The ship landed gently on a mountain, out of sight. Hoverboard tapped a small device and motioned for everyone to get out. Red picked up Ben, who had fallen asleep on re-entry and cradled him gently as they got out of the ship. Finally, after everyone was on the ground, Hoverboard pressed a button and let the ship's cloaking devices hide it from sight.
"Who are we waiting for?" Sun asked.
"There you are," a voice called and the aliens looked over. They saw Max, in his large Hawaiian style shirt headed towards them with a panting Gwen right behind him.
"Them," Hoverboard answered simply as they waited for the humans to catch up to them.
"Could you have picked a harder to get to place?" Gwen asked grumpily.
Max put a hand on her shoulder to quiet her and looked up at Hoverboard. "I got here as fast as I could. Where's Ben?"
Red offered Ben to Max and the older man smiled sadly as he took his grandchild into his arms. "Looks like he caught a little bug alright," he said softly as he put the back of his hand against Ben's forehead. "Pity you got sick on your summer vacation."
Ben cracked an eye and smiled weakly up at his grandfather. "Yeah, I'd rather miss a week of school myself," he replied, then coughed a little and snuggled against the familiar feel of his grandfather's embrace.
Max sighed heavily and shook his head. "Your mother's worried sick. She's driving out as we speak, but she may not get here until tonight. Until then we need to get you to a doctor and find out what's wrong."
"No needles?" Ben asked quickly.
"I can't promise that, Ben," Max said gently. "Don't worry, whatever shots they give you will probably make you feel better."
"But they hurt," Ben whined.
"You sure you're sick, dweeb?" Gwen asked saucily. "Because you're complaining like you're fine."
Ben stuck his tongue out at his cousin and huffily leaned back into Max's arms. Max frowned and sighed. "We'll get to a doctor as soon as we can. Until then, just take it easy. I don't like the way your lungs sound."
"And I don't like the way it feels," Ben replied. "So what else is new?"
Hoverboard stepped forward and handed a small device to Max. "We cannot join you in the public without drawing too much attention but we will be close by at all times. If you need any help at all, call us. Under no circumstances is Ben allowed to use the Omnitrix."
Ben looked sulky as Max too the device and placed it in his ear. "We understand. Thanks. Right Ben?" he looked down at his pouting grandson.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Ben muttered and sighed.
Max nodded and motioned for Gwen to follow him. Gwen looked back at the five aliens, then trotted after her grandfather and cousin as they made their way back down the mountain.
Hoverboard turned to face the rest of them and nodded. "You know your orders," he told them. "Don't get seen, but keep an eye out for any trouble. If you sense anything call me immediately and protect the Omnitrix at all costs." The other four aliens nodded and then turned to make their own path down the mountain.
Max, Ben and Gwen made their way into the emergency room in a hospital in a small town called Bush Creek in Minnesota. They were greeted by a sleep deprived nurse who looked worse for the wear but when she saw Ben she clucked her tongue and shook her head. "Got a bit of a fever, sugar?" she asked.
"We actually don't know how high it is," Max said. "But he was delirious a few hours ago. We aren't from around here, we're traveling across the country in my RV."
"Are you his legal guardian?" she asked.
Max shook his head. "No, but his mother is on her way. We need a doctor."
The nurse sighed. "Relation?" she asked.
"I'm his grandfather," Max said. "Here's my social security card and driver's license. His name is Ben, Benjamin Tennyson."
"Age?" she asked.
"He's ten years old," Max replied. "His mom faxed me a copy of his social security number before we got here," he continued and handed her the number. "Here's his insurance information, too," he said finally while handing over the last piece of paper.
The woman nodded and typed away at the keyboard. She pressed a few more buttons and then pulled out a card and scribbled something on the back. "Okay then, here. This hospital's kind of small so we don't get too many coming with sickness, most other folk here are injured. Go to this doctor, he's the pediatrician here and he'll tell you what's wrong and if you need to stay."
"Thank you very much," Max said graciously.
The nurse shook her head and sighed. "Don't mention it. It's what we're here for," she said with a tired grin.
Max led the woozy Ben by his hand down the hall, following the directions on the back of the card. "They're really nice up here," Gwen said. "I guess not much happens all the way out here."
Max nodded. "Good thing too. I don't think we could have handled waiting for someone to see us for hours."
Ben groaned and leaned against his grandfather for support. "Grandpa, I don't feel so good," he said quietly.
