“Yes, very sick. What is the last thing you remember?”
“Evan told me we were—that I was going to die because of the serum that changed me into a meta.”
“That’s right, and then you left the house…”
“…and went for a run to think things over.”
“Do you remember what happened during the run?”
Meg tried to remember, but got nothing for her efforts. Margo stood and walked over to a nearby counter where she retrieved an envelope from a refrigerated cabinet. Meg watched her mother sit back down beside her and carefully open the envelope.
“You were struck in the neck by this. It was tipped with a deadly parasite that quickly began taking over your system,” Margo explained, intentionally leaving out much of the details.
Meg reached out and took the dart from her mother’s hands. In that instant, she felt a rush of emotions. Like a movie being played at twenty times the regular speed, emotions linked with images flooded her, overwhelming her senses and causing her to draw her breath sharply as though she were in physical pain.
“Meg! What’s wrong?” Margo was on her feet and quickly snatched the dart away from her daughter’s hands worried she had somehow been hurt by it, again.
Meg couldn’t respond right away. She was gulping for air as though she had sprinted fifty-yards.
“I’m calling the others,” Margo turned around and grabbed the phone off the jack. “Theo, get everyone and come quickly. Meg’s awake, but something—something’s wrong. Hurry!”
Meg was quieting down, though she was obviously still upset.
“Meg, can you tell me what just happened?” Margo’s brows were deeply etched with worry.
“I’m not sure—I don’t know why, but when I touched the dart I could feel what the person was feeling each time they touched it. Images too. Oh, my God, mom. Williams sent a meta to deliver this to me. He called it his ‘gift’ to me.” Meg looked at the dart still in her mother’s hand like it was a viper.
“You mean you could feel what Williams was feeling just by touching something he touched?” Margo looked awestruck and terrified at the same time. Meg couldn’t have agreed more.
“Yes, but Williams wasn’t the only one who touched it. A female meta—yes, a soldier—she was the shooter. But even before that, there were several scientists at—Williams’ hospital who created it.” Meg reached out to take another sip of water as though she were trying to wash a bad taste from her mouth.
“Meg, has that ever happened before?”
“What?” she said after swallowing a large gulp of water.
“Have you ever been able to touch something and know its history—who touched it before and what they were feeling when they did?”
“Nope. It’s all new to me.” Meg looked around as though she was just realizing where she was and sat up.
“Meg, slow down! You’ve been in a coma for days! You can’t just…” Margo was trying to push her daughter back onto the bed, but her daughter easily resisted her.
“Mom, I think I have an idea, but my head’s still too foggy. Give me a few minutes to think this through. I’ve gotta get out of this,” she motioned to the tubes and wires still connected to her. Then she hopped down off her hospital bed wearing only her gown and began detach herself from everything.
Margo stood, jaw agape, and watched as Meg yanked out her own I.V., flung the pulse-ox monitor off her finger and peeled off the heart monitor electrodes from her chest.
Immediately, the warning system Alik had set up to alert the entire house of a Code Red began screaming.
Meg turned to walk herself to the bathroom. “You can turn that off now, and when everyone gets here, tell them I have to have a family meeting. There’s a lot going on and we don’t have much time.” Meg closed the bathroom door behind her.
Margo hadn’t moved, so shocked at her daughter’s words and actions. She was standing and staring at the bathroom door seconds later when the rest of the family came running into the lab expecting the worst.
“Where is Meg?” Evan called from across the room after seeing the bed empty.
“You’re not going to believe this,” she began.
The bathroom door opened and out walked Meg.
“Meg? Oh, my God! What are you doing out of bed?” Theo called from behind Evan.
“Well, I have to get some clothes, for one thing. My tushy is getting far too much exposure in this,” Meg blushed and motioned down at her hospital gown. “And I’m dying to brush my teeth. Everyone meet in the living room in fifteen minutes, please.” She called over her shoulder as she hurried past the growing crowd of stunned observers.
She stopped dead in her tracks the moment she saw Creed. He had heard the alarms like everyone else in the house and came running. “You,” she said coolly.