Garden of Serenity

by Nina Pierce

  “Except when she’s in the well-check, I expect you to stick to Jahara like a shadow. She can’t do any harm when she’s with those insipid creatures, but I don’t need her filling the women with any foolish rhetoric. As difficult as it might be, get her into your confidence. Befriend her.”

  Mikalyn was already bonded with the woman. Lukiam’s blood had linked them in a kinship as tight as any familial tie. Gabriella didn’t need to know that. “As you wish.” She inclined her head. Staying close to Jahara would make it easier to keep her friend informed of the director’s nefarious plans.

  Gabriella turned to Kylie. “How’re the plans on your project proceeding?”

  “Everything’s falling into place,” Kylie said. “Tomorrow afternoon we’ll convene a special meeting of the Governmental Body. We’re going to let Brenimyn speak in hopes his own words will bury him.”

  “What have I missed?” Mikalyn asked innocently. “It sounds—”

  Gabriella turned at the sound of the door sliding open, her voice rising with anger. “Jacinta, I asked you not to bother—”

  “I think something is terribly wrong.” Fear rode tight on Jacinta’s words. “Please help me.”

  Six eyes focused on the amniotic fluid dripping from Jacinta’s skirt.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Mikalyn stood next to the delivery bed, holding Jacinta’s hand. The young woman’s eyes rolled in their sockets and her teeth clenched against the pain. Mikalyn ran her fingers through the silky mop on her lover’s head, the white light of her palm working to find the pain centers in her brain. Nothing seemed to be helping.

  “Oh, it’s happening again.” Jacinta sat up as her uterus convulsed with the next contraction. “Can’t you make it stop?”

  “We’re trying, Jacinta,” Gabriella said, her voice strained against the tension filling the small room. “I’ve paged Dr. Linsig, she should be here momentarily.”

  Jacinta’s discomfort and her own inability to find the woman’s pain receptors made Mikalyn impatient. “Shouldn’t we just deliver the baby? I’m sure we don’t need to wait.”

  “Are you questioning my protocol?” Gabriella asked tightly.

  “No. I’m just—”

  “You’re here only as a courtesy for you partner, Mikalyn. Don’t you forget that.”

  “My sincere apologies, most honorable healer. I overstepped.” Her trembling fingers continued to probe Jacinta’s skull.

  “Shall we proceed?” Gabriella pulled an ancient piece of equipment from the corner of the room. “Let me show you the child.” She smeared Jacinta’s swollen stomach with jelly and pressed an instrument to her skin. A picture of the baby in her lover’s womb flashed on a computer screen. “There she is. A little girl.”

  Relief flooded through Mikalyn when she found the spot she’d been seeking. As the warm heat flowed through her palm, Jacinta’s nails released their grip on the flesh of her hand.

  “Is the pain subsiding, my love?” Mikalyn leaned into Jacinta’s ear. “It won’t be long now. We’ll have our offspring in our arms.” She cooed in a sing-song voice. “Dr. Bresilee has everything under control.”

  The door flung open. “Dr. Linsig can’t be located.” The caretaker ran breathless into the delivery room. “We’ve tried everywhere. Shall I page Dr. Khateri?”

  “No.” Bresilee shouted. “Mikalyn shall help me with the delivery.”

  “But I haven’t finished my training,” She forced the words past the cold fingers of panic gripping her throat. “I’ve never been in the delivery room for a birth.”

  “It would be wonderful to have you deliver our offspring, Mikalyn,” Jacinta slurred. Perhaps Mikalyn had dulled more than the pain receptors.

  “It’s not difficult. I’ll deliver the baby. You’ll heal Jacinta. Just another part of your training.” Gabriella’s tone was a little too cheerful for the grave situation. She snapped gloves over her hands as the caretaker wheeled the tray of scalpels next to Bresilee.

  “Ready, Jacinta?”

  The young woman nodded, drool oozing from her lopsided grin.

  The healer made the first incision from hip to hip, exposing muscles and the uterus. The uterine walls pulsed and rolled. Mikalyn glanced up. Thank the heavens Jacinta no longer felt the pain. She lay with her eyes closed, unfazed by the sharp blade invading her body.

