Short Story Excerpt: The Hero's Journey - Ch6

Overview: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/short-story-the-hero-s-journey-the-others-pt-2

Previous: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/short-story-excerpt-the-hero-s-journey-ch4-5

Content warning: while I actually did research and portray Sadie's illness in a way I hope is more respectful, Sadie is rather distressed during this scene

Chapter Six: Tests, Allies, and Enemies

“You see this?” Dr. Jackson asked, pointing at a highlighted area of the brain scan. “This is Broca’s area. It has a significant amount of damage to it.”

“What does that mean for Sadie?” Jason asked.

“It means she’ll have trouble producing words,” said Dr. Jackson. “She can think coherently, and her comprehension is overall intact, but there will be some struggle, so keep things simple for her.”

Jason nodded, pushing himself away from the wall. “Okay, Sadie. Come on.” She pushed herself out of the chair she was in and scurried to Jason’s side. Jason grabbed a clipboard, paper, pencil, and tape recorder off the desk against the wall and led Sadie out of the med-bay and out in the hallway. He opened the door to what was now Sadie’s quarters and allowed her to walk in first. “There’s a lamp by the bedside for minimum light,” Jason explained. “We already put your clothes in the dresser.”

Sadie switched on the lamp and hopped onto the bed, dangling her legs off the end. Jason closed the door and crossed the room to sit next to her. “Okay, Sadie. I’m going to ask you a few questions. You can tell me to stop at any time, okay?” Sadie nodded. Jason took a breath and started the tape recorder. “Let’s start with easy ones. What’s your name?”

“Sadie. Miller.”

Jason checked the box on the paper. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

Jason went through the basics with Sadie, and she answered all of them coherently, though not without hesitation. “Okay, now here come the harder questions. Are you ready?”

Sadie nodded.

“Do you remember the date you went to the Others’ mothership?” Sadie nodded again. “What was it?”

Sadie took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “April… twen-twenty-sev-enth.”

That matched the day they saw her. “Why did you go into the Others’ mothership?”

Sadie closed her eyes tighter, straining to find an answer.

“It’s okay,” Jason soothed. “I’ll give you time to think; there’s no rush. Okay, different question. What happened on April 27th?”

Sadie’s brows knotted together. “I…I had…my laptop…uh, ho-hooked up…” She inhaled, pressing her fingers against her temple. “Uh, it…was connected…to…to…”

“What was your laptop connected to?”

“It…was…connected to…” she moaned.

“Alright, alright,” Jason said. “It doesn’t matter. Some tech-thing, right?” She nodded. “Okay. What happened next?”

“I went…to…the…Others’…”

“Mothership?”

“Yes.”

“How did you get in?”

Sadie started crying.

“Sadie, it’s okay, how did you get in?”

Sadie pressed her hands to her face. “Jason Grayson!”

“I’m here,” Jason said, gently grabbing her wrists. “How did you get in?”

“Jason Grayson!” she wailed.

“Sadie!” Jason lowered her hands from her face. “Look at me!” she shook her head, her eyes pinched shut. “Sadie, look at me! Look at me!” She opened her eyes, still sniffling. “I know you’re frustrated, I know you’re scared, but you’re gonna have to work with me and keep it together. Okay?” She shook her head. “Sadie, you have to keep it together, you have to speak to me.

“I…can’t,” she choked.

There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Jason said, letting go of Sadie. When the door open, Jason immediately went to his feet upon sight. “Mr. Starling.”

Sadie yelped and flailed toward her pillow, tossing it at the man, who quickly stepped out of the way, shutting the door in the process.

“Whoa! Whoa! Sadie!” Jason held Sadie back as she tried to launch herself off the bed. She started yelling at the man. She stumbled over her words, but she didn’t seem to care, and though she wasn’t making much sense, it was clear she was angry and scared. “Sadie! Shh, it’s okay. This is just Mr. Starling. He’s the head of this Rebel base. He’s fine. He’s a friend.” Sadie stopped screaming but was breathing heavily. She looked at Jason, seeming unsure by his statement, but he gave her a smile and a nod, so she just sunk back down onto the mattress, giving Mr. Starling the stink-eye. Jason turned back to Mr. Starling, trying to act natural. “Sorry about that, sir. It’s nothing personal; she threw a lamp at me when I first met her.”

“No offense taken,” said Mr. Starling. He turned to Jason. “Mr. Grayson, how are things going with Miss Miller?”

“We haven’t gotten very far yet, sir,” Jason answered. “We only just now started.”

“Get it done, Grayson,” said Mr. Starling. “Ever since we lost your sister, she’s our only hope in defeating the Others.”

Jason felt his body go stiff as Mr. Starling left the room.

“Your sister…what happened?” Sadie asked.

Jason turned to face Sadie, who was curled up against the wall, hugging Jason’s clipboard against her chest. “She died ten years ago.” He sat back on the bed. “Alright, let’s get back to the questions. Can I have my clipboard back?”

Sadie handed over the clipboard and the pen—the latter of which Jason only just now realized she was holding. “Okay, so—“ Jason cut himself off, staring at the paper. Sadie had scribbled numbers all over it. But Jason wasn’t upset; he looked up at the girl. “Sadie, is this what you were trying to do?” Sadie nodded. Jason looked at the code written all over the paper. He flipped it over to see more on the back. He quickly tapped his comm. “Lincoln!”

After a moment, “Yes, Jason?”

“Meet me in the briefing room,” Jason said as he stood up to exit the room. “Get the hackers and field fighters. We just got a lead.” He turned off the comm as he swung open the door. He stopped halfway through the threshold and turned back to Sadie. “Stay here. There are some books on the shelf on the other end of the room to keep you busy.” Sadie nodded and Jason raced into the hallway toward the briefing room.

Actually basing Sadie's condition off Broca's aphasia made this scene easier, but I'm sorry that she had to be caused distress. I think Sadie latching on to Jason's full name due to how easy it is for her to say is much better than her calling everyone by a cutsy nickname. And Jason's sister is set up in a more natural way than last time, so that's also nice! And the same goes for Starling.

Freshmen Me and Senior Me are obviously very different people, but I think the fact that this isn't written in script form is also helpful.

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