Chapter Forty-Two - Planned Visit

Chapter Forty-Two

Planned Visit

         When Matthew woke up, he felt fully refreshed and all traces of the previous day's injuries were gone. He did not know if anyone else was awake, so he decided to turn the television on and see if there were any news reporting regarding yesterday's events.

          As he was flipping through the channels, he discovered there weren't any stories being reported regarding the hospital, the healing, or about him. He even stayed on a couple of stations for over ten minutes to see if they were updating their storylines only to find out nothing was being mentioned.

         This was very frustrating. It made his whole day yesterday seem a waste. He felt he tried to help all those children, and no one paid attention. He didn't do it for gratitude. He did it so he would be recognized as someone who could be an asset to the country and the world.

         Someone who could make a difference. How discouraging.

         "Dad! You're awake!" Misty shouted.

         The shout startled Matthew out of his quiet thoughts. He had not heard her coming from the hallway. He saw she was fully dressed and carrying two bags of groceries coming in from the garage. She quickly went to the kitchen and, after depositing the bags, came over and hugged him as if she hadn't seen him for months.

         "We've been so worried about you. How do you feel?"

         "I feel really good. Why"

         "Why? You have been asleep for over eight weeks. After you came home that night from the healing at the hospital and the attacks from the Army, you were beyond exhausted. After we ate supper and everyone went to bed, you fell asleep in the living room. We all woke up the next morning and saw you were in a cocoon sphere of green light, hovering slightly off the floor. Joe surmised you were so drained, your body needed to re-energize, so it shut down. We thought you would wake up in a day or two. We waited and waited. Days turned into weeks. A side effect of your healing cocoon was whenever we were nearby, we were refreshed as if we were being healed ourselves."

         "The girls have started school again. I had a big discussion with the girls about not talking about grandpa, especially with Becca. If anybody asked about her grandpa, he is fine and living at our house. They are not to talk about the new grandpa to anyone. And nobody is invited over to play."

         "Joe found a new apartment not too far from here and moved out. He stops by every day to check up on you. I am sure he will be happy to see you are awake."

         "Eight weeks? Really? Wow. I just floated there the entire time. Did anyone try to wake me?"

         "We all did. The girls tried shaking and yelling at you. Joe put on a pair of headphones on you and played Reveille so loud we could hear it and you didn't even twitch a muscle. We even put your hand in cold water and that didn't do anything."

          "What was said about the healing at the hospital? What did the news say about that? Were there any stories about it?" Matthew asked.

         "That was the only thing on the news for over a week and a half. There were interviews with patients, parents, doctors, specialists, eyewitnesses, and television helicopter pilots. There were video feeds from three different sources of you feeding a green light into the hospital, staring down an Army barricade, and an excellent video shot of you flying off without any support. That was the best piece of video. No one could figure out how that was done. Most thought that was staged somehow; however, without wires, ropes, or any support, they couldn't explain how you managed it."

         "Also, it appeared someone from inside the military leaked a video of your altercation with the Army and the bombing sequence. You were being videotaped from one of the helicopters. You never told us of the extent they were firing on you! You could have been killed. They were firing live ammunition at you. And the explosions! They just kept firing at you. Just because they were told to test you? When they stopped, they backed away and we thought they were stopping, but they were only backing away because missiles were coming. I can't believe what we were seeing. It was terrible. They only left when they saw you climbing out of the rubble. I think it scared them. They had nothing that could stop you. That only aired twice before it was removed, or the military confiscated it. There was nothing else after that."

         "There is a reward for any information regarding your identity from all the major news outlets. There is a push to send someone back to the moon as there is a rumor that is where your base is located. I wonder where they got that idea?"

         "No idea. Were there any newspaper articles? If there were, did you save any?"

         "Joe went and bought all the major papers that carried the stories. He didn't buy any of the tabloids. Said they were about alien invasions, Big Foot, the undead, and a myriad of other popular tabloidization rantings. The newspapers are over by the television. Speaking of television, the only agency that did not formally broadcast anything was the government. They have remained silent.

         "If you tried to test the strength of someone only to fail and then have the film leaked out, I don't think you would brag about it. I am curious why they haven't tried to deny it, though. Before I venture out, I want to talk with Joe and get both of your opinions. For now, though, I want to read the papers." Matthew stated.

         Matthew spent the remainder of the day reading the papers regarding the day he healed the sick children. By reading different newspapers, he got a bigger picture of what had happened. What he discovered was there were over 600 children in the hospital at the time of the healing, over 200 with terminal illnesses, and 20 on life support. The articles all state that in the beginning, a strange green glow began to occur throughout all the buildings. Some thought it was due to the lighting, others thought it was coming from outside the building. When the glow began to pulsate, everyone began to feel the calming healing effects. While some did panic and left the buildings, the majority did not as the overwhelming feeling was that of calm. The healing began instantaneously throughout the hospital.

         The individuals with minor illnesses were healed first. Headaches, muscle stiffness, backaches, and colds were eliminated. Soon all occupants in the emergency rooms were waking, sitting up, or walking in disbelief. Admitted patients were finding they no longer felt ill, or their illness no longer had a grip on them. Patients who had been in the Intensive Care Units suddenly felt whole. The pain was gone, breathing was eased, and thinking was cleared. If patients were in operating rooms having tumors or other malignant or cancerous diseases removed, they would suddenly shrink and disappear on their own. Limbs that had been removed due to disease were regrown.

         All patients were re-examined after the green glow had subsided. The patients who had experienced the phenomenon experienced a complete remission of all their illnesses with no side effects and were eventually released.

         Several Police departments and Fire and Rescue departments were alerted and on-site. It was reported no present danger was evident, so there were no widespread evacuations. It was later disclosed, however, there had been a failure in proper communication and an investigation is ongoing.

