“Oh, how I wish I could see as you do Anora!” Chimed Windy.
Anora smiled, “Did you enjoy the story as well, Emberli?”
“Yes, I did. But you must be careful. From what you say, I believe that you are thinking in a similar manner of the silkies. You have a job to do here, Anora. You can’t just run off and live amongst the humans. They are not like us. I have heard tales about women of higher realms falling in love with the beings in the physical realms. It never ends well for us. We tend to fade away from existence and I love you too much to see you succumb to that fate. Please hear what I have to say. I would never betray you to your father unless I had to.”
“Do you really think that fading from existence actually happens? If the silkies can do it why wouldn’t we be able to live among them as well?” Anora thought aloud.
Windy chimed in, “Well Anora, they do give up their immortality to be with these men and women. In a sense, abandoning their skins is to fade from existence. If you abandon your immortality, you will have to be reborn among them and go through so many lifetimes just to ascend to where you exist right now. Would it even be worth it?”
Anora thought about that for a moment. For him, maybe it would be.
Chapter 17
Just before they arrived at the garage to meet Dr. Langston, Araime and Rog made love like it would be the last time they ever touched each other. It was mind blowing just knowing how merely putting yourself in a dangerous situation would change what you got out of a sexual encounter. It was richer and had more layers. Sex was almost always remarkable between them, but this was on an entirely different level. She would return in a couple of hours with Ava. Failing this goal would not be a possibility. She looked over to Rog, who was in concentrated conversation with Dr. Langston that she should have been listening to. She remembered how they met all those years ago…
“Araime, I’d like you to meet Rog Gizzeppli. He’s an inventor that will be heading up my new product development team.” Said Jerald Defoli, Araime’s dad. She had walked into the parlor to get the book that her tutor assigned her to read.
“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Gizzeppli,” Araime said as he nodded back at her. She looked him over. Rog was a very good-looking man with dark, mysterious eyes and dark curly hair that was just a bit too long. He cut a fine figure with a broad chest, fit arms, and long muscular legs. His skin was pale, probably because he spent a lot of time indoors inventing things. This man needed some sun. If he had a bit more color, he would likely be the handsomest man she had ever seen.
“Come and see some of these inventions. They will revolutionize Drylon industry as we know it,” her father said excitedly.
She went over to see the table with several items lying in a line on a black tablecloth. She reached out to touch one and Rog caught her hand and stopped her. He said softly, “You shouldn’t touch something unless you know what it is and what it can do. Most of the projects that I invent are for protection, but the one you were about to touch can cause great destruction if it’s not handled correctly.”
She looked into his eyes and then back to her hand that was firmly in his grasp. He seemed to get the meaning and let go. “Oh, I understand. What is it for?”
“I’m not sure that I have the authority to tell you,” he said with a twinge of sadness in his eyes.
“You’re right, you don’t,” Jerald said as he took his daughter’s arm and walked her to the door with the book she came to get in his hand. “Araime must return to her studies at once.”
“Yes, sir,” Araime said as she looked over to Rog, “It was nice to meet you,”
“Likewise,” Rog bowed his head. Dismissed, she left to study.
Over the next year, Rog had invented many things that brought the family great wealth. Rog would visit their house several times a week and was sometimes asked to eat dinner with them. She was only a girl then, much too young for marriage or dating. This arrangement continued for several years. Rog’s relationship with Jerald and her mother Zadra blossomed and he and became the son they never had. Eventually, he was treated like family and he and Araime were thrown together often. He would humor her at parties and would dance with her when nobody else would ask. She would ask him questions and take an active interest in his inventions. Sometimes, when he knew that she would like one of his projects, he would bring her to his laboratory to show it to her.
She wasn’t sure when the relationship crossed the line from friendship to romance. She wasn’t a child anymore but a young woman when she remembered him looking at her in a way that seemed out of the ordinary when they were in his lab one day. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I was just wondering how long it has been since I first started to think that you were the most beautiful creature that I’ve ever seen. I can’t figure out if it was the day I met you in your father’s parlor and you almost blew us up, or if it was just a second ago?” Rog quickly turned and focused his attention on the gadget he held in his hand.
Araime started to blush, “Really, you think that I’m beautiful?”
“I just said that I did, didn’t I?” Rog said swallowing uneasily and turned away from her. “I can’t believe that I just said that. What’s your father going think about this? An employee of his is in love with his daughter. And, I can’t even remember the exact moment when I became so infatuated.”
“You love me? Is that what you said? That you love me?” Araime crossed the distance to him and reached out to touch his shoulder to turn him to face her.
“Hasn’t it been obvious? Look, Araime, I don’t know why I chose today to tell you this, but I have been in love with you from the moment we met. I want to be with you always, but I don’t know how your father would react if I told him.” He quickly walked away from her. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to share this with you. Can we just pretend that I never said it in the first place?”
