End

"Mom, I told you already, I'm fine," he replied. "I can't miss any more of school than I already have."

Nicole frowned. She had a funny feeling that there was more to his desire to get home than merely a concern for grades. But Thomas wasn't explaining his motives any more than he was explaining his sudden recovery.

"All right," she agreed with a sigh, as she followed him down the hall to check out of the hospital.

"Are you sure you're alright, Pete?" Mike asked. Peter nodded as he poured himself a glass of tea.

"I'll be okay," he insisted. "Just a little cold." His voice was straining and he sounded hoarse. Mike didn't believe him for a second.

"Pete, I think it's more than that," he told him. An image flashed before his eyes. A hospital. A nurse.

Peter shook his head. "I'll be fine," he repeated. He sat down and began to sip the tea. "You sure you don't want any?"

Mike nodded and brushed him aside with a wave of the hand. "No thanks," he replied, not really paying attention to Peter. Another image flashed before his eyes.

"Mike? You okay?" Peter asked. Mike appeared to be staring into space.

"Huh?" Mike looked at Peter. "Yeah, I'm fine. You're the one that's sick, remember?"

"I'm not sick," Peter insisted.

Mike nodded skeptically.

Thomas rode silently home, staring out the window. After his early morning visitor earlier that day, he'd been confused and thoughtful.

Who was the mysterious lady whose image had appeared to him? Why had her image appeared? And, most importantly, what had she meant when she'd said "the boy is ready"? What boy? Did that mean him? He didn't know any other boys, so it most certainly would mean him. But what was he ready for?

He hadn't told any of this to his mother, who, at that exact moment, was maneuvering the car through downtown traffic. He didn't know how she'd react.

Even more mysterious than the woman's image had been his spontaneous recovery. He'd been feeling gradually improved over the last few weeks, but suddenly this morning he felt perfect. As though a switch had been thrown. The mysterious ailments that had been plauging him the past week and a half had quite suddenly dissapeared as suddenly as they'd shown themselves.

He noticed somewhere in the back of his mind that they had turned off the main road and were heading towards home. He wasn't paying much attention to the scenery, but became lost in his own thoughts, trying to figure out what was happening.

So it happened that Thomas was completely unprepared when his mother suddenly pulled over to the side of the road and turned the car around.

"Mom?" he asked, suddenly sensing danger on the horizon. "What's the matter?"

"We've got to head back to the hospital," she replied, driving back the way they'd come at a faster speed than normal.

"What? Why?"

Nicole glanced at Thomas, and he saw fear in her eyes. "I think the baby's on it's way," she replied.

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