Now, he was sitting in the very library he’d visited many times before, trying to help this wonderful family.
“Hezekiah, you’re going to go blind,” smiled Kate. “We’ll figure this out.”
“Oh, I know, Miss Kate.”
“Please, just Kate.”
“Yes, of course,” he smiled. “I know that we’ll figure this out. Your medical team is amazing. I’ve watched them for days now. I’m trying to remember the circumstances of something I saw many times while I was alive. It seems my memories are returning quickly but not quickly enough.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it all out. Come on. We’ve made a wonderful lunch today with some of the things you mentioned are your favorites.”
“For me?” he gasped. “B-but why?”
“Why? Because you’re family now, Hezekiah. It might not feel as though you are but we see you that way. You went without things for so long, we want to give you all the things you missed.”
“Kate? Will you give me a moment?”
“Of course. Are you alright?” she asked.
“Yes. It’s just that I believe I’m going to cry and would prefer to not do it in front of a woman.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I think we need to try something radical,” said Kennedy staring at the others around the conference table.
“Radical? Like how radical are we talking?” asked Ajei.
“The pond.”
“We can’t,” said Jane shaking her head. “We just can’t. If that kind of information got out, we’d have a real problem on our hands.”
“I’m not talking about people swimming in the pond. I’m talking about a small taste of the water. That’s it. We give them ibuprofen with a small cup of water from the pond. It might at least prevent them from dying,” she said hopefully.
They all looked at one another, then back at Claudette and Gabriel who were standing in the doorway.
“Well? What do you think?” asked Riley. “Will it work?”
“It might,” said Gabriel, sighing next to his sister. “But we can’t be sure. If it does work, what will you tell everyone?”
“I have no clue,” said Kennedy. “I was going to say something dramatic like ‘it worked its course’ or ‘it’s a miracle’ but that all seems like bullshit I don’t want to spread.”
The others chuckled realizing that she was joking but not. They would have to make it simple and without any fanfare around a drug given to them or any special care.
“How many do we have in the hospital?” asked Claudette.
“Forty-six,” said Hezekiah. “I just saw the worst of them before I came here to check on them for you.”
“Forty-six,” muttered Claudette.
She paced around the room and then looked at the medical professionals. They would be the ones that had the medical answers but when it came to the pond, none of them really had an answer as to why it worked, or how it worked.
“I think it’s worth a try, sis,” said Gabriel.
She looked at her younger brother, although now he was an old man, just like she was an old woman. They didn’t look it but that was the reality.
“Alright. It’s worth a try to save forty-six souls. Just a small amount, right?” she asked Kennedy.
“An ounce each. That’s it.”
