Chapter 8

Sheila was disgusted. For the third month in a row, her bank had screwed up her bank account with missing deposits, senseless deductions, and for some reason her ATM card had stopped working. It seemed like no matter how many times she went to the bank to try and straighten things out, the account was still fucked up. Sheila was totally pissed. In addition to everything else, it was Friday, and she knew the bank would be swamped, but she had to get the account straightened out so at least her ATM card worked.

She parked in the full bank lot and slammed her car door in dismay as she headed for the bank’s lobby. Entering the bank, she saw it was just as she expected; packed. She needed to speak to one of the bank officers, and went to the receptionist. Sheila explained her problems and was told an officer would be right with her; please take a seat. “Be right with me? Yeah, that’s not likely,” she thought.

Sitting there fuming, she decided to kill some time, and she’d visit a couple of people and see what was on their minds. Glancing around the room, she noticed an individual standing just inside the entrance. What struck her as weird was that he was wearing a raincoat, and it wasn’t raining. Probing his mind, she discovered he was armed with a shotgun; along with two other individuals somewhere in the lobby, the three of them were planning to rob the bank.

Frantic, Sheila entered the receptionist’s mind, pushing thoughts about the man by the door who didn’t look right; the woman should set off the silent alarm. It took several tries to get the woman to act, and eventually Sheila watched as the woman reached under her desk and push the alarm.

Sheila observed the man at the door nod toward another man who was in line, also wearing a raincoat. Quickly, she moved her thoughts from person to person in the room until she found the third robber standing towards the rear of the bank. Sheila sensed they’d decided it was time for them to take out their hidden guns from under their coats.

Sheila was able to confuse one of the robbers as to how to extract his weapon; in his mind she made him think his shotgun was stuck inside his coat. Moving her thoughts to the robber standing in line, she had him relax his hands, causing his shotgun to fall to the floor. The clattering of the weapon hitting the floor caught the security guard’s attention, and he stepped forward, drawing his pistol.

The robber by the door saw what was happening and drew his gun, ready to fire at the guard. Sheila realized what was going to happen; the bank guard was in danger, but the guard’s back was turned, and he had no idea there was a person behind him ready to fire. Without really thinking it over, she jumped up and pushed the guard out of the way. Sheila heard the sound of a gun going off and then a second gunshot. She felt a hot searing pain and fell to the ground. Instead of hitting the security guard, the bullet struck Sheila.

Later, she learned one of the bank officers kept a weapon in his desk, and when he saw the shotgun fall and hit the floor, he was moving and shot the robber at the front door right after he’d discharged his weapon. With perfect timing, the bank official had just shot the potential robber when the police started pouring into the bank. The potential robbers were immediately arrested and handcuffed, ambulances were summoned, and Sheila was whisked away to the local emergency department.

Eric heard a bell in his mind, but it didn’t sound like any bell he’d experienced so far from the aliens. This one sounded like an alarm instead of the soft signal used by his alien friends. He was with a customer, and he apologized, telling them he needed to use the restroom. “Cup of coffee in, cup of coffee out.” He quipped as he stood. The customer laughed.

Once he was in the men’s room, he opened his mind and asked who was trying to contact him. “Eric, I am from the Guild.” A voice informed him, “Your six friends have been in contact with me. They explained why things happened at the lake and how you can hear my thoughts.”

“We’ve just received notice; your friend Sheila was shot during a bank robbery. If you go to the local airport, we’ll have a private plane standing by to fly you back to her. Look for an all-lavender plane.”

“Is she still alive?” Eric asked, fearfully.

“Yes, and it looks good for her recovery. Your six friends are with her: they’re feeding her positive thoughts. We’ll make sure she lives, if at all possible. Now go. You need to catch a plane.”

When Eric returned to his office, he told his customer he’d just received a cell phone call about a friend with a gunshot wound. The customer insisted Eric leave at once. Arriving at the airport, he found a police car waiting at the entrance to the parking garage. The officer stepped up to Eric’s car and he put his window down.

“Are you Eric Anderson?”

“Yes.”

“Follow me.”

The officer ran to his squad car, got in, and flipped on his lights. The patrol car drove directly onto the tarmac where he stopped in front of a totally lavender plane. The officer got out of his car, went to Eric’s car and opened his door. “This is your plane. We’ll take care of your car. The bank guard who your lady friend saved is my older brother. We owe you. There’ll be a police car waiting for you at the other airport, and they’ll take you directly to the hospital.

“The last we heard, she was in the operating room, and the doctors were working on fixing the bullet damage. All of us here at Clarkston want you to know we’re pulling for her. She probably saved my brother’s life. Good luck!”

