“We’d better get to headquarters; this is really important,” she said, jumping up and fumbling for her shoes. I wanted to protest that she needed to rest, but this was too important to wait.
“When we’re done saving the planet, I’m making you mine permanently.” I stood and grabbed her delicate wrist, pulling her body to mine for a kiss.
“I’m already yours permanently,” she replied, and I didn’t say anything else. I didn’t even mean for it to slip out, so the fact that she didn’t catch onto my meaning was a blessing. I would propose to her the proper way, and she would have that memory forever.
Life was fragile and short. Breaths were numbered and heartbeats had an expiration. You have to eat the cake, enjoy the fresh air, and marry the girl of your dreams.
Soon.
We drove to HQ and told Phillip and everyone else who was there what we discovered. A.J. looked up the water tests that were being done every few hours and found them dramatically worse. The algae were spreading and getting closer and closer to the Pacific.
Terratrex was denying any part of the problem—they’d given money to our senator and other environmental programs over the years, so they were free to pretend they were on Team Earth. Meanwhile, A.J. and his sister, Mina, had run various simulations showing what would happen if the algae kept spreading. Within two months, the algae would have killed off all the plant and animal life in the ocean, then at six months it’ll have spread throughout the world, destroying eighty percent of the world’s oxygen producers, phytoplankton. The sickness to anyone within twenty miles of the water was incalculable. This was going to change life on Earth as we know it, potentially killing every living thing that inhabited it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Gwendolyn
The hospital was chaotic. People were sick and coughing, the air quality in the area was getting worse. People were seen walking around with masks over their noses and mouths.
I’d woken up this morning with a tickle in the back of my throat, which worried me that I was falling victim to the blasphemous algae.
Thankfully my cozy robots were once again performing as they should be. Patients were happy again, and I felt confident that they would become permanent fixtures in human life now. I just needed to fix the issue of people giving them viruses. Nothing else had happened, fortunately, but I needed time once they were done with their trial to add in firewalls and other protected measures so they couldn’t be tampered with.
Phillip was working nonstop, trying to figure out what could be done about the water toxicity. More dead fish and even a dolphin washed up on shore this morning. Things were taking a turn for the worse.
Once I checked over the robots once more, I headed to the office. I had other projects and research to work on. My floor had been given a job to figure out how to make artificial kidneys, which scientists have been trying to create for years. The problem no one can solve is keeping blood flowing smoothly to the area and not clotting.
We were getting close, but no one had yet to make a true breakthrough.
I hadn’t heard from anyone as I holed up in my office with my work. Arthur texted saying he couldn’t get together tonight, that he had a family thing to deal with.
That was not something I would even offer to be a part of right now. From what he told me, his family sounded like a piece of work; they reminded me of my parents and would probably look down on the poor autistic girl he chose to be with right now.
He hadn’t said anything about my confession in his SUV four days ago. Though I could tell he loved me, even without the words. He hadn’t made anything weird between us. He knew I loved him, and we were okay.
I was permanently his—which made his statement a few days ago very odd. I already was his. So, I shrugged off his comment and went on with life. We hadn’t been able to see each other during the day, only at night. We spent time hanging out then the rest of the night in one of our beds.
Sex with Arthur was amazing. He was patient and willing to try new things. But would also be there to help relax my mind when it was too much.
I hated that we had to leave each other. It may seem to some like moving too quick in a relationship, but I wanted him around me all the time. Like I loved waking up with him and falling asleep next to him. I didn’t even need my metal ball to help relax me to sleep. He was becoming part of my routine, and I was completely fine with it. He worked well with me, and hopefully that was enough for us.
My phone beeped a few times, and I hit ignore when I didn’t recognize the number calling. They didn’t leave a voice message, so I assumed it wasn’t very important.
I managed to leave my office around 11:00 p.m. with drawings of Pops and Cora updates I thought they would like. Both of them needed to charge and had seemed sluggish today. I wondered if I needed to give them a checkup.
They went straight for their stations as soon as we got home, and I made myself a cup of tea and heated up leftovers for a very late dinner.
My throat kept tingling, and I took sinus medication to help with the drainage that was going on back there.
I managed to fall asleep easily, and then was woken up with a terrible cough a few hours later.
Crap.
Dialing the number for the Hero Society’s nurse, Esme, she told me to meet her at HQ so she could look me over. I really didn’t want to go to the hospital right now. It was already messing with my head that I was becoming a victim to the algae.
Pops and Cora were still charging, and I didn’t want to disturb them to go with me to get checked out. They didn’t always go with me everywhere, but soon I would be upgrading them so they could withstand any and all hero work with me, plus everyday life.
I kneeled down in front of Pops, who looked powered down, but I made sure to fire him back up and let him know I was leaving.
“I’ll come with you.”
“I’ll be right back, and when I get here I’m probably going to need lots of rest. So, we can hang out all day, and I’ll even let you pick the movies we watch,” I offered, hoping my words would help him not worry about me. He agreed and then powered himself back down for maximum charge.