  Mikalyn stared at the veteran healer, the woman unusual quiet in her concentration. She’d been through enough situations with Gabriella to know when the woman was worried. And there was definitely something about this delivery that was making the director uncomfortable.

  Gabriella drew the blade down the uterus, blood pouring from the wound. So much blood.

  “Pull the muscles aside and I will lift her out,” Gabriella instructed.

  Mikalyn did as she was asked, getting her first glimpse of the baby nestled in Jacinta’s womb. The tiny fetus was tucked into a ball, her head snuggled below her mother’s pubic bone.

  “There we are. In a hurry to join the outside world, little one? You’ve arrived a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.” Gabriella maneuvered her hands under the baby, working her out of the cocoon.

  As she lifted the baby away from Jacinta, Mikalyn could see the newborn’s coloring was wrong. The white mucus was plastered over blue skin, not the healthy glow of pink. The baby drooped unnaturally in Gabriella’s hands. Mikalyn knew there should be more movement from the infant.

  “Mikalyn, cut the cord immediately. Then help me with the baby,” Gabriella said tersely.

  “But first let me stop Jacinta’s bleeding,” she said.

  “The baby first. Jacinta can wait.”

  But the woman couldn’t wait. Jacinta’s eyes had closed and her bronzed skin had turned an unnatural shade of gray. Blood poured from her uterine walls, sucking the life essence from her lover. Mikalyn looked at her partner’s beautiful face.

  “No, she needs—”

  “Help me. Then heal her,” Gabriella ordered.

  She cut the cord, obediently following Gabriella to the small incubator the caretaker had prepared. The baby had not cried and Jacinta had not spoken. Mikalyn shivered against the icy dread coursing through her veins.

  “Mikalyn. The child. Save the child.” Gabriella pulled Mikalyn’s hands over the limp body. “Heal. My energies are tapped out. I cannot.”

  Everything was spinning out of control. With so much healing to be done and Gabriella apparently out of commission, there was no way Mikalyn could save them both. She didn’t have enough experience. “Go get Dr. Khateri,” she yelled at the caretaker. “We need her now!”

  “Stay where you are.” Gabriella held up a warning hand, Jacinta’s blood dripping from her glove. The caretaker froze in mid-step. Still working Mikalyn’s hands like she was operating a machine, Gabriella moved them over the baby. “Damn it, Mikalyn. Make. Her. Breathe.” Gabriella’s fingers released their grip only long enough to sweep the baby’s mouth. She pressed them up and down on the little chest. “I can’t save her alone.”

  Mikalyn didn’t give a damn about this baby. It was Jacinta’s convulsing body behind her that had Mikalyn’s attention. She tried to pull her hands from the baby, but the crazed woman stood blocking her, holding her hands over the baby.

  “Save her, damn it.”

  “Not unless you get Jahara.” Mikalyn stared into the evil slits of Gabriella’s smoldering eyes. Her own filled with loathing for the woman, who, up until this moment, had been her mentor and hero.

  “Fine. Fetch Dr. Khateri from the well-check.” Gabriella nodded at the caretaker. “Now save the child.”

  Mikalyn let the power flow through her. The child stirred and a tiny gulp of air entered the rosebud mouth, but the victory was short-lived. Time stood still as Mikalyn’s hands worked on the baby, her ears tuned to Jacinta’s fading breath. With the well-check just down the hall, surely Jahara would arrive before the woman she loved crossed to the other side.

  Mikalyn expelled the air she h
adn’t realized she’d been holding as the door hissed and Jahara stormed in just in front of the caretaker.

  “What can I do to help?” the healer asked without seeking any explanation for the bloody chaos.

  “Save Jacinta.” Mikalyn implored, her focus never leaving the tiny infant.

  “I’m going to need some saline and blood for this woman,” Jahara said.

  The caretaker left immediately.

  “What in Hades did you do to her?” Jahara asked. “She’s bleeding out.”

  “We delivered her baby.” Gabriella’s voice cracked with frustration. “And now we’re racing to save both the woman and the child. There’s no room for criticism. Either help or leave.”

  The baby girl in Mikalyn’s hands was everything to Gabriella. If she lived, her life would mean significant change at the Garden. But Gabriella’s priorities didn’t make the child any more important to Mikalyn. All she wanted was Jacinta back in her arms.

