by Anna Collins
I thought she was a little obsessive, but maybe his connection to her was stronger than I expected it to be. It seemed Leslie’s main reason for being here was to take advantage of my father’s open wallet. All she had to do was ask, and it was given to her without questions or delay. I had to say she was looking quite comfortable in her new position of authority. I had seen no inkling of rebellion or some kind of mutiny that would have her on her heels.
They were very expensive Gucci heels, black, and gold. They had the considerable price tag of 600 dollars a pair. That was not what a doctor or nurse would wear during her duties. It was obvious she was enjoying the high-status life. She had stated emphatically she was only here for the research, but I think there was another reason. She may have come here to help, but this changed after seeing all she could be with the kind of money lavished upon her every day.
“I can tell you categorically my father never mentioned he was getting closer to the truth. It doesn’t surprise me he has been working behind the scenes to find out. I’ll do what I can. I may have a few tricks I can utilize. I’m just not sure it’s going to be enough. You’re already aware of how secretive my father can be. I doubt he would make it easy for anybody to uncover what he has been working on,” I said as I was trying my best not to oversell myself.
“I don’t see why it has to be such a big deal. Just do what you can and stop this arguing. I hate people who don’t see their full potential. I don’t like when my voice gets like this. Take a casual approach and see where it takes you. If you need Tristan, then I don’t think he will take all that much convincing to give you a hand or any other part of his anatomy,” Leslie said in a mocking gesture which made me well aware she had knowledge of my experiences with Tristan.
I told her almost everything and learning about Tristan being Trevor was an impactful secret which really did leave me stunned and speechless. I had enjoyed working hand in hand with him. For no other reason, I just wanted to be close to him. If that meant I could put two minds together as one, then I didn’t see any reason not to do it.
“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but you are starting to act and sound like Spencer. I understand you’re in a tough position, but there’s no reason to treat me like I’m the enemy. I’m going to do everything I can. I just think you should be careful about how you take on this responsibility. You have an army underneath you and within reason; they will gladly throw their lives in front of you to protect you. It’s mind over matter. If you don’t worry about it, then you won’t have anything to worry about. It might sound trite, but sometimes you just need to take a step back and reevaluate your situation,” I said with her looking at me like she was going to slap me across the face with the back of her hand.
It had to be a figment of my imagination. I was just overtired, still recovering, seeing things that weren’t there. The one thing I knew better than anybody was how to look into a person’s eyes and see their true intentions. I wished I hadn’t done that with Leslie. She had gotten caught up in the hype and was now playing the part of a tyrant. She didn’t appear to be that way on the surface, but underneath something more than met the eye was going on. It could’ve been as simple as getting the hunger for the finer things.
“I’m going to have you transferred upstairs to your room where you will be more comfortable. I will take care of your father, but there’s no reason why you have to stick around in this sterile and clinical place any longer than necessary. There will be a television with the capability of surfing the Internet. They call it a smart TV, and you may have not even noticed it was there within your reach. You’ll find the remote by the bed. Pressing on open will bring it out from where it is hidden. It’s almost like magic. But I’m sure you’ve seen these types before where the television is nowhere to be seen, and then suddenly it emerges from within its enclosed space in the cabinet,” Leslie said making it sound like it was in my best interest to leave her sight before she did anything she was going to regret.
“If it’s all the same to you, Leslie, I think I would like to be responsible for helping her get to her room. It’s not like I have much to do other than to watch over her like a hawk. I will make sure nothing happens to her. If there is even the slightest provocation against her, then I will become something I don’t want to be. I have tried to leave that part of my past where it belongs. I find it comes out when I’m pushed into a corner,” Tristan said showing me the man I did not know, but underneath there was Trevor waiting to show me the compassionate side I had come to know and love.
“I have way too much on my plate to fight with you. I not only have to keep an eye on Spencer, but I also have to deal with the day to day minutiae. These people are looking for direction. Without me, they are scrambling, and I will not let Spencer down. I will make sure to come to you later today to see how you are progressing. Don’t overdo it and I can’t stress that enough. I still think you have more to offer than you think. You may not have lived with Spencer, but you certainly have his blood running through your veins. That should be more than enough for you to get inside his head,” Leslie said as she turned her back with her shoulders hunched like she was carrying the burden of insurmountable odds.
“If it helps you, I do speak the same language as these other soldiers. I could be your go-between. We need to beef up security and make sure there are no holes to allow anybody to slip through unannounced. This complex seems impenetrable, but there is always a lapse in judgment here, and there you cannot be expected to account for. I’ll be able to fill those holes, and all I need is your word,” Tristan said as he stood in the uniform way of a soldier.
