The Loss Of Her Heart (January 2012)

The moment Serena Stirred Isabella was on her feet. Tony was talking to their lawyers as Columbia University had made their intentions of sueing Serena for the death of a student. Since she was in charge of the experiment, the culpability of the death was on her head and the university did not want the monetary blame to shift to them.

Likewise as the investigation continued, Serena was suspended from the University pending litigation and the criminal investigation. Serena only had an IV in her hand but otherwise she just felt...tired. “Here Isabella, drink some water,” Isabella said and brought the straw to her mouth. “Your father is just outside…” she said and paused as if choosing her words carefully. “He’ll be back soon,” she said.

“You're in the hospital but they say you’re going to be fine,” she said. As she gazed around the room there were flowers of all kinds in vases and baskets with cards attached to them. She had only been in the hospital for a day and all this love and concern for her well being was doted upon her. Her extended family was not small and her family had lots of friends besides.

The first thing Serena became aware of was the harsh light above her. She flinched and blinked and then heard her mother's soothing voice. For a brief moment she almost forgot everything, but then it came flooding back to her. Her mind and her body felt numb. She felt like she was in a dream. But it wasn't a dream. This was all very real. She felt almost robotic in her movements as her mother helped her to sit up and take a sip of some water. She realized she was in a hospital and as she looked around she saw all the flowers that were all around the room.

Serena felt new tears come to her eyes and as they began to stream down her cheeks she looked at her mother. "He's dead...Evan's dead. It's all my fault."

Isabella’s mouth worked as if she struggled to find the words. “Nonsense, and not according to Melantha. Your only error was not telling ‘me’...your mother that you were in danger,” Isabella said bitterly. “I can only assume you weren’t certain about the danger or Evan asked you not to say anything,” Isabella said. She had complete confidence in Serena and she trusted her daughter implicitly. “We will deal with the fallout,” she said and then silently cursed herself for the slip.

Serena knew she deserved her mother’s scolding and so much more. The guilt she felt was almost overwhelming. It threatened to consume her. “Evan told me not to say anything. His mother knew...that was all.”

She tried to wipe away the tears from her eyes, but it was useless because more tears kept coming. Then she heard what her mother said and she looked over at her. “Fallout? What do you mean?”

It was rare that Isabella cursed but she did, under her breath. She also knew that this would come eventually, holding it off would only mean more tears she knew. “The college is...suing you and the police are investigating the possibility of a wrongful death charge against you. Melantha and the other students gave their statements but I doubt they really believed them. In any case, your father will not let that happen so you have nothing to worry about. I asked Melantha to stay until you woke up but she...she didn’t want to see you,” Isabella said with a wince. “In any case you’ve been...suspended from your classes until the investigation has been concluded,” she said and then her own tears broke.

Isabella leaned forward and put her hand on Serena’s arm. “I’m so so sorry Serena. Evan was...he was...a good man,” she said not knowing what else to say.

Serena felt physically ill as her mother explained everything that had happened. Her parents had done everything for her to ensure a bright future for her and it had all come crashing down in the span of 24 hours. Everything she had worked so hard for was gone...like Evan. She began to sob and that sick feeling in her stomach became so overwhelming that she turned and got sick. Thankfully, her mother had known what was going to happen and had grabbed the trash can. All Serena could do was curl up into a ball and cry. She missed Evan so much and she was the reason he wasn’t there with her now.

When she awoke this time it was her father who stood over her. It was dark outside and yet she still felt as if she could sleep for a week. Her dreams were filled with Evan. His beautiful face only made more so when he smiled. His perfect body up against hers. Warm, passionate nights and funny moments when he tried to feed her scrambled eggs while she blew dry her hair. Evan would have been her equal, her companion and likely her husband though they were still very young. She knew he loved her with everything he was and he had given his life to save her. Her and the others. She now knew the look in his eye. Even as he knew he was dying he could only think of how it was going to hurt her.

Tony leaned over her and kissed her forehead. “You’re going to be alright Serena. Evan was a good man and you will remember him but the pain will fade in time,” He said gently. “I know they said they wanted to keep you but I think your well enough to get out of here. So, what do you say? You wanna go home?” he asked her. In the limo he held her as she cried. As she lay in her bed in her room in the tower she cried even harder when she discovered that all of her bedding had been cleaned. There was nothing left of Evan. No photos, no clothes, nothing. He was just...gone. Gone forever as if he had never been save for the pain in her heart.

