Page 50 of Matthew

“The bad man is gone, Mattie.” Kom squatted in front of him, cradling his jaw in his big, warm hands. “He’s gone, and he won’t come back.”

“Oh. Gone? Good. Monster?”

“No. He’s in a hospital.”

“You verified his father’s whereabouts?” someone asked. Retel. Dr. Retel.

“Yeah. The uncle wasn’t lying. Sven Larsen’s in bad shape. They did transfer him to a facility in Galactic Council space as a last-ditch effort for a life-saving therapy. He probably won’t live through the month, even if Matt does donate the stem cells, which aren’t guaranteed to be a match in any case.”

“No monster. Destroy us all.” Matt clung to Kom. “Kill you.”

“Mattie, he’s in no shape to hurt anyone. He’s dying.”

The monster was dying? Matt blinked at him. “Dying?”

“Yes.”

“My father is dying?” The world re-knit itself, became whole. Matt looked at his doctors and clan. He recognized them. He understood they were in a hospital. He knew everything. “But…but that’s impossible.”

Monsters never died. Did they?

* * * *

Masok and Avir huddled with Dr. Retel outside Matt’s hospital room after Avir had heard from his lawyer. Kom and Dr. Sanderson remained in the room with Matt, who was shaken but himself.

“Knowing his uncle’s been escorted off the planet and warned he’ll serve a prison sentence if he returns will help immensely,” Avir said. Relief, worry, and anger continued to trade places on his handsome features.

Masok felt only a sense of reprieve. “Matt’s already better. This will cement it.”

“I wouldn’t celebrate yet,” Retel sighed. “I asked him what he saw when his uncle showed up. He described to me a man who radiated evil. When I dug in, he described Valter as tall, broad shouldered, huge. Barely smaller than yourselves, which is doesn’t resemble the man you told me about in the slightest.”

“No, not at all.” Masok was mystified. “He was small. Taller than Matt, but I’d have put him at five-feet-nine?”

“And rail-thin.” Avir appeared just as confused. “He appeared to be in his senior years.”

“Do you have a picture, by any chance?”

Avir activated his com. “My lawyer sent a copy of Valter’s intake shots, so if he manages to somehow get on Kalquor again, I can share it with authorities. Here.”

Masok’s lip curled at the sight of the awful man. Valter’s expression was belligerent. The hard light in his gaze and the lines of what the Imdiko took to be hatred etched in his worn face spurred the need to keep him from Matt at all costs.

“He definitely isn’t the man Matt described,” Retel said. “Eye color, some distinguishing details, yes, but overall, the uncle he sees and the real man are quite different.”

“What does it mean?” Masok asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer. He was desperate to hear Matt was recovered and whole. Retel wasn’t giving him what he needed.

“It means Matt is having a hard time separating reality from his fears. He views Valter as bigger and more threatening than he actually is.” Retel glanced in the room as Matt, Kom, and Sanderson laughed together.

The happy sound and Matt’s smile tugged at Masok’s heart. They had to fix this for him. “What do we do?”

“Let’s show him these pictures of his uncle and hope we can convince him to recognize what’s really there instead of what he’s lived with in his head all these years. If he can do so, then he’ll need to confront his worst fear. He’ll have to visit his father and discover he isn’t as powerful as he believes.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Masok rounded on Retel. “You want him to go to his father? When the mere sight of his uncle almost caused a total mental breakdown?”

“He has to if he’s to put the past behind him.”

“The man’s about to die. Why can’t that happen first? He can view the body when it’s over. Won’t it be enough?”

“Maybe, maybe not. If Matt doesn’t confront Sven, perhaps tell him his truth, it could be he never finds real closure. Besides, whether or not to attempt to save Sven’s life should be Matt’s decision, shouldn’t it?”

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