Araime walked up to him slowly. He was like a scared animal and she didn’t want him to run. “Rog, you can’t take what you said back. It’s out there now. It is shocking to me, as smart as you proclaim to be, you couldn’t figure out that maybe I felt the same way about you? The day we met, I knew that you were the most handsome man I had ever met. However,” She looked into his eye under bashful eyelashes, “I still think you are pale and need to get out more,” she giggled. “So, you can’t take it back, because I love you, too.”
He reached out for her hand and she gave it willingly. She still remembered the euphoric feeling that came over her when he touched her face and kissed her for the first time. That night they went to her father and declare their love for one another. To say that Jerald and Zadra Defoli were not disappointed would be a lie. It would take a couple of years to make them see that Rog was the only person who was worthy of their daughter. The wedding was the last celebration held in the large house. Soon after the war would begin.
When the first of many Drylon attacks on Haierti began, her large house was destroyed. She fingered the charred wood edge of her mother’s vanity that was miraculously saved from the fire. Just about everything else in the house was destroyed. She straightened her bright red wig and put the contacts in her eyes. She eyed the image in the damaged mirror. The silver painted behind the glass had been damaged along the edges by the heat of the fire. However, the glass managed to stay intact giving her a flawless glimpse of herself when she looked in its center. She never really thought about why she had kept this particular piece of furniture other than to say that it reminded her of her mother. Sometimes, it reminded her that she might never be a mother. Although their marriage was blessed with abundant love, it was becoming more and clearer that there would be no children born from their union.
They went to their last fertility appointment a couple weeks ago with the hope that this might be the time that they conceived. She didn’t feel any different. She wasn’t nauseous and her breast weren’t tender like the other times they succeeded just befor
e she miscarried. It was probably why she felt so determined to get Ava out of the hospital. Ava needed to be with Garrett to grieve for Angeline, just as Rog was there to grieve with her for all the lost babies.
“I have something for you,” Rog said as he fastened the string of beads around her neck. He had a decorative pin of a bird in his hand with a blue stone set for the eye. He pinned it on her shirt. “I made this just in case anything goes awry and you need a diversion.” He swept the shoulder length red hair of the wig over the back of her neck and over the necklace. “All you have to do to activate it is pull hard on the necklace to unfasten the clasp. When you throw it to the ground, the beads will separate and cover the floor. When the people who are chasing you are standing near them, press the stone in the eye of the pin. That will activate the beads to form a barrier so that you can get away.” She fingered the beads around her neck, “The beads may look small and delicate, but they might save your life.”
“Thank you, Rog.” She smiled at him reaching for the veneers on the table. She put a gel along the rim to keep them stable and pushed them into her mouth. She did a double take at her reflection. Somehow beneath all the changes and makeup that made her look so different, she knew that the person in the mirror was her. She just searched her face for the one telltale sign, a mole or freckle that said she was the person behind the mask.
“I also have this for you,” He said as he clamped on her ID holder and key card. “The clasp has a stun gun built within it. It has only enough charge to be used once, maybe twice if you are lucky. Don’t pinch it at all and be mindful of it until you are ready to use it. It might help level the playing field if more than one guard comes down with you.” He went to bend down to kiss her and thought twice. “I almost don’t recognize you.” After he had ducked around looking for a safe spot that he could kiss that would not damage her make-up, he settled for a kiss on the top of her wig. “It’s time to go. Dr. Langston is waiting.”
They walked down the hallway. She reached out for his hand and he squeezed it tight. She just wanted to be in contact with him one more time before she left. Just before they made it to the loading dock, she pulled him to her and kissed him one more time. The kiss felt odd with the teeth in her mouth and she wondered if it felt weird to him as well. He kissed her back answering her fears with an unspoken desire and look that said, “You had better come back to me.”
“Ahem,” Dr. Langton uttered and they quickly separated. The doctor had an odd grin spread across his face and she looked over to Rog, who was now wearing some of the bright red lipstick. She gestured to him innocently that he was wearing some of her lipstick and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. She checked her reflection in one of the blackened glass monitors in the room and straightened her wig and applied more lipstick. “Are you ready now?”
“Yes, I am.” She heard Dr. Langston chuckle as he walked away over to his car. Rog assigned Araime a separate car that she would drive and leave for someone to retrieve later. She would be going back with Naten in the back of his laundry truck with Ava in tow.
“You both know what to do. I have hacked into both of your translation chips and will guide you along the way. I will keep you both updated on where and what each one of you are doing. I can also hear you from my end. So, if you need me to know something that is going on around you, you can speak out loud and I will hear you. Try to work your message into your conversations with the people you are talking to so that you don’t tip anyone off.” Rog reached out for her hand and said, “Remember, you promised! I will see you in a couple of hours.”
Dr. Langston reached out for Araime and pulled her in his direction to break the intense gaze the two had upon each other. “I will do whatever I can to get the medicine and see that she and Ava get out Rog. Trust me.”
“I am,” he gave the doctor a challenging glance. “Both of you stay safe.”
