by K J Carr
He emphasized his last statement by lowering his voice even more and leaning closer, his voice dark.
For the first time, I saw the dangerous side of this man. He always was jovial and carefree. Yes, he taught me how to fight and was focused while doing that, but nothing like the lethal angel that sat in front of me now. This man would kill to get his way. This man would kill to protect me, for some reason.
I realized two things in that moment. The first is that I was very important to him in some way, and he was totally dedicated to training me and keeping me alive for as long as he could. The second is that he knew something about the healing process. And that while it was a good power to have, it also had a dark side to it. I briefly wondered if he knew by experience what heartache healing someone at the wrong time might cause.
Then I slumped in resignation. “Okay.” My voice was barely above a whisper.
He froze, as if he expected more argument from me. “What?”
I sat back, and rubbed a hand over my eyes, exhaling. “Okay. I won’t try to heal him.” This time, my voice was a bit louder, even though I am sure he had to strain a little to hear me. “Besides, I am not even sure if I can.” I smiled wryly.
Ridwan lowered his head, his forehead touching mine. “You promise?” His voice was a breath on my face.
I realized that he was scared for me. I wondered at that, but decided to put that thought aside, for now. I wanted to see Marcus. “Yes.”
Ridwan stayed still for a moment, his eyes closed, before he opened them to stare at me. I could see so much emotion in those stormy eyes, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I was seeing. He watched me a moment more before sitting back, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“Okay. Hospital.”
I turned to look out the front of the car as he started to pull out and turn back around, heading to the hospital. What the fuck had just happened here? I wasn’t sure, but I did know I had promised to not heal Marcus. And that Marcus was awake.
I suddenly realized that he had said that Marcus was awake! I waited impatiently for us to get to the hospital, fidgeting in my seat like a little kid.
“Let me out at the entrance, Ridwan. I want to see my brother.”
“You can wait for me to park,” He started to reply, but I interrupted him again.
“No, please. I need to see him.”
Ridwan pulled up at the entrance but grabbed my arm before I could leave. “Remember, Nica…”
I pulled my arm out of his grasp, opening the door. “Yeah, yeah. No healing. See you in there.” I quickly left the car, half running into the building and up to my brother’s room.
“Nica!” Kaitie was in the hallway outside of Marcus’s room. She grabbed me, grinning. “Marcus is awake! The doctors are still with him, checking him out, but he is at least awake.”
I matched her grin, my thoughts in the room in front of me. “I am so glad, Kaitie, but I need to see him.”
She held me back. “They said to wait until they are done…”
The door opened, and the doctor stood in the entrance. “Nica.” He smiled at me. “Marcus is awake and seems to be on the road to recovery. He still has a way to go and we will need to do at least one more surgery, but the swelling in his brain is down and it appears that there wasn’t any major damage.”
I slumped in Kaitie’s arms. “Thank god! Can I see him?”
The doctor looked back into the room, watching a nurse finish up taking his vitals and changing the IV. “Give us about five minutes and then you can come in and see him. Don’t stay too long – he needs his rest.”
I waited impatiently in the hall until the nurse came out. “Go on in. He is resting, but will want to see you, I am sure. One person at a time. And not too long, he needs to rest.”
Kaitie pushed me slightly towards the door. I stopped and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Kaitie. I don’t say it enough.”
“Go on.” She turned and went to the waiting room.
I entered Marcus’s room, watching him rest quietly, his eyes closed. “Marcus?”
He breathed out. “Nica.” His eyes opened, and I smiled, taking his hand.
“Marcus, I am so glad to see your beautiful brown eyes.”
He chuckled weakly. “Which is the best thing on me right now, given I feel like — and must look like — shit. How’s Vern?”
I sat next to him. “Vern is staying with Kaitie and I am sure is being spoiled rotten. I would have taken him, but since I don’t have a fenced yard and Kaitie does, I didn’t think it would have been fair for him.”
“How’s Kaitie taking things?”
“You can ask her yourself. She is in the waiting room and I will keep this short, so she can come in and talk with you. She will tell you about Vern as well, I am sure.” I patted his hand.
My brother looked pale, which was saying something with his darker complexion. There were large dark circles under his eyes, almost as if he had been punched. His one arm was in a cast that went up to his shoulder, and his leg was in traction, raised higher over the bed. There was a section of hair that had been shaved away and a bandage was around his head, covering that spot.
“Were the police here?” His voice was raspy.
“Yes. Do you remember what happened?”
He looked away from me. “It was weird, Nica. One minute, it was just Vern and me, and the next there was this guy in the car. He was tall and dark and…” His voice trailed off.
Achilah?
“Did he do something to you, Marcus?” I wanted to snarl but worked to keep my voice steady.
He frowned. “I don’t remember. I remember Vern barking and growling. He might even have attacked the man, but he just has puppy teeth. Then I woke up here.”
I patted his arm. “No worries. Just…” I hesitated.
Marcus snorted weakly. “I know. Telling the police some guy mysteriously appeared in my car isn’t going to look good for me. I am sure they did a drug screen on me when I came in and that should have been clean. As well as any signs of drinking – I haven’t had a drink since you gave me Vern, Nica.”
