Isaac
It was a few hours later before Vicky arrived. Isaac had been waiting anxiously, so when the doorbell rang he was up like a flash.
"Vicky?" Isaac asked upon opening the door.
"That would be me," the raven-haired woman replied.
"I'm Isaac. Come in."
He held the door open for her and she stepped inside.
"So, where's... Taylor was it?"
"Yeah. He's this way."
Isaac led Vicky up the stairs and into Taylor's room.
"Tay?"
Taylor
Taylor looked up as Isaac and a woman entered the room. He presumed she was the telepath his father had told him about before he left for another meeting.
"Hi," he smiled nervously at Vicky, sitting up.
Isaac
"Tay, this is Vicky, Vicky, this is Taylor," Isaac said.
Vicky smiled.
"Nice to meet you. Isaac said you were having a headache?"
Taylor
Taylor glanced at his brother.
"Uh... yeah. A rather large one," he admitted, shifting slightly.
"I ah, took a few pills to help it but it didn't work, so Dad thinks it's telepathic. You probably know him - Walker Hanson from the commitee."
Isaac and Vicky
Vicky nodded.
"Okay then. Let's have a look."
Vicky concentrated but she had barely touched Taylor's mind when she pulled back. Her eyes were wide with shock.
"My gosh!" she gasped. "That's... that's... I don't know how that happened but it's no wonder you got a headache!"
"Can you help?" Isaac asked.
"Help?" Vicky repeated. "I'm an Expert and I'd say you'd be lucky if even Tanya can help you!"
She bit her lip realising how that might sound.
"Sorry," she appologised. "If we had gotten there when it started, no problem. But it's been given time to fester - lots of time, by the looks of things. There's nothing I can do to rememdy this kind of damage without making it worse."
Vicky fumbled around in her bag.
"Unfortunately, Tanya is, erm... in radio silence, shall we say, until the 17th. I haven't even got the slightest idea what she's doing, but that's not unusual. I'll leave a message for her. In the meantime the best I can do is... where are they? Oh here they are," she said, handing Taylor a small box. "These are telepathic headache tablets."
She grinned.
"They're one of the few things Experts can make that can actually be picked up by non-telepaths! Just take one with water if you feel a headache coming on. Each one should numb the pain for about 12 hours. So only take them one at a time. I can't stress that enough. It's the only thing I can do that won't cause any more damage."
Taylor
Taylor gulped at her reaction.
"Ok," he said softly, taking the small box from her.
He looked it over as he took a deep breath.
"God I wish I knew what was happening," he whimpered suddenly, putting his head in his hands.
Flavian started crying from his small desk.
Isaac and Vicky
Vicky gave Taylor a hug.
"Hey, I'm sure everything is going to work out, okay. I don't think you've hit the point of no return just yet," she assured him.
"Oh look," Isaac said. "Flavian's crying now."
He gently picked up the yellow fuzzle and held him out to Taylor.
Taylor
Taylor looked up at him and held his hand up for Flavian to jump onto.
"Hey Flav'," he began in fuzzle.
He had to chuckle at the look of confusion on Vicky's face.
"My Tay sad," Flavian sniffed, his whole body jolting as he did.
"It's ok. Your Taylor's ok," Taylor insisted, his voice croaking a little.
He looked up for Meena, but she was laying down again. He'd hardly seen her move since he'd been home.
"Is Meena ok Flav'?"
"Meena fine," Flavian bounced a little.
Isaac
"Tay has Tongue," Isaac explained.
"Oh!" Vicky grinned. "That explains it. Well, I'd like to hang around, but I have a few other calls to make. I'd better get going."
"Okay, I'll walk you to the door."
"Sure. Bye Taylor. Bye Flavian."
Taylor
"Bye," Taylor smiled up at her, as Flavian squeeked his goodbye.
Isaac
Isaac walked Vicky to the door.
"Sorry I couldn't do more," Vicky said.
"You tried," Isaac said. "You couldn't do anything. These things happen, I suppose, but I do wish you had been able to help."
"So do I. I'll make sure Tanya gets here."
"Thanks. Say, I've been trying to work out where I've seen you before..."
"Shouldn't I be saying that about you?" Vicky grinned.
"Yeah, well, oh, wait, I know where. You won a prise at the tournament..."
"Yeah. Winner of the Expert round in the Ga'Revali meet. Oh duh! Hanson... you're Avery's older brother?"
"Yep. Or one of them anyway."
"So I noticed. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."
"Maybe. Thanks again. I - we - appreciate you trying anyway."
Vicky nodded and left.