6 Seat belts

12 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 2020

Laura was more puzzled than she could ever imagine. The sedan moved smoothly in the traffic as she was seated in the back seat. The two men who had only introduced themselves as agents from the Migration Office said that a DNA test was required but the accuracy was all dependent on how much it will match with Laura. The more she thought about it the more excited she was and the more scared she was. What if the DNA test proved that the person was not her brother and that in fact he was dead?

That would probably bring her world down more than it already was.

But what if it was her brother? The chances of that happening were one out of a hundred.

*************

Caroline Calvin had been told to wait and while she was waiting she had also been told that her niece was on her way so that a thorough DNA test would be carried out. At first she was against that prospect and had argued that they could use her blood but some officials had told her that they needed to match it with Laura's blood to be absolutely sure that the person they found was indeed Tyler Calvin, her lost nephew and brother to Laura.

She had reluctantly accepted the proposal.

Caroline only had to wait a few more minutes before two men wearing black suits came into the building followed by a nervous Laura Calvin who was still in her school uniform. Without thinking, Caroline rushed up to them.

"Hey sweetie," she had greeted her niece. It was apparent to her that she had been taken out of school and brought here by the two men and she scolded them for it.

The men looked down in shame and apologized before two women in gray suits led them to an elevator. They were heading up and one of the gray suit women explained that they were going to the testing lab. They rode the elevator to the fifth floor which was comprised of a large white room with different equipment around ranging from computers to hypodermic syringes to gas cylinders, a hospital bed that looked like a white recliner stood in the middle of the room and a boy in his teens was seated on top of it. There were about five people in white lab coats moving about and setting things up. Three were males and two were females but neither Carol nor Laura gave them any heed. They had their gazes fixed on the boy with the black short hair, brown eyes, black skin, small nose and smooth chin. As Caroline looked at him she could see a resemblance to her sister-in-law, Loretta, and right then and there the doubt she once held was slowly depleting and the prospect of hope was becoming more plausible.

"Good morning. I am Dr Sophia Rose and I'll be in charge of the operation today," one of the females had said. She had white pale skin, blue short cropped hair, brown eyes, small lips and freckles on her face. She had an innocence about her like the one you get from looking at a little girl.

"Yes thank you," Carol replied. The boy who was yet to be proven as Tyler Calvin looked in their direction. His brown eyes seemed to looked at them with adoration but they were also calculating. Laura couldn't help but feel familiar with that gaze.

"Miss Laura? Come with me," Dr Sophia said and gestured with her arm to follow her. Laura followed and she was told to seat in a plastic chair right before a counter. The counter had a microscope, a centrifuge and a tray of fresh syringes. The man handling that place gave her a smile and said, "Please relax as I take a blood sample alright?"

Laura nodded sharply before looking to her right where the boy was seated in the chair. He looked just as nervous as she was. She smiled happy that she wasn't the only one.

There was a sting as the needle penetrated her skin just below her inner elbow and blood was drawn into the syringe, it was a process that didn't take more than five minutes.

After that the boy's blood sample was similarly taken and both his and hers were taken to a device she couldn't comprehend, the samples were fed into the machine and it was given time to process and compare them. Meanwhile Laura, Carol and the boy were led down the elevator and back down to the lobby. During the entire ride down the boy had not uttered a single word yet it was hard to miss the glances he gave Laura and her aunt.

*********

They were all seated in the chairs, people went by here and there. The two men who had brought Laura were having a casual conversation. The boy was seated on her right while her aunt was on her left. Laura would look at him and it would bother her that he was so still and quiet, he hadn't even sneezed in the past thirty minutes and the silence was creeping into her system that she just wanted to least talk. He have not been proven to be her brother but at least he could be her friend.

"Hey," she said after making up her mind. The boy looked at her with a steady gaze as he swept over her face.

There was a brief moment of silence before her replied, "Hie"

"Oh so you can talk? Phew for a moment there you had me worried," she tried to smile but even she could tell that her smile would look unnatural.

"Pfft," the boy tried to hold back his laughter.

"What?" she genuinely smiled this time.

"Nothing it's just that your first smile looked like a grinning shark"

She faked a gasp of surprise. "How dare you?!"

They both laughed and just as their laughter died down the two ladies from before came around with smiles on their faces.

"Congratulations Miss Calvin. The results show that this is indeed Tyler Calvin.

What happened next was a total surprise, aunt Carol cried as she knelt down in of the boy now Tyler Calvin and she hugged him.

"I...I don't know what to say," she said

"Honestly I don't know either I'm just happy to have a family again even with my foggy memory," Tyler replied and both Laura and Carol looked at him in shock before the woman in gray explained, "He received a head injury during the plane crash which led to amnesia."

They both nodded in understanding.

Tyler asked, "When can we leave?"

"You can leave anytime you want," the other gray suit lady replied.

"Aunt Carol can we go home now?" Laura asked her aunt, the excitement evident in her voice.

"Ah y-yes let's go home," aunt Carol replied as she stood up and wiped away her tears.

Tyler Calvin didn't have that much luggage with him except for a douffel bag. He slang it over his shoulder in a swift and effortless motion and followed behind Aunt Carol who led everyone out of the building and into the parking lot. The sound of the city's morning rush could not be ignored even if the time was close to 12 o'clock. Aunt Carol took out a set of car keys as they stopped infront of Aunt Carol's gray Camaro.

They all got in Aunt Carol in the front while the two siblings sat in the back.

"Seat belts on?" it sounded more like a statement from Aunt Carol.

"Yes," the two siblings replied in unison.