I felt relieved at that. Marcus had been going down a slippery slope before this. I had hoped the puppy would help to turn him around. I was glad to hear that he had.
I lifted his hand and kissed it. “Don’t worry about that now, Marcus. Get better first. I am considering retiring so you won’t have to worry so much about the diner – which is doing fine because Millie and Teresa are such pros in running it. Let me get Kaitie in here to say hello and then you should rest.” I stood up and kissed his cheek. “I love you, big brother. You have to stay around for a lot longer.”
He smiled back at me and patted my hand. “If you can get Vern in here so I can be assured that he is doing okay, I would really owe you one, sis.” He grinned. I knew he thought it would be impossible, but I was going to do my best to try to bypass the rules.
“You’re on.” I walked out of the room and gestured to Kaitie before walking over to the nurse’s station. Katie almost ran into his room.
“Marcus!” I am not sure if I ever heard a whispered-scream, but Kaitie seemed to have that covered.
I leaned on the desk, looking at the two nurses who were sitting there. They glanced at each other and looked back at me.
“Nica?” The blond nurse had been the one who had told me I could visit with my brother.
“Hi.” I rocked a little up on my toes against the desk, my arms gripping the edge in front of me. “Umm…do you allow service animals?”
The two women glanced at each other again. The redhead, her name tag reading Eva, smiled. “Yes, we do. We also allow pets if they are well-behaved, accompanied by an adult, and will be good for the patient’s well-being.”
The air left my lungs in a whoosh. I dropped from my toes and pushed a hand through my hair. “Thank goodness.”
“Does this have something to do with a Vern?” The other nurse, Tamara, asked, a slight smile on her face.
; “You have heard of Vern?” I frowned, confused.
“About twenty times from your brother from the moment he became conscious.” She laughed. “I think he said his name more often than yours.”
I giggled. “Vern is his new puppy. He was in the car with him when he had the accident, so I am sure he wants to make sure he is okay.” I shoved my hands into my back pockets, looking a bit sheepish. “I had gotten him the pup as a gift for him on my birthday, and he means the world to Marcus. It was what he needed because my brother was going through a bad time.”
Eva stood up and came around the desk, patting my shoulder. “Then I am sure the puppy will be allowed to visit at least once, if he is house-broken. It sounds like he is Marcus’s service animal, even if it isn’t official.”
“Thank you. Is there any paperwork…?” My voice trailed off.
“Let us talk with the doctor. If he is okay with it, we can get Vern in here at least for a short visit tomorrow. If he does well, we can set up a schedule for him. We have found that patients often heal faster when their loved ones and pets are around them.”
I turned as Kaitie left the room, coming over to us. “Marcus is really missing Vern.”
The two nurses laughed. Grinning, I told her that we might be able to bring him in the next day.
Kaitie hugged me and then Eva. “Thank you! Marcus really loves that puppy and Vern has been despondent without him.”
“Well, we can’t have that happen.” Tamara grinned back at her.
“We will ask the doctor later today and let you know what he says.”
“Great.” I turned towards Kaitie. “Is he sleeping?”
She nodded. “I need to feed and walk Vern, then check in at the store.”
“I probably should check the diner and make sure they don’t need anything.”
We started walking towards the elevator, when I decided to ask Kaitie for her opinion. “Kaite, there has been so much going on these last few years. Do you think it may be time for me to retire? Spend more time with you and Marcus?”
Kaitie studied me. “I don’t know what is going on with you, Nica. You are amazingly healthy, you have all these hot young guys hanging around you, helping you out with things that you don’t really talk about, and yet now you are talking about spending more time with us as if you are leaving or going to die or something. Tell me what is going on.”
We entered the elevator and I pressed the lobby button. “I can’t explain it, Kaitie. I just feel like things are changing. That something is going to happen to me, despite how prepared I am.”
Kaitie thought for a moment. “Is this about death and dying?”
I realized she was thinking I was scared to die. While that was not it exactly, it was something close enough that I could discuss with her. “To some degree, yes.”
“You have never been afraid of dying, Nica.”
“Not me dying. But you and Marcus.” I stopped for a moment as my voice hitched. “Your cancer. And now Marcus’s accident. These feel like signs from the universe. I feel like I need to spend more time with you both, enjoy the time with you. I don’t know when I won’t have you here with me and I want to create good memories. We can all slow down and enjoy ourselves. We all have money saved for retirement. Let’s now work on our memories.”
The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. We looked at each other for a minute and then walked into the lobby and out the door. Kaitie halted and pulled me into a tight hug.
“You are right, Nica. We should slow down a bit. Enjoy each other and our lives. We have the means to do so and we should.” Her voice was fierce but quiet.
She pulled back so she could study my face. “Retire if that is what you want to do. You can spend some time in the diner. We can travel. We can just have food fests and movie nights. We are still young enough to enjoy life, while old enough to not need to work. Let’s do it.”
I grinned back at her. I knew she would help me decide. Kaitie was like a part of my soul. “Well, we will have to convince Marcus to join us. I think that may be harder.”
