by:  Shirley Ann Burton

The Disclaimer (Always There When Needed):
     This is an original story with all original characters.  If you wish to borrow any part of the story or any of the characters, please ask me first.  This story immediately picks up after Ellie's Double Trouble Trial.  Please read that one first to understand this story.

     Ellie Peterson had just completed her testimony in Angel Marrero’s trial—as her alien alter ego Princess Elementa.  Within minutes of returning to her home and reverting back to her Earthen identity, she suddenly passed out when the flu virus, suspended while Ellie was Elementa, struck back against her alien immune system.  Her adoptive father, Harold Peterson, rushed her to the hospital where she could get immediate help, but in the back of his mind was a serious problem. How am I going to explain any of this without giving away her secret?  If she doesn’t get the help she needs, she’ll die for sure.
     Within ten minutes, he arrived at the hospital.  Carrying her in attracted the attention of head nurse Kimberly Walker, who was also a friend to Mr. Peterson.  “Harold, what’s wrong?”  She looked at Ellie, whose complexion had become pallid and pale.  “What happened to her?”
     “She’s really sick with the flu.  Can you—”
     “Let’s get her admitted. You get the papers started at the desk while I get her to the emergency room.”  Ordering another nurse to place her into a wheelchair, Kim took Ellie to ER 3.  “Take it easy.”
     Panting heavily, Ellie blurted out, “No... Mother… Father… please… no…”
     “Mother?  Father?  She has no memory of her parents.  The fever must be making her delirious.  Kathy, get the thermometer on the double.  Mr. Peterson will be here in a moment with the paperwork.”
     In the meantime, Harold approached the desk.  “Excuse me, I’m—”
     “Here they are, Mr. Peterson,” said Kathy.  “I hope your daughter will be okay.”
     Kim noticed Ellie drifting in and out of consciousness.  “This isn’t good,” she said to herself.  She took the thermometer and placed it into the young woman’s mouth.  After a minute, she said, “104.8.  It’s getting worse.  I’m going to need Harold to approve use of medicine.  She needs it now.”
     Mr. Peterson entered the room and asked Kim, “How’s she doing?”
     “Not well at the moment.  She needs antibiotics and a fever reducer quickly.  She has never suffered any illnesses.  We can’t give her anything without your approval, Harold.”
     “I know.”  He looked at his ill daughter.  If I don’t approve, she’ll die, but the medications could kill her, too.  I’m not sure what I can do at this point.
     Kim was surprised by Harold’s hesitation.  “What are you standing around for?  You can save her life.”
     “Or I could kill her,” he responded.
     “Kill her?  I don’t understand what you mean.”
     Just then, the attending physician entered the room.  Closing the door behind him, he asked, “What’s going on here?”
     “Dr. Stephens,” said Kim, “Ellie Peterson is running a high fever.  She needs fever reducers and antibiotics to get her fever down.  Unfortunately, she’s never been ill.”
     “Why isn’t she receiving treatment, then?”
     “Because her father hasn’t given approval for usage.”
     Dr. Stephens looked at the elderly gentleman.  “You’re Ellie’s father?”
     “Yes.  I’m Harold Peterson.”
     “Sir, we have got to give her medicine now or she could die.”
     “The medications could also prove fatal to her.”
     Kim said, “I don’t understand, Harold.  You’re usually cooperative when you come for your check-up every year.”
     “I know that, Kim, but this isn’t me we’re talking about here.  It’s my daughter.”
     Dr. Stephens walked forward to check Ellie’s forehead.  “She’s very hot.  She really needs the antibiotics.”
     Harold sadly said, “I’m sorry, Doctor, but I can’t let you do that.”
     Kim started to lose her patience.  “As your friend, Harold, I know you have your reasons.  As a nurse, though, I have to ask why you won’t let us save your daughter’s life.”
     “It’s something neither you nor the doctor could understand.”
     Seemingly from nowhere, a female voice said, “He speaks the truth.”
     Dr. Stephens and Kim looked at each other in shock. “Who-who said that?” asked Kim with some panic in her voice.
