows us anything interesting.”

“By the way,” I asked, following up, “When you were checking up on me, you didn’t mention who I was and where I was from, did you?”

“Oh, no,” Ryan hurried to explain. “Both Brooke and Rebecca warned me about that. I just told them I was doing a follow up on a related patient. I think they bought it, but they were so anxious to talk about this new phenomenon that’s become so popular down there, they were willing to tell me quite a bit.” I simply groaned at this, knowing that nothing had dissipated yet.