The Fifth Kingdom

by Caridad Piñeiro

  “You presumed right. Shall we go?” ADIC Williams said and held his hand out in the direction of the hall and away from Bill. As she scrutinized his features again, it was obvious he would not take no for an answer.

  She was determined to have her way as well. “Let’s go. But understand that I plan to be here when Bill comes out of surgery.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Let me get this straight. Dr. Vasquez and Special Agent Santana never entered the tomb? Only you went inside, Dr. Adams?” ADIC Williams pressed, obviously dissatisfied with the answers they had already provided during the course of the debriefing.

  Deanna understood why, but the truth of it was that in this timeline, she and Bill had never entered Montezuma’s burial place. “That’s right. After we got free of the Primera Mexica members, we headed down the slope toward the base of the hillside.”

  “And away from the tomb?” Commander Mendoza asked. He had been listening intently for most of the interrogation while striding back and forth behind the two other men.

  She shot a glance at her mother, who smiled and calmly replied. “Commander Mendoza. I have approached the Mexican authorities regarding the study and preservation of the site. Until I have the appropriate permissions, I won’t reveal the location of my discovery.”

  “Or what is inside? You won’t reveal that either, Dr. Adams?” Colonel Richards pressed, his annoyance plainly obvious.

  ADIC Williams leaned forward, his hands clasped together on the tabletop, white from the pressure he was exerting to keep his anger in check. “You understand Primera Mexico believed there was a weapon inside. Something they could use to assist them in their terrorist activities.”

  “Something Bill may die to prevent. Do you think I would dishonor his actions by lying to you?” Deanna replied, certain of one thing as she did so. Bill was the one who deserved to decide what to do with the sun stone. He had paid dearly to protect it with his blood and sweat.

  The men backed off after her comment, but she sensed it was only a temporary reprieve. Looking up at the clock on the wall, she realized they had been in the room for close to an hour. It was time to head back and find out how Bill was doing.

  Pushing away from the interrogation table, she stood and slung her pack over her shoulder. “Sorry, gentlemen. But I’ve got somewhere I’ve got to be. Mom?”

  Her mother likewise rose and slipped her hand into Deanna’s. “I’m with you. It’s time to see how Bill is doing.”

  ADIC Williams reluctantly stood and after a quick glance at his colleagues, he said, “I’ll take you back to the medical center.”

  At a brisk pace, they returned to the other building, but this time ADIC Williams led them to an Intensive Care Unit. Deanna had noticed that he had received a message while they were in the interrogation room. Now she realized that it had been an update on Bill’s condition. When they arrived at the ICU, a Mexican nurse approached them, metal chart held to her chest.

  “We’d like to see Special Agent Santana,” ADIC Williams advised.

  “I’m not sure he’s conscious yet, but even if he was, only one visitor at a time. Fifteen minute limit.”

  Deanna arched a brow, thinking that she would leave Bill’s side only when she was good and ready and not before. “I’m going in to see him.”

  “Of course, DeeDee. Take your time,” her mother said, likewise shooting a warning glare at the nurse.

  “Fifteen minutes,” the nurse reminded and Deanna brushed past her to enter the unit.

  His mind was scattered like a broken jigsaw puzzle, filled with bits and pieces of memories strewn across his brain that he was trying to put back together to make sense. Older faded memories of his mother holding him, her touch tender and loving. Tears trailing down her beautiful face, her blue eyes pleading with him to understand. She had been protective he remembered now, his mind free of the padlocks he had placed on those recollections in order to shield himself from the hurt they created.

  More images joined the jumble of pieces.

  Deanna, lying close, her loving arms enveloping him. The scent of her, clean and uncluttered by artificial perfumes. His blood on her hands and arms. The grief on her face as she had told him about his death.

  Death, he thought, fighting it back while wave after wave of pain rolled across his body. Yet the pain was welcome in a way because it reminded him that he was still alive.

  A sound registered in his brain. Footsteps heading his way. They became louder and her scent teased his nostrils over the antiseptic smells of the hospital.

  Deanna, he thought, forcing his eyes open and finding it to be an immense battle. When she slipped her hand into his, he somehow mustered the strength, opened his eyes and turned his head in her direction.

  “Hi,” he said, his voice raspy and sounding weaker than he cared for.

  “Hi, yourself,” she replied. She bent, kissed his cheek and whispered, “I was so worried about you.”

  He reached up and stroked a finger along one of the scratches on her face, but dropped his hand immediately, taxed by that simple movement. “Are you and Miranda okay?”

  “We’re fine. Only a few scratches and bruises thanks to you.”

  His hand tightened in hers as he closed his eyes and bit his lip, experiencing a surge of pain. By his other hand was a button for the morphine drip connected to his IV, but he held back from pushing it.

  “Why don’t you take something for the pain?”

  “Later,” he replied on a sharp exhale and then faced her once again. “I dreamed about you. You and my mom.”

  “Good dreams, I hope,” she said with a smile and kissed his face again.

  “Good,” he said, feeling drained. He gathered up his strength again to be with her, afraid that if he released his hold on reality, she’d be gone with it.

  “Don’t want to lose you,” he said aloud and grasped her hand more tightly.

