by T. Cobbin
“Will you let me be your knight in shining armor?”
She wasn’t sure why, but she had grown to like Alex. He had patiently waited until she was ready to talk to him, to open up in her own time. The tender touches they shared now sent pulses through her body. Gradually, she became more confident around him. She began looking forward to the day ahead.
It had been a month now and he’d sat with her through the darkest days and added a little light to each one. There were still a few bad days where she didn’t want to be alive, to not be around to suffer any more, some days when she felt even Alex would be better off not sitting with her day in and day out.
“If I wasn’t here, what would you be doing?” she blurted out.
Without even pausing, he replied, “You are here, and I’m here with you.” He lifted his chin in his stubborn manner then grinned at her. “Hey, you fancy getting out of this stuffy room and perhaps taking a walk to that little garden?” he asked, pointing out of her window.
“No one has been in that garden the whole time I’ve been here.” She frowned.
“You’re special.” He walked over to the room door and lifted a white hospital robe that hung on the back and held it out toward her. He shook the robe, egging her silently to put it on.
Relenting, she turned and placed her arms through the sleeves. Her book now lay on the arm of the chair forgotten.
“We’ll take this slowly. It’s been a while since you’ve been around people. If you get worried in the slightest, just tell me and we’ll come back, all right?”
She nodded, her heartbeat picking up. As he opened the door, she closed her eyes and sent her senses out, picking up all the sights and sounds around her. She made a mental picture of everything. Two nurses stood at the station to the right of her. In the room opposite hers she could hear a page being turned and smelled ink...a patient in bed reading maybe? The doors to the left leading out of the ward snipped closed after someone walked out of them. She also knew the big man who followed Alex was sitting outside her room. As she extended her ability she gasped in surprise—there were two people in the supply closet getting it on, the sounds of slapping skin against skin echoing around the small room.
“You okay?” Alex asked.
Opening her eyes, she blushed. “Umm, yes. I was just taking things in.”
“Huh?”
“Did you not read the file on me? Do you know where I come from?” she asked in confusion, thinking he already knew about her.
“I, umm, haven’t read your file, no. What I know about you is what I’ve overheard from the staff and what you have told me.” He paused and winced. “Okay, this next bit will make me sound a little creepy. I was visiting someone on this ward when they brought you in, and security was tightened so I knew something was up. I caught a quick glimpse of you as you were wheeled past me—you looked like a sleeping angel. I began hearing bits and pieces about you and wanted to get to know you better. I hope you know by now I’m not here to hurt you. I know what it’s like to be somewhere you don’t want to be and hurt because of who you are.”
Her eyes lowered from his eyes to the scar on his neck and then back up in silent question.
With a tiny smile he said, “I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours? But let’s go sit by your tree, huh? It will be a start. Stay there a second, I’ll be right back.”
She watched him walk over to the nurses’ station, stunned at what he’d just told her. She knew deep down he wouldn’t hurt her, he could have time and time again if he’d wanted.
As he leaned over the nurses’ station she could see his jeans pull tightly, covering his firm butt. She blushed as he turned and grinned. Shit, caught out!
He strode back to her and slid his arm inside the crook of hers. “Trust me?” he asked.
Nodding, she gripped his arm and they walked out of the ward door. The hospital looked like a messy version of Eden; the smell was near enough the same, the noises were more intense, but the corridors were as white as Eden was only with beds and equipment lining the hallways. Walking just a few feet from the ward door, they took a left and she saw the floor-to-ceiling doors and windows that surrounded the small garden. Alex produced a key and unlocked the door. Striding in, he held out his hand and waited for her to join him.
Well, nothing could happen here. The place is surrounded by glass. She had to trust someone, right? He had been patient enough with her, now it was her turn. Slipping her hand into his, she stepped into the enclosed garden.
She closed her eyes and laid a hand on the tree, breathing deeply. The air was so much cleaner in this tiny space and she could smell the fresh earth, the grass beneath her feet. There was a hint of rain in the air too. She listened briefly to the small amount of leaves left on the tree, hearing them rustle. The bark under her fingertips was coarse and brittle.
“This feels so unreal.” She shook her head in disbelief. Just the small opening above her head letting in the sun, wind, and air onto her skin was unbelievable. In Eden they had trees and such in the green room, but not air like this, it was always recycled being they were far underground.
“You’re doing it again.” He chuckled as he sat under the tree.
“You have to go first,” she said, turning to him.
With a shrug of his shoulders he agreed and patted the grass beside him.
Chapter 3
“I come from a family with money. When I was a teenager I thought I was better than the average kid, having everything I wanted. I went out partying, drinking basically every night, causing as much grief for my parents as I could, trying to get some attention from them. They both had demanding jobs, and occasionally I fell through the cracks and got forgotten.” Alex turned toward her with a wry grin. “Don’t get me wrong, I adore my parents. They have indeed supplied everything I need and want. I just wanted more.” He sighed, looking down at his hands clenched in his lap.
