They both thought the patient had fallen back asleep, when he raised his head again.
"Learn from my... mistakes..." repeated James Harper Senior slowly and in a low voice, staring off into space without looking at either his wife Elizabeth or Doctor Tora Tachibana, who were both in the Cardiac ICU room of Moon Lake General Hospital with him.
"Yes," repeated Doctor Tachibana. "But there's plenty of time to contemplate that later. I'm afraid you won't be fit to travel for a while yet."
"Maybe... you're right Doctor..." said Harper, before he turned his head just enough to look at his wife. "Elizabeth..." he began.
"Yes, dear?" she said, having never stopped looking at him since she and Doctor Tachibana came back from lunch.
"I... want you to listen... to me... very... care...fully..."
ELSEWHERE...
Samantha and Frances Twist had driven the Harpers and Jenkins to The Local Diner to acquire some lunch, their treat.
Gathered around a couple of tables that had been hastily pushed together to accommodate such a large group, Samantha was a bit surprised that just about everyone ordered burgers and fries.
But regardless of what they decided to have, both ladies were happy to see the newlyweds get along with all their respective in-laws.
"So, your oldest son is a were... dog?" wondered John Harper.
"Yes," replied Henry Jenkins Senior. "When we moved to Moon Lake, he decided to become the family were, and that's what he wanted to be."
"If I can ask, how come neither of you decided to become weres too?" inquired James Harper Junior.
"At the time, Harry was too young and, considering we were pushing 40, my wife and I believed we were too old," admitted Henry. "In hindsight, whether or not it was the right decision is a moot point now, considering we're both in our late 60s."
"Oh?" said James Junior.
"Unfortunately, while we put a minimum age limit on being old enough to know your own mind to join willingly, there also appears to be a maximum age limit on how late one can join too," admitted Samantha. "Anything past the early 50s starts becoming questionable, with the possibility totally ruled out by the time a person turns 70."
"It's a medical question of the body being able to withstand the initial change," added Frances, before anyone could ask. "The rest are easy, but that very first one is hard on some newbies since the body is going through such a complete and complex transformation," she said, without mentioning that was why most new weres were initiated through sex, since it was the most pleasurable method available.
"I see. And anyone can join?" asked Janice Harper, thinking once again about the fact that mermaids actually exist, at least in Moon Lake.
"Within reason," conceded Frances. "You have to be at least 14."
"DANG! I'm not even 13 yet," complained the youngest Harper.
"And this Mandatory Were Law..." John wanted to know.
"That's for people just moving to Moon Lake, under the theory that if someone within your family is a were, then you'd never betray us because you'd be betraying them too," explained Samantha. "But since your sister and her new husband are both werefoxes, it doesn't apply to you."
"But could I still become one, if I wanted to?" asked Janice.
"After you turn 14, maybe," answered Jennifer Harper-Jenkins, while holding her husband's hand. "Yet there are rules you'd have to obey if you do, just like Harry and I do."
"Such as?" wondered Janice.
"There are two places, here and around the hotel, that you can never assume your were form except in dire emergencies. There are other limitations about when and where, because the rest of the world isn't ready to acknowledge, let alone accept our existence yet," admitted Samantha.
"Then how can you talk about all of this so openly?" John wanted to know.
"Because right now, the only normal human beings in this entire diner are sitting here at this table," explained Frances.
That caused the Harper siblings to look around for a moment at everyone else in the diner, while Jenny and Harry just smiled at his parents and the Twists.
Before Frances' announcement, everyone around them looked... normal. Most quite beautiful than the average person, but still...
Even now, the visiting Harpers would be hard pressed to say who was what.
Then James Junior turned back and said, "Okay. Let's get back to the more important stuff. How will emancipating Janice and John work, exactly."
"I'll admit it won't be easy," conceded Jennifer. "Unless we can get either mom and/or dad to sign off on it, I'll have to petition the court on their behalf, since they're both minors. If either or both of our parents decide to contest the petition, it could take months to receive a formal decision from a judge."
"It will help that besides having a supportive sibling already here, that arrangements have already been made for your well being and education once you are emancipated," added Henry Jenkins Senior. "My wife and I will be more like assistant custodians though, while Jennifer will be considered your primary guardian."
"Yet we'll get to live here? In Moon Lake?" asked Janice, still having mermaids on her mind.
"Yes, but if it has to go that far, whether a hearing is held in Alabama or here, none of you can ever mention the W word. Understood?" asked Jennifer.
"Yeah," both John and Janice answered.
Then Samantha felt her cellphone buzz, since she had it set on vibrate all day.
Taking it out of her jacket pocket, she looked at the incoming text from Doctor Tachibana, and then showed it to Frances.
PATIENT WEAK, BUT AWAKE. YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE HIS LATEST B.S. PARENTS WANT TO SEE CHILDREN ASAP.
"Something wrong?" asked James Junior, staring at his hostesses, as Frances passed the phone on to the elder Jenkins to read the message for themselves.
"Not that I know of. Your father's awake and your mom's asking for you," said Samantha, as the older Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins passed the phone over to the new Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins.
"Okay. Let's get this over with," was all James Junior said, while wiping his mouth with a napkin.
UPON RETURNING TO THE HOSPITAL...
Doctor Tachibana met the entire party at the entrance to the Intensive Care Unit wing of the hospital.
"How is he?" James Junior asked on everyone's behalf.
"Weak," admitted the doctor. "Your father's condition was a lot worse than he ever let on. He—"
But before Tachibana could continue, Elizabeth Harper came out of her husband's room and approached everyone.
"There you are, you ungrateful heathens!" she snarled, staring at her children.
"Mom..." began James Junior, with Jennifer taking a step to be closer to her big brother.
"Don't you 'mom' me. Falling in love, let alone thinking about marrying someone outside our faith," said his mom.
"She IS Baptist," replied James Junior, coldly.
"You know what I mean," said Elizabeth, while giving him a dirty look. "And you," she added, turning her attention toward Jennifer. "Going against your father's wishes and marrying that... whatever he is," she said, pointing to Harry.
"Mom!" said Jennifer, defensively, even as she felt Harry move closer to her.
"I'm not your mother. You may sound and look kind of like her, but this harlot isn't Jennifer. Yet that doesn't matter anyway. Your father has spoken and you're all going to heed his wishes for at least once in your miserable lives!" declared Mrs. Harper.
"Now look ma'am..." began Doctor Twist, feeling protective of those around her.
"I beg you to mind your own business stranger," said Mrs. Harper, before turning her attention back to her offspring. "Thankfully James will not be divorcing me for bringing such worthless souls into this world, because that would be a mortal sin against our faith. But you two," she said, pointing to James Junior and Jennifer, "are officially disowned!"
"No problem on my end," said Jennifer happily, before hugging Harry. Although meeting and falling in love, let alone becoming werefoxes, was not part of her original plan; she had packed everything she owned before moving to Moon Lake to attend college, thinking doing so was her lone chance at freedom from both an overbearing father and the jerk he wanted her to marry.
"I'll be more than happy to move out as soon as we get back to Alabama, and then you'll never see me, my future wife, or your future grandchildren ever again," replied James Junior.
That gave Elizabeth Harper pause, because the one subject that had never been brought up while James Harper Senior was dictating his latest edicts was grandchildren.
But her thoughts were interrupted when John Harper asked, "What about us?"
"You two?" said Elizabeth, coming back to the present. "As soon as we get back to Alabama, Janice is being shipped off to a nunnery, and you're being sent to the seminary. Hopefully there, someone more experienced than my husband and I will know how to deal with such evil heathens like you!"
TO BE CONTINUED...