There was no car so he couldn’t go anywhere, and he wanted to be withing cell range in case Broth called him, so he waited outside for hours. Stu sat there quietly waiting as Miracle came out to find him. She came over and sat in the chair beside him without a word. The bunker sat on a dead-end street, so there wasn’t much to see from where they sat, but they both watched silently anyway.
After what seemed like an hour Stu asked, “Why have you been so distant since the fire?”
Miracle sighed. She eventually said, “I was worried you thought I got too scared to fight.”
Finally, he looked at her completely confused. “Why would I think that? I thought you were scared of me or something, not that you were scared to fight..”
Miracle’s voice cracked as she said, “Because.. I was too scared to fight.. I froze after I got hit. I panicked..” She began to softly cry as she finished speaking.
Stu hadn’t considered this at all. He thought of all the girls as stronger than him, but they all were barely holding themselves together. Staring at her and facing the realizations that they all were falling apart before his eyes. It was all his fault too, the eye, the PTSD, the door.. All his fault. He looked away from her. He spoke clearly saying, “I have failed all of you girls these st few weeks. I’ve been lost in self-pity and focused on not knowing what my purpose was here. You need to know Miracle that even if you never choose to fight again, that’s alright with me. I will never hold it against you, as a matter of fact, I prefer knowing that your safe. You should also know that again for some reason you were the one to help me. I’ve realized that my purpose has been sitting in front of me the whole time. It’s you girls; I’m going to be here for all of your needs. I’m going to get Prosperity’s eye back, close that damned door for good, and I’m going to offer you the chance to lose your fear, if you want that.” He got up from his seat and stood in front of her.
She looked up at him saying, “I don’t think I’m strong enough, this is too much for me to handle.”
Stu smiled at her reassuringly. Taking her hand and speaking softly he said, “Miracle, you are strong enough to do this on your own. If you want though, I’m willing to walk side by side down this path with you. The whole way, I promise.”
She cried harder as Stu hugged her. Miracle hugged him back and through her tears she said, “Alright Stu, if you believe it’s possible, then so do I.”
A horn honking repeatedly as it came up the road ruined the moment. Stu looked back and saw Broth driving up the road in a pretty nice-looking cherry red car. As he sped towards them he drifted into a full stop. Flinging the passenger door open a green Marrow fell out of the car and started to puke. Tom jumped over him saying, “Still can’t handle vehicles I take it Marrow?”
Stu looked at a teary-eyed Miracle saying, “Why don’t you go ahead and wait inside? I’ll take care of the business stuff.” She nodded and kissed Stu unexpectedly before running inside.
Walking up, Tom said, “Very nice Stu..”
Broth yelled to Marrow as he got out of the car saying, “See? I told you I could get you here before you threw up! Am I the greatest scientist or what?” Marrow continued throwing up on the side of the road.
In between dry heaves Marrow yelled, “You’re never driving me anywhere again!”
Broth smiled at Stu saying, “He’s just upset that I did 90mph in a 25mph zone.. Pfft, what a pussy.”
Concerned Stu asked, “If it was 25mph does that mean you did almost a hundred miles per hour in a school zone?!?”
Tom nonchantly said, “That’s right..” Oh broth, you should tell him about the school bus thing.”
Stu gred at Broth asking, “What school bus thing?”
Broth just stared at him wide-eyed. He reluctantly said, “Nothing.. There was no school bus thing.. I assure you, if there was a school bus thing, as everyone seems to insinuate there is, I definitely, wouldn’t ever do it again, not after the look you just gave me..” His trembling became noticeable as he spoke.
Sighing heavily, Stu rubbed his temples asking, “What are you guys doing here? This had better be good, I was making some real progress with the girls..”
Tom again nonchantly said, “I saw that when we arrived, nice..”
Broth asked, “What buddy? You think I couldn’t handle your little request? Pfft, that shit was a cakewalk..”
Stu looked at him excitedly asking, “Well, what was it?”
Broth smiled saying, “You have to say it first, you know after I tell you, you’re going to be sad if you don’t..”
Annoyed he replied, “Alright Broth, You’re the greatest fucking scientist alive. Now, y it on me..”
Broth grinned, “It’s a genetic blueprint to grow a synthetic eye for Prosperity. It’s a bio-mechanical design way the fuck ahead of its time both in functionality and simplicity. Dude, your chick is going to see with both eyes, once again.” Stu rushed him, causing Broth to jump in surprise.
Stu hugged him while saying, “You were right man, greatest fucking scientist of all time!” Letting go of the awkward Broth, he asked, “When?”
Broth said, “A week to design and grow the tissue and a day to install it. With you guys and your crazy fast healing I’d say it should be good as soon as she wakes up.”
Stu smiled wide saying, “This is great! This is the best news I’ve had in a while. Alright, set it up for next week! My main question though, is why did you guys have to come all the way out here just to tell me that? You could have called.”
Tom looked at Stu saying, “We thought you might appreciate a new set of wheels. We brought you a Demon 170, it seemed appropriate for the situation. This is a fast and powerful car, also it is expensive. So, you know, try not to light it on fire.” Broth tossed the key to Stu.
He looked at the cats and Broth standing there, maybe he thought; maybe, I can trust them with helping me. Raising the key up he asked, “Anyone need a ride home?” Marrow puked again, and Broth raised his hand. The cats were going to head back on their own. So, Stu took Broth back to the b and enjoyed his new toy for a minute before heading back. He felt like things might actually work out this time.
