by T. R. Graves
Chapter 25
Dr. McGorgeous
Carlie
Soon, we heard the bustling of the camp. It was coming to life as the news of Barone's presence spread like wildfire.
"Let's go back to the supply tent, pick you up some more clothes, and head over to the showers to get cleaned up," Thorne suggested.
I'd laughed and cried all I could. I was sure my face was puffy, red, and swollen. The only thing that was going to help was one of the ice-cold showers I'd hated the day before. Today, there would be a reason to relish it.
I nodded and grabbed his outstretched hand. I didn't even try to pull it free after we were up and walking back toward the busy camp. Thorne had been there for me. If he wanted to hold my hand, begin letting others think there was more to our relationship than there was, who was I to say no?
He and I respected each other. I understood his loyalty lay with Rorie, and he knew I'd just had my heart broken and handed back to me without so much as a thank you very much.
After a quick trip to the supply tent, he left me outside the shower room. Today, there were a lot more people up and about, getting cleaned up so they could put their best foot forward for Barone.
I'd caught glimpses of several of the women who were unceremoniously ducking in and out of the showers without making the first effort geared toward grabbing a towel and covering themselves. Several of them were MediTech nurses. Others were MediTech EMTs.
During our survival training, Dad had told me if I were ever in trouble, I should be on the lookout for these camps. He explained they were set up every fifty miles and all housed one physician, usually one in training. The resident in training was in close MicroCam communication with his or her faculty physicians, all of whom were centrally located within the major cities' hospitals.
With the MicroCam, residents in training, those like Thorne, could slip on a pair of special glasses that allowed the faculty physician who was miles away to see what the residents were seeing and direct that resident as he or she treated patients. It was the only way for people in these outlying camps and communities to get the care they needed.
In addition to the resident, there was a team of MediTech nurses and EMTs. Much like the residents, they were stationed within the camps for two-month rotations.
The final team of people stationed for one-year tours were the dozens of Surrogate Soldiers who were charged with guarding the camps from the Shadow Soldiers who periodically made their way over the dividing wall. It rarely happened, but when it did, it was bad because the Shadow Soldiers took anything they could get and they were prepared to murder anyone who stood in their way.
As if suddenly noticing a stranger in their midst, the female nurses' and EMTs' movements slowed while they caught clandestine glimpses of me, the one person among them who was too self-conscious to strip naked and wander freely around the shower room.
In my defense, I was the only one who was covered in horrific snake bites, though even if my body were in immaculate condition, I wouldn't be nearly as comfortable wandering among these strangers in my birthday suit.
"They're not going to quit staring until you strip naked and satisfy their curiosity," someone said from behind me.
I spun around and came face to face with a raven-haired girl who could easily star in Tawney's favorite love story. Her full lips were naturally red and her eyes were unnaturally blue. She was much shorter than me, a little bit older, and a whole lot tougher.
"What are they curious about?" I asked.
She blew out a breath as if she couldn't believe I was so dense.
"They're trying to figure you out. You're a girl but a girl that has the same flawless beauty of a Surrogate. The only Surrogates we've ever seen or heard of are men. Then there's the Surrogate who follows you around like a lost dog, the one you convinced to work in the kitchen yesterday. We might not know much, but we know most Surrogates think a little too much of themselves to stoop to the level of kitchen help. Especially when that means taking orders from a Genetic Anomaly."
"You don't know anything about Jayden or Rorie," I challenged.
Jayden may have hurt me, but she was right. He'd spent the entire day helping. He certainly didn't have to do that. Suddenly, I was conflicted again.
"You got that right. Then… there's Dr. Angleton. Dr. McGorgeous as we like to call him. He's had every female in the camp throwing themselves at his feet for the last few months." She bounced her eyebrows. "Myself included. And while he's willing to roll around in the hay a bit… you know, let off a little steam… it's obvious he's more of a one-night stand kind of guy than a happily ever after. At least, that's what we all thought until you showed up nearly dead. He barked orders at us until he finally decided he could singlehandedly save you and demanded we leave the infirmary. I guess he was right," the woman said, staring at me from top to bottom.