Everyone in the tower tried to engage her when she came out of her room. Logan’s wisecracks made her smile but it never seemed to last and she was back to huddling in on herself and crying until she had no more tears left.

“Serena, I need you in the lab,” Her father said over the intercom.

Back in the Tower the tv remained off in the main living room. The news was still talking about what had happened and her mother didn’t want her to see it and become upset. Several days passed by slowly but the pain didn’t seem to fade. She felt lost and confused and alone. She knew that she truly wasn’t alone, but Evan had been a different kind of companion and she had envisioned a future with him. Now, she didn’t know what the future held for her. She wanted to speak to Evan’s mother, but she still refused to speak to her. That hurt even more than her yelling at her.

Serena was laying in her bed one afternoon. She was awake and an uneaten tray of food sat beside her. Her appetite had greatly diminished since the incident and she had lost weight. Her mother was worried about her and thought she needed to speak to someone but her father wanted to give her a little more time. She sighed when she heard her father’s voice over the intercom asking her to come to the lab. She reluctantly got up and walked down there.

“You wanted to see me?”

Tony tilted his head to her. “Wow, so formal, like I need an appointment to see my own daughter?” Tony said in his usual way to try and make light of the situation. “I was hoping you’d be able to help me,” he said as a new suit that was on a table and the table shifted up so that it was in a standing position before her. It wasn’t silver and blue or red and gold like her parents suits. It had an iridescent look with shades of violet that almost glittered in the light. In that moment Serena saw Nyx before her. Large and tall as she loomed above her. She reached down and touched her on the shoulder with her oddly long, thin hand with long, black nails that had been filed into points.

“You are mine Serena, you will ‘always’ be mine!” she said in her odd way of speaking. To Serena it was the suit that she saw as Nyx. Tony opened it for her. “I just wanted you to try it on for size," he said.

Serena looked at the table and saw a new suit there. It looked like her mother's suit, but it wasn't her mother's suit. Her mother's suit was in shades of silver and blue. This suit was almost iridescent and in the light it looked violet. Suddenly, Serena no longer saw the suit. She saw Nyx in front of her. Nyx loomed over her and reached down towards her. Serena felt powerless to move as Nyx touched her shoulder.

Serena didn't hear what her father said. Her face had gone pale and she began to panic as she backed away from the table. "No! Get away from me Nyx!" Tony would see that Serena was looking at the suit, but she seemed...terrified. Tony seemed confused by her reaction and was trying to talk to her, but Serena couldn't hear him. All she could hear and see was Nyx. She wanted her gone and she raised up a hand and fired an energy blast at her. She hit the suit. Unfortunately, her father had tried to stop her and had stepped in the way of the energy blast. He was thrown back into a table. Isabella and Kate heard the commotion and came running that way. Both women could immediately tell that something was very wrong. As Serena turned towards them Nyx suddenly appeared where her mother had been standing. She raised a hand to try and destroy her but she suddenly couldn't move. Kate focused all of her concentration on keeping Serena still.

"Get a sedative!" she said to Isabella.

Isabella grabbed one and quickly injected it into Serena. Kate waited until she saw Serena's eyes closing before she released her. Isabella caught her just as Steve walked in. "Here Steve. Take her," she said as she handed Serena to him. She quickly went to check on Tony.

"Tony? Are you alright?"

In the biobed Tony was being treated for a 3rd degree burn to his abdomen. The bed had numbed the area so he was conscious. Isabella looked almost haunted as she stood and adjusted the treatment. “It’s just a burn babe. Obviously Serena is not over her trauma. She’s never had to deal with death like this before. And she feels responsible for Evan’s death on top of everything else. She saw Isabella’s expression and knew she was about to break. Isabella was the toughest woman he knew but Serena was her daughter, her baby. Her only child. He gestured for her to come to him. When she did he put his arms around her and he kissed her cheek.

“We’ll figure this out Isabella, we will. I pushed her too fast and she wasn’t ready. Who is this Nyx anyway?” He asked.

For the first time in a very long time Isabella didn't know what to do. Her daughter clearly needed help, but she wasn't sure what was going on. She was deeply concerned for her and now for Tony as well. She hadn't been sleeping much due to her worry and now after all of this she felt like she was going to crack. At Tony's gesture she walked over and sat down next to him and let him put his arms around her. She sighed a little when he asked her who Nyx was.

"I don't know. But I'm starting to wonder if perhaps we shouldn't take Serena to Professor Xavier. He might be able to delve into her mind and figure out what's going on."