Lulu reached out to touch him, to give him some kind of security like he had given her. She was surprised at her own actions and nearly pulled her hand back, but when he looked up with sorrowful eyes she held them still and relaxed.
“I was invited to a party one weekend. As usual, I didn’t tell my parents where I was going. It was all going well until halfway through when I began to feel pretty shitty. It turned out someone had drugged my drink,” he said. She could hear the pain in his voice. “I woke up with my hands and feet taped together, lying on a crappy mattress somewhere in an old warehouse.”
He rubbed his wrist with his free hand, and she squeezed his hand, trying to let him know he wasn’t alone.
“I could hear several male voices in the background shouting at each other. I must have made some kind of sound, because one of them came into the room and threw a swift kick at my gut. He taunted me for what seemed like hours, telling me they were waiting for a ransom, then they were going to kill me anyway and bury my body where no one would be able to find it. I remember sobbing like a baby, hating the way I had treated my parents and being the little shit I had turned out to be.”
He sighed again, and she watched as a single tear fell down his cheek. She instinctively put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. He pulled her onto his lap and crushed her against him. At first she was startled, then she relaxed into his body. She trusted him for some reason, and for him to be sitting there telling her his story first showed some strength, right?
He pulled back a bit, smiled, then continued. “After everything I put my parents through I cannot thank them enough for never giving up on me, both of them have never-ending love. When I turned thirteen my father bought me a fancy watch, and when I started to go off the rails he had a GPS tracker installed in it, so when I did go missing to my parties overnight they always knew where I was. I was wearing that watch when they took me, so the police and the security team my parents had hired found me within a few hours. The bloke who had come into the room was still there when the place was raided. He was even more pissed, and he y
anked me off the floor and pulled me against his body and held a switchblade to my throat. He was quickly subdued but not before he sliced my neck. I don’t even remember feeling him do it, just the warmth of my blood as it poured down my neck, it was then I felt the burning pain.
“I don’t recall getting to the hospital or anything, just waking up a few days later with both my tired looking parents beside me thankful I was alive. The doctors called me a miracle, but to be honest, I think it was the policeman who rescued me who was my savior.
“I went through a few weeks of dark depression thinking about how I had treated my family, but I met a volunteer who had lost his family and home in a fire. He sat with me for a while and talked, and I realized that things weren’t as bad as I thought. I was still young and could adjust. I decided that day to reform my ways and become the son my parents deserved. I can get plastic surgery done on my scar so it can’t be seen, but I choose to leave it as a constant reminder that some things can be better.
“I come to the hospital a lot to do charity work. This garden here? My family donated the money to get it installed. As you can see, it’s still a work in progress. At some point it will be filled with flowers and a few benches. I, along with a few other hospital employees, have a key and can bring patients here to help them recover. I saw how depressed you were and wanted to help. I know what it’s like to want to die, to be in such a dark place you think everyone is better off without you.”
He looked up at her and she could see the truth in his eyes.
“So in other words I’m just some charity case, and when I get better I won’t ever see you again?” she said with venom in her words. He was going to push her aside just like everyone else. She started to move off his lap and go back to her room, but he grabbed her and held her tight.
“Hey, don’t do that. I like spending time with you. In fact, I love every second we spend together. Now that you aren’t in that dark place all the time you have a quirky side, and I love hearing you laugh. You are stunning and brave, to have gone through what you did and still be here now. Please don’t go, I want to keep our friendship.”
She softened against him. She had never had a friend. At Eden she was never allowed to be talk to the other women. Occasionally, they would nod at each other or something similar, but that was it. Her guard had been a grumpy git who only grunted the odd “yes” or “no” out. Even Mark, the man who had come into her room to have sex with her, didn’t say much.
Alex’s hand came up to cup her face, and he turned it so she was looking straight into his eyes. He leaned in and touched his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in and kissed him back. Her body tingled all over, her breasts swelled against his chest, and her pussy tightened. His hand slid around to the nape of her neck. He pulled her closer, and the kiss became heated. His tongue slid along hers, searching every nook and cranny in her mouth. She copied his actions, moaning as she did.
Mark had never raised these feelings inside her. She had been a subject to the scientists, they had wanted something and he was brought in to get it. Alex, however, made her body heat up.
Finally pulling apart, she panted, looking deeply into his eyes.
“I think that’s more than friendship,” she whispered.
“Yeah, me too, but then I think I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you. I have seen you in your most wretched of times. Will you allow me to see you in some of your better times now?”
“The first day you walked into my room your scent filled me, and for some reason it relaxed me having you there. By the third day though, I was pretty annoyed. I wanted you to say something to me, anything.” she said, chuckling.
