She looked flustered when she met his gaze, and then she rushed to speak again. “This entire situation made me uneasy. I was only marginally qualified to monitor all the equipment. I didn’t have the luxury of last-minute instructions. And I had to worry constantly about your safety. So yes, I slept in here.”
He gripped her fingers tighter, his throat clogging with emotion. Finally, he managed to whisper, “Thank you.”
“Anyone on our team would have done the same,” she murmured, not drawing her hand away from his grip.
He shook his head slowly. “Maybe. Maybe not. But they weren’t here, and you kept me alive.”
She nodded and looked down at their entwined fingers. “You should get some more sleep.”
“I’ve been asleep for ten years. It sounds to me like I should get myself completely up-to-date and stronger as fast as possible.” How much danger were they in?
“I’m going to need to start physical therapy with you to help get your limbs to cooperate.”
He narrowed his gaze, confused. “Did the world stop using physical therapists while I hibernated?” He tried for a teasing voice, but the truth was he had no idea what the world might have done in the last ten years. Nor was he accustomed to teasing anyone. It felt awkward.
She smiled. “No, but I don’t trust anyone. Very few people know you’re here. I’m going to manage things myself.”
“Where is everyone else?”
She shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea. I came here with Michelle Houston and Zeke Holleran. They left the next day for wherever Temple sent them. We’re scattered all over now, and as far as I know, no one is privy to much information about anyone else.”
“Every time you speak, I come up with ten more questions.” His brain was rushing to catch up, but it was hard, and the holes were making it harder. At least it sounded like Temple Levenson was still the general in charge of the bunker.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I can shut up and let you rest. I’m sure it would be better. You don’t have to commit piles of information to memory so fast.”
Graham shook his head again, gripping her fingers tighter as though he’d woken up in another man’s body. A man who was outgoing. Someone who touched women’s hands and made eye contact with them. He was way out of his comfort zone.
But, it felt so good to touch her. Her hand was soft, smaller than his, smooth. And in an interesting twist of fate, she didn’t try to pull away. He shook the errant thoughts from his head. Maybe this less timid side of him was born of necessity. He needed answers. “It sounds like it would be best if I did actually rush to catch up. First, tell me who Michelle is and then give me a rundown on the rest of the team.”
She lifted a brow. “You’re never going to be able to remember any of this.”
He smiled. “Try me.”
She tipped her head to one side, chewed on her lower lip, and then blew out a breath. “Okay. I’ll say one thing—if anyone can jumpstart their brain quicker than should be reasonable, it would probably be you.”
He smiled broader. Smiled. At Kate. “I’ll take that as a compliment. My body might need some help, but my mind is growing clearer by the minute.”
“Right. So, Michelle is on the second team. After everyone but Tushar was preserved, Temple had someone from another bunker come in and preserve Tushar last. His son, Ryan, made it his life’s mission to reanimate all of us. He’s damn smart.”
“Apparently, he succeeded.”
She gave a quick nod. “Damon Bardsley helped develop the reanimation chamber. There have been others, but ours was the first to be fully successful.”
“Wait, other what? Other people besides us have been reanimated? You mean like at another facility?”
“Exactly, but only two survived reanimation in the Arizona facility, and no one lived longer than a few weeks.”
Graham’s memory kicked in fast. “I have to assume no one else in the world was preserved before fully succumbing to their illness.” This fact was highly classified and would need to go to the grave with all of them, especially if a bunch of religious zealots were already making noise about them playing God.
She tipped her head back and forth. “I’m not sure I would assume that anymore. I’d believe anything these days. I’m pretty sure there are other bunkers with other preserved people. But, you’re undoubtedly right about the Arizona bunker. People who died of any illness can’t readily be revived. They were too far gone.”
“Got it. So, how does this reanimation process work?”
“Can’t help you much there. Each person goes into the chamber for four weeks to essentially thaw. After that, we get a total blood transfusion and are put into a four-week coma to let our organs resume function.”
“Damn. That’s a long process. How many have been revived and how long have they been working on it? It must have been years.”
“Emily was first. Ryan wanted her to be able to look over his notes before giving her the cure for AP12. She was the most knowledgeable about the virus, and he followed her notes when developing the cure.”
“Makes sense. When was this?”
“Almost a year ago. Tushar was next. And then Trish. Dade was fourth. While he was in the chamber, however, the government built three more. Then things sped up. Zeke, myself, Grayson, and Colton were next. I’ve been awake three months. To make a long story short. Four more followed us and then four more before your group. That leaves two after you. They both should have come out of their chambers today and started the coma phase.”
“Got it. So, a month ago there was an explosion at the bunker?”
“Yep. Someone decided to run a truck into the front gates, hoping to make it all the way to the bunker, but the car exploded on impact. The gate was compromised, and Temple went into action evacuating the majority of us to different locations.”
Graham closed his eyes and tried to absorb everything. There was no doubt he was getting tired again. No matter how hard he fought the pull to go back to sleep, he was losing. “Temple Levenson has been in charge for all these years?” he asked, fading.
“Yes. She’s still in charge.”
