The REASON Series - the Complete Collection (25 page)

“Anything, anytime.” I pause. “How are you doing?”
 

She just shakes her head.
 

“I won’t pry, but if you need to talk about something, I’m here. I’ll listen.”

“It’s not that, really. It’s more that...I’m trying to figure out how I ended up here,” she says softly.
 

“Are you sure you want to talk about that?”

“No, but I know it’s something I will need to know eventually.” As she speaks, her eyes begin to droop.
 

“You’re tired?” I ask.

She nods. “I am, but I’m confused.”

“Is my being here making you uncomfortable?” Please, no. I don’t want to leave.
 

She shakes her head. “I’m glad you’re here.” I walk toward the chair, but before I can sit down, she says, “I really need to go to the bathroom.”

“You have a catheter.” I try to not look at her, but I see the blush of embarrassment that spreads across her cheeks regardless. “I can call for Amanda.”

“Nurse Fang,” she says, and I laugh. “Go ahead.” She smiles a little bit.
 

I reach for the button and a beep sounds over our heads.
 

“Yes, Vivienne?” Dr. Alston’s voice.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” she says, looking up toward the ceiling.
 

“I’ll send Amanda in.”

“Thanks.”

A few moments later, Amanda comes into the room.
 

“How we doing, Viv?” she asks.
 

“Okay. I need to go to the bathroom and I don’t want to use the catheter.”
 

“Is it because he’s in here?” She hitches her thumb in my direction and I nearly blush, embarrassed myself.

“I can step out,” I say to Vivienne.
 

“No, I just want to go to the bathroom. Can’t I just go?”
 

“Alright, but you can’t get mad at me if we have to put it back in. Fair enough?” Vivienne just shrugs. “Mikah, can you give us some privacy?”

“Uh, sure.” I turn on my heel and head toward the door.

“Don’t go far,” I hear Vivienne say.
 

“Right outside the door.”

Thirty-Four

I wander aimlessly into the empty waiting room a couple of doors down from Vivienne’s room.
 

A warm tingling sensation spreads and then quickly subsides before giving way to the tingling I’m most familiar with: icy stabbing sensations. I try in vain to not arch my back and curl in on the feeling, but it’s hard; it hurts like hell.
 

I hear the chime of the elevator followed by footsteps. I reach into my pocket and press a button on my phone.
 

Scuff. Thud. Scuff, click. The door closes.
 

Someone is walking across the floor behind me. The icy stabbing continues as I realize the person behind me is a threat. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
 

I spin around, preparing to defend against whatever is coming after me.
 

“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here.”

My heart pumps faster and bright red rage fills my vision as I take in the man before me. The icy stabbing flares momentarily then settles. My veins almost feel frozen, but the feeling brings about an unusual sense of strength and I flex involuntarily as I grit my teeth. “What the hell are you doing here, Elton?” I spat at him.
 

“I heard your girlfriend was in the hospital and that you were hiding out here.”
 

“Why are you looking for me?” I ask him. I know from his voicemail that he knew about Vivienne, in some fashion. Though I’m not sure if he knew, at the time, that she was alive. Has he put two and two together? Does he know that his son is responsible for the state of my ‘girlfriend’ as he puts it?
 

“We have something in common.” He straightens his stance and his tie, a gesture that strikes me as ridiculous here in this context.
 

“And that is what, exactly?”

“Your little girlfriend is causing quite a problem for my family.”
 

Rage flares hotter, brighter. “How do you suppose that is?”

“Well she broke up with my son. They were supposed to be married soon.”

“Ha!” I bark at him. “That is the biggest line of bullshit I’ve ever heard. Though I’m curious, is your coming here your idea, or is it Riley’s?” He doesn’t respond. But I’m going to see where this goes. Elton could be the key to finding out where Riley is. “Your son seems to think he can control you too. So let me put it to you this way. My ‘girlfriend,’ as you call her, almost died because of the damage your son inflicted on her.”