Eric left his car with the door open, ran to the plane and got on board. Even before he was buckled in the plane had started to move. A cute little gal came from the back of the plane and checked if his seatbelt was fastened. Then, she sat down next to him and smiled.

“It’s going to be alright. We all know what happened. Your friend is a hero.”

It seemed like the plane had barely started to roll when he felt it was airborne. The attendant sensed his question; she leaned over and took Eric’s hand. “We’ve emergency priority, and we’re cleared for the fastest route possible. We should arrive in less than an hour.” Stunned, Eric knew on a regular airline it was normally a good two-hour flight. How could they shave an hour off the flight time?

Under an hour later, Eric felt the plane starting to descend. The plane landed and taxied to an open area of the tarmac. A police cruiser pulled up at the aircraft’s door. An officer got out and motioned for him to get in. The door shut, the officer driving turned on the siren, and the car sped off through an open gate. Twice, when the police car came to a traffic signal, a squad car blocked the intersection with an officer waving them through. The car pulled up to the ER door; before Eric got out, he felt a hand on his arm. He turned back to the policeman behind the wheel. “Your friend is a hero. Good luck.”

Eric entered the ER waiting area; there was a nurse waiting for him. “Your friend is out of surgery, and her prognosis is good. You can see her for just a moment in the ICU; she is just coming out from her anesthesia so she will be pretty groggy.”

Seeing Sheila in the bed alarmed him. She was so pale, with lots of wires and tubes connected to her. Reaching out with his mind, he asked, “Sheila, can you hear me?”

“Eric, are you here?” A feeble thought came to him.

“Yes, darling. I’m here along with our six friends. How do you feel?”

“I ache all over, and I’m so tired.”

“Sleep, baby. I’ll stay here with you.”

Both of them heard the other six add, “We’ll all stay with you. Now sleep.”

Eric heard Inuus sharing his thoughts. “As far as we can tell, she’ll be okay. One thing we’ve learned from your species is how important the state of your mind is to your health. A poor mood will impair your healing. Our three, ah, females are feeding Sheila positive, healing thoughts.

“If we had known what she was going to do, we probably wouldn’t have allowed her to step forward and push the bank guard out of the way. She moved so quickly, none of us had a chance to interfere.

“Once we realized what happened, we were able to restrict her blood flow to the damaged area; this gave her a greater chance to live. When she recovers, we need to explore why she’d endanger herself just to save another. I don’t think any of us would have done that. Now, one of us will be with her all the time. Six will be with you, and Voluptas will be with Sheila. Do you have a local place to stay?” Eric realized he was in town without any extra clothing and no place to stay. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”

Eric followed Sheila as was moved into a new room. Once she was settled, he left for a bathroom break and a quick visit to the cafeteria. Upon returning, he found there was a nurse sitting in a chair beside the bed holding Sheila’s hand. When she saw him, she said, “I’m a little worried.”

“Why?” Eric asked a little alarmed.

“Once in a while she says things, like there’s someone else in here with her. I’m not talking to her, but she’s carrying on a conversation with someone. Do you know why she does that?”

“She does that with me. It’s like she still has an imaginary friend. It’s nothing to worry about. If you want to take a break, I’ll stay here with her.” Eric wanted to see if he could contact the aliens and help him get Shiela not to talk to them out loud.

“Thanks. I wanted something to eat after being on the go all day. I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time.”

After the nurse left, Eric opened his mind and tried to find Sheila. When he finally reached her, he was surprised how coherent she was compared to her earlier state. Sheila was speaking with Voluptas.

Eric interrupted, “How come you aren’t asleep?” He asked.

“The pain keeps me awake.” Sheila confided.

Voluptas noticed Eric had joined them, and she told him, “I’m helping her contain the pain in her head so she can sleep. It’ll take me a little time to completely block her pain.”

Eric asked Sheila, “Do ya know where you are?”

“Yeah. I’m in a hospital after I was shot at the bank. I hurt, and Voluptas is here with me.”

“I’m impressed, very good. Do you think you can keep from talking out loud? The nurse that’s been with you is concerned because she hears you communicating with Voluptas.”

The alien piped up, “Oh shit! That’s my fault. I’ve been communicating with her, trying to help her keep the pain to a minimum. I’ll try to keep her from speaking.”

Eric laughed, “What’s this oh shit business? You’re starting to talk like an earth person.” Voluptas snickered.

“Sheila, I have to find a place to stay while I’m in town.” Sheila suggested he contact Anne. “Are you okay with that?”

“I know it’ll be a while before I can take care of you properly. You might as well make her happy.”