Inspiration Point (35 page)

We told the boys about Spencer’s implant.  They
didn’t seem impressed that he would be taking all the credit for our discovery,
but they didn’t complain either.  Dad went on to explain that he would get
all our work on the DNA strain together tonight, and make it look as if it was
Christian’s discovery.  He would take everything over to Spencer tomorrow
including the name of someone he trusts to help him perfect the strain for
human trials. 

It was finally time to take the men home and Emin and
Zeke loaded them into the van.  Dad and I took Mum upstairs to her
room.  As I passed through the house, there were no signs that these men
had been here at all.

I glanced at my watch it was just after nine. 
Once we had Mum settled we went downstairs and made some toast and warm
milk.  Tyler called not long after that, he and Aunt Maive were now on
their way back to Cape.  They went right through Spencer’s house. 
They said there wasn’t much there except some letters, names and numbers which
they were able to get rid of easily.  Tyler went on to say that it was the
deposit box that held the surprises.  Spencer had blood samples from Tyler
as well as the results on the tests of his abilities.  He also found the
names and numbers of all the people he planned to contact to sell his Super
Soldier DNA strain to. 

“Thank goodness Maive remembered about that deposit
box,” Dad commented after I had hung up from Tyler.

“Yeah, I guess never realized that her and Tyler’s
bond was so strong.  I can understand though.  After enduring what
Spencer put them through it makes sense that they became close.”

We were both relieved when the boys returned home
after delivering the men successfully.  Everything had gone as planned,
and all we could do now was wait until tomorrow to see if the implants were a
success.

Emin grabbed his mobile and dialed a number quickly,
by the sound of the conversation I assumed he was calling Tasma.  He
disappeared upstairs quickly after yelling out to Zeke that he would see him
tomorrow.  Dad looked at Zeke and me and made an excuse to go check on Mum
before heading to the lab to prepare the paperwork for Spencer - leaving the
two of us alone.

“You’re not staying the night?” I asked, trying to
hide the disappointment from my voice.

“No, I need to go home.  Besides, I think it’s a
good idea that we all get some rest.  It has been a pretty stressful time
for everyone,” he said as he entwined his fingers with mine.

“So will I see you tomorrow?” I asked.

“How about the next day?” He said softly gazing into
my eyes.  “You will still be tying up a lot of loose ends tomorrow with
Spencer and your family, so maybe it’s best if I let you sort that out
first.” 

He moved towards me, resting his cheek on mine and
whispered in my ear.  “But I will be here bright and early the next day
for our first date.  And I should let you know that I do intend on
spending the whole day with you and some of the evening, if that’s alright.”

“More than alright,” I said as I kissed him. 
Knowing that we were finally going to have our moment made me happier than I
could have imagined. 

I walked him to the door and kissed him again before
he went home promising he would pick me up at ten o’clock for our date.

Tyler

By the time Aunt Maive and I got home it was twelve
thirty, and we were beat.  On our drive home she had a chance to ask a few
more questions about Professor Knox and Hayln.  I was so glad they decided
to allow her still to be part of my life, she was all the family I had. 
After a while the conversation turned awkward when she started asking about my
relationship with Hayln.

“So, now we have put this drama behind us, do you
think you and Hayln will become more….. serious?” She questioned.  If
there was one thing I could always count on, it would be her constant snooping
in my personal life.

“No she has a boyfriend,” I answered, trying not to
let my feelings about her give me away.

“But I saw her kissing you, just over a week ago?” She
persisted sounding a little appalled.

“You saw
me
kissing her.  I was hoping she
might change her mind,” I said nonchalantly.

“Who is it? Do you know him?”

“Yeah, he was there last night,” I confirmed. 
“Zeke Banner – you know, tall dark and handsome, always gazing into her eyes.”

Aunt Maive chuckled at my poor attempt at sarcasm and
left me to my own thoughts for the rest of the drive.  Once we got home, I
went straight to bed feeling a bit anxious about having to visit Ian in the
morning. 

I got up and went for a run before Aunt Maive
woke.  It always felt good to push my abilities and a heart pumping run
always worked.  I ran past Ian’s address, there were no signs of life, but
it was only early.  I pushed myself for another thirty minutes on my run
and then headed home. 

Aunt Maive wasn’t there so I grabbed some breakfast
before having a shower.  I started thinking about Hayln then, and what she
and Zeke might be doing today.  It was going to take some getting used to,
seeing her with him.  I never disliked Zeke before now, but it was getting
easier every day I had to watch them together.  I knew I had to snap out
of it if I wanted to stay friends with her, but I genuinely thought there was
something more between us.

I decided the best thing to do was to get organized to
go see Ian straight away.  It was a good distraction from Hayln besides I
honestly wanted to know if the implants worked.

When I arrived at the house, it looked as deserted as
it did this morning.  I rapped on the door a few times and heard someone
moaning from inside like I had just woken them up.  I knocked again loudly
and then heard someone moving towards the door.  Ian opened the door still
looking groggy, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

“Yeah, can I help you?” He asked a little confused.

“Yes actually, I was after some directions,” I said
assessing his reactions to see if he recognized me.

“Where were you headed,” he said looking at me
squarely without a hint of recognition.

“I was trying to find Porter Avenue, do you know it?”

“Sure do, you’ll have to go back to this corner, and
turn left, go two blocks down and it is the next street on your right.” He said
pointing the way back down his street.  He got the directions right, and
he didn’t recognize me at all.  And from what I could see he didn’t have
any side effects either.

“Thank you,” I said shaking his hand.  “I hope I
didn’t wake you.”

