Chapter 3
Dr Tommy Oliver was quiet that evening. His wife and son, sensitive to his moods, left him alone. They both knew he only brooded when he was worried about one of his students. He came out of it in time to give JJ a hug good night.
After their son was in bed, his wife sat down beside Tommy on the couch. “You know if you tell me about it, I might be able to help.”
“I doubt it.” Tommy saw the hurt on her face. “Kat, this one would take a miracle to help. It's Jaina; one of the Raven kids.”
“Having trouble with her powers?” Katherine Hilliard-Oliver brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes.
“More like her memory. She’s got some kind of amnesia. She was bounced around for almost a year before she got to Raven house. From what I can tell, she is mad at the whole world.”
“Like you were after David died?” Kat said softly.
Tommy’s heart clenched. His brother’s death still had an effect on him, even after all these years. David had died of an undiagnosed heart problem fifteen years earlier. Tommy had reacted badly, falling into a deep rage that he wasn’t sure he could climb out of at the time.
He’d gone on the only bender he’d ever been on, besides snapping at anyone who tried to console him. In the end, everyone had thrown their hands up and left him to drink. Everybody that was, but Kat. She had simply refused to be driven away.
Kat had been the one to get to the bottom of Tommy’s rage. He was mad at David. David had died; he had left. She had dragged Tommy to David’s grave and convinced him it was alright to be angry at his brother. Hell, it was even okay to hate him.
The realization that he could be mad at David for dying had pulled Tommy back from the edge. He’d gotten grief counseling and had, over time, made amends with everyone he had pushed away.
“I’m going to go to Raven house tomorrow. Maybe Mrs Thunderstone will have some ideas.” Tommy yawned as he finished speaking, “Right now though, I’m beat. Bed sounds awesome.”
–
Tommy arranged for a substitute teacher to take his class the next day and drove out to Raven house. He asked a young girl where the headmistress was. The little girl, who seemed to remember she was called Justice, got up and beckoned him to follow.
She led him to the main office. Mrs. Thunderstone looked up from a mound of paperwork. “Dr. Oliver, What brings you here?”
“Concerns about a student. Speaking of which, shouldn’t she be in school?” He gestured at Justice.
Mrs Thunderstone sighed. “Justice, go play with Terrian. Quietly! No extraneous activity.” After the girl walked away, the headmistress shut the door. “Take a seat, As for Justice, she’s not in school.”
“Why not?” Tommy asked as he sat down in the offered chair. IT was a metal chair, a cheap metal chair at that. It also wasn't very comfortable; he doubted anyone sat in it for long.
“Because she’s dying.” Mrs. Thunderstone said tiredly, “She has this superspeed, but it comes with a metabolism that's off the charts. She had been in school, but the decision was made to pull her out after she fainted six times in one day. Her activity here is strictly monitored in an attempt to extend her life. We can’t slow her metabolism down and can’t get enough calories into her, so she’s starving to death on a high calorie diet.”
“I see,” Tommy said softly, he thought of the pale girl who had led him to this office. She had been awfully skinny. He had even wondered briefly if she had some kind of eating disorder. He took a breath and continued, “I actually came to talk to you about Jaina Summers.”
“I was wondering if there was any way I could help her.”
Mrs Thunderstone blew out a sigh and tapped her fingers on the desk. She glanced out the window as if the answer to an important question was in the sky. “Jaina has been to several therapists, even a hypnotist. She’s been poked, prodded and had every test possible done. Some by Shield’s top scientists.”
Tommy shook his head, “I’m not talking about helping her figure out her past, I’m only a paleontologist turned science teacher. I’m talking about showing her that there are good people in the world.”
Mrs. Thunderstone arched one eyebrow regarding Tommy for a moment. “You are no more *just* a paleontologist than I am *just* a headmistress. As for Jaina, she really needs a home… a real one, not an inhuman halfway house.”
Not for the first time Tommy wondered what the headmistress knew about his past. Everytime they talked, she seemed to drop subtle hints. That train of thought led him to wondering what Shield knew about his past. Did they know he was a Power Ranger?
Tommy no longer thought of himself as an ex-Ranger. After all, ‘once a Ranger, always a Ranger.’ Once again, though, he decided to not acknowledge the subtle hint in Mrs Thunderstone’s words. “I will discuss it with my family. Maybe we can help by giving her a home.”