Part Thirty-Two

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Orgon Aldrich, the Fort

Location: The Hospital

"I hope you can forgive me for the other day," she started, her hands folded rigidly in front of her,  giving her an air of professionalism that Orgon wanted to snort at.  "I... well, I think you'll come to understand once I explain."

Orgon cocked one eyebrow. How could Catherine even begin to explain her unprompted, vile reaction from their previous meeting? She had collapsed, then upon waking up, consequently screamed him bloody murder out of her room. 

Realizing that Orgon was in no mood to offer a pleasant response, Catherine cleared her throat and began. "You... Your brother. The youngest," she paused to inhale deeply, like the rest of the sentence was smoke that she needed to breath in. "Hyde."

"Yes. Hyde. What of it? Have you decided to spare him?"

She let out a gasp, then tried to disguise it with a muddled cough. It was all very annoying. Orgon was expecting an apology, not more of his mother's nonsense. She took another long breath in.

"Orgon, I left the Fort after the birth of my fourth son. You remember, of course. Complications arose with my pregnancy because of my age. The delivery was haphazard and not in the hospital. It was in a guest chamber. The midwife was there, along with one of your father's close advisors," she paused. Another breath. 

"I collapsed shortly after he was born. When I woke up, it was hours later. Your father sat next to me. He told me we had lost the baby. I left the Fort immediately."

Orgon's mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"Up until you spoke his name, I was under the impression I only had three living Aldrich sons."

He was silent for a while. This news was supposed to be a relief. It was supposed to provide the reason for why Catherine left her youngest son minutes after his birth. It was supposed to make Orgon feel better, he knew that. But for some reason, it caused a pain in his chest that he couldn't swallow back no matter how many times he tried.

Eventually, Orgon muttered a curse. "So the Warden hid Hyde's existence, even from you? I get that he has to hide him from the public eye... but from his own mother?"

She shook her head. The bottom of her eyelids drooped with tears. "I'm not sure what he was going to do with the baby. Perhaps he was going to kill him. I don't know. All I know is that baby was supposed to die, but I left. And something... god bless. Something in your father kept him from killing the poor thing."


Biondi, Region of Lufe

Location: The Hospital


Beo let out a deep breath. "I'll see you later then?" Bones had just stormed by him in a rush to Catherine's office. 

"Yeah, yeah," Bones slowed his hot pursuit. He was walking backward now, in the direction of Catherine's office. "Later. Yes. Later. " He turned to leave, but Beo found himself anxiously calling back out to him.

"And you're sure I can't help? I'm doing nothing all day, I could definitely--"

"No, no," Bones cut him off. "Let someone else do the work for a change, Beo. Get some rest. I'll see you later." He offered his bunkmate a small smile before turning around again and continuing his brisk walk towards their leader's office. 

Beo fought the urge to scream. He backed himself up against the stone wall of the Hospital hallway, slamming his eyes shut. He counted slowly to ten inside his head. He wanted to be mad at Bones. He wanted to be mad at Catherine. A burning frustration knawed on his chest. He desperately wanted someone to blame. 

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