     A translucent woman appeared in front of them and Harold.  She had flowing red hair and wore a beautiful white dress.  “It was I who spoke,” she said calmly.
     Dr. Stephens asked, “Who, or what are you?”
     “I am the Spirit of the Nature Crystal, guardian and advisor to Princess Elementa, the lone survivor of our lost planet Naturia.”
     “We’ve been working too hard,” said Kim.
     Harold managed to remain calm .  “No, you haven’t, Kim.”
     “You’re not shocked by any of this?”
     He shook his head.  “I know who this spirit is.”
     “You do?” Kim and Dr. Stephens asked together.
     The Spirit answered, “He does.  Only he and one other person have known the truth about Princess Elementa…the ill child who lies in that bed.”
     “Wait a minute,” said Kim, “you mean Ellie Peterson and Princess Elementa are—”
     “The same person?” Dr. Stephens finished.
     Harold replied, “That’s right.  My adopted daughter is really Princess Elementa.”
     “A secret identity?” Kim questioned.  “Why?”
     The Spirit said, “To protect her.  She is the only one who survived the destruction of our home planet Naturia.  Her parents, King Argon and Queen Hydrana, sent her here to Earth to save her from the catastrophe.”
     “If too many people knew about the connection,” said Harold, “someone would come after her.  Scientists, the government, anyone with bad intentions.”
     Dr. Stephens shook his head.  “This isn’t possible.  There’s no way this could be.”
     The Spirit floated to him and Kim.  “Let me show you her life before she came to Earth.”  She started putting the index finger of each hand to their foreheads.
     “No,” said Kim.  “Stay away.”
     “Please, I mean you no harm.  Open your minds.”
     “I am open-minded,” Kim snapped back.
     Dr. Stephens agreed.  “So am I.  I’m very open-minded.”
     “Then why do you resist seeing the truth?  I wish only to show you who this child really is.”
     “I guess we have no choice.”  Kim relaxed and allowed herself to see the princess on her home planet.  The doctor did the same.  She saw Ellie’s first transformation to her true identity on Earth.  “It is true,” Kim realized.  “They are the same person.  This is hard to believe.”
     “You’re right, Kim.  Ellie is her Earthly identity, not her real one.  I’m still a little skeptical, but not as much as earlier.  Any conventional medicine we give could in fact be lethal to her.”
     The Spirit lowered her hands.  “Yes.  What she needs is a natural remedy to help alleviate her fever.”
     Kim said, “I have a pot full of chicken noodle soup at home.  I had made it for a group of friends, but we’re going to need some of it now.  It’s got plenty of herbs and spices that can help her.  Rob’s at home.  I’ll call and tell him to bring the pot here to the hospital.”
     The Spirit was pleasantly surprised.  “There is one of your world who understands natural remedies?”
     “Yes.  Kim’s not only a nurse, but she also specializes in herbal remedies for patients who don’t believe in using medicine.”
     “There are beings here on Earth who refuse medicine?”
     “Yes, for an array of reasons, including religious beliefs.  For most of those people, though, they’re just afraid of the side effects that come with most of the medicines.  Many of the medicines we have are synthetic forms of natural herbs and spices.”  Dr. Stephens took a washcloth and placed it into a bowl of ice water.  “We’ll have to use plenty of these until Kim’s son arrives with the soup.”  He placed the cloth on Ellie’s forehead.  “There ya go, Ellie.”
     “Thank you…Father,” she whispered.
     Kim called her house.  “Come on, Rob, answer.  It’s important.”
     Rob was busy with his homework when he heard the phone.  He went to the living room to answer.  “Hello?”
     “Rob, it’s Mom.  Listen carefully.  There’s a pot full of chicken noodle soup in the refrigerator.  Take about five bowlfuls and put it into a large bowl and microwave it.  Then put it into the smaller crockpot.  Plug it into the cigarette lighter and keep it on the floor of the passenger seat.  Get it here to the hospital as soon as possible.”
     “Okay, Mom.  I guess a patient doesn’t want to use medicine again.”
     “Rob…it’s not just any patient.”
     “What do you mean?”
