Chapter Four: Unveiling the Truth

When consciousness finally returned to her, Lisa found herself lying in a bed on her side in a room with the shades drawn, sunlight streaming through the gaps, her wings splayed out behind her. The ticking of numerous clocks was a little overwhelming at first and she held her hands over her ears until she got it under control.

There was a low whine from near her head. “Are you okay?” asked Einstein. He was lying beside her, head on his paws, watching her intently. “You’ve been asleep for a long time.”

Lisa took note of the sun and the fact that she didn’t feel as weak as she should have after the healing process. “I figured,” she said softly, sitting up and folding her wings properly. She looked around and saw she was inside Dr. Brown’s garage, which looked more like a house from the inside than it did outside. His bedroom was a small area with a bed, of course, an armoire, a chair, lamp, a washing machine and small refrigerator. Of course, everything was blurry because her glasses were off. Squinting, she searched for them.

“They’re right here,” said Dr. Brown’s voice and he handed her her glasses.

“Thank you.” She put them on, bringing the scientist into focus. He was standing near the bed with an odd expression on his face. “Hi,” she said lamely. “How long was I out?”

“Approximately eight hours,” he answered. “Einstein hasn’t left your side. I’m very grateful for whatever it is you did for him. You saved his life.” He eyed her wings. “I’ve never really believed in angels until now…”

Lisa made an inward groan. “I’m not an angel, Dr. Brown.”

“Then…?”

“I’m an alien. My home planet is called Alnilam.”

He frowned. “Isn’t that a star in the constellation of Orion?”

Lisa nodded. “Yes. The planet was named after the star. The healing is one of my abilities, but it takes a lot out of me. The more complicated it is, the more energy it takes. That’s why I passed out. And I wasn’t able to sleep last night, so that’s why I was out for so long.”

“I see. Unbelievable.”

“Yeah…I’d ask you not tell anyone, but I’ve heard of your reputation.” She winced at the hurt expression that flashed across his face, instantly regretting it. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it that way!” She stood up a little too quickly and she fell against Dr. Brown into his arms. Ignoring the momentary weakness, she said, “I think the way that the people in this town treat you is absolute crap! It isn’t right!”

Dr. Brown blinked. I can’t believe it…she doesn’t even know me and already she’s defending me?

“I like you,” she said, steadying herself. “I saw those two punks putting the firecrackers by your fence.”

“Do you have any idea who they were?”

Lisa shut her eyes and thought back eight hours. Filtering through the thoughts and whispers she’d heard, something stuck out. “ ‘Needles’?”

The scientist seemed to recognize the word, nodding. “Douglas J. Needles, local teenage bully. He’s often causing trouble for myself and my friend, Marty.” He sighed. “There’s no hope in getting any confessions out of him even if he did almost kill my dog.”

Her wings flashed red as the anger rose, Dr. Brown raised a white eyebrow and she forced herself to calm down. She turned away and got a good look at the house. Amongst the more-or-less traditional household amenities and the huge collection of clocks, Dr. Brown had a lot of junk and strange-looking things sitting around the place. Thinking back to her friend’s workshop, she could definitely tell this was the home of a scientist who loved what he did.

“What brings you to Earth?” he asked suddenly.

She turned back to him. “I travel a lot and if I don’t have a destination in mind, where and when I wind up is random. I wound up here and heard so much about you, I was intrigued. Like I said, I hated the way the people in this town thought and spoke about you. I saw you with your friend, Marty. I saw you with Einstein. I figured you couldn’t be all bad.”

Dr. Brown’s mind latched on to certain words: “when I wind up”, “thought…about you”. He was piecing together what else he thought she could do and one stood out more than the rest: “You can time travel?”

Lisa nodded. “Only by myself, though. I can’t take anyone with me. And, yeah, I can read minds, but only whatever comes through loudest or if I’m really trying.” She looked down at Einstein who had left the bed and was sticking very close to her. “Look, Dr. Brown, I’m more than willing to tell you whatever you want to know about me, but there’s something I’d like to know first.”

“And what’s that?”

“Any chance I could have something to eat? I’m starving!”

Laughing, the scientist took her hand to show her the breakfast machine.

End chapter four.

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