"I lost a child," Sawyer groaned, his face contorted with pain. "I'm worthless. Save your pity for someone else. I don't deserve it."
He lapsed into silence, having used all his energy.
Alex frowned, not ready to let this go. This was the first time he had seen the effects of the Harmony Technique. According to legend, the technique should have completely restored Sawyer's vitality, so now Alex was a little disappointed.
Isaiah bent and whispered in Sawyer's ear, "Alex is the lost child!"
Sawyer's eyes grew wide, and then he suddenly yelled, "What?"
He jerked as though he had been electrocuted, displacing several of the acupuncture needles, and turned to stare at Alex.
"Uncle Sawyer, are you okay?" Maryann asked, moving closer to him. Then she looked at Alex. "What's wrong with Uncle Sawyer?"
Alex stepped forward and removed all the needles. "His mental anguish has been resolved, and now all he needs is rest."
"He's cured?" Sophie asked skeptically. "Just like that?"
Sawyer said nothing, and his eyes were still locked on Alex, ignoring everyone else in the room. Then he placed his hands on the armrests of his wheelchair, braced himself, and stood up, his legs trembling.
He reached out toward Alex. "You," he said. "Is it really you?"
Alex was stunned. He met Sawyer's gaze and found it full of excitement.
Maryann was ecstatic. "Uncle Sawyer, you're standing up! Can you walk?"
Everyone else started to speak, astonished at what they were seeing.
"He's really standing!" The junior doctor exclaimed.
"Oh, my God. That's amazing," a lady doctor marveled.
"I guess the paralysis really was caused by his state of mind," the senior doctor commented.
A nurse who couldn't contain her excitement said, "Who is that young man? Doctors have been working on this case for twenty years, and he's solved it in an hour!"
"He's a miracle worker!" said another.
Sophie remained silent, unable to believe Alex had really cured Sawyer. But the facts were undeniable. Alex had administered his treatment, and now Sawyer was standing right there in front of her.
The doctors rushed into action, doing every test they could think of, and Sawyer seemed to be extremely healthy.
Eventually, Sawyer had had enough, and he brushed off the doctors before walking shakily over to Alex, his eyes betraying his emotional state.
Alex watched him come, not knowing what was going on. But when Sawyer stumbled, Alex rushed forward to help him, worried he might fall. "Be careful," he said. "You still need to exercise your leg muscles to get back to full strength."
"Alex," Sawyer said, grabbing Alex, hugging him tight, and closing his eyes. "Is it really you? I never thought… But it is you, isn't it?"
"Alex, you did it!" Isaiah said, walking over. "You got him on his feet!" He gently pulled Sawyer away. "I'll help him and make sure he rests. Why don't you decide what medication he should take and then have Sophie fetch it?"
He grinned at Sawyer. "You're looking so much better already. But it's better if you don't get overexcited. You still need rest to fully recover." He took Sawyer's arm, steadying him, and then led him back to his wheelchair.
Sawyer's eyes were still on Alex, but he allowed Isaiah to settle him in the chair and take him to his room to rest.
As he sat in his room, Sawyer looked around, taking an interest in things for the first time in years.
"Is Alex really the missing kid?" he asked, staring at Isaiah. "He does seem familiar. But why don't you let me have a good look at him, just to be sure?"
He was excited by the chance to make up for the mistakes he had made twenty years ago, and he couldn't think of anything else.
"Isaiah," he said, worried, "tell me the truth. Is it him? Is Alex the child I lost?"
"I think so," Isaiah said, looking away.
But he wasn't being honest. He had whispered to Sawyer about Alex's identity because he had suspected it was the key to healing him, and he had been right about it being effective. But it was nonsense. Isaiah had made it up purely to provoke Sawyer into reacting.
Isaiah poured a glass of water and handed it to Sawyer. "First, you need to get strong," he said. "And then you can look for answers. Alex isn't going anywhere."
"Isaiah, I need to get better as soon as possible," Sawyer said, clutching at Isaiah's arm. "I need to get him back to his family. They've been searching for him for more than twenty years, and I've been suffering all this time. I need to get him back where he belongs."
He struggled to get up from the wheelchair. "I want to find Alex and take a good look at him. Maybe we can get a DNA test, just to be sure."
Isaiah laughed. "Calm down," he said. "We can't be sure of anything yet, and you're not ready to be running around everywhere."
"But he's still in danger," Sawyer insisted. "He needs protection."
"It's been twenty years," Isaiah pointed out gently. "Most people have forgotten all about him, Sawyer." He shook his head. "Apart from you and the boy's mother, how many people still care so much about him? They stopped looking for him long ago, and few people even speak of him. Most of the Rumble Club have never heard of him."
Sawyer frowned. "But—"
"Let it go for now," Isaiah said, sighing. "The top priority is to cure your injury, and we can deal with everything else later. Just try not to think about it so much."
Isaiah had always been persuasive, and he was an excellent liar. He had tried everything else to cure Sawyer, and now that he understood the problem, he was willing to do whatever it took to build on Alex's success. If he had to lie, then so be it.
"You should keep quiet about Alex," Isaiah advised. "We don't want to draw attention to him, after all. Everyone else has moved on." He paused. "Most members of the Rumble Club don't visit any more, do they? Only Mrs. Jackman and Clark, right? Well, even if Alex is Mrs. Jackman's child, will any of the members accept him after so long? It doesn't seem likely."
Sawyer frowned as he thought it over.
When he was young, he was a strong warrior. He had been well respected and had always been proud of himself. But since he had been confined to a wheelchair, he had begun to see things differently, and he had a much clearer understanding of how the world worked.
Now that he was recovering, he didn't want to waste any more time.