Araime got into the car and closed the dome above her. She slipped the key into the ignition and the craft bounded up. Looking at the screen ahead of her she could see the coordinates punched into the screen. The large door of the loading dock squeaked and scraped in protest as it opened and she pressed the button on the console to take off. Dr. Langston would follow behind her a few minutes later. She took several deep breaths to focus on her task and go over exactly what she must do. The car found a parking space in the garage and she took several more deep breaths before she took the key out and opened the dome. When she was out she pressed the button on the key and the dome closed down, she whispered to herself, “Here we go.”
The hospital was just across the street from the parking garage. She followed the crowd going into work. They timed their entry to coincide with the shift change to make her harder to recognize among the masses. She waited patiently in line as one by one each employee pressed their key card up against the box near the guard station and waited for the guard to wave them through. As it was explained, every person that entered the hospital was subject to a scan to see if they had weapons or other contraband. In a war state, you could never be too careful. The guard waved her through in time for her to see Dr. Langston file into the short line reserved for the admittance of doctors and other hospital VIPs.
She acted as if he didn’t exist. All things were going according to plan. She had to check into the nurse’s kiosk so that her key card would be activated on the floors she had been given access to. She waited patiently in line again as the nurses checked in one by one.
“Are you new here?” asked a nurse just behind her.
“Yes, I just started today,” she replied.
“I figured, I have never seen you here before and I have been working here for as long as I can remember. Welcome aboard…” He looked at her name tag and saw the name, “Angeline Mirty. I am Jem Bocal. If you need anything just ask.”
She smiled, “Thanks, Jem, I appreciate it.”
“It is your turn.” He nodded toward the kiosk.
She quickly scanned her card and walked around the halls looking for an available wheelchair. It would be easier to transport Ava in a chair rather than a hover stretcher or roll-away bed. She found one and walked over to the elevator pressing the up button. When the elevator arrived, her heart started to beat harder and she heard Rog’s voice echo from her translation device. “Calm down, Araime. You can do this. Now, breathe.” She closed her eyes taking a deep breath as she pressed the button for the fourth floor. Several people came in from the floors in between and she held the door open for them. “Come on Araime, I can hear your heart beating in your ears. Dr. Langston’s in the pharmacy now getting the medicine. All is going according to plan. Breathe baby, I love you and will see you soon.”
“Are you alright?” questioned a small, spritely nurse.
“Yes, it’s my first day. I’m a little nervous,” Araime gave her a weak smile and tried to play the part.
The nurse touched her shoulder and said, “There is no need to be worried, this is the safest place to work in the city. We take care of our own. My name is Misty, and I work on the second floor in the Nursery. Come and meet me on your break if you want.”
“Thank you, Misty. I’m Angeline.” She swallowed hard after saying the baby’s name. The nurse didn’t seem alarmed by her behavior as she smiled sweetly and took a step to the second floor. “It was nice to meet you Angeline. I’ll see you around.”
Floor by floor the elevator emptied and she was the only one left going up. The doors opened and she pushed the chair out of the elevator and into the hall. She was getting her bearings. The maps she studied at the home base with invisible walls didn’t compare to the obstructing reality of real walls and doors that made up the halls. She checked the signage to get a grasp on the direction she should take. “Take the third door on the left. Then, walk past the nurses’ station and take a right. Ava’s room will be the last one on the right.” She heard Rog say. “You can do this, but if you think you can’t, tell me now and we can abort.”
&nbs
p; “I can do this.” She said aloud as a nurse crossed her path.
“Excuse me?” the nurse said.
“It’s my first day. I am just trying to get my bearings.” Araime nodded.
“Don’t worry, it will be easier to navigate by the week's end. See you around.” She said and continued to push her cart with assorted supplies down the hallway.
Araime fumbled for her key card as she approached the door and placed it to the panel. The doors swung wide slowly and she walked through. She could hear the noises of machinery and patients calling out for help. She was told in advance that this was the mental health ward, so she should have expected what she found here. She walked past the nurses’ station giving the workers behind the desk a smile and a nod as she passed by. She turned right and followed the hallway until she got to the room guarded by two armed men.
“Hi boys, is this Ava Langston’s room?” Araime asked.
“What business do you have here?” the guard said gruffly.
“Apparently, Dr. Flaban wants the patient taken down for testing. Something about abnormal results from a device monitoring her ankle.” She took the chart from the spot by the door and showed the guard on the left. “She must suspect something is wrong?”
“The patient is not supposed to leave this room. General’s orders.” The guard looked up from the orders on Ava’s chart and handed it back to her. “They will have to do the test here.”
“I am afraid that they can’t do the test here. The equipment involved in completing this test is massive and takes up a lot of space. They can’t just bring it down the hallways. She will have to be transported downstairs to the first floor.”
“There is no way that I will let you take her from this room without my commanding officer’s approval. So go on about your business.” He resumed his guard duty crossing his arms over his chest.
The Theron Residency (Brides of Theron Book 4) Page 24