“How many people are on Ryan’s team?” Graham struggled to stay awake. He wanted more information. He wanted answers. He didn’t want to sleep another minute. He wanted to continue listening to Kate’s voice, holding her hand, feeling her warmth, absorbing her gaze. She was a life force. An angel. He had no idea what new version of himself had taken over his body and turned him into someone extroverted enough to touch a woman, let alone look into her eyes and hold a conversation, but he hoped the new Graham stayed for a while.
“Twelve.”
He tried to lick his lips and focus, but the world disappeared again.
Chapter 3
It was dark when Graham woke up the next time. The blinds were closed, and the only light in the room came from flickering machines and the faint stream of light sliding across the room from under the door.
He hoped it had only been a few hours since he last awoke and not days. He felt marginally stronger as he turned his head toward the cot and found Kate once again sleeping. She was on her side facing him like last time too.
He had to wonder if her need to be not just near him but in the same room as him was purely professional and out of fear for his safety against an unknown enemy, or if it was more. The idea that she might feel something for him was preposterous, of course, but it was a nice daydream.
He had to admit to himself he was shocked to wake up a third time and realize he hadn’t imagined anything. He had indeed been reanimated, and the woman he’d had a crush on for several years—the woman he’d hardly spoken to and rarely made eye contact with—was in his room. Not only that, but apparently she was the only person around he even knew.
Graham felt completely helpless. Contrary to Kate’s assumption, he could remember everything she had told him so far. And it would seem the situation with both his team and the new team was a disaster. He de
sperately needed to pull his shit together and find a way to start helping out. Lying in this bed another day or hour or minute was unacceptable.
So far he hadn’t gotten his hands on a computer or even a book. Items he was comfortable with. For his entire life, he’d managed to hide behind reading or research. He’d realized he probably looked like a total nerd with his head always buried in a book, but keeping himself occupied had always helped him hide his shyness.
He would ask Kate for something to read, but first, he needed to start moving. He wasn’t at all sure his arms could lift a book yet.
After giving his strength a test by lifting his head, he decided he could surely pull himself to sitting and maybe even stand. He pushed on the mattress at his sides with both hands, lifting his head and then his shoulders. It took several tries and so much energy that sweat formed on his brow by the time he managed to sit fully upright.
For a moment, he felt victorious, and then the room started to sway and he instantly realized he was going to topple. The question was: which direction? When it became clear he was going to fall to his right, he reached out with a hand to grab the edge of the small table where the water sat. He needed to steady himself. The last thing he wanted was a concussion from hitting his head on the floor in his mad attempt to force himself to go too far too fast.
Unfortunately, the table was on wheels, so the moment he braced against it, it slid away from him. The pitcher and several other items on the top tumbled to the floor. The only thing that kept Graham from joining them was the fact that the cot blocked the table from moving more than about six inches, which left Graham holding himself up by his hand braced on the table.
In seconds, his arm was shaking from the exertion. But that was all the time he needed because Kate was out of bed and at his side before his arm gave out. She grabbed him around the chest in a bear hug and hauled him back to sitting before easing him onto his back.
He sucked in long breaths as if he’d been exerting himself for hours instead of taking less than a minute to attempt to sit.
Kate leaned over him, her arms still wrapped partly around his back, her cheek resting on his chest. She was also breathing hard. Before he could manage to apologize for once again yanking her out of sleep, she spoke against his chest. “You are a stubborn man, Graham Wentz.”
He lifted one hand and slid it up her back, though he had no idea why he would do such a thing. “Sorry I woke you,” he managed. “Again.”
She lifted her face finally and met his gaze in the dim light. “Did you think you might be able to jump up and go for a stroll?”
He took a deep breath. “I was hoping.” He gave her a lame smile that felt like it only lifted one side of his mouth. She was so close. Inches from his face. And she smelled wonderful. Her eyes… Even in the near darkness the deep blue penetrated him. He wanted to stay like this for as long as she’d let him. Where was his shyness?
She shoved the rest of the way off his chest and set her hands on the bed at his side, still leaning over him. “Okay, see, apparently I didn’t explain how this works yet. You’re not the first member of the team to be reanimated. You’re the seventeenth. I personally witnessed the four who awoke after me, and I studied the files of all those before me. Not a single one of us has jumped out of bed the same day and gone for a jog.”
He winced. “I don’t want to be like everyone else. Besides, it would seem it’s imperative that I get my shit together and start helping out. I’m not used to lying around doing nothing. I like to work.”
“Well, you don’t have superpowers, so you’re going to have to give your body time. Your mind seems to be sharper than anyone else’s was, but your damn mind was probably sharper before we were all vitrified too.”
Heat rose in his face. Was she complimenting him? Yes. Yes, she was. He realized his hand was still resting on her back. He’d never let his hand linger like this on a woman. Part of him started to panic, but the other part insisted he enjoy the moment. It felt nice. It wasn’t appropriate, but she wasn’t complaining, nor had she seemed to notice.
“Can you perhaps trust me on this issue and let me help you get to a point where you’re physically able to get around?”
