Scars Of Time

The Stage Is Set

Present Day

The Lifeboat landed with a clank; whirring slowly and stopped as the gust of air dissipated in the bunker. The hatch to the machine opened and the team within slowly emerged.

"What happened?" Agent Christopher asked as she eyed each member upon their descent.

Lucy shook her head, seemingly confused. "I don't know if we have an easy explanation for what just happened."

Agent Christopher glanced about the team, waiting for someone to explain. Lucy tried her best to catch Agent Christopher up to speed on everything that had happened on the mission. When she finished, it seemed that Agent Christopher had fully understood the confusion that Lucy had when they returned. Denise had ordered the team to get some rest while they could.

As the team went their own directions, Flynn stopped by the infirmary to check in with Tenley.

The door to the infirmary had been left open, so Flynn entered without knocking. His eyes landed on Tenley, who was sitting at her small table, typing madly away on her laptop. He stood there in silence for a moment, watching as she was deep in focus.

Her dark eyes drifted up from her screen and landed on him. She smiled. "Hey..."

"Hey," he replied with a small smile. "I came to see how you're doing."

She closed the laptop. "I'm sore, but I'm hanging in there." She studied him for a moment. "How'd it go?"

He shrugged. "As well as it could, I suppose."

She narrowed her eyes at him in question. "Do I dare ask what that means?"

He shook his head. "Nothing of great consequence happened there," he reassured her.

She nodded. "That's good."

An awkward silence fell upon the room as they stared at each other. Flynn finally turned towards the door. "I should get cleaned up."

Tenley smiled at him one more time as he took his leave from the room. Once he was out of the room, she opened the laptop again.

She had gotten several emails from Tim, most of which had been filling her in on his recent medical endeavors overseas. He had asked her for her expertise in some areas, which she willingly helped him with. So far, all of his emails had been strictly professional.

In this last email, however, he had been asking her medical questions that she knew had nothing to do with his professional life. When she asked him why he was asking her questions about dementia and other mental diseases, he had struggled to answer.

It turned out that Tim's mother had been suffering from some form of dementia. There were so many different levels of dementia that it was hard to pinpoint which his mother was experiencing. He had been quite vague in his history. Out of respect, Tenley didn't push him into sharing.

He did state that he had placed her into a hospice home, but his mother continued to escape. They'd find her in the oddest places, and he was being pulled in to help bring her back. Tenley discovered that he was living in a city near the bunker so he could continue to help with his mother.

She helped him as best as she could, providing answers to his questions. She knew that he had a very basic understanding of medicine, and seemed desperate for help. She explained that he could email her any time and she'd try her best to offer solutions to his situation.

Tenley was in the middle of replying when Flynn had returned, halting her thoughts. She had reread what she was typing before remembering where she was. Once her email had been completed, she hit send.