The next half hour was incredibly tough. It took fifteen minutes for me to reaffirm to Lizzie that I loved her and would stay by her side, no matter what Mom or Dad thought. When we returned, Dad and I forced an incredibly awkward apology out of Mom, ultimately agreeing the entire thing was an unfortunate accident that isn’t worth placing blame on anyone. Instead, we celebrated the miracle that I was going to walk away unharmed, and after promising Mom I wouldn’t do anything rash like that again, the mood turned around.

            I called home to tell Eliza and James I was ok, to their complete relief. Frank called to check in as well, saying he wanted to come and visit. I politely declined, knowing Mom was still very touchy on his involvement in my accident, but we arranged for dinner instead, should I get out of the hospital by then. I was happy to oblige, since it would likely delay the potential flight back to Indianapolis that I was desperate to avoid. Even with the accident thus far, I still wanted to make the most of the one vacation I’d have before I had to return to classes and graduation.

            Not too long after Frank’s phone call ended, Lizzie’s phone went off as well. “Hi Mom,” she said. And after a pause, “Oh, you heard?” Dad and I, who were talking a bit about stuff at school stopped to watch Lizzie, whose face had dropped her positivity. Her folks must’ve heard what happened. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t call, things have been kinda hectic around here. Yeah, he’s ok, the doctors are just running some tests, but otherwise… I’m ok, yeah. A little overwhelmed, but I’m otherwise alright. Huh? Oh, it’s… it’s kind of a weird story. No, neither of us blame him for what happened. Yeah, I don’t know, it clearly wasn’t Frank’s fault, he shouldn’t have been fired. I mean, I get it, someone’s gotta take the blame, but… No, it really wasn’t his fault. Well… that’s Dad’s opinion then.”

            At the mention of her dad, I got up and moved next to her, and began to massage her back gently. She eyed me but didn’t push me away. I knew talking about her dad stressed her out.

            “There doesn’t have to be blame Mom, it was an accident,” she continued stressfully. I mean, he can think what he wants, but I’m not going to blame either of them for this. No, I don’t think so, at least we don’t have plans to yet, it’s still only Monday. Uh-huh. Well, if he’s gonna… What? You know what, put him on the phone, I want to talk to him.” At that, Lizzie stood up with a frown at me. “I’m gonna talk outside,” she said, covering the speaker.

            I rose next to her. “Are you sure you don’t want me there?”

            She nodded. “I’ll be fine,” and briskly left the room, leaving my family exchanging awkward looks with each other.

            The doctors finally returned to the room a minute later with a clipboard. “Hello Beck, is this a good time?”

            “A great time,” I said with a smile, sitting down on one of the plush chairs in the room.

            Dr. Glint smiled and introduced himself to Mom and Dad before joining us in a circle of chairs. “Alright, I have some good news. As far as the ECG, blood test, and x-ray results go, you’re all healthy and everything looks great.” A huge sigh of relief came from all of us when we heard that. “Yet again, I’m amazed that as far as we know, your internal body has suffered almost no damage whatsoever from several direct shocks to the heart. If anything, your blood test showed exceptionally healthy results. It’s almost like you are healthier than you were before you came in.”

            Mom and Dad had raised eyebrows at this, while I kept my face relatively neutral. Truth be told, it reflected how I felt internally as well. Something about my body, ever since waking up from the accident, had just been full of energy. I felt more powerful, stronger, better focused. I ultimately dismissed the feeling as just an adrenaline rush, but hearing the doctor mention my health really made me wonder if there really was some truth to it.

            “Unfortunately, the NCV is going to take a couple of days to fully analyze. The downside of that is nerve damage tends to be the likeliest outcome you’d receive from this kind of accident, and it tends to have the most dramatic side effects on your life. Having to wait a couple days for those kinds of results is not ideal. The good news is that you’re not feeling any pain, any strange pressure, or numbness in any of your limbs. That leads me to believe that if there is any kind of nerve damage, it is relatively minor and won’t have any side-effects by the time we get our results back from analyzation. We’ll do a couple of quick stretches to be absolutely sure, but if you’re in no pain, you’re cleared to go.”

            Relief filled my body, and a grateful grin took over. I’m getting out of here today. The vacation isn’t over yet. “Thank you so much Dr. Glint, you’ve been an absolute lifesaver.”

            “Yes, thank you so much for caring for my son,” Mom said. “I don’t know what I’d ever do if he had been seriously injured…”

            Dr. Glint beamed appreciatively but cleared his throat. “With all that said, I do want to advise you to be very careful Beck. Dr. Robbins and I have had many conversations about the strange emergence of the static field you experienced yesterday. Even if it’s gone now, the fact that it emerged after the incident is a concern that we can’t ignore.”

            “What could happen?” Mom asked. I had caught her and Dad up on my strange condition earlier. “He said that more side effects could develop over time, is that what you fear?”

            Dr. Glint nodded with a frown. “We may not have detected anything in our findings of potential side effects, but the SFE emerged after you had arrived at the hospital-”

            “SFE?” Mom cut in. “What’s that?”

