{{Okay. Haven't forgotten about Earth 3, but right now I'm the only creator making the Inter-dimensional journey as time permits.—tmw.}}
"So that's the situation Principal Andrews," said Doctor Frances Twist, sitting before the man in a guest chair within his office at Moon Lake High School. "Julie Stovall's doing well and should make a full recovery from her brain aneurysm, but she'll need at least another week of hospitalization, at least to observe that everything's going well, before being released for home rest. She should be back at Moon Lake General Hospital by this coming Monday, Tuesday at the latest, but not released to her parents care until after Christmas and, pending doctor approval, should be back at school sometime after you resume classes after the holidays."
"January, huh?" realized the Principal.
"Yes. If not the first full week, more than likely the second."
"Well, Miss Stovall is a bright student, sorely missed by faculty and her fellow classmates alike. However winter mid-terms are being conducted this week, as well as the time she already has missed and will miss before her return. Under the circumstances, the school is more than willing to work with her family to bring Julie up to speed, but we obviously don't want to put any undue pressure on her."
"Understood. That's why I've been authorized by the family to give you Martin Stovall's private cellphone number," revealed Twist, while handing him a card. "You will naturally have to wait until sometime between Christmas and the New Year to do so, but he would appreciate any arrangements you can make regarding a tutor to ease Julie back into academia."
"I think that can be taken care of," said the Principal, while accepting the card. "Anything else?"
"Yes," replied Frances, getting to the crux of her visit. "I realize that most of the student body has been unable to visit Julie during her hospital stay in Seattle. Therefore, we're making arrangements for supervised visits for her at Moon Lake General during normal visitation hours. If you can just have whoever's interested contact my office assistant Rudy," she requested, while handing Principal Andrews one of her business cards, "he already has a sign up sheet prepared. Groups of 2 to 3 at the most, for about 10 to 15 minutes max, with a break in-between visitors for Julie."
"With this being Thursday, I can share the news as part of today's afternoon announcements as well as both the morning and afternoon announcements tomorrow before school lets out for winter break."
"Wonderful. Julie is looking forward to having company again," said Frances, standing up as she prepared to leave.
After she and the Principal parted company, Frances walked back to her car, and then called her office.
"Rudy. It's all set. Ready on your end?" she asked.
"Yes," said her faithful office manager.
"Good. Remember, just as we discussed."
"Yes, but which time slot do you want me to keep open for your special group?" he asked in return.
"Definitely at least sometime during the second day of Julie's stay back in Moon Lake General so she doesn't get suspicious, but otherwise I'm not sure yet, because I haven't finished making all the arrangements."
"Understood. Just let me know and I'll adjust the visitor rotation accordingly," promised Rudy, before they finished their call by going over regular office business.
As Frances started the car and began the drive to the Seattle hospital where Julie Stovall currently was, Doctor Twist thought over her scheme once more.
The idea was that, among all the other visitors Julie received, one specific group would be just Eric Anderson and Arthur Curtis to see how the were-mermaid reacted around her past boyfriend and potential future boyfriend.
Eric and Julie were starting to bond* when William Anderson died protecting his family from the rogue werevixen Yvette Smith.** While the emotional trauma of that event shattered the fledgling connection in Eric Anderson's mind, it remained in Julie's to the point where she developed a brain aneurysm over not having the were-mer of her dreams because Eric decided to become a werewolf instead of a were-merman as part of his new life plan to become a police officer of Moon Lake someday.
Besides the fact that a recovering Julie showed no sign of any knowledge of their romantic past or Eric Anderson specifically, the young were-mermaid seemed to be becoming emotionally attached to fellow were-mer Arthur Curtis now.
It was a joint decision of Julie's medical team to test that position under controlled conditions, Provided Eric and Arthur are willing to cooperate, realized Frances, as she got on the main road out of town and headed toward Seattle.
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*On Earth 3 (and 1) the concepts of "love at first sight" and "happily ever after" are proven scientific facts for were-mers once they discover and confirm the identity of their true love.
**Which starts the deviation between the Earth 1 and 3 time lines/stories.—tmw.