“It’s fine actually, I have a lot things I want to get
started on today.  I’ve just got a feeling that it’s going to be a really
good day – you know what I mean?.”

“Yeah, I think I do,” I said as I started to
leave.  “Thanks again.”

I headed in the direction Ian had pointed me in and
couldn’t help but smile.

She did it.

Ethan

I had the best night’s sleep I'd had in over a
week.  Finally, our home was safe, and today I had to ensure my family was
safe.

I went downstairs and made breakfast for two and then
headed back up to Evelyn’s room.  She was still sleeping peacefully when I
entered.  Watching her sleep like this reminded me of before we were
married.  I used to lay awake and watch her sleep all the time, it always
managed to relax me.  These past few days have been some of the most
stressful in my life, but also the most hopeful.  Seeing that my family
might have a chance to be happy again, that I could make up for my past
mistakes is more than I ever dare hope for.

I moved to her side to look at her wound.  It
looked perfect, and I breathed a little sigh of relief, it easily could have
been an entirely different story if Hayln hadn’t acted so quickly.

“Do I smell eggs?” She whispered with her eyes still
closed.

“Scrambled with cheese, just the way you like,” I said
as her eyes fluttered open for the first time today.  I helped her sit up putting
extra pillows behind her back.  I could tell she didn’t want me to fuss
over her, but she knew better than to argue with me.  I grabbed our
breakfast and sat on the bed with her to eat.

She ate while I went over the events she missed from
last night and what we had planned for today.  She was tremendously
relieved to hear that everything had gone as planned.

“So Dr Knox, have I healed enough that I can go home
today?” She asked light heartedly.

“If you would like to, I am sure you are more than
capable of keeping an eye on your wound.  Of course you are always welcome
to stay here as long as you like.”

A nervous smile spread across her face as she lightly
bit her lip.  She may not be Hayln’s biological mother, but when she
smiled like that, I could see how truly alike they actually were. 

“It’s time for Emin, and I to go home.  I have
been dreaming about my own bed for days, and I’m desperate for some different
clothes.”

“Of course,” I said, as I hesitated not knowing
whether to continue.  “It’s just I have enjoyed having you here, having
our family together again.”

“I have too Ethan,” she said as she reached out to
hold my hand.  “I want things to be different from before.  I have a
lot of things to make up for with Hayln.”

“Me too,” I smiled at her.

“I would like to try to make things better with you
too Ethan.  I can’t promise you anything, but I know I would like to try.”

“I would like that too,” I said as I took her
plate. 

“Are you leaving already?” She said sounding a little
disappointed.

“Yes, I have to go to the hotel were Davis was staying
before I check on Spencer.  Will you still be here when I get back?”

“I am not sure, but if I’m gone will you call me later
to let me know how things went?”

“Of course.”  I leant forward and kissed her
lightly on the lips, trying to etch the moment in my memory forever.  I
knew I had caught her off guard, but I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass
me by.  I wasn’t sure I would ever have another one.  I smiled at her
as I left the room with the tray and went downstairs.

I quickly went down to the lab to get the paperwork I
had prepared the night before.  Everything was ready for Spencer to take
to my contact at the Federal Health Centre.  That was if everything went
as Hayln had planned.  Of course that is what I hoped for too, but I was
also ready with a Plan B if it was required.  I wouldn’t ever let that man
hurt any of my family again, which is why I kept Spencer’s gun.  I have
never considered hurting anyone, let alone killing someone.  But if Hayln’s
plan didn’t work, I knew Spencer wouldn’t give up until he destroyed us, and
that wasn’t an option I could live with.

I tucked the gun behind me into my belt and pulled my
shirt over to cover it.  I grabbed the paperwork and headed to the
car.  As I pulled out of the drive my mobile rang – it was Tyler.

“Is everything alright Tyler?” I said as I answered
the phone.

“Yeah, hi Professor everything’s great,” he said
clearly excited.

“You went to see Ian then?” I assumed.

“Yeah I did.  He had no clue who I was Professor,
I mean none at all.  I asked him for directions and chatted for a minute,
but there was no recognition.”

“How did he look to you?” I asked, trying to find out
as much as I could.

“I guess he seemed a little groggy at first, but I
think I woke him up.  After that he seemed normal except.... happy.”

“Happy?” I said a little confused.

“Yeah, as if he was ready to take on the world or
something, you know? Really positive.  She did it Professor – Hayln
actually did it.”

“Sure sounds like it Tyler,” I said a little
relieved.  “I’m on my way to see Davis and Spencer now so I will talk to
you later alright.”

“Yeah sure Professor, see ya.”

I hung up the phone thankful for the news that Ian’s
implant worked.  Of course his was the easiest of the three, but I was
still hopeful.  I could feel the metal of the gun pressing against my back
as I got closer to the hotel.  I prayed that I wouldn’t have to use it
today.

I pulled into the visitor’s car park when I
arrived.  The manager saw me drive in, and came over to meet me just
outside my car.  He explained that Davis had left about an hour ago.

“Did he ask how long he had been here?” I questioned.

“No Sir, he went to pay his account, but I told him
he'd already fixed it up a few days ago.  He apologized if his behavior
had been erratic over the past few days and said he was leaving to go visit his
sister.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized Davis’s
implant had also worked.  I thanked the manager for his help and discretion
and gave him another healthy tip for his trouble.  As I started the car, I
could only hope that Spencer’s procedure had been as successful.  I turned
onto the highway and made my way to Christian’s house.  All looked normal
as I pulled into the drive.  I checked the gun before getting out of the
car with my paperwork, and walked towards the house.  I rang the bell, and
it didn’t take long before I heard movement inside.  Spencer opened the
door and welcomed me with a friendly smile.