by Lola StVil
“Pryor, I was out of line. I was being an asshole and you don’t deserve that.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it? You don’t want to yell at me or take a shot at me?” he says, only half joking.
“I thought you and I…let’s just say I had a lot of thoughts about what we would be or could be…I was being…unrealistic,” I admit.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“Aaden, I thought at the very least you and I were friends; and that even if this team didn’t exist we’d still be in each other’s lives. But a year ago when the team wasn’t together, I never heard from you. That made me think I was wrong about our friendship. And then, standing there in the kitchen hearing you say what you said…it just confirms a truth that I’ve been running away from,” I reply, looking straight into his eyes.
“What truth?”
“You were right. We are not friends. And after the way you hurt me in there, I’m okay with that.”
“Pry, I wasn’t trying to…it’s just with my dad…”
“Aaden, as your leader, you are invaluable to me and to the team. But outside of this team, I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”
“Look, you know I—”
“Go back to the house and help the others find the artifact.”
“Pry—”
“Aaden, go. That’s an order.”
*******
It’s been nearly twenty minutes since Aaden went back into the house. I could stay out here for hours, just thinking. But we don’t have that kind of time. And I remember my dad saying that leaders don’t get time off. They have to find a way to take in a few moments of peace and let that carry them throughout the mission.
I take the last moments of calm, the soft breeze going through the trees. The elderly couple walking hand in hand, the girl who looks to be about my age, walking her dog and laughing with a friend. What I wouldn’t give to be one of them right now. No cares at all. I often envy the humans.
“Pry, Bex is in trouble!” East shouts from the front door.
I run back into the house and find the team surrounding Bex on the kitchen floor, where Bex is convulsing uncontrollably.
“What happened?” I ask as we try and stabilize him.
“He was just sitting here making some calls and he began to shake. He fell to the floor and now his eyes won’t focus,” Swoop says, in a full panic.
“Bex! Bex!” Key calls out.
We try to keep him from bashing his own head into the ground. His face is turning a bruise color, and he’s crying out in pain.
I order East to take Bex on his Port and head back to the clinic. Key and the others follow closely behind. Randy stays in the house in search of the artifact online. By the time we get to the clinic, the Healers are already wheeling Bex into the hospital room.
“Oh my Omnis! Oh my Omnis!” Key says repeatedly as she walks back and forth in a wide circle moments later in the waiting room.
“Key, stay calm, he’s gonna be fine,” Swoop says.
“I have to fix this. Why can’t I fix this?” Key asks herself.
“Keyohmi, the Healers here have been healing far longer that you have, they will figure out what’s wrong with Bex,” Aaden says as he takes her hand.
“I don’t get it. He was fine one second and then…” Swoop says to me.
“I don’t know either, but let’s not lose it here, okay?” I reply.
“Pry, what if he dies?” East asks me in a whisper.
I look over at Aaden. He sees the panic in my eyes.
“East, you know Bex. He’s a pain in the ass. He won’t go that easily. It’s probably just some Para thing. You know Paras--drama queens,” Aaden says, trying to make light of the situation.
“You’re right. You’re right,” East says, mostly trying to convince himself.
Aaden takes me aside and looks into my eyes.
“Paras don’t just fall down and shake like that,” he says.
“I know,” I reply.
“So what happened in the kitchen?” I ask.
“I don’t know.”
“Key, please don’t cry. Bex is going to be healed,” Swoop says, embracing her twin tightly.
“That’s not the reason I’m crying. I did something really bad and I…” Key begins, but she starts sobbing before she can finish.
“Key, what did you do?” I ask.
“He’s never going to forgive me,” Key says, weeping in her sister’s arms.
“He’ll forgive you for not being able to heal him,” I promise her.
She looks up at me with tears in her eyes and speaks with a weak voice.
“I did this to him,” she says.
“I don’t understand,” I reply.
“Pry, I’m the reason he’s here; I poisoned Bex.”
CHAPTER EIGHT: WE KNOW
“Key, what are you talking about?” East asks.
She looks at all of us with regret and sadness. We look back at her with total shock and confusion.
“I poisoned Bex, but it was an accident,” she swears.
“I know we’re pressed for time, Key, but we’re gonna need the longer version,” I tell her.
She walks over to the nearest chair and slinks down into it.
“Key, please explain it to us,” Swoop pushes.