“You would be better served with Willa. Between the two of you, I believe you will come up with the answer which will make security unnecessary. We need to give Spencer some peace of mind. I’m not sure, but I have seen miracles in the past where the person who is in a coma remembers everything being said and done around them. I want him to know his continued good health is the only thing I care about. He can rest easy knowing everything is being taken care of. I can’t give that duty to somebody who he doesn’t know or respect,” Leslie said.
I knew Tristan had an unusual bond with Spencer. It was almost like they were born of the same cloth. I would have taken offense by her comment. I could see in Tristan’s eyes he wasn’t exactly happy with the way she had dismissed him.
He wheeled the gurney with me on top of it over to the elevator with the IV stand moving along with us. This was not a matter of desperation, and we didn’t have to leave hastily. I only had to look at Tristan to know he was worried and I’m not sure it was all about me. Something was going on, but I was in no frame of mind to discuss those matters. I had to do what the doctor ordered. It was best for everybody I got back on my feet and was able to contribute in some way. I felt useless as if this procedure had taken my superpowers, but that wasn’t something I would admit to.
Chapter 29
When we got back to our room, I was kind of curious to see what I could find out using the Internet connected to the television. I gave a press to the button, and I heard the mechanics while a television began to come up from inside a cabinet. It was a Samsung smart TV. It was the latest craze and technological wonder which had put Internet and television into the same category. It cost up to a thousand dollars, and that was a good brand. There was even this small keyboard I could use; it was like a computer’s to surf the Internet.
It was of course high definition, and it was as if the screen had come to life with vivid imagery and colors which would have seemed like witchcraft back in the day. I managed to find an Internet search engine. It wasn’t long before I perused every tiny detail of Spencer’s life from the moment he was born to the time he had become quite eccentric and a little lost. He had suffered needlessly. A family member died of a disease that would make anyone paranoid.
“It’s a wonder he didn’t lose his mind when he found out he was poisoned. His sister was struck down at an early age due
to an undisclosed illness in the family. According to these mundane interviews, he stated he was never going to let anybody suffer again. It was a bold claim to make and one he couldn’t possibly live up to. My father is an extraordinary man of science and wealth,” I said as I became more aware of my father and how he had spent his life giving more than taking. I thought he was selfish and was only about power.
I could see his business interests overlapped with his humanitarian efforts abroad. I could see him stepping on some toes, but it was always for a good cause. He claimed otherwise, but these people praising his virtues knew him better than I did.
“I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for certain, but there is definitely something going on. The guards are close-lipped, and when I question them, they barely acknowledge my existence. It almost makes me think they have repeatedly been told by somebody pulling their strings I can’t be trusted with information. I’m not sure whether I should take that as an insult, or maybe it is her way of keeping me in a position where I don’t know what is going on around me. I don’t like this. You know I’m never in a situation where I don’t know what I’m doing. The only reason why I have gone this far is because of you. I make no apologies for that,” Tristan said as he had the curtain pulled back just far enough so he could see down to those soldiers who were milling about.
“Don’t you think you are overreacting just a little bit? You and I both know Spencer was lying about his enemies coming here. There’s such a thing as screaming the sky is falling too many times. You do it enough, and people will start to walk away as if you are rambling like a madman. You have been out of the game for a long time now. You need to make peace you’re not always going to be in command. It’s really not your place to say anything to Leslie or the people who are underneath her,” I said trying to smooth his ruffled tail feathers. I wanted him to know his attention should be on me.
“I haven’t been a soldier for a long time, but it has never left me. It has always been lying dormant waiting for the right time. Spencer was the one who brought it out in me, and I can’t put the genie back in the bottle. My instincts have been vastly underutilized, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been there all this time. I learned a long time ago to never believe in a happy ending. I don’t mean to pick at a raw scab, but leaving you was the worst mistake of my life. As you know, I had no choice, but there was no reason why I couldn’t reach out to you. I thought at the time you were better off forgetting about me and getting on with the rest of your life,” Tristan said with his back towards me and his eyes on what was going on outside.
“I know it was hard for you, but you did decide on it alone. You even had your parents playing defense to keep me from learning the truth. They really did love you and the fact they went that far to keep you out of my life shows you just how much they valued your decisions,” I said.
“I needed you to think there was no hope for us. I wanted you to be happy and not to wait around for some soldier to appear at your door to tell you I had perished in action. I was wrong. I know that now, but it was what I thought at the time. I’m glad we were able to find each other again. In a world that stretches thousands and thousands of miles, it is a wonder we found each other when we were both looking for something. I lost my faith in humanity. You were just given a death sentence, and it was like it was meant to be. We were destined to spend our lives together, no matter if we were separated by years of not being together,” Tristan said as I stopped what I was doing and listened to what he had to say to me.
