Emmaline listened to the beeping of the machine that was connected to her dad as she sat in the chair by the bed. She looked at the unconscious form of her father and tried not to freak out. Just a few hours earlier he’d been healthy, strong, and full of life. Now… well, she didn’t know what was going on exactly. All she knew was that something wasn’t right.

  She and Mom had gotten to the hospital nearly forty-five minutes after the ambulance had brought him here. So they had time to stabilize him and at least start running tests and stuff, but then Doc Williams the family physician had arrived twenty minutes after she and Mom had, and since then, mom and Doctor Williams had been talking in hushed tones out in the hallway. Emmaline wished she knew what they were saying.

  She had known Doc Williams since she was born. In fact, he had delivered her at home—in Mom and Dad’s bedroom to be exact. He seemed to always be there for any member of the family, whether they needed a simple checkup or an emergency trip to the ER. Not that any of the family was sick much or had many hospital stays, but Doc Williams had always been a permanent fixture in the Layton health concerns, and it was now dawning on Emmaline that perhaps there had been a good reason for it.

  Emmaline looked over to her father again, trying to see if there was anything that seemed strange or odd about him. Something that might be off or different. She had thought to check herself in the bathroom mirror when she’d first got to the hospital and stopped for a quick pee, but she had been too afraid to look even though she knew what she’d find there. She had grown to know her face well over the years.

  Nope. There was nothing on the outside that looked any different from any other human she had seen, but maybe there were signs on the inside. Maybe there was enough of a tell that Dad and Mom had found a doctor who agreed to be the family’s exclusive physician and to keep their secret. Or maybe her imagination was running away with her.

  Though she knew enough to understand that it wasn’t exactly normal for family physicians to rush to the ER every time a member of a family needed emergency care. But then, with her dad becoming somewhat of a celebrity because of the huge success of his tech company, it had made their lives not exactly normal. She had no reason to question the ever-ready presence of Doc Williams until today.

  The door to the hospital room slid open with a quiet hiss, and Emmaline straightened in her chair. Her mother entered first, her face drawn and pale, with Doc Williams following close behind. The doctor’s expression was unreadable, professional, but Emmaline caught the way his eyes darted quickly to the various monitors before settling on her.

  “How’s he doing, Em?” her mother asked, coming to stand beside her. She placed a hand on Emmaline’s shoulder, squeezing gently.

  “The same, I think. Nothing’s changed since you left.” Emmaline fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “What’s wrong with him? What aren’t you telling me?”

  Her mother and Doc Williams exchanged a look that sent a chill down Emmaline’s spine. It was the kind of look adults shared when they were deciding how much truth a child could handle.

  “We aren’t sure exactly.” Mom said with a frown.

  “Emmaline,” Doc Williams said, pulling up another chair beside her. “Your brother reported that your father was having a stroke. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “May I see the text he sent?”

  Emmaline blinked at the doctor for a moment as she tried to remember where her phone was, which was a weird feeling. She always had her phone on her and hadn’t ever gone so long without texting, playing a game, watching YouTube, or doom-scrolling through her social accounts.

  “Is it in your purse?” Mom said gently, trying to help her out.

  Emmaline looked down. Her hot-pink purse was on the floor at her feet. She hadn’t even remembered bringing it up here.

  “Oh yeah,” Em said as she reached down to pick it up, and then quickly found her phone.

  She had put it on silent in the car because she’d been getting so many texts and notifications and she simply couldn’t deal with people right now. Emmaline wasn’t surprised to find it full of texts, notifications, and even a phone call and voicemail from Michael’s girlfriend.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Emmaline stared at Anna’s number for a moment, wondering if she was calling about Michael. Anna was probably wondering why she couldn’t get ahold of him. Her brother was nearly as attached to his phone as Em. It would be weird that he wasn’t answering and most likely the reason Anna was trying to reach out to her. Yeah, that was definitely a conversation she wasn’t interested in having right now. Emmaline pulled Michael’s last text up and showed it to Williams.

  The doctor scrunched up his nose at the text as if he was having trouble reading it. He probably was. It seemed many older people didn’t understand the texting slang as much as the younger generations.

  Dads hurt, idk what happened, maybe a stroke, call 911 so they can come over to the farm, bye luv u 4ever

  “What’s the idk?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Gotcha.” He looked over the text one more time and then handed the phone back to her. “I wish he’d given more information about why he thought it was a stroke. Though some of the symptoms do appear stroke-like.”