  She kissed his cheek again and then nuzzled his face with hers. “Mi amor, I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”

  Her words dragged a smile to his face and forced away the fear that the pain and drugs had released. “I love you too.”

  She must have sensed that he needed some point of reality on which to focus. She stroked his face with her hand, keeping him grounded with her touch.

  “My mom loved me. I saw that in my dreams. She tried to defend me.”

  “I’m glad you remembered that,” she said, raising her hand to caress his scalp through the short strands of his hair, her actions comforting.

  “You protected me, didn’t you?” he asked, having vague recollections of her pulling him through the air and into darkness.

  A furrow worked across her brow. “You remember that?”

  Another tide of pain wracked his body, but her gentling touch helped him ride out the discomfort. “I remember,” he said on a sharp breath.

  “In the shack you told me that I couldn’t change what was meant to be. What did you mean by that?” she asked, worry evident on her face and in the tension that had entered her body.

  “You told me I had died before and I thought, you can change it this time, but I’ll just die again,” he said. When he noted the anguish on her face, he reached up and stroked her cheek again, added, “But not for a while, querida. I plan on being with you for a long time.”

  His words alleviated some of her distress. With a dimpled smile, she said, “Kind of sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  He grinned, focusing on her to stay alert as his body tried to pull him back into unconsciousness. “Sure of us,” he replied, but it almost sounded distant to him.

  “Rest, Bill. I’ll be here when you wake.” She kissed him again and he memorized the feel of her close to him. Allowed the pleasure and promise in that caress to guide him to healing rest.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Contrary to the nurse’s dictate, Deanna stayed at Bill’s side during the course of a fretful night and day.

  Bill’
s one moment of consciousness earlier was followed by long hours of coma-like sleep with an occasional spurt of wakefulness. Even though Deanna understood the rest was necessary to rebuild his body, she worried each time that he slipped away that he wouldn’t return.

  A lingering remnant of her past experience with her mother.

  Her mother, she thought, recalling those moments in the surgical waiting room and the many visits she had made into the ICU to check up on her. It had been so long since she’d had a mother’s touch and concern. Her father, as loving as he was, had never possessed a maternal gift.

  But while that touch was comforting now, Deanna sensed it was fleeting. No one could change that much overnight. For the moment she basked in that attention and caring, needing it to sustain her as she in turn supported Bill during the seemingly endless struggle.

  She was half dozing in her chair, having lost track of night and day in the enclosed environment of the ICU when he woke again. This time his gaze was sharper and his skin had lost some of its pallor. A healthy flush of color worked across his face and as she leaned forward, he gripped her hand with greater strength.

  “You’re still here.” His voice retained the huskiness of sleep and dryness, but his tone was more robust.

  “I told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  A smile worked across his lips and up into his eyes. “Maybe we should make that official.”

  It took her a moment to realize what he was saying. She shook her head and with a chuckle said, “Do you think the base chaplain can help us out once Papi gets here?”

  “Is that a yes?” he teased, aware that her answer was as unromantic as his proposal, but then again, nothing about their relationship had been ordinary.

  “If that was a proposal, then it was a ‘yes’,” she kidded back and just to make sure there was no doubt, leaned forward and kissed him to give him a sampling of all the love she would share with him in the future.

  The sound of a nearby footfall broke them apart.

  ADIC Williams stood at the foot of the bed, hands clasped before him in that stance that screamed law enforcement. Her mother was beside him, wringing her hands and slightly agitated.

  “I see that you’re feeling better, Special Agent,” Bill’s boss said, only a hint of humor in his voice.

  “Yes, sir. I’m a little stronger,” Bill replied, his tone losing its earlier playfulness as demanded by the intrusion of work.

  “Strong enough to be debriefed?”

  “Can’t this wait until he’s rested a little more?” Miranda asked, meeting Deanna’s gaze. There was no doubt her mother was worried about something in addition to Bill’s health.

  Luckily the duty nurse came in, a different one than from the night before and clearly pissed that the three of them seemed to be ignoring all the ICU rules.

  “One visitor. Fifteen minutes. All of you,” she stressed, cementing a hand on one hip and glaring at each of them for determined seconds to reinforce her statement.

  “Let’s go, Mr. Williams,” her mother said, looping her arm through the ADIC’s and urging him to leave.

  “Just another minute, please,” Deanna said, clutching Bill’s hand firmly.

  “Please,” Bill echoed and the nurse relented. Pointing to both Williams and her mother, she instructed, “You two. Go.”

  With a forceful yank, Miranda dragged Williams from the room. When the nurse was likewise gone, Bill glanced at her and whispered, “What did you tell Williams?”

  “Not just Williams. Two military men grilled us as well. Colonel Richards and a Mexican army commander. Mendoza. Do you know them?”

  A single shake of his head provided his initial answer. “Did you say anything about the stone?”

  “No. I didn’t want to do anything without speaking to you first,” she advised and he nodded.

  “Thanks. I’d like to get a read on these guys before we decide what to do.”

  “Minute’s almost up,” the nurse called out from the door of the ICU.