     “It’s your friend Ellie.  She’s having a terrible fever, and it’s getting worse.  She can’t have conventional medicine.”
     Rob’s voice was filled with some fear but more determination.  “Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll get that soup there in no time.”  He hung up the receiver but suddenly realized something else.  “Wait—if Ellie can’t use conventional medicine, then that means…oh, no.”  Fearing his mother learned the truth about Ellie, he worked as quickly as possible to get the soup into the portable crockpot.
     Back in the hospital room, Kim looked at the others.  “Rob’s going to bring the soup ASAP.”
     The Spirit became confused.  “A-S-A-P?  What is that?”
     Harold said, “It stands for ‘as soon as possible.’  He’s on the way here.”
     “Ah, another Earth expression learned.  I must remember that one.”  She turned to Kim next.  “You are Robert’s mother?”
     “Yes, I am.”
     “There is something you should know as well.  The princess’s adopted father was not the first person to see her transform into her true identity.  It was your son.”
     “During that forest fire back in September,” Kim said with shock, realizing what the Spirit was talking about.  “He’s known her secret all this time.  Why didn’t he tell me?”
     “He feared you would do something that may harm her.  He did not know if it was safe to tell you right away.”
     “That’s understandable.  I think it was better that you told me because if he had, I would’ve thought my son had lost his mind.”
     Harold held his daughter’s hand and said, “I just hope Ellie’s going to be all right.”
     Kim tried to comfort him as best she could.  “Don’t worry, Harold.  Rob won’t let us down.  He certainly won’t let Ellie down, either.  He cares about her like a sister.”
     “That he does,” added the Spirit.
     Rob raced with the portable crockpot to the hospital.  “Hang on, Ellie.  Remedy’s coming.”  He parked the car and ran with the crockpot into the emergency room.  “Kathy, where’s Ellie, what room?”
     She was surprised to see Rob there.  “She’s in ER 3.  Why?”
     “That’s all I need to know.  Thanks.”  He walked to the door and placed the crockpot on the ground.  “Mom, it’s me.  I’ve got the soup.”  He pushed the door open.
     Kim saw the crockpot and lifted it.  “I’ll take it.”
     “Mom, can I go—”
     “No, Rob.  I don’t want to risk you getting sick.  Just wait out here for now.  My shift ends in an hour.”
     Rob sighed.  “Okay, Mom.  I know rules are rules.”
     “She’ll be okay, I promise.”  Kim smiled.
     “Thanks, Mom.  And thank the doctor for me, too.”
     “You got it.”  She closed the door and placed the soup on the table next to Ellie’s bed.  “Okay, Ellie, soup’s on.”  She dipped a spoon into the crockpot.  She took the spoonful of soup and blew on it just before feeding it to Ellie.  “Take it nice and slowly,” she whispered to the young lady as she opened her mouth and took in a bite of the hot meal.
     The Spirit had renewed hope.  “The princess is accepting the food.”
     “Mmmm,” Ellie muttered.  “Good…more…Mother…”
     “Shhh, it’s okay.  I’m going to give you all you can eat.  Just relax.”  One bite at a time, Kim continued feeding her.  “The herbs and spices in this soup should help fight the influenza from the inside.  The heat of the soup and the blankets should make her sweat.”
     Dr. Stephens nodded.  “Kim’s right.  Hopefully she’ll start sweating after a while.”
     “I’ll feed her after you go, Kim,” said Harold.  “After all, I need to stay with her for at least tonight.”
     “As shall I,” said the Spirit.  “As her guardian, I must be here for her.”
     “She’ll have to stay until the fever has been gone at least twenty-four hours, and I’ll have to run some tests on her.”
     “Wait, won’t that information be within the computer’s hard drive?”
     “No.  Those records are confidential using rewritable CDs, which won’t use up a lot of space on the hard drive in the machines.”
     “That’s good to know.  When will you do the tests?”
     “When Ellie awakens.  We’ll use the wheelchair to get her to the lab.”
     “Okay.  Sorry for being defensive, Doctor.  I just didn’t know how to help Ellie.”
     “I understand, Mr. Peterson.  This is an unusual case.  Who’s your regular physician?”