“So tell me your story. Do you have some special ability? I know some of the women are supposed to have some telekinetic abilities. One of the rescued women called Eve recently gave a press conference and shit up the reporters by lifting small items from each of them.” He laughed. “I would have loved to see their faces. The press and I? We aren’t the best of friends. I’m still seen as the rich playboy.” He sighed deeply.
“I don’t have telekinetic abilities, but I do have some kind of echo ability. Hypersensitivity, the scientists called it. When I close my eyes my other senses are heightened. I can gather information from scents, sounds, etcetera, and I use it to make a mental picture of everything around me.” She closed her eyes and breathed in. “I can make out an engine far above me from a small jet. There is a pigeon on the roof to our right. I can hear several flies trying to get out various windows. There are three people walking down the hallway near the door. Another man is standing on guard just a tad down from the door, a bloke who follows you all the time. He has some weight on him, but I’d say it’s muscle as he doesn’t sweat as much as an overweight person. I can hear and smell a lot more, but we would be here all day if I went on to explain it all.”
She opened her eyes to stare at him. He sat there opened mouth for a minute, then a smile appeared on his face.
“You are amazing,” he said. She could hear the shock and wonder in his voice. “Yes, I do have someone following me—a personal bodyguard. My father insisted on hiring one after my incident. He’s a good man, but sometimes it would be nice to go somewhere alone.” He cupped her face again and ran a finger over her lower lip.
“I’ve been told I am also stronger than the average person, and my hearing and eyesight are better too. Seeing in the dark can be a bonus.” She giggled. Her lips tingled as she spoke, still feeling his finger run across them. “I went through extensive tests when I was younger. The scientists tried to discover what other abilities I had but they seemed disappointed. I was continually blindfolded and placed into various mazes to find my way out. I think I spent half my teenage years blind.” She sighed, looking down at her fingers. “After they discovered I couldn’t do anything else special,” she said, placing two of her fingers on each hand in the air and finger quoting the word special, “I was left alone virtually until they decided to...” She lowered her head even more to hide the tears welling in her eyes. “They wanted me to have a baby,” she finally got out.
“Oh, honey, I am so sorry for everything you went through.” He kissed the top of her head and placed a hand over hers.
“Why are you sorry?” she asked, confused.
“Because, sweetheart, no one should go through what you did.”
Lifting her head, she looked carefully at his face. The small crinkles by his eyes, the tiny laugh lines by his mouth. His eyes shone with unshed tears...for her?
“So can we be friends?” he asked with an unsure smile.
“I think we already are.” She leaned in and laid a butterfly kiss on his soft lips. “Oh, I also have freckles that light up in the dark.” She giggled.
“Well, maybe one day I might get to see that.” With a wink he rose with her still in his arms. She had to grasp hold of his shoulders to prevent herself from falling. His muscles were taut underneath his white shirt. She could feel his flat stomach against her leg.
“Where will I go when they let me out of here? I know the doctors were discussing it yesterday but I didn’t hear the whole conversation. Will I go with the other women?”
“I’m not sure, but if you do, I won’t be able to visit, because the women are being hidden in a secret location. But I know Eve is living with her man.”
“She is?” she interrupted him and struggled to be released so she could walk with him. Being carried was nice, but she wasn’t used to being cared for in this manner.
“Yes, and stay still, I love carrying you.” He smiled, pulling her closer. He pulled the garden door closed behind them and walked down the hallway. “From what the press say...” She smirked at the face he pulled. “Eve escaped and raised the alarm, then the place was raided and you all were rescued. They think another place is out there like Eden, but they have yet to find it. They say that the women are being kept hidden because many of the scientists haven’
t been caught plus some weird groups have formed intending to get rid of you because you weren’t born naturally. The press have even reported that Eve had a baby. Some maid was supposed to have sold her story for a lot of money, but sometimes the press can be a little over zealous with what they report. At the moment they are camped outside the family’s place. I feel sorry for Eve—she’s free, but not free.” He sighed as he nudged the door to her room open and then placed her on the bed.
“You’re not going, are you?” she asked, suddenly panicked at the idea of being alone.
“Not if you want me to stay.” He smiled a huge smile that reached his eyes, making them sparkle. “But if I am staying longer, I’m going to order us some proper food. This hospital shit will kill you.” He pulled a phone from his pocket and began talking to someone on the other end, ordering something called pizza.
Chapter 4
Lulu swore she drooled at the smell coming off the square boxes when they were brought into her room half an hour later by Alex’s bodyguard. Alex introduced him as Jerry; he was a big man. Alex was slim but muscled, but this guy....bloody hell, he was huge with a capital H. The man’s suit must have been XXL, his muscles bulged the material out so much it looked skin tight.
“Good looking?” Alex whispered as Jerry walked out of the room.