  Deanna rose and squeezed his hand, still reluctant to leave him even if he was doing better. Bending, she kissed him and after, said in a confidential tone, “The stone is safe and sound. We’ll wait for you to talk about what to do.”

  “Come back again as soon as the dragon lady will let you,” he said and slipped his hand behind her neck. Held her close for a very vital kiss which eased some of her concerns about his physical state.

  Judging from the kiss, he was feeling a lot better.

  When they separated, she teased, “I’ll be back soon, but if you kiss me like that again, fifteen minutes with you won’t be enough.”

  The sweetness of her kiss eased him into another round of restfulness, providing him with the time needed to build up his strength. When he roused the next time, the nurse who had chased out Deanna, Miranda and his boss was beside him. She was making notations on a chart and when he woke, she reached for his wrist and took his pulse, as if not trusting the equipment to which he was wired.

  “Much stronger,” she replied and closed the chart with a metallic snap. “You’re a lucky man, Special Agent.”

  He tried to shift in bed, but pain lanced through his midsection. “Not sure if lucky is the right word,” he replied through gritted teeth.

  “You’re alive, aren’t you?” she chastised and he had to smile because her no-nonsense bluster was on the money.

  “You’re right. Can you help me sit up, please?”

  With a brisk nod, she went to his other side and found the controls for the bed. Tucked them into his hand and helped him as he fumbled with the controls. With the push of a button, the bed slowly ground to a slightly raised position.

  “Thank you,” he said and the nurse finally offered him a smile in return.

  “You’re welcome and since you’re so polite, let me warn you. I’m supposed to call your boss as soon as you’re awake again.”

  “Do you think you could track down my fiancée first? Please?” For good measure, he offered her what he hoped was a boyish grin and not a grimace.

  She narrowed her gaze as she shrewdly glanced at him. “Your fiancée? Is that your ring on her finger?”

  “Kind of. It was for the job at first, but she just said ‘yes.’”

  One edge of her mouth lifted with the hint of a smile. “Work fast, don’t you?”

  Bill thought about the last few days and how much his life had changed since he had stood outside the door of Deanna’s classroom. Considering how long it had taken him to get there, he wasn’t sure fast was the right word. Fated seemed somehow more appropriate.

  “You could say it was meant to be,” he replied.

  The nurse chuckled and while shaking her head, walked out of the ICU to make her calls.

  The nurse had obviously heeded his request when Deanna appeared with Miranda just a few minutes later and there was no sign of ADIC Williams and the two military men Deanna had mentioned.

  “You’re looking a lot better,” Deanna said and she kissed his cheek.

  Miranda took a spot along his other side and squeezed his hand. “So glad, my son.”

  ‘My son’ sounded so foreign and yet welcome. As he perused both women there seemed to be a peaceful understanding that hadn’t been there before and he was glad for it. There had been too much hurt between them and as well as anyone, he understood how that pain could hold someone back.

  Until Deanna he had allowed that misery to keep him from forming a bond to anyone.

  Bill had little time to consider what that change might mean when ADIC Williams walked in with his military companions.

  “Glad to see you’re looking better, Special Agent,” he said while he passed his alert gaze over the two women at his side. “Doctors Vasquez and Adams. I wasn’t expecting the two of you to be here right now.”

  “We came to see how my fiancé is doing,” Deanna said and eased her hand into his.

  Williams shot up one eyebrow while the two men on either side of h
im peered at each other uneasily.

  “Fiancé? Is this true?” Williams asked and Bill nodded. “It’s true, sir. If it’s possible, we’d like to find a chaplain to marry us before we return home.”

  “Don’t you think that’s rushing things, Bill?” he asked, the tone more personal than professional.

  Considering that he’d seemingly survived multiple lifetimes in the course of the last day, somehow it didn’t feel so rushed. “Sometimes you just know that’s it’s time to do the right thing,” he replied, shooting Deanna a quick glance.

  The Army colonel coughed uncomfortably and stepped forward. “Well, that’s quite romantic, but we need to ask you a few questions. In private if you don’t mind.”

  Bill nodded. After giving him quick kisses and hugs, the two women departed, leaving him to face the trio of stern-faced men.

  The questions that followed were much like he expected.

  “After you got away from the PM cell, did you go into the tomb?” Colonel Richards asked.

  “No, sir,” he answered without any hesitation.

  “Why didn’t you?” Commander Mendoza pressed.

  “Our goal was to keep PM from finding the tomb so we never intended to go anywhere near the real location,” he advised.

  Commander Mendoza stalked closer at that statement. “So you know the location of the tomb?”

  There was no way he was going to reveal that information to this man. Something about him just rubbed Bill the wrong way. “I don’t. You’d have to speak to Dr. Adams for that information.”

  “Does Dr. Adams know what’s in the tomb? What PM planned to use in their activities?” Colonel Richards pressed.

  “She knows what’s in the tomb, but not what PM planned.”

  The two military men continued with various questions, oftentimes asking the same things in different ways as if trying to elicit different answers. But Bill was too well trained to fall for that trick. He was still uneasy about revealing that much to the military men, who were relative strangers. He preferred to take things slowly and find out more about them and their plans before saying anything about the existence of the sun stone and its amazing powers.