Kaitie let go of me and walked towards the parking lot. “I don’t think so. If you are helping with the diner, I think he will want to spend more time with Vern. I never would have guessed how much he would fall in love with that puppy.”
I shook my head at her. “Best present I have ever given him.”
“Indeed!” She waved at me as she moved towards her car, leaving to go take care of said puppy.
I stood at the entrance and watched her leave, and then watched Malak appear in a shadow and make his way towards me.
Chapter 14
Malak moved swiftly, his eyes fixated on the ground in front of him. I watched him, silently, my arms crossed in front of me, the cool air causing goosebumps to appear. He moved like a panther, all dark hair and lean muscle. Beautiful. And yet, while he was my friend, I knew there should be nothing else.
Unfortunately, I felt a connection.
I wasn’t sure why he hadn’t left. Kri Tennin were supposed to move on, leaving Transitioners for the Hyrs Tennins to train. The Kri typically was the one to ask the all-important question: Did you, as a human, want to become Tennin and thereby become immortal? Once a decision was made, they left – either with the human forgetting the visit or in the hands of the Hyrs Tennin pair. Inias and Ridwan were my Hyrs.
So why was he still here?
Malak looked up in that moment, his eyes meeting mine. And my heart stopped. I could see the feeling in those dark orbs as he slowed up, his stride faltering.
“Nica.” His voice was a sigh and sadness came over his face.
“Malak, how are you?” I didn’t understand what I was seeing, so I decided to do what I usually did when it came to emotions I didn’t understand; I ignored them for now.
He stopped in front of me, his look intent as he searched my face. Finally, he looked away. He shuffled back and forth slightly before turning back to me. He had wiped all emotion from his face, as if he hadn’t come back to ask me a question that I couldn’t answer.
“How is Marcus?”
Confused, since I was sure that wasn’t what he had wanted to ask me, I nodded towards the entrance, wanting to get warm again. He followed me into the building.
“He is awake now and asking for Vern. The nurses say that we should be able to bring him in for a visit. If it goes well, they may give him temporary Service Dog status. I think it would be very good for Marcus, so fingers crossed.”
Malak nodded.
To say things were suddenly awkward was an understatement.
Malak was the first Tennin I had met. He was beautiful. I just didn’t need a romantic involvement right now. My life was tenuous at best with Achilah attacking me and mine. I was spending all my extra time training, and I currently was employed at a job that was meaning less to me every hour. Despite the chemistry, this was not the right time, and I wasn’t sure if it ever would be.
I looked closer at him, and something inside me had to reach out to him. I touched his arm gently and pulled. The dark, negative feelings slowly eased into me via our connection. I shivered slightly as I gathered them, but then pushed them down into the ground below me, my body acting as a conduit to removing them.
Malak’s eyes widened, and he stepped away from me, breaking the connection.
“What are you doing, Nica?” He choked out quietly. “How did you do that?”
I shook my head, clearing some of the residual emotions. “What?”
“How did you shunt my feelings away? How did you make my emotions lessen?” He stepped further away. He almost looked afraid of me.
“I did nothing, Malak. All I did was touch you. Something inside me needed to make you feel better.” I watched him step further away. I knew I had done something, but I wasn’t even sure what.
And now one of my only friends was afraid of me.
“You healed my emotions.” His voice was quiet, but it seemed loud to me. “You have yet anothe
r power.”
I put up my hands, and now I stepped away. “Whoa, Malak! How does one even do that?” I turned to walk back into the hospital, Malak slowly joining me. I didn’t want another special power, fuck it. I had too many as it was. No wonder Achilah was targeting me!
“I don’t know. I just know that I was feeling depressed and then you touched me and…”
My phone rang, for once saving me from a conversation I really wasn’t ready to have. I put up a finger to stop Malak and answered it, turning away from him.
“Hello, this is Nica… Yes, he will be here for a while…. I understand, Sally, but he is my only…. yes…. yes…. Well, I was planning on telling you that I am going to retire. I think it is time…. I agree…. Yes, I will be there in a day or two to sign the papers…. Yep. That sounds good. Good bye, Sal.”
I disconnected, closing my eyes. A dull ache throbbed in my head and I rubbed my forehead absently.
I could feel Malak beside me, a warm and safe presence, but I didn’t want to feel safe right now. I glanced up and saw Inias through the glass doors, walking towards us from the parking lot. I trembled, turning to look at the man beside me.
He must have seen something in my face. “What’s wrong?”
I exhaled and stood up straight, removing all emotion from my face.
“Looks like you and Enoch got your wish. I think Sally was about to fire me when I told her that I was going to retire. She sounded like it was one less burden she had. The paperwork will be drawn up and I will go in and sign them either tomorrow or the next day.”
I turned and started towards the elevators. Inias reached out a hand to stop me for a second. He had overheard. Great.
“We wanted it to be your decision, Nica. Not to have it taken out of your hands.”
I couldn’t look at him.
“I guess the universe didn’t think I was going to make the right decision, or I was taking too long.” I continued walking. I moved away from the elevators, heading towards the stairs. I couldn’t stand in an enclosed box with these men right now. I just couldn’t.