The roads were very quiet this early in the morning, and only Mina and Esme were up at HQ when I got there. Esme was a nurse who had the power to heal anyone, even bring them back from the brink of death. But with every use of that power, she neared death herself. Hence, she didn’t use it much. I’d heard the story briefly, through rumors, that she had fallen for the villain that tried to destroy the world before turning good for her, and she’d used all her power to save him, thereby sacrificing herself. She was revived when they went back in time, just like Arthur. I didn’t know if the rumors were true. If so, that made her a true superhero in my eyes. She saved everyone by using her real power—love. Love saved mankind.
I doubted love would save the ecosystem problem we had, but it would be nice if it were that easy.
Mina was chewing on some beef jerky when I arrived. She was a nice woman, quirky, doing whatever she wanted, including wearing crazy onesies and hoodies and ruling over Seahill with her genius brother and Phillip. A tough cookie.
“Esme’s in the medical room waiting—come on and join the night shift.” She greeted me at the elevators and walked me over to Esme, who was waiting there with a sweet smile on her elf-like face.
All the girls here were so beautiful. Each unique in their own way. I was honored to be a part of them and truly felt like I was becoming one of the family.
Esme was gentle as she looked me over, and her diagnosis was unfortunately easy. Upper respiratory infection. So, my earlier thoughts were true. I was getting sick from being in the water. Even with antibiotics, I wouldn’t get better until the irritant was gone.
As soon as I got in the car to go home and rest, drink lots of fluid as Esme told me to, I noticed my phone had a voicemail on it.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Arthur
“Try again.” Draco w
as trying to work with me to see if my powers over the water could help fix the issue with the algae and toxins in it. So far all I’d done was push it around, as if I was holding a large spoon and stirring it.
Of course, my physical body was here and trying to remedy this issue, but my mind was on Gwendolyn. She’d texted me at two in the morning three days ago and told me she was going out of town and would be back soon. That was it, and I was freaking out at having not heard from her. Phillip was too busy trying to save the earth—I didn’t want to ask him to pry into her futures to see if anything bad was going to happen to her. I didn’t care that she’d left, but the radio silence was killing me. Plus, I missed her.
“We’ve been at this for hours, and the most I’ve done is pushed it around. Probably making shit worse.” I was frustrated. Water was my thing, but I couldn’t do anything to fix this. People of Seahill were getting sicker by the day, and they were starting to panic. Can’t live somewhere that is hazardous to your health. Terratrex was taking a bit of a PR hit, and still they ignored the problem. Denying it was their prime preoccupation right now.
Money still ruled supreme when it comes to the earth. People with power only cared about more money, not the environment. It was difficult to fight against Terratrex when the trees they were experimenting with could cure world hunger. For a hefty price, of course. What country wouldn’t give them everything they had to help feed their people, making them dependent on the government? The whole situation sucked. Of course, I’d been invited over to have a family dinner, and that didn’t help anything. But instead of joining the family occupation of being an asshole, I talked about my art, and all the good I was doing in the world. I thought it was going to give my dad a heart attack that his once-favored son was a hoarding artisan that played with trash.
“This is one problem I don’t know how to fix. We’ve yet to see all the powers resurface this decade. For all we know, someone in France could have the gifts to sort this mess out. But the Hero Society is still new and growing.” Draco looked frustrated along with me, the dead fish, crabs, and seaweed floating around while we watched the swells roll to the shore.
“Mankind has stopped caring about the only planet they live on. Centuries ago, everything used to be so pure. Not plastics, no trash like we have everywhere now. The air was cleaner, and the water sparkled. I’m glad my time as an immortal is done, for I don’t care to be around when the earth takes its last toxic breath.”
He shook his head thinking about it.
Immortality had to have sucked, watching everyone you cared about die, witnessing how far mankind has fallen from the connection to one another and nature.
There was hope, though. Companies like Griffin Enterprises were fighting to make the world a better place. We were fighting to make the world a better place. More people with powers were stepping up to the plate every day, wanting to use their gifts for good.
With a renewed feeling of hope, I got back to trying everything I could think of to help the issue in front of us. I’d deal with Gwendolyn and everything else later—right now I had to give this everything I had.
Apparently, everything I had wasn’t enough. In fact, the algae were dispersed more and more throughout the water and was going to hit the Davidson current off the coast in approximately three days, and that would be it. There would be nothing we could do once it hit one of those Pacific water highways.
I was tired as hell but managed to paint a large canvas of waves and dirty-looking water. The picture mocked me, but I kept looking at it, trying to figure out what I could do to make it better.
My phone beeped, and I hopped over my chair to see if it was Gwendolyn.
Gwendolyn: Can you come over? I need you right now.
I shot her back a reply quickly as I grabbed a jacket and ran out the door.
