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“All right. You want to know about Nigel. I’ll tell you about Nigel. He’s come a long way since that so-called accident, Jon. Heck, he’s become everything a mother could ever hope for. Do you know what the first thing he showed me was? He showed me how he could listen to six radios tuned into different talk shows and not miss a single word any of them said. And then he turned the radios off and said he could still hear them talking.”
More tears welled in her eyes, but she kept smiling.
“Then he spoke in different languages. German. Chinese. Japanese. Any language. I kept telling myself that it was okay. He was always a smart kid. I thought maybe he got smarter from being electrocuted. But it got worse. Soon, he had an answer for everything. And if I or anyone else didn’t agree with him, he got very upset.”
Her voice cracked, and several tears rolled down her cheeks, but she continued, keeping her composure.
“I tried to help him, Jon. But I didn’t know what to do anymore. Then, one day– He said he loved me and was doing everything for me. And then, he kissed me– like he wanted me.”
No!
Jon closed his eyes tight and rubbed his eyebrows. He didn’t want to hear anymore. The destructive force that had seared his subconscious was coming back. He could feel it getting closer and closer, like an unseen freight train roaring toward him on a moonless night. Then it hit him.
He was sitting on the floor of a dark room with nothing but black walls and a door– A black rectangle with bright blue light outlining its frame. He had been there for the longest time, staring at the door. The blue light was coming from something so powerful and destructive that he swore he would remain where he was for all eternity rather than open the door and let it in.
Beverly touched his face.
“Jon. Please– Tell me Lex didn’t do the same thing to you. Please.”
He hugged her tightly with his eyes still closed.
“Lex tried to get into my head!”
The door was still there. The force behind it was pounding to get into where he was– Pounding, again and again.
“She tried to get in and take control, but I wouldn’t let her. I wouldn’t let her!”
The pounding grew louder and louder.
“And I won’t! I won’t! I love you too much!”
The pounding stopped, and he opened his eyes.
He was back in the hospital room– embracing his love, and the only thing pounding was his heart.
He stroked Beverly's hair and kissed her head.
“I’m so sorry. God, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.”
Beverly pulled away from him.
“No, Jon. It’s not your fault.”
“But I–”
“No! I don’t want to hear it!”
It was his fault. He created Lex, wrote her BASIC program, and took Nigel to the control room. None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for him.
Beverly sniffed.
“You’re back now, Jon. You have to understand; that’s all that matters.”
― Shawn Corey