What Ali said was "let go of me," but it didn't really matter, of course. He didn't know anything about the stone's power and wouldn't have made a wish except by accident. Karyn, on the other hand, knew. "I wish everyone in here except me would fall asleep until an hour passes or I want them to wake up."
Ali slumped to the floor, as did the receptionist.
Karyn said, "Jon, wake up!" and shook her. Jon yawned and stood up. "I can't make another wish," explained Karyn, "because of the 30 minute limit. So you'll need to fix this yourself."
Jon took the stone. "I'm not sure... wait, do you remember how you made the single mom wish? Your exact words?"
"Sure. 'I wish that neither of you had to be a single mom'."
"Okay," said Jon. "I wish that me and my mother don't have to be single moms, that is, nobody's forcing us so we don't have to, but we still can if we want, and we're both single right now."
Jon looked at her hand. No wedding ring, but she honestly didn't remember if she had had one before when married to Ali. Finally she walked over to where the receptionist was sleeping in her chair and looked at her clipboard. It listed her name, "Jonnie Duncan," and her mother's, "Jane Duncan." No married name.
"It worked!" she yelled.
Then Jon noticed something else. A comment which said "Ex-wives of Ali Shiek."
Ex-wives? "Karyn, I take that back. It says 'ex-wives'. Somehow I don't think Middle Eastern men with several wives really like being divorced. We may be in trouble."
"It's okay," said Karyn. "Ali's asleep. Once the half hour is up, we can wish that you were never married and never even met Ali. That wish should work, since it's not contradicting anything. Or we can just have your Mom make the wish."
"But that's in a half hour, not now," said Jon. "And Mom isn't here. Maybe we should go in there and get her. I'm worried about her anyway."
Karyn nodded. Jon led Karyn towards the back and into the examination room. Jon's mother was standing, back against a wall and naked. Dr. Salim was holding a gun on her. "You've done Ali a great disservice by trying to divorce him," he said. "You're staying here until Ali's guards arrive, and then you're going back to our home country. I can assure you we treat our women well...."
Then he realized Jon and Karyn had entered the room, and...