Not even bothering with my car, I jogged to her apartment. She answered after the first knock, and my knees went weak. She looked fine—a little flustered, but fine.
Even though I wanted to launch into a million questions, I waited for her to initiate conversation. Too many questions might throw her off.
“Thanks for coming. I—uh—don’t do well with new things, and something new has happened. I have no idea where my head is right now, and I just needed you with me. You calm me down and help me see things differently than my mind is telling me.”
Instantly, I opened my arms for her, and she snuggled herself between them.
“I’m always here for whatever you need me for.” Which I hoped was everything—I wanted Gwendolyn to need me for everything…to be her lifeline when she felt like she couldn’t keep her head above water.
Was it a proper time to propose to her now? The thought ran through my head, and I was about to when she threw me a curve ball.
“My parents died a few days ago, and me being the only kin left to my sister, I’m now her guardian.”
My heart stuttered. I did not see that coming.
She left in a rush to go to her family that abandoned her, to see her sister. Did that mean she was here?
Looking around, I didn’t see anything out of place, including a ten-year-old girl.
“She’s in my bedroom. Obviously, it came as a shock to her that she had a sister she didn’t know about. Even more so when she found out why they left me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, I just—I just don’t know how to do any of this, and now I’m essentially her parent. I’m freaking out right now, and I know if I have a meltdown it’s probably going to scare her, which makes me freak out more.”
I tucked her in a bit more tightly against my chest. This was a big deal. A very big deal. I wasn’t even sure what I could do to help the situation except be here for her.
“What do you need me to do?” I pulled back and cradled her cheeks between my hands softly, wanting to look her in her blue eyes.
“I called Lynn, who’s on the way to help me. I know she can do the most. But I just need you here; I can’t do this alone.”
She’d never be alone in this. Hell, if she asked me to move in tonight with her, I would.
New sister, new complications and all.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Arthur
Honestly, it was like looking at a younger version of Gwendolyn, only with brown eyes. From her father, as Gwendolyn told me.
Emily was the young girl’s name. She was ten years old, like I already knew, and was having a lot of problems with the situation at hand.
Lynn pulled us to the side and told us the truth. Emily was feeling conflicted. She loved her parents and felt their loss, but also had anger swimming inside her finding out about Gwendolyn. They never mentioned her, and she was upset that she had a sister she never knew about. Her parents’ image in her little head was being distorted and at an emotionally charged time.
She didn’t want to speak to anyone after talking with Lynn, and I could tell Gwendolyn was getting close to losing it.
Lynn and Gwendolyn did the best they could to explain Asperger’s to Emily, how it affects Gwendolyn and the challenges she faced, hoping it would make their new arrangement being in the same house together a bit smoother. She nodded and remained quiet.
Her face looked much like Gwendolyn’s when she pulled that ice mask of hers over.
The poor girl—I felt bad for her. Everything she knew was gone.
Lynn did everything she could to help the girls get better acquainted and promised she would be back tomorrow to help further.
She’d taken a fancy to Cora, who sat next to her leg, working as a therapy dragon. It was what she was programmed to be, essentially.
“Are you tired, Emily? Or hungry? I can make you something.” Gwendolyn looked so out of sorts with herself, but I could tell she was trying.
“I’m just going to go to sleep.” She gave us both a nod and went into Gwendolyn’s bedroom to sleep.
“I’m sleeping on the couch until I can convert my office to a bedroom. Maybe we should move and get a
bigger apartment. Or a house.” The wheels in Gwendolyn’s head were rolling, so I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek.
Her body started shaking, and then little gasps for air rumbled against my chest.
“Oh, goddess. It’s going to be okay. We just have to take it one heartbeat at a time.”
She was crying.
Pulling her over to the couch, I held her against my body and rubbed her back in comfort.
“I’m trying to be strong and brave. This is just not me.”
My fingers wiped the tears that were streaming down her face then slid underneath her jaw, lifting her head to look at me.
“This is you now. You have no other choice, goddess. You are ready, and you can be anything you need to be. Including a guardian to your little sister. The fact that you even went there to go see her and brought her here shows how brave and strong you are. You could have ignored the calls, and she would have been put in foster care. It’s cold, but you could have. Instead you brought her home. You’ve done the hard part. One heartbeat at a time, that’s it.”
Her head nodded, and I hoped the words were penetrating her ever-complicated thoughts.
“Did anything happen while I was away?” she asked, clearly wanting to change the subject. I told her about working with Draco to fix the water but only making it worse. The video that she’d gotten of the building had been broadcasted, and now the pressure was on Terratrex. They’d destroyed the building so no signs could point back to them, but the video showed the other side—the truth. No one was in prison, but at least they were under fire for poisoning the water.
“Anyone got any ideas on how to fix it before it hits the currents?”
I shook my head no, wishing I had a different answer to give her. Not only was she dealing with this big change in her life, but she also had a duty to the Society.
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