His eyes widen marginally. “How dare you accuse my son of beating a woman! That’s preposterous!” His face begins to turn red. “He was in the process of getting her back, bringing her back to him.”

“Wow Elton, you really are dense on so many levels. Did you not just bail your son out of jail for domestic violence?”

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“Jesus, you make me sick. First, you post bail for your son who was arrested following the brutal beating of the woman you say he was trying to get back. The woman he beat to near death again Thursday night that fought for her life, and the life of your unborn grandchild.”

“That’s preposterous! She was never in the hospital. It was a misunderstanding.”
 

“Jesus H-Christ Elton, wake the fuck up. Here’s a thought for you. Why don’t you go grab your son and walk into the downtown office of the MPD. See how they react to your son’s arrival on their territory. If you’re so inclined to find out the truth, that just might be the quickest, most efficient way to know for sure.”
 

His face turns redder by the second. A career businessman hoping for a career in politics doesn’t want to have this kind of negative publicity looming over his head.
 

“Did you know that your son is wanted for questioning in the murder of a twenty-three year old girl named Rebecca Black?” Deeper red. “Not to mention the brutal beating of a twenty-two year old woman who went through hell and back to save her life.”
 

Purple to blue, then back to red. He shakes his head. “I don’t believe you,” he spats at me.
 

“I don’t care if you believe me or not, Elton. The point is, it always comes out in the end. So you can decide here and now what side you’re going to take in this matter. If you choose Riley’s, then I suggest you get the hell out of here and get to work. You have one hell of a conspiracy to try and cover up.” I turn my back on him.
 

“She is a Goddamn liability,” I hear him say.
 

Bright red rage twists me around and launches me back in his direction. He doesn’t flinch or back away. As my fist connects with his jaw and nose, I hear the crunch of breaking bones. See the blood spray across the floor as he grabs his face.
 

“You son of bitch!” I rage. “How dare you speak of any human being that way! We do not live in a world where you eliminate people just because they don’t fit into your business plan, Elton Bennett. I will see your son fry for what he’s done, and I will gladly stand by to watch you take the fall with him.”
 

Glaring at me, he spits blood and mucus onto the floor. “You’re not old enough to understand the true meaning of business. Do not ever talk to me like that again. In business you do what needs to be done to survive.” His face contorts and he bends over and dry heaves, no doubt from the pain. “You have a choice to make Blake. Either reinstate your investment or so help me God I’ll have you arrested for assault and destroy MSBE.”

“Bullshit! That does not include murder and my stance with your investments will never change.” I peer through the window towards Vivienne’s room and fight a grin from spreading across my face. The cops outside of her room are making show of looking at the ceiling and rocking on their heels. I stalk past him, push the crash bar on the door and step out into the hallway.
 

As the door clicks shut behind me, I reach into my pocket, remove my BlackBerry and press pause. At the touch of a couple more buttons, the recorded conversation is on its way to Detective Stevens’s email.

Thirty-Five

As I approach Vivienne’s door, Amanda comes back out of the room.
 

“She alright?”

“She’s great. Stubborn as all hell, but she’s doing good. She wants the sling to come off. Said her shoulder doesn’t hurt. I told her that it was up to the doctor and that I would discuss it with her. I know that Alston wanted to take some x-rays, but when we went in to get her you were sound asleep on her bed, so we decided to wait. Once she’s done that, she’ll decide what to do next.”

“Thanks, Amanda.”

“Of course. Call if you need anything.”
 

I go back into the room. The bed has been lowered again, and Vivienne’s eyes are closed. What a difference watching her sleep now compared to before. Color has returned to her cheeks and the absence of the hoses makes her look human again.
 

Her cheeks are flushed. No doubt the trip to and from the bathroom was exhausting.
 

I quietly walk over to the chair and sit down.

“Don’t pry with her.”
 