     “Dr. Larriott.”
     “Hmm, this could be a possible problem.  If we allow Dr. Larriott to be the physician, how will she be able to treat Ellie properly without giving away her secret?”
     Kim said, “Not all family members have the same physician.  I know a husband and wife who do that.  Dr. Stephens can be Ellie’s regular physician for normal check-ups.”
     “Which means none of the information leaves our hands.  Good thinking, Kim.  Is that all right with you, Mr. Peterson?”
     Harold nodded in relief.  “It sure is.  Thanks, Kim.”
     “Yes,” added the Spirit.  “Thank you, Mrs. Walker.  I am grateful to you and Dr. Stephens for taking such risks to protect my dear princess.”
     “Glad we could do it,” Dr. Stephens replied.  “A doctor’s job is to save lives, even lives not from Earth.”
     Kim continued feeding Ellie the soup, which was having a positive effect on the young woman.  When her shift ended, she said, “Okay, Harold.  Just do what I did, and make sure you give her one spoon at a time.”
     “No problem, Kim.  I’ll do it very carefully.”
     Rob waited patiently for his mother to leave from her shift.  He saw her walk out of the room.  “Mom?  How’s Ellie?  Is she—”
     “She’s responding to the soup.  It’s a good sign.  Her father’s going to continue feeding her until it’s all gone.”
     “Thank goodness.  I was worried sick when you told me Ellie was the one who was seriously ill with that fever.”
     “I don’t blame you, son.  Dr. Stephens will take care of her from here on out.  Let’s go home.”
     “Okay, Mom.”
     Rob drove his car while Kim drove her station wagon back to their house, both leaving Ellie in capable hands.
     When they arrived at home, Rob said, “Mom, I need to talk to you.”
     She placed her jacket on the coat hanger and looked at her son.  “Sure.”
     They sat next to each other on the sofa and were silent for half a minute. “So, Mom, you…know the truth about Ellie?”
     “Yes, I do.  The Spirit of the Nature Crystal told me herself.  She also said you were the first person to see Ellie in her true identity.”
     “Oh, I didn’t expect that.  Mom, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.  I’ll understand if you’re upset.”
     Kim smiled and patted Rob’s shoulder.  “I’m not upset with you.  You faced a difficult situation.  To protect her, you made a decision not to tell me right away. And it was the right one.  If you had told me, I would’ve wondered if you got high on something.”
     He was pleasantly surprised by his mother’s reaction.  “You’re really not mad?”
     “Of course not.  You’re someone Ellie can trust with a secret.  I hope I can be on the same level with her, now that I know she’s Princess Elementa.  I promise, son, her secret is safe with Dr. Stephens and with me.”
     “Thanks, Mom.  I don’t want her to get hurt.”
     Kim hugged her son.  “I’m proud of you, Rob.  You have a good heart, and I’m glad it’s showing.”  When she let go of him, she asked, “Okay, son.  I do have one question.  I know some of Princess Elementa’s powers, but does she have any other unusual abilities?”
     “Yeah, but promise me you won’t say anything about it.”
     “It’s a promise.”
     “Well, she has the ability to feel the core of nature’s essence, as if the trees and the wind tell her when there’s trouble.  It came in handy when Taneshia was in trouble.”
     “I see.  Can that happen in either identity?”
     “Yeah.  She first discovered it when she was Ellie.  It’s a rare gift from her home world, something she inherited from her mother.”
     “When she gets better, I’d love to invite her here to dinner to tell me the whole story.”

     Harold continued slowly feeding her one spoonful of soup at a time, lasting well into the night.  Finally, Ellie was sweating profusely as a result of the heat from the soup and the blankets on her.
     Several minutes after Harold stopped feeding her, Dr. Stephens put a thermometer in her mouth.  After a minute, he smiled.  “The fever’s going down.  Her body temperature is now 99 even.  Of course, because she’s an alien, I don’t know what her normal body temperature really is.”
     Ellie opened her eyes for the first time since passing out from the flu virus.  “Dad?”
     “Hi, pumpkin,” he said, relief in his voice.  “How are you feeling?”
