Second Chances

Chapter 12

Herobrine was asleep on a bed, an IV dripping water into his arm. Steve sat in a chair, wringing his hands nervously. Clara sat with him, just comforting him with her presence. Dr. Jackson looked at the results on his clipboard.

"You have nothing to worry about. It's just Nether Fever. Caused by too much time spent in that dimension. The Nether is a sterile environment because of the heat, so sometimes when people are in there too long, their immune systems are weakened from not regularly fighting pathogens that are around us all the time here in the Overworld. It's not fatal to adults, but it probably would be to a child like him. I don't know for sure, though, since I've never had any cases of this in children before. I'll have to monitor him for the next couple of days," Dr. Jackson explained. "But I do have several questions. The main one is Steve, where did you get this kid?"

Steve stared at the ground and said nothing. When Clara realized that Steve wasn't going to answer the question, she answered it for him. "Um, Jackson, it's a bit of a funny story..."

Jackson looked at her. "What do you know about this?"

Clara rubbed the back of her neck as she thought about her next words. "There's no easy way to put this, but that kid is Herobrine."

Jackson looked like he had been struck by lightning. He just stared at Steve and Clara with his mouth slightly agape, stuttering in complete shock. "B-bu... tha-tha... wha... Herobrine!?" he managed to get out. He looked at Steve. "D-didn't Herobrine—"

"Yes," Steve snapped. "I don't want to talk about that."

Jackson looked at Herobrine, then back at Clara. "Clara, that's a kid. There's no way that's Herobrine."

Clara just shrugged. "We don't understand it either. Steve found him in the caves about a week ago and brought him home without knowing who he truly was. He's been taking care of him since then. I found out just a couple of days ago."

Jackson looked a bit more horrified then shocked now. He stared at Steve. "B-but H-Herobrine... he killed—"

"We all know about that, Jackson," Steve said gruffly. "Yes, he did that to me. And yes, I've been taking care of him anyway."

Jackson adjusted his glasses and glanced at Herobrine before looking back at the pair. "How on earth are you still alive, Steve? That's a mass murderer over there."

Steve sighed. "For whatever reason, he doesn't have his memories anymore. He doesn't remember what he did. He isn't dangerous right now, but we don't know how long this amnesia is going to last."

"Well." Dr. Jackson cleared his throat like that would clear the tension in the room. "You're lucky he isn't human. He was running a fever of 110 degrees."

Steve swore under his breath.

There was a moment of silence before Jackson said, "Well... what do we do now?"

Steve sighed. "Well, I'm waiting for the Netherwalkers to get here."

Dr. Jackson paled. "The Netherwalkers!?" he glanced at Herobrine again. "Steve, I've seen one of their executions. It was one of the most brutal things I've ever seen in my life. I mean, I know who we're talking about. Legend says that Herobrine has killed gods and can level entire armies with barely a thought. He's powerful and dangerous, but... that's a kid."

Steve scoffed. "No wonder you and Clara are married. You basically had the same reaction when I told you two that. But it's not like you two can do anything about it, though. I already contacted them."

Dr. Jackson turned the color of paper and stared at the ground, thoroughly horrified. He cleared his throat again. "Well... I, er... I'm gonna go..." the last part of his sentence faded into mumbles and he walked away.

Silence blanketed the room. Clara picked at the tip of one of her arrows before saying, "Well, we're late to work, Steve." She stood up. Steve hesitated and glanced at Herobrine. "He'll be fine," Clara reassured him. "Jackson will take good care of him."

Steve hesitated before standing up. "Okay." He chuckled. "Thea is really gonna let us have it."