“I know you’re telling me the unbiased truth, but you are distracting me at the same time. I think having you over there watching for anything out of the ordinary makes me nervous. It would be one thing if I could stand with you against whatever enemy might announce itself. It’s another when I can barely get out of bed. I hope for both of our sake your instinct is off this one time. I’m saying if you don’t see anything, then there’s nothing to worry about,” I said hoping he would get the idea it was time to put down the gun.
“I can’t shake this feeling that something is wrong. It’s almost like something is mocking me and I can’t seem to see it. I just hope I don’t become aware of it too little too late,” Tristan said as he came over and sat beside me with his hand on my knee sending these electric charges of excitement running through my body.
“I want to, but the doctor clearly forbade me from doing anything any more strenuous than looking around on the Internet. To be honest, I don’t feel all that bad. It’s mostly this kind of malaise and a haze coming over me every so often which makes me feel a little weak. It could be the medication she has me on to prevent the unnecessary rejection of his bone marrow. I would’ve thought I would have been in a lot more pain than this. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful I’m not, but it’s still a little puzzling nonetheless,” I said as I stretched my arms above my head finding that my mobility was a lot easier than she had mentioned.
“I don’t mind taking care of you. I know it might sound sexist, but I kinda like you depend on me. It makes me feel useful and not just some past love which has come back into your life. I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I feel once is never enough. I apologize for getting this close without telling you all the facts. The kind of love we share can never just happen out of the blue. It had to be there,” Tristan said as he sat there, but I could tell he was more interested in what was going on in the house rather than being of any use to me.
“I love having you here, Tristan, but I think in your heart you want to be someplace else. I know there’s not somebody else, but you can’t seem to sit still without questioning what has been going on. You won’t rest until you find out. Go and leave me alone and maybe both of us can get something done. It’s not like we can do something about this chemistry between us. I need to follow the doctor’s orders to the letter. That’s the only way I’m going to be able to get back to helping instead of hindering,” I said not wanting him to leave, but sensing a little time apart would give us both a little perspective.
“I don’t know why you’re trying to push me away after we just found each other. I know you’re dealing with a lot. You are going to live, and I want you to believe this with all of your heart. Modern medicine is something we all rely on, but our bodies are capable of some amazing things if we allow them to work on our behalf. We all know about the placebo effect. That should prove the human mind is capable of taking away the pain within reason. Hand in hand, positive thinking, and medical marvels work to give us the tools we need to fight back,” Tristan said as he was inching towards the door like he was waiting for me to give him the permission to.
“I just said you can go and I don’t want you to feel guilty about it. There’s something inside you begging for you to listen and I would never presume to tell you how to think. I’ve seen the way you have acted. I have to say I was impressed you were able to fully immerse yourself into the soldier you left behind. That crack in your normal life shows you, you can never hide from who you really are,” I said as I turned my attention back to the computer which was as big as life on a 42-inch screen.
“I won’t be gone for long. I just want to take a look around. There has to be somebody who will talk to me. It’s a matter of finding who’s open-minded and willing to discuss the reason for the security getting a facelift. I have taken note of everybody in Spencer’s employment. I saw 10 soldiers and they doubled almost overnight. I need some answers, and I think we both have to know we are safe. It’s not like you can go anywhere. Your recovery needs to be monitored,” he said as he came over one last time to give me a soft kiss on the lips that could have turned into something able to have us throwing our clothes in the air with disregard for where they were going to land.
“I have some work to do. I need to go over my father’s life, and the best way to start is by looking at all the relationships he held dear in his life. I didn’t even know he was married three times. There’s a lot I don’t know about h
im,” I said
“You knew going into this he was your only hope. I spared no expense, and I went in search of somebody who could make your quality of life better. I honestly didn’t think you had much time left. I wanted you to be comfortable and see my face as you drifted off. I didn’t think there was a cure that could be found in time. It was when Spencer reached out and gave me that speck of hope I could hold onto,” Tristan said as he stood by the door with his hand on the knob ready to leave me for an unspecified amount of time.
I had my mouth open about to ask him for a favor, but I thought better of it. I didn’t want there to be any risk of being overheard. I got the same feeling he did but in a different way. I didn’t see we had enemies to worry about outside the doors. I saw the enemy staring me in the face, and I had no idea why I was feeling this way. She had done nothing to warrant my suspicion other than raised voices and the tone of her voice.