            “Static Field Emission. It’s the codename that Dr. Robbins and I have been using as a shortcut for the new phenomenon. It’s very temporary, and likely will never become official anyhow.”

            “So, I won’t be the founder of a brand-new health condition then?” I joked. Mom’s icy glare shut down my fun in an instant.

            Dr. Glint chuckled. “Unfortunately not. Not only are the symptoms themselves baffling—and according to Dr. Robbins outright fictional—but we have no measurements on the actual condition. We have four accounts of what happened during a three-hour span of activity, and even then, most of them are vague. Your only real testament to what happened occurred well after the fact, so faulty memory could be a problem. All that into account, and we have no real basis to diagnose anything here.”

            “I see…” Mom said. “So, you aren’t worried that it will happen again then?”

            Dr. Glint shook his head quickly. “Actually, that’s still a concern. Not a big one, mind you, but we’re still not entirely convinced that the symptoms are over. To our knowledge, only the one instance of SFE has shown itself so far, so it’s entirely possible that the condition will never return.”

            I stopped myself from blurting out that Lizzie had suspected it had come back last night. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want to share that information. I guessed that maybe it was because neither of us were entirely sure it had returned, and by the time we woke up it was gone anyways. I wasn’t sure how helpful it would’ve been to the conversation anyways.

            “Regardless, our fear is that because of the unique nature of the condition that it may not be the only symptom that breaks our expected logic. Which is why I advise that you be very careful. If you feel anything, and I mean anything that feels concerning, call the doctors as soon as you can. You’re not a local, correct?”

            “We’re from Indianapolis,” Dad explained. “Beck was here on vacation.”

            Dr. Glint nodded. “Alright, so here’s your options. While we work on getting those NCV results back, I’d recommend you stay in Boston. That way if you have any sudden emergency symptoms, you are close by to doctors familiar with your situation. However, if you need to return home for any reason, let us know as soon as you can, and I’ll forward the results to your primary doctors in Indianapolis.”

            “I see,” Mom sighed. “You should forward the results then-”

            “Would you mind giving us a minute to discuss?” I interrupted Mom before she could finish. Her cold stare was hard to ignore.

            “Of course,” Dr. Glint said, looking awkwardly between Mom and I before leaving the room.

            “Beck,” Mom huffed, “you’re clearly not ready for a vacation on your own yet. We should head back home so that you can be with your family.”

            “Dr. Glint said that I should stay nearby in case of further symptoms though, right?” I countered. “The week’s barely started, I should at least try to salvage something right?”

            “You’ve spent one day here, and you’ve already found yourself hospitalized. Let’s not tempt fate any more shall we? You might’ve used up all your good luck escaping without injury.”

            “Mom, I’m twenty-two. I’m an adult capable of making my own decisions and taking responsibility for my own actions. I paid for the plane tickets to and from, and I paid for the hotel. I planned this vacation as meticulously as I’ve ever planned anything. Lizzie and I have been looking forward to this week for months. So, I’m choosing to finish it. It’s my decision, and I’m choosing to stay, end of discussion.”

            “Do you know how completely irresponsible you sound right now?” Mom raised her voice. “Beck, I thought I lost you yesterday! How could you possibly believe you’re in any state to spend a week frolicking alone in a city? Have you learned nothing from this?”

            I gave a frustrated shout. “Mom, I’m not eight. I know how to handle myself! I know how to be careful.”

            “Does being careful involve sticking your hand through a cage where you could get electrocuted?” Mom was sneering at me.

            “That was an accident. I’m not going to do anything like that again, I swear! Why can’t you just trust me?”

            “Because you haven’t done anything to earn my trust.”

            In a lot of ways, that stung. “So, living at college, making my own meals, working my own schedule, staying up with academics, and even taking care of a fucking car is not responsible?” I glared daggers at her. “I’ve been a model student for four goddamn years living outside of your house. I think maybe, for once, I’ve earned a little something to be forgiven for one stupid mistake.”

            Mom sighed and rubbed her head before Dad finally cleared his throat. Dad was never the quickest to play peacemaker. I think he was very intimidated by Mom’s overbearing personality, and I had to wonder how bad he had it on occasion. More often than not, if taking Mom’s side of the conversation was the quickest way to end a conversation, he would do it immediately. This time though, “Lucille, I think I have a compromise.”

            Mom looked skeptically at her husband as he continued. “The doctor recommends he stay close, so how about we stay here and join him on his vacation.”

            Oh no, that did not work for me. The whole point of this vacation was to have some private time with Lizzie and have our first long-term event as a couple. But to my frustration, Mom nodded. “That’s probably the best idea. That way you get to stay in Boston like you wanted, but we can keep an eye out for symptoms and keep you safe.”

            It was my turn to rub my temples. Fighting her would just be endless, and she’d never give in. At this point, the vacation wasn’t going to go the way we wanted regardless, so the best Lizzie and I were likely to do is to hope we found times to ourselves. I relented with an eventual nod. “Fine, do what you want.”

            The most aggravating image ever is Mom’s smug satisfaction that she got her way somehow.