  Even with her back to the healer, Mikalyn could feel the power of Jahara’s gift. The room glowed with the soft light of her healing. She stole a glance over her shoulder. Once again the amazing woman radiated with the intensity of the power emanating from her being. Jacinta’s skin brightened with the light filling her, her face angelic in the luminescence. Even Gabriella glanced over to watch the healing power flow from Jahara.

  “The baby.” Gabriella elbowed Mikalyn. “You need to focus on the baby.”

  “Something’s wrong. I can’t make her lungs fill.”

  The baby gasped at the same time Jacinta did, but Mikalyn didn’t let down her guard.

  The caretaker returned with the blood, setting up the drip bag as the glow from Jahara waned.

  “I’ve removed the placenta and healed the incisions. But she’s lost so much blood, she’s not out of danger yet. We need to push those fluids.”

  Mikalyn sensed the flurry of activity behind her. Jahara would not let Jacinta die.

  “Something’s terribly wrong. I can’t fix this child.” Mikalyn focused all her energy to her palms, but only tiny rasps came from the infant’s blue lips.

  “Switch with me, Mikalyn,” Jahara said. “Jacinta’s bleeding has stopped, her heart is beating in a regular rhythm and her lungs are working. All that’s left is to heal the wound on her belly where you delivered the child.”

  Jahara made to move to the baby.

  “No!” Gabriella held her hand in the air between them. “Jahara, you heal Jacinta. Mikalyn can save the child without your help.”

  “No. I cannot.” Mikalyn dropped her hands in defeat. As little as she cared about this child, it was difficult to watch such a little human being struggle for life. “If anyone can save this infant, it’s Jahara.”

  Mikalyn ignored Gabriella’s protests. In a seamless ballet, the two healers switched patience.

  Jahara had no idea why she’d been summoned from the well-check until she’d entered the delivery room. Jacinta’s body convulsed in shock as blood pumped from her uterus. It didn’t seem right that two healers had been focused on the infant, when the mother was in such obvious medical distress. But she hadn’t bothered to put a voice to her concerns before giving Jacinta the medical attention she required.

  Healing the woman’s problems had taken great energy, but not much time, and as Jahara moved to the infant, her heart sank. Though she had never seen a newborn, Jahara knew from her education that this one was too small by half. Her delicate skin held the dark tinge of twilight and her impossibly small lips were deep purple. Her papery-thin eyelids quivered but didn’t open. The shock of red hair, which must have come from Jacinta’s mate, barely fluttered over the pulse point at the center of her scalp.

  She knew there was no way to keep this life from slipping into the next realm.

  As her hands ran over the infant gasping for life, the enormity of the situation slammed into Jahara with such force, it stole the air from her own lungs. “The child …” She spoke low, not wanting Mikalyn to hear. “She’s not formed right.”

  Bresilee looked at her, puzzled.

  Jahara understood why Mikalyn hadn’t found the internal problems, she was only an apprentice, but Bresilee was an experienced healer. After all, she ran the healing facility. She should’ve discovered these deformities while the fetus was in utero.

  “Gabriella, there’s no amount of healing that will help this baby survive.” Touching Bresilee’s arm, Jahara stepped back. “See for yourself, she lacks some major organs. And her lungs are barely developed.”

  “I realize that.” Bresilee yanked her arm from Jahara’s hand, but not before Jahara felt the essence of her being.

  “Just. Fix. It. If you can save a worthless breeder, surely you can repair this female infant,” Bresilee said through clenched teeth, her sharp words cutting through the tension hanging between them. “Dr. Jahara Khateri, the great healer, prove yourself now.” Bresilee looked down at the infant, her chin trembling with emotion.

  “I can’t form what the Creator of this earth has not seen fit to give her,” Jahara said quietly. Her hands ran over the gasping infant, imprinting the child’s genetic essence in her memory. Something odd was happening in this room.

  Stealing a look over her shoulder at Mikalyn mutely healing the mother, Jahara worried how Jacinta and her mate would react to the death of this child. A female child would be mourned by all.

  “I can only take the pain from the babe. I cannot save her,” Jahara said.