"He's the resident here. It's his job to save people who are dying," I explained.
"Yeah. We've seen him with other patients. He's detached and professional. Don't get me wrong. He works hard… He just doesn't go ballistic. He for sure doesn't spend three days in a row sitting at their bedside, looking like a man who might lose the love of his life," she said, chuckling.
"I'm sure you're exaggerating."
The girl looked offended. "I'm Jenny Compton, by the way." She extended her hand for me to shake. "One thing you'll quickly learn about me is I don't exaggerate, lie, or take bullshit from anyone."
I wasn't sure if she was trying to intimidate me, but I knew she wasn't the kind of person you shied away from if you wanted her respect. I threw my hand out and gave her a firm handshake, making sure she pulled back first. There was a glint of admiration in her eyes when she saw I wasn't a pushover, that I wouldn't roll up into a sniveling ball of tears with the tiniest bit of bullying.
"I'm Carles Enoche," I said with confidence.
Under normal circumstances, her eyes were large. When I said my name, her eyes popped open to the size of quarters and her mouth dropped to her chest.
"Holy shit! You're Aspect Nation's Firstborn. Your mother is Selma Enoche. Jesus! No wonder Angleton has spent his every waking minute sitting by your bed. No one wants to be the person responsible for you dying on their watch," she exclaimed.
"If I had died, it would have been because of my stupidity and a bed of snakes, not because of anything Thorne did or didn't do," I said.
"Whatever you say. As if the loyal Surrogate wasn't enough, now you have Dr. Angleton leading you around camp, whispering sweet nothings in your ear, and holding your hand like the two of you are lovebirds. Again, nothing about that is consistent with the studious resident we've all come to know and love. The only person he's ever really paid attention to before you is his sister. The rest of us are just necessary evils in his eyes," Jenny said.
"I'm not sure you and I know the same man," I said, wrinkling my brow.
"Yeah… I don't think that's the problem. I think he's sweet on you. Just like that tall, dark, and lovely Surrogate. That brings me back to the reason we're all curious. We want to know what you have that we don't."
Suddenly, I felt braver. "If you think I offer something underneath my clothes that none of you offer, you are correct."
Jenny's eyes squinted because she automatically assumed I was being conceited. When I stripped naked and revealed the dozens of puncture wounds covering the bottoms of my legs, the tops of my arms, my entire back and neck—all of which told me I'd curled up in a ball and let the snakes have their way—there were gasps from all corners of the room. I refused to look down. I wouldn't join them in their gaping.
I didn't need to. I knew without looking that the wounds were blackened from poison at the center of every puncture and that there was a rainbow of bruises that circled each. The inner ring the darkest purple with a lightening of the color the farther away from the wound it got, ending with a greenish-yellow bruise.
I also knew—so did they—these puncture wounds would leave scars
. Months from now, they would be small, perfectly round skin deviations, but I lived in a world where physical perfection was more important than a next breath to the most narcissistic among us. In fact, some of the most educated and ignorant people of our nation assumed these types of irregularities could be transferred to their children; therefore, they refused to be paired with a spouse who had the slightest defect, even those blemishes coming from trauma, scars that could never be genetically transferred. Ever.
"Oh my God! Those are hideous!" exclaimed a blonde-haired beauty who walked into the room while I stood in the middle of the women, confirming for them I did in fact have something under my clothes that they didn't.
Stunned that anyone would put sound to such impolite words, my glare found the face of the one person willing to say what everyone else was thinking. Like Jenny, this woman, who looked barely older than Jenny and me, was a natural beauty. She reminded me of a California girl, complete with a dark tan, long, straight, and sun-kissed hair, and the type of hourglass body that would have men at a beach fawning all over her.
I was vain enough for her words to hurt and belligerent enough to make sure she never knew. "Well, it's a good thing you don't have to worry about them. Isn't it?"
As if pleading her case to her peers, this girl looked around at the group of people who'd gathered around to watch the freakazoid show. "Thorne. Thorne is too good to waste his time on this."
She waved her hand toward my legs, the area where the majority of the bites were concentrated.