Max looked around and spotted a bathroom several yards ahead. "Keep it in," he said quickly and ushered Ben to the bathroom. Gwen waited outside while Ben got sick. As he wandered back out and took a drink from the fountain to wash his mouth Gwen's hardened gaze softened.
"Hey Ben," she said softly, "don't worry I'm sure the doctor will figure out what's going on."
Ben turned away from her and huffed. "I don't need you worrying for me," he snapped.
"Ben, be nice," Max warned. "Gwen's only trying to help."
Ben blushed and shook his head. "Yeah, I know," he muttered and followed Max down the hall. "Sorry," he muttered softly.
Gwen smiled and nodded.
Max opened the door and led Ben inside. He looked around the office and then down at the card. "Is there a… um, Dr. Pleson here?"
A man walked out from another door and smiled warmly. "Hello, forgive the lack of nurses. As you can tell we're a little bit understaffed at this clinic. How may I help you?"
Max held up Ben's hand and Ben looked up miserably at the doctor. The doctor nodded and sighed. "Oh dear. Well then, let's take a look at you young man."
After a thorough examination Dr. Pleson sighed and turned to Max. "Well, Mr. Tennyson, I'm afraid it seems that Ben here has a rather severe case of pneumonia. Has it been around for a few days?" he asked.
Ben nodded. "Two," he said with a cough.
Dr. Pleson nodded. "All right, then it is a gradual onset of the disease. Have you been sick at all these past few weeks?"
Ben nodded. "A cold. But it went away after a little while."
"Okay, well that answers that. I'm afraid we don't really have the staff nor medication needed to treat the disease. I'll need some blood samples to send to the nearest big city hospital to find out if it's bacterial or viral and then you should go there as well," the doctor said kindly. "Is that okay?"
"Yes, thank you," Max said and took Ben's hand. "Calm down," he said quietly as the doctor turned to get the needle. "It'll be over in a few minutes."
Ben looked up from his bed miserably and coughed. "This sucks," he said.
Gwen looked around the hospital room. "Well, at least you got in fast because we came from that other hospital. Plus, getting that x-ray was cool, right?" she asked in an effort to cheer her cousin up.
Ben nodded, feeling a little better. "Yeah, that was kinda cool. The machine took up the whole room," he told Gwen. "The doctor said they needed it to figure out where the infection was."
"I know," Gwen said simply. "It is pretty cool to see what goes on inside a hospital, huh?"
Ben rubbed the inside of his arm. "Except the needles," he sulked.
Gwen shook her head and took a seat next to Ben's bed. She picked up a magazine and only looked up when the door slowly opened. "Benny?" a voice asked.
Both children looked over to see a tall woman in her mid-thirties being escorted into the room by Max. She had green eyes and thick, curly brown hair. As soon as she saw Ben she rushed over to the bed and gathered her son up into a hug. "Oh Benny," she sighed. "I thought you said you weren't going to get sick. What happened?"
Ben buried his face into his mother's neck and hugged her as tightly as the IV would allow. "Sorry mom," he said softly.
His mom sighed and felt his forehead. "Well, so much for not having a serious sick day in your life," she said with a small smile. "At least it happened over the summer."
Ben made a face. "I don't want to get sick over the summer. I'd rather miss school," he said before coughing a little.
His mom brushed a lock of hair away from his face and smiled. "I know. But now you should get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow." She walked past where Gwen was sitting and leaned over. "You get some sleep too sweetie. I know you're worried but he's only going to try and pick a fight with you if you're crabby." Gwen smiled wanly and walked over to the couch that was provided in the hospital room.
Max held out his arm and gently led Ben's mom out of the room before turning out the light. As soon as they were out in the hall Max hugged his daughter. "Karen, I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize he was so sick until it was too late."
Karen shook her head and hugged him back. "It's all right dad. I'm just glad he's safe now. I don't know what I'd do if I knew my Benny was in danger," she said softly.
Max frowned guiltily but Karen didn't notice. "Well, he's safe now," Max said.
Karen nodded. "Thank goodness."
I apologize for any medical inconsitencies, I'm not a med student. I did my best and really the sake of this chapter was to introduce Karen. Yay Ben's mom! She really needs to appear in the show. Somehow I think she'd rock.
Hugs and cookies to my very patient reviewers. Thanks so much for waiting with me through my fourth quarter from hell for an update. Enjoy :3