Ulterior Motives

Healing Powers

Lemon.

            It was the first thing he remembered. Yellow and the smell of lemon. Then the yellow faded. The next thing was white. All he saw was white, solid and unencumbered. Blinding. Consuming. He wanted to succumb to the white. Then white became light, and the light faded into walls. It was still there, however, the light was still there, only brighter than the walls. Only now it moved upward, only now the walls became dimmer, he could see them, the walls, that's how Oliver knew they were walls. They were dimmer than the light. Still white, but a dimmer solid white than the light. The Light was up, and he couldn't look directly at the light. But he could look down, the walls were down. He could look at those.

The next thing he knew was grey, grey in the walls, and then the grey turned into black. The black became a line. Door frames started forming, they formed out of the black line and eventually that line stretched into the frame of the door, after a few blinks. Once the door formed he could tell he was in a room and the room formed itself and the rest become clear rather rapidly. And suddenly the room was there and in the room were people, shadowy people, but he knew they were people.

"Reagan." It was his initial response to consciousness. "Reagan" He called. "Please. Please answer me! Reagan"

"She's alright." Someone explained but that someone wasn't Reagan. "Oliver. She's alright." He could see someone trying to get him to look to his right. Obligingly, he did. There she was. She looked like she was asleep. Peaceful. It didn't make him hopeful. It made him feel worse. Peaceful meant death. "No!!"

"Sedate him. NOW! Sedate him!"

"Nooo! Reagan, no."             

"She's alive! Oliver! She is alive." but he was out. Then he was back. It was all very confusing. He felt like he was out longer than he was but nothing had changed. The lemon was the same. Even the light was the same, however, it happened instantaneously. He was gone and back in less time than it took him to recognize the color white like the first time he had gained consciousness. He had more important concerns. The second he regained consciousness he thought only of Reagan.

"Oliver." Someone was trying to get him to focus but there was something more important. Something he needed to focus on.

"Reagan." He called to her.

Someone was standing over him, hovering. "Oliver, please, listen to me. Oliver, you're too unstable. Please. Oliver, Please." They pleaded. He knew it was important what they were saying. He knew if he didn't listen something bad would happen. But there was something else important too. Something his life depended on. Reagan.

He forced his eyes open, forced himself to look at her. She was lying there, in the bed next to his own.

"Oliver," Someone tried reaching him again with more urgency before his grief could overwhelm him. "She's alive."

"Alive?"

"Yes, She's alive." She said relieved she was finally reaching him. "but I need you to relax Oliver. We need you to relax before you kill us all. Your powers nearly irrupted. I need you to reign in your emotions or you will kill us all. You'll kill Reagan." That registered. More than anything else she had said. He heard that.

"Ok. I'm trying."  He tried to pull himself up but the woman rested her hand on his arm preventing him from moving.

"Bear with me for a few more minutes. You nearly died as well Oliver. Take it easy. She isn't going anywhere. She's a fast healer. Faster than you would expect."

Oliver laid back down but only for a moment. He got his bearings and when it looked like he wouldn't topple over Madelyn let him sit up. "Take it easy."