“Maybe. If you promise me you’ll speed up the process so we can get the hell out of this clinic as soon as possible.” He glanced around the small room. “I already feel claustrophobic.” Even though this was essentially a hospital room, it was filled with her scent—lavender. It overpowered the antiseptic and bleach he should be noticing.
If he didn’t get himself together so they could get out of this clinic, he was liable to make a complete ass of himself soon. Because he enjoyed her presence far too much. For a guy who’d been conscious less than a full day, he was beyond aware of the woman caring for him, and he didn’t have the first clue what to do about it.
She laughed, but not in a good way. “Please. Don’t go there. You’ve been awake a total of about thirty minutes. I’ve been cooped up in here for a month, and I wasn’t sleeping the entire time.”
Judging from the bags he’d seen under her eyes, he would guess she hadn’t slept enough during that month, which made little sense since she could have spent every one of those days resting. He hadn’t even been awake. Nor had he been in any real danger as far as he could tell.
Again, he wondered what her motives were. “Why?” he asked. If he pushed her for answers, she would be able to shatter his growing daydream that she felt something for him. He had some sort of ridiculous fairy tale going on in his mind where Kate had come to his rescue because she secretly had a crush on him. He needed to dispel that absurd myth fast. Self-preservation.
“Why what?” She tipped her head to one side.
“Why did you stay so close? It doesn’t sound like I needed around-the-clock medical care. You could have slept in the clinic’s living quarters or even gotten a hotel or something.”
“Yeah, well, first of all, apparently you do need around-the-clock care, seeing as that’s the second time you nearly fell on your head. And besides, I’m not that kind of nurse.” She patted his chest and rose more fully next to him.
His hand slid down her back, and he inadvertently stroked her butt before jerking his arm around to set it across his belly. “You’re not a nurse at all. You’re a doctor.”
She grinned. “You’re alive, aren’t you? I must have done something right.”
“I’d say you did a lot of things right, but that’s not the point.” Why the hell was he pushing this issue? Because her hands are on you and she’s holding your gaze. Again…
But what would he do with the information if she did admit she had a thing for him? He wasn’t prepared to hear something like that. It was preposterous anyway. He just needed her to give him a logical secondary explanation so he could move on before he made a fool of himself.
“I’m pretty sure it is.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. She wasn’t giving him anything. “I’m sorry. If I promise to be a good patient and do what you say, will you find a more appropriate bed and get a real night’s sleep?”
She scrunched up her face and glanced away. Was she flushed? “You trying to get rid of me?”
He frowned and shook his head. “No. Not at all. I just don’t like being responsible for the bags under your eyes.” He lifted a hand and stroked a finger over the dark shadows below her deep blue eyes. He couldn’t see their color with her head turned to the side, but he didn’t need to. He had them filed in his memory.
She stood motionless while he touched her with such familiarity.
If he wasn’t mistaken, she sighed as her eyes slowly closed and her lips parted, her cheek tipping more fully into his touch. It only lasted a moment, and then she jerked herself out of whatever place she’d gone and took a step sideways as if it were suddenly super important that she tuck the blanket around his knees and calves.
“You should go back to sleep,” she murmured.
“I’m not t
ired.”
“Well, you should try. The reanimation will give you a sensation much like jet lag. It will last for about a week. It’s best to force yourself to sleep during the night and stay awake as long as possible during the day.”
“’Kay.” He would agree with anything if she would lie back down. Not because he didn’t enjoy talking with her, but because she needed sleep far worse than he did, and he needed to rein in his thoughts before he said something stupid he wouldn’t be able to take back and embarrassed himself.
His tongue seemed to be a bit loose. He was afraid he might blab random things like how good she smelled or how soft her hair was or how much he liked looking at her perfect heart-shaped mouth.
In his past life, he’d never allowed himself to entertain thoughts like that. If he’d ever let his mind wander so thoroughly in that direction, he surely would have ended up tripping over himself. Instead, he’d dedicated himself to his work.
Work he could handle. It was not subjective. It was real. Specific. It kept him even. He’d often bury himself in data and spreadsheets and test samples for over twelve hours a day. Work fulfilled him while he accepted the fact that he would never be the sort of guy who could look into a woman’s eyes and articulate anything that made sense.
He wondered if all the others had awoken to amorous thoughts about whoever was first to encounter them or if he was just a pervert. Probably the latter. Probably because he’d gone into the cryostat thinking similar things about Kate.
Actually, it was worse than that. He’d gone into preservation kicking himself for not having ever once had the balls to even make eye contact with Kate, let alone tell her how he felt.
The honest truth was that a sadness had overwhelmed him as he succumbed to the drugs that put him to sleep, and he’d made a promise to himself that if they were ever reanimated in the future, he would not squander his second chance at life.
Once upon a time, he hoped if he ever had the opportunity again, he would get over his terrifying shyness and tell her how he felt. He couldn’t believe he was just now remembering that vow. Maybe this new Graham had known it from the start. A part of him was petrified of her rejecting him, but this was different than before they’d been preserved. She was different, and he hoped maybe he could be too.
Reviving Graham Page 3