     “Much better.  I don’t feel as hot as before.  What is all that warmth inside me?”
     “Soup.  Kim made some hot chicken noodle soup to help get the fever down.”
     “That was nice of her to do that.  I—wait, does she know—”
     Dr. Stephens interrupted, “Yes, Kim knows the truth, and so do I.  Your guardian revealed everything to us.”
     “She did?”
     “Yes.  She knew this was the only way to save your life…Princess Elementa.”
     Harold said, “This is Dr. Stephens.  He’s going to be your doctor.”
     “Hello, Doctor,” she said calmly.  “I’m glad the Spirit told you.  I guess I can’t take regular medicines, can I?”
     “Sorry, Ellie, I’m afraid not.  You’re best medicine is natural foods.  Now, this is a key question.  Are you well enough to sit in a wheelchair?  I need to run some tests on you.”
     “I…think so.  But what about my—”
     “Don’t worry, pumpkin,” said Harold.  “Your information will be saved on a CD, and he’ll make sure no one else is allowed to see it.”
     “Really?”
     “Yeah, your secret’s safe.  You can trust him.”
     “Okay.”  Ellie slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side.
     Dr. Stephens brought the wheelchair over and helped her get off the bed and sit down.  “Take it easy, Ellie.  Your father and I will help you to the lab, okay?”  Ellie nodded as she was escorted to the lab for her tests.
     It took around two hours, but soon Dr. Stephens had a recorded history, albeit a short one, saved onto a CD.  “There.  Your blood is a much darker red than normal human blood.”
     “Anything else of interest, Doctor?” Ellie asked curiously.
     “Yes.  Because of your alien body structure, you’re at greater risk for picking up human diseases.  What could be a common cold to me could prove fatal to you if you’re not careful.  The good news is you are eating a lot of natural foods courtesy of your father’s farm, so you should get through okay.  I think your body will need at least several years before your immune system becomes adjusted enough to where a cold won’t be so bad for you.”
     The Spirit appeared and nodded.  “Dr. Stephens is right, Princess.  You have been on Earth for only four months.”
     “Then I’ll stick with my normal regiment of good, homegrown food.  Can I go home now?”
     “Not yet, Ellie,” said the doctor.  “We want to keep you here until your fever has been gone for twenty-four hours.  When you do go home, you go straight home.  You’ll have to miss school.”
     After trying to fight her way through and nearly dying, she decided to follow the doctor’s orders.  “I’ll ask Rob to get the homework assignments for me.  Thank you, Dr. Stephens, for saving me.”
     “Ellie, the person you should really thank is Kim.  She provided the soup.”
     “I’ll do that as soon as I’m well enough, which with Dad’s food won’t take too long.”
     Ellie was released from the hospital two days later, her temperature back to normal for her standards.  Rob gave her the list of what was to be done for homework, and she was more than ready to make up for what she missed.
     That evening, Kim dropped by to check on how Ellie was doing.  “Hi, Ellie.  Dr. Stephens told me you were feeling a lot better today.”
     “Yes, and I have you to thank, Mrs. Walker.  That soup saved me.”
     “I’m just glad you’re okay, Ellie—I mean, Princess Elementa.”  Kim smiled at that remark.
     “I’m happy you do know.  At least I’ll be prepared if something like this happens again.”
     “We all will be, Ellie.”
     “I want to apologize to you.”
     “For what?  You didn’t do anything wrong.”
     “For telling Rob to—”
     “Keep your secret a secret?  It’s okay.  It wasn’t the right time back then.  You just learned who you really were.”  Kim gave Ellie a hug.  “You’re surrounded by love, Ellie.  You have friends and family here on Earth who care about you.”
     “I just hope that never changes.  Thank you again, for saving my life.”  At that point, Ellie knew that it was okay for a princess to ask for help when she needed it, and that it showed true strength and courage.

Two other people now know the truth about Ellie, but it was necessary to save her.  As for Ellie herself, she understands it's okay to miss a few days of school due to illness.  She knows her health is more important than keeping her grades up.  She'll need that strength in the future...

Make a B-Line Back to the Oddball Fanfics