  “Then you are of no use to me!” Bresilee wailed, a plaintive cry filled with frustration and anger that echoed off the walls. Bresilee allowed her to dampen the pain before she swaddled the babe and scooped the infant into her arms, storming from the room, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Jahara moved back to Jacinta.

  The blood and Mikalyn’s healing had done wonders. The rosy color was back in the woman’s cheeks. Though her breathing was shallow, it came at regular intervals. She watched Mikalyn finish repairing the skin, the scar diminishing with each pass of her hands.

  “Thank you for your help,” she said to the caretaker and bowed. “And you,” she squeezed Mikalyn’s shoulder and smiled. “You’ve done well. A little rest and some food and Jacinta will be fine.”

  Jacinta’s eyes fluttered open. “Mikalyn?” She spoke in a mere whisper.

  Mikalyn moved to her head, cradling her face in her hands. “It’s all right, my love. Everything’s all right.” She brushed her lips across Jacinta’s.

  Everything was not all right, but Jahara knew nothing about this day would make sense until she could discuss the unusual events with Brenimyn.

  * * * *

  Hours later, as the cool water of the pool flowed over her, Jahara stroked harder against the unending current. Wandering the streets of the Garden hadn’t helped organize her scattered thoughts, so she’d turned to vigorous exercise, hoping the repetitive motions would help her concentrate.

  As her arms swept over her head, and her feet pumped the water, nothing could keep her mind from replaying the events in the delivery room. Like disjointed scenes from a video disk, pictures flashed, but nothing coalesced into a pattern that made any sense.

  Jacinta and Mikalyn were lovers. But that first day at the healing facility, Bresilee had fondled her secretary as if she possessed her. The infant she had futilely tried to save held very little of Jacinta’s genetic material, but a great deal of Bresilee’s. A surrogate? But why? Why would Mikalyn allow her lover to be used that way? Jahara pulled harder at the water.

  And then there was Bresilee’s odd behavior this morning in the delivery room. Despite her desperate pleas, the woman had done nothing to save either mother or child. Bresilee hadn’t used any healing energy in Jahara’s presence. Perhaps she’d tried in vain to save the infant prior to her arrival and had used up her reserves.

  Bresilee had always been an enigma.

  Exhausted from her efforts, but no more satisfied with her ability to solve the mysteries pursuin
g her, Jahara stepped out of the pool and slipped into her robe.

  “Hard day?” Bren leaned against the open door, his smile warming her heart.

  She fell into his arms, filling her lungs with the masculine scent of him, mixed with the fresh air of the lake. “You have no idea. I’ve been waiting anxiously for your return.”

  “That spark in your eyes, speaks for you, Jahara.” His dimples danced around the curve of his smile.

  “And your body for you, Brenimyn.” She dug her fingers into the firm muscles of his back, pulling herself tight against his growing arousal.

  We’re expecting company. He smiled, his lips unmoving. They will be here soon. “Perhaps we could retire to the bedroom?” Speaking that sentence aloud, he reached for her robe and she knew immediately they were about to put Xylice’s cameras to the test.

  “I’ve missed you. I would like that very much.” There was no enthusiasm in her voice. The heat of her desire had been doused by nervous anticipation.

  He stripped her naked and pulled her into the bedroom. They stood at the foot of the bed, Bren’s hands snaking through her hair. She tried not to let her disappointment show. The only lovemaking would be happening on the pre-recorded tape they were about to engage.

  “Computer, dim the lights.” Brenimyn pressed his lips to hers and held them there for a breath. “The light’s green.” He pointed up to the camera. “We have only two hours. There’s so much we need to talk about. Nathaniel met with the planning group today. He has a mate, Camille, who—”

  “Works in the dining commons.”

  “Right.” Brenimyn cocked his head in confusion.

  “I met her at Bresilee’s office. Kind of a weird exchange. Anyway, continue.”

  “Wait until you hear what she has to tell you about her last visit to Bresilee’s mansion.”

  * * * *

  Jahara put the last of the clean dishes into the cupboards.

  “That was interesting.” Brenimyn stood near the kitchen door watching Nathaniel and Camille’s retreating backs. The broken lock jangled as he pulled the door shut. “What do you make of that?” When he turned, Jahara was disappearing around the corner.