Jenny stepped next to me in a show of camaraderie I'd never expected of anyone outside of my family. "You're just jealous, Kali La Colombe. We all know you and Dr. Angleton have spent more than one night moaning and groaning in your tent. He's probably not paid the first ounce of attention to you since Carles has been here." Taunting Kali further and endearing her even more to me, Jenny said, "It probably kills your soul to know he's purposefully chosen Carles—even with her wounds—over you, the epitome of perfection."
Kali glared toward Jenny, took a few intimidating steps her way, and lorded over her. It was like an Amazon woman intimidating a tiny fairy.
"How dare you tell everyone about my personal life? We may be tent mates and you might be trashier than a Surrogate, but that doesn't give you the right to tell everyone all the secrets you have in that tiny little brain of yours," Kali spat through lips that were the color of wet sand.
This time, it was I who bristled. I wasn't sure if it was the way she was trying to bully Jenny, the fact that she'd confirmed she and Thorne had had sex… frequently, or the obvious prejudice she had for Surrogates. I may be pissed off at Jayden, but there was no universe within which he should be treated like the shit on Kali's shoe. None.
"Rorie couldn't possibly approve of you and Thorne being together. Not someone as prejudice as you," I retorted, offering her the same contemptuous glare she was levying onto Jenny.
"Rorie? There's no one at this camp with that name."
Sure she'd won our war of words based on the ear-to-ear sneer and eye roll, Jenny's tent mate turned her back on me and began disrobing.
Over her shoulder she said, "Do you think you could get covered up so I don't have to keep looking at that shit?"
Jenny saw I was about to hop on Kali's back and pull every last strand of hair from her head—one at a time—and reached her hand out to mine, shaking her head in a way that told me she didn't consider disputing Kali worth my time. My head knew she was right.
My heart had other plans.
I leaned over to her shoulder. "Do you really think Thorne would do anything more than fuck someone who doesn't even know his twin sister's name?" I snarled.
Her eyes nearly popped from her head. I knew recognition had sunk in. I smiled, turned, and ducked behind a shower curtain.
I may have had the last word with Kali, but she'd wielded a serious blow to my ego. I wrapped up in a towel, covering as much as I could of my body and the bites. The second I was out of the cold shower, hiding in the corner and avoiding everyone's gaze, I tugged on my new T-shirt, jeans, and socks before slipping on the boots I'd claimed the day before.
Clean and covered, I felt like a new person while I brushed my hair and pulled it up into a tight ponytail. The last thing I did right before leaving the shower room was glance around and catch one final look at my new mortal enemy, the woman who'd kill me in my sleep if ever given the chance based on the snarl on her upturned lip.
I cringed when I realized she and I were leaving at the same time, that we were going to be walking out together. I refused to slow or cower or move to the side for her. Kali was a bully. If I ever gave her an inch, she'd take a mile, and she'd love every concession I'd be forced to take once the precedence was set.
I was keeping a close eye on her when we walked out into the light of the morning. When a grin bigger than the state of Texas broke out on her face, I glanced in the direction she was skipping. As soon as I saw who was the light of her eye, Thorne, I knew she was laying her claim.
With her body wrapped around him and me now knowing the two of them had had sex on a regular basis, I was more than just a little uncomfortable. I wanted to duck back into the shower room and let them ride off into the sunset. I wanted that more than anything.
When I tried to dash around the corner of the building, Thorne stepped around Kali, ignoring her and the hug she was smothering him with.
"Carles, wait up," he shouted.
I pretended I hadn't heard him. Rather than wait or slow, I took off in a full-out run. I wasn't sure where I was going; I just knew I wanted to be away from him and Kali. And Jayden.
Damn! Soon, there won't be anyone I can tolerate.
After I'd ducked behind enough trees and sneaked between almost every tent in the camp, I was sure I'd lost them all. With the beginnings of a smug grin playing on my face, I turned toward the forest. I planned to see if there was somewhere I could go to be by myself. Thinking is a basic necessity. Instinctively, I made a quick pivot and was about to take off jogging toward the outskirts of camp when I ran smack dab into a chest. It was one I knew well.
Jayden! Good Lord! This day just gets better by the second, doesn't it?