“Bex has been acting…different ever since…” She stops herself from finishing her thought.
“Ever since what?” East asks.
“Ever since Pryor came back to the team,” she replies.
Everyone turns their attention towards me. I shrug my shoulders and admit that I have no idea what she’s talking about.
“So Bex has been pushing you away since Pryor came back?” East asks.
“No, he’s been more attentive,” she replies.
“That’s a good thing right?” I ask.
“No, it’s not,” Aaden says, seeming to understand Key’s dilemma.
“I don’t get it,” I admit.
“The more attention he showed me, the more I felt like he was trying to prove something to himself. He was working so hard to be ‘the perfect boyfriend’ it made me suspicious,” Key reveals.
“So you tried to poison him?” East counters.
“No! I mean yes, but not intentionally.”
“Key, walk us through it,” I order.
“I have loved Bex for so long, I can’t remember a time when he wasn’t mine. He’s a part of me. I know what he’s gonna say before he does. I know how to make him laugh even when he doesn’t want to. I know when to let him rant and rage, when to talk him off the ledge. And he knows me in ways no one else does.
“I’ve been trying to get him to go to this Seller shop in Mexico. They have these semisweet ‘power’ gumballs I’ve been dying to try. But he was always focused on work. I gave up on trying to get him there. Then all of a sudden he wanted to go. I mean he was eager to make the trip.
“He brings flowers like he used to when we first started dating. He plans these amazing nights out all around the world. He holds on so tight when he embraces me, it’s like if he lets go, he thinks something bad will happen.
“There are pauses in our conversations that weren’t there before. Moments where he’s traveled somewhere in his mind, somewhere he shouldn’t have gone. When he comes back, he pulls me close and tells me how lucky he is to have me.
“I scolded myself for being paranoid and crazy. But when Pry and Silver were alone in the cabin in Ireland, Bex was so moody and unfocused. But he wasn’t angry at me, he was angry with himself.
“And every day since then, he’s been acting like someone who’s committed some great crime and is just waiting for the Omari to catch up to him. He’s like a man on the run from something—something powerful and compelling--guilt. Bex is being eaten alive by his feelings of guilt over something or someone.” She concludes in a pained whisper.
“And you think that someone is me?” I ask.
“Isn�
��t it?” she asks, clearly hurt.
I sigh heavily and look away from her broken expression.
“Key, sweetheart, I know you’re in a Gray’s Anatomy ‘Dark and Twisty’ place right now, but can you fast-forward to the poison part please?” East asks.
“Most of the time I was sure I was just being crazy and that it was all in my head. But then every once in a while there was this spark of suspicion that would travel down my arm and soon that speck would be a raging fire of doubt and insecurity.”
“So you wanted to prove to yourself that Bex wasn’t thinking about anyone else, so what did you do?” Aaden asks in a serious tone.
“I made a mixture to detect guilt. It’s not harmful in any way. I gave it to Bex without him knowing. I put it into a glass of Coy he was drinking. I just had to know if he was thinking of someone else. I couldn’t stand not knowing. I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I love him. I love him so much.” She sobs into Swoop’s chest.
The rest of the team and I exchange uneasy looks. We all feel bad for Key. This was an honest mistake. Yet if Bex is seriously injured or worse…the fault will be with her. And I don’t think she can live with that.
“I know I was wrong to give it to him, but the mixture was harmless. He shouldn’t have had that kind of reaction. I just don’t understand what happened,” she says, pulling away from her sister.
“The mixture was harmless, or at least it would have been had he not been taking another mixture before that,” the Healer says as she comes out of the room.
The Healer is in her late sixties, with grey eyes and a calming voice.
“Is he okay?” Key asks.
“He will be, but for right now, he needs to rest,” she replies.
Relieved, Key embraces her twin. All of us breathe a sigh of relief knowing Bex will pull through.
“What other mixture are you talking about?” I ask.
“The Para was taking regular dozes of a suppressant mixture. The combination of the two causes an allergic reaction,” the Healer informs us.
“Bex was taking a mixture to suppress something?” Key asks.
“Yes,” the Healer replies.
“What was he suppressing?” she asks, on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry, I’m not comfortable divulging that information. Healer-patient confidentiality.”
“You have to tell me,” Key begs.
“No, Noru, I don’t,” she corrects Key.