         In one of the newspapers Matthew had read, he came across an article about a man dressed in green sitting on top of a hospital's rooftop when the green lights were visible. While this sighting was verified by a police helicopter and three separate television news helicopters, and eventually by the police officers deployed to the rooftop to apprehend the trespasser, he was not caught. Using the eyewitnesses' information and the videotaped footage, it appeared the man in green "flew" off the rooftop and was last seen headed straight into the air until he was out of sight. The footage is being examined for tampering and individuals are being questioned and undergoing tests for drug use.

         By this time, Joe had arrived, and the girls had gotten home from school.

         "Grandpa, you're awake and not glowing green anymore," Cindy shouted when she first saw him sitting up on the floor.

         "Can we hug you now?" Becca asked. "You couldn't hug us back before."

         Matthew looked toward Misty briefly, "Of course, you can hug me now. Sorry about that. I was healing my body. It was tiring."

         "That's what mom said. We let you sleep."

         "You sleeped a long time. It was boring." Becca added.

         "Well, I am awake now so I will try not to be boring anymore."

         As Joe sat down, he noticed the pile of papers Joe had read beside him. "I see you are getting caught up on your reading. You missed out on all of the newscasts and special broadcasts that were aired about you and what you have done."

         "Have I been dubbed a vigilante by the press or government for what I did?"

         "No, the official verdict is still out. You are wanted for questioning by the medical field and the authorities. How was the mass healing completed? Was it a mass hoax? Why didn't you stay? How did you leave the building without aid? Who were your accomplices? There is also a huge out-pour of response from the families of the children healed to meet with you in person to thank you."

         "Not sure if Misty told you, but a mystery recording regarding the Army's recording of when they opened fire on you was recorded, it was then leaked and seen on national television. It was eventually removed, and then, subsequently, re-aired on the internet. Its viewing went global overnight. It was seen online for days. However, whenever a copy is downloaded now, it is removed within a day or two, presumably, by the United States Government."

         "So, what you are telling me, the government is trying to keep a widely seen event a secret." Matthew states.

         "Pretty much sums it up."

         "I need to get to the United Nations and offer my help. I am sure they would have heard of what has happened by now. The government is probably all puffy with pride thinking they scared me off."

         "I want to say to them, 'Try hitting a moving target.' Better yet, hit one you can't see. Now before you say anything, I am not planning to engage anyone. It wouldn't be fair. I could take them out easily. I am here to offer my help. Not take sides, not make war, or harm."

         "But Joe, I will not be a target again."

         "Matt, I wasn't there. I don't know what was going through your mind when they were firing on you. I can't even imagine what you were feeling. I can only tell you what I was thinking, what I thought when I saw what they were doing to you. It brought back all the memories of when you and I were in the trenches and being fired upon. The bombs went off a few feet around us; not know whose side they were from. The firing of the guns just inches all around us, so that our shirts would be torn by the flying bullets The screams of our friends dying." Joe pauses long enough to walk over to stand over the two playing girls. "If it happens again, you do what it takes to come home." With that, Joe picked up Becca and sat down in a chair with a far-off look in his eyes.

         Matthew was going to say something but decided no words could be added, so he went to the kitchen to let Misty know he was leaving.

         "Isn't it late to be going to New York now? Wouldn't it be better to go tomorrow morning?"

         "I want some time to think. Get my bearings. Be ready. Plan a strategy. I want to be able to walk around without bumping into a lot of people. Just keep the television on in case there is a news bulletin or something. I will turn invisible and come home if anything goes wrong."

         Matthew's flight to New York was uneventful. He didn't fly high enough to be in the flow of air traffic; however, he saw passenger aircraft, Airforce jets, and a few personal aircraft flying in the distance. He knew they couldn't track him, so he wasn't worried about attracting attention to himself.

         While flying, Matthew began to plan how he would approach the United Nations ("UN") building. He didn't want to barge in or crash through a wall. The wrong message would be sent, the delegates would be removed, and a lockdown would occur. He thought his best opportunity to be admitted was to approach the building in the open and peacefully request an audience. By this time, word of who he was and what he had accomplished might even have reached the delegates and piqued their curiosity.

         When he was flying closer to Manhattan, he easily located the UN building. It was still dark outside and even early risers would still be in bed. As he flew around the building to look for possible landing sites, he saw some extreme security measures in place in and around the streets leading to the UN building. He decided to land at the farthest point on United Nations Plaza from the UN building and walk toward the building on foot. This way, a friendly, casual approach would be noticed and an opportunity to be questioned by the New York Police Department, UN police, Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and Secret Service. He was unsure if there would be any military presence due to his earlier run-in.

         He knew he would have to wait until the UN Council convened before he could approach. If he had something to do while he waited, it might have helped pass the time. He didn't have a watch and couldn't see the time on his phone as it was invisible and he didn't want to turn visible and take the chance of being seen, so he had to guess the time by the traffic of people he saw streaming to and from locations within his sight.

         He kept watching toward the UN building, remembering earlier an earlier time when he, his wife, and Misty came to New York. They had saved a little money and took a family vacation and thought Misty would love to see such a wondrous place. They enjoyed an Off-Broadway show and went to Staten Island, Central Park, and museums. As a treat for everyone, they went to a ball game at Yankee Stadium.

         As the horizon grew lighter and the morning traffic grew, he knew more people would be coming to the UN building and the security would intensify. His resolve to show his peaceful intentions toward all of the countries present grew as he remembered the stories from his grandfather and his first impression of seeing the Statue of Liberty, the opportunity of freedom, inspiring others to rise above tyranny, and justice for everyone.

         Eventually, he saw a pick-up of traffic dropping off delegates, he reasoned the UN Council would be convened soon. After some time, it was time for the Defender to visit.

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