Uranium Bender VIII(Finale)
I shut my eyes, and grimaced.
"AH!"
The syringe pressed down all the way and I plopped on the ground, but then another collapse vibrated the floor.
I could still smell the thick summer air in the house, I could still feel my body twitch. How long before the sedative kicks in?
My eyelids didn't feel the slightest bit heavy, in fact, I could open them, and I found myself face-to-face with an unconscious Marshall.
Standing in front of me was Dr. Faulkner with his head buried in his hands. His upper body convulsing. Tears spilled out through the cracks of his fingers.
"I-I juh-juh-just couldn't do it, I-I just couldn't bring myself t-t-to do it," Dr. Faulkner removed his hands from his face and freed Helen and Benji from being tied down.
After removing the cloth that was wrapped around Helen's mouth, she glared at him with her brow slanted, brooding with fury. "Every part of me wants to strangle you," she scoffed. "But my brother needs my help," Helen and Benji raced over to Ray's side.
"Just let me know if there's anything I can do," Dr. Faulkner said.
"We need to get Ray to the hospital, this isn't looking good!"
"Want me to call an ambulance?" Dr. Faulkner said.
"We don't have time to wait, help me carry him to the car and I'll drive him," Helen rubbed her forehead. "I can't believe I'm trusting you, after everything you've done and let happen but," Helen turned to me as I pulled myself up from the floor. "Bradley, if he tries anything, you have my full permission to destroy him and my whole house, I need to take care of Ray, we're running out of time."
"Alright," I muttered then whistled for Benji to heel by my side, but we had to move because he wouldn't stop growling at Marshall's unconscious body.
"Don't worry, I'm going to take Marshall and we're going to drive back. I'm going to leave Bradley alone, I just want to explain things for a moment," Dr. Faulkner said as he started to carry out Ray's legs with Helen holding his arms.
When Dr. Faulkner came back inside the house, Benji was bearing his fangs but I scratched the side of his neck to make him relax.
"Saul is going to be okay, I only gave him a sedative, he should be up in a few hours," Dr. Faulkner kept his gaze at the ground as he stood close by the door. "I'm sorry, for everything you've been through. I wanted to explain why I had the change of heart…
"When I saw the small amount of uranium damage done to Marshall, it was like someone grabbed me by the shoulders and sucker-punched me. I realized the true horrors I would be responsible for," Dr. Faulkner's eyes moistened and he shook his head, biting his lower lip. "Ray and Saul were right, it was wrong to ask you to develop a weapon for us. I questioned everything about the morality that I was involved in, so much that I wanted to help you escape," for the first time he looked me in the eye. "There's another project that has already successfully tested a uranium weapon. So it doesn't matter anymore, it's over. Marshall came here for his own revenge, and I came to stop him," Dr. Faulkner sighed. "I'm sorry for the damage he has caused Ray. I'm going to take Marshall now and we are going to leave. Take care, Bradley, again I'm sorry."
***
Later that evening, Helen came back to a disheveled house where Saul and I sat in the living room on a massive couch, Benji rested his head in my lap. Helen informed us that the gunshot to the right thigh had struck the femoral artery. Ray had passed on.
I cried so hard until I was numb.
***
A funeral was held a few days later, even thinking about it to this day still brings a tear to my eye. The procession was held in Cleveland. Saul, Helen, Benji, and I took a plane to get there. After it was over, Helen flew back, and gave me Benji to take care of.
After the burial, Saul took us all the way down to Cincinnati. I was still able to find my way to my old neighborhood as we got close to the city. When I got to my house I knocked on the door, and a woman I didn't recognize answered. A new family had moved in, and she had no idea what happened to the people who lived in the house beforehand.
Saul and I stayed in a hotel in the city making phone calls to anyone who might have had information on their whereabouts, but we had no such luck. The sadness and tears were overwhelming, in those days. I was confused and I couldn't remember where my extended family members lived, they were further away from Cincinnati and I didn't know how to get ahold of them.
I agreed to live with Saul and his wife, Susan in Detroit. They legally adopted me, and I was fortunate to spend the rest of my youth with them and Benji, for they loved me unconditionally. Every year we would go visit Ray's grave in Cleveland, and I came to accept my new reality. I always wondered where my parents lived, but I didn't have the privilege of seeing them again until much later in life when I entered my thirties and hired private investigators to find them. That's another story for another time.
My uranium bending was kept a secret from the public… for the most part. I was able to get a job at the Jefferson nuclear power plant, which was fifty minutes outside Detroit, and I made so much money helping distribute specialized technology that I was able to retire early.
You could say that everything turned out alright for me, I still recognize Saul and Susan as my parents and visit them every weekend. To this day, 41 years later, I still go to Cleveland and leave flowers at Ray's tombstone on his birthday.