“Maybe not, but I’m the First Noru and he’s on my team. I will need that information; now.”
“Certainly, but we need to do this in private,” the Healer says as she leads me down the hallway.
Key and the team look on as the Healer and I enter the Healer’s office.
“What second mixture was Bex taking and what was it suppressing?” I ask.
When she tells me, I gasp in disbelief.
This is so not good…
*********
When I get back to the waiting room, Key and the others are waiting for me to share what I learned from the Healer.
“The mixture that Bex was taking would in no way stop him from doing his job for this team. That being said, I think it’s a private matter like the Healer said,” I tell them.
“Are you seriously not going to tell me?” Key accuses.
“No, I’m sorry,” I reply.
“You have to tell me what he was taking. He’s my boyfriend and I have a right to know,” she challenges.
“And he has a right not to ingest something that could very well kill him!” I remind her.
“I told you, it was an accident,” she pleads.
“I get that, Key, I really do, but as the First Noru, I can’t ignore the fact that you injured your own teammate.”
“You think I wanted this to happen? You think I’m a cold bitch who would hurt any angel for the hell of it?”
“No, I don’t. That’s why there won’t be any official punishment for this, but Key, what you did was reckless and selfish.”
“I know okay, I know!” she snaps.
“I’m not an expert on relationships but it seems to me, you need to worry less about what Bex was taking and more about what you gave him. Key, you could have killed him. You two need to talk.”
“No, I can’t face him,” she says, shaking her head frantically.
“Kiki, Bex is crazy about you. He will find a way to forgive you,” Swoop says, stroking her sister’s hair gently.
“What if he hates me?” she asks us.
“It’s a chance you have to take. He needs to know what almost killed him,” East says sadly.
“The Para is awake now. He can have one visitor,” the Healer says behind us.
We turn to face her in the doorway of Bex’s room. Key looks over the Healer’s shoulder where Bex awaits her.
She turns back to look at us before she enters his room. The Healer heads for her office and leaves the couple to talk. Unfortunately not only can we see what’s happening through the window in the door, the clinic is fairly quiet; we are able to hear every word they say.
She slowly walks over to his bedside. He flashes her a big smile, takes her hand and kisses it. He looks much better. The natural color has returned to his face. She leans in and kisses him.
“I’m sorry I worried you,” Bex says to her.
“I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“The Healer thinks it was something I drank but she was kind of vague.”
“Does she know if you will continue to get better?” Key asks.
“I should be able to go home in a few hours. I know Silver’s losing his shit right now. So, I want to get out of here as fast as I can and help him find his dad,” Bex replies.
“Right now, you should focus on getting better,” she says.
“Aw, I love when you worry about me,” he teases.
“Bex, I have something to tell you and I’m scared it will change things.”
“Change what?”
“The way you feel about me.”
“Not possible, babe.”
“I um…I’m the reason you’re in here. I made a mixture and you drank it.”
“I don’t understand. What mixture?”
Key then proceeds to tell him what she did and why. As she talks Bex is silent. He just listens. I can’t tell what he’s thinking. And judging by their face, no one on the team knows either. When Key is done, Bex remains quiet for several minutes.
“Bex please say something,” she whispers, taking his hand.
“Get out.”
We all look at each other, shocked by Bex’s stark and certain tone. Key is taken aback like the rest of us.
“Bex, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that you’d get hurt!” She begs.
“Get out,” he orders again.
“Bex, please, let’s talk about this. I love you,” she says, placing his hand between hers.
“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!”
She runs out of the room crying, goes past us, and keeps going. Swoop takes off after her. I run into Bex’s room to check on him.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Did you know she gave me that mixture?” Bex accuses.
“No, I didn’t know until she told me just a few minutes ago,” I reply.
“How could she do that?”
“Look, I know what she did was wrong, but she loves you and she was worried that she was losing you.”
“Are you standing here defending the Noru that tried to kill me?”
“She didn’t try to kill you, Bex. She was looking for answers.”
“We have been together for years. We’ve shared everything. If she wanted answers, why the hell didn’t she ask? I would have given them to her,” he barks.
“Would you, really?” I ask.
“What does that mean?”
“Bex, she thinks that you have feelings for me. She thinks she is losing the only angel she’s ever loved and then she finds out that he’s taking a mixture to suppress
certain things and it scares her.”