  “You don’t think it was a stroke? Then what’s wrong with him?” Emmaline asked as she gave her dad a quick look just to make sure nothing had changed in the minute she’d given her attention to the doctor.

  “I’m not sure. We are still waiting for the blood work, but the initial CT scan came back negative for any blockages or hemorrhaging. But considering his origins, then this could be something else?” The doctor looked to Mom as if he was hoping she would fill in what he didn’t know. It also confirmed that Emmaline suspected Doc Williams knew about their Ethian heritage.

  She shrugged. “My specialty was agriculture, not the body. We had Caretakers and Remakers to care for our health, so not much thought had to be put toward it, especially since most diseases and illnesses had been eradicated for quite some time in Ethia.”

  Well, that was cool. Though it didn’t help them right now. “So then?” Em asked, trying to get some sort of answer as to why her dad was hooked up to the machines and lying unconscious.

  “So we wait and see.” Doc Williams spoke up. “It’s going to take a little bit more to get the blood work back. I’m having his blood expedited to my lab, so that’s adding extra time, but important to keep everything discrete. So far, it looks like his vital signs are coming back into normal range. His blood pressure and heart rate were quite high when he first came in, so we want to keep monitoring that. I will also take a more detailed look at the CT scan. I might go ahead and order an MRI too just to be sure we’re not missing anything.” He looked back at Mom as he said that last one.

  She nodded her head in a vigorous yes.

  “Then I’ll see if we can get the MRI scheduled. As I understand, they are backed up, but I will try and get him in as soon as possible.”

  “Thank you, Jeff,” Mom said.

  The Doc stood up and gave Mom a hopeful grin. “We will figure this out, Cassandra. Arnold is strong and has been at the peak of health ever since I’ve known him. That will go a long way toward getting him back on his feet. I just wish there were something I could do about Michael.”

  Mom nodded, but there were tears glistening in her eyes.

  Emmaline’s stomach clenched at the mention of her brother’s name. Of course, that was the real emergency, wasn’t it? Michael was gone, taken by the Ethians. Her father was here, unconscious but at least still with them. Michael was... somewhere else entirely.

  “Do you think he will be back?” Emmaline ventured the question she was sure was on all their minds.

  Her mother’s face tightened, the lines around her eyes deepening. “I don’t know.”

  Doc Williams looked down to the floor with a frown on his face and clearly not sure what to say, though he was probably as much in the dark as Emmaline was on that score. How much had her mother told him, anyway? A thought occurred to her as she remembered something the doctor had said, even though she already suspected the answer to her question.

  “Why did you send Dad’s blood to your lab? Why not have them test it here at the hospital?”

  Williams looked at her mom as if seeking permission. She nodded, and the doctor finally spoke. “Ethian blood has different markers than those here on Earth do. It would come up on even a standard blood test. It’s why your parents have me on retainer just for these sorts of situations.”

  “Oh, okay,” Emmaline nodded, and then another question popped into her head. “So differences won’t show up in the medical scans?”

  Doc Williams hesitated, his brow furrowing as he considered how to explain something so complex to a fourteen-year-old girl. “The scans will show the same basic anatomy as a typical human. Ethians are biologically similar enough to blend in, especially in external examinations. There are subtle differences internally, but not enough that a regular tech operating the machines will catch. As usual, I’ll make sure the records are only accessible by me and your family as an extra precaution.”

  She had other questions about what those different markers were and the other subtle differences he talked about, but Emmaline decided that today wasn’t the best day for that kind of conversation.

  “Well, I’m going to check on those test results and see about getting the MRI scheduled. I will be back in a bit.” The doctor gave a reassuring pat on Mom’s shoulder before he headed for the door.

  A few long moments passed before Emmaline spoke up again. “Dad is going to be okay though, right?”

  Her mother turned and pulled Emmaline into a side hug as they both stood there looking down at the unconscious figure in the bed hooked up to the beeping monitor. “I hope, kiddo. I really do.”

  Emmaline swallowed the large lump that had gotten stuck in her throat during the conversation with the doctor. She hoped so too, because she didn’t know what she would do with her dad and brother both being gone. The thought was too frightening to entertain, so she nestled into her mother’s embrace and focused on anything other than the thing she dreaded.