Hello, Seraphina. I hadn’t planned on it.

“I know, but she seems to be doing a pretty good job of suppressing what’s happened. She does remember, but, no doubt due to the years of abuse she’s faced, she’s learned how to suppress much.”

I’d already assumed that and it’s the reason I’m not pressing. I know she will need to talk to the cops at some point, and I’d rather she save her energy for that conversation. I will make arrangements for her to meet with someone she can trust to discuss all this bottled-up trauma.

“Don’t be surprised if she won’t do it. She will when she is ready, and not before. But it will only come at a time and place she knows with absolute certainty she is safe. All I ask is that you give her some time to get there.”

I roll my eyes.
I know, Seraphina, this is not my first rodeo. Are we forgetting my sister?
 

I change the subject to avoid more lecturing I don’t need.
So, that dream. What on earth was that all about?

“Well, first of all, you weren’t on earth.” She laughs and I shake my head. “You were in Elysium.”

Elysium Fields? As in Greek mythology, where you go when you die?

“The same, only we no longer call it
Fields
. The mythological definition of Elysium is ideal happiness, though that’s not entirely accurate. It’s a place where angels live. A place where you yourself can go anytime you wish. The souls of the dead do pass through Elysium, but they do not stay unless they have a predestined purpose for being there. Like your mother, for example. She passed into Elysium upon her death because it was where she was supposed to go.”

What about my father?

“That is something you will need to discuss with your mother. It is not my story to tell. But your mother is free to pass between heaven – as you call it – and Elysium. You will likely be able to do the same, should you wish.”

As I call it? What do you call heaven, if not heaven?

“It used to be known as
Aether
, though not many of us call it that anymore. If you know some of your Greek mythology, then you would know that
Aether
was the first of the elementals to be born and represents the purest life and happiness. In all honesty, heaven and
Aether
is really all the same. But where the angels gather is separate. Those in
Aether
do not pass into Elysium, and vice versa. Unless, of course, you are one of the Chosen, which I believe you are.”

What makes you so certain about that?

“You will find out soon. It is not something I can tell you.”

Bull—
I stop myself.
 

She laughs. “No, really, I can’t. I’m bound by restraints that prevent me from disclosing certain secrets, and that is one of them. Just like you are unable to tell anyone other than those of your own species that you’re an angel. Try it sometime.” She laughs again. “Okay, I’m going to go. Red will be here shortly, and I’m neglecting my chores.”

She doesn’t stick around long enough for me to argue. I feel the rush of her leaving my mind and body.

Thirty-Six

About thirty minutes later, Red arrives with dinner for Vivienne and me, and Amanda brings it in.
 

“How long has she been sleeping?”

“About half an hour. She was sleeping when I came back in after her trip to the bathroom.”

“Oh, okay. I’d try and wake her so she can eat. Plus, Alston will be back in shortly. She was going to be on her way up after seeing a patient with a smashed in nose downstairs in the E.R..” She smirks at me in a I-know-what-you-did kind of way.

“Alright.” I say quickly before I start laughing hysterically at the fact that Alston is more than likely treating Bennett’s busted nose. I’m not sure what to make of his whole ordeal, but it proves my earlier theory about doing anything to get what he wants.

Amanda goes about checking the monitors and IV fluids.

Elton came here to try and ‘convince’ me to reinstate my investments, as if I would see things his way.

Amanda interrupts my thoughts. “She can start drinking water, too. The ice chips were a way for her to slow down her intake. Her throat is probably pretty sore and will be for a day or two.”

I nod. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
 

She smiles and leaves.

I gently stroke Vivienne’s arm. “Vivienne,” I say softly, and her eyes flutter. “Dinner is here.”
 

Her eyes flutter again, but they don’t open.
 

“Come on, sweetie.” I rub her arm a little more and she finally, slowly begins blinking, waking up. “Hi, there.”

She smiles. “Hi,” she breathes.