“Tell her I did it to protect you and I promise not to do it again unless it’s life or death.”
I repeated Silver’s words to my aunt.
Maggie still looked concerned, but she let it go. “Why did…Silver, feel the need to change Kara’s DNA and how did she know how to do it?”
I sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to me in an invitation. Once we were both done wiggling our behinds around to get comfortable, I answered, “There’s a lot of gut instinct or maybe intuition to what Silver did for Kara. Neither of us came with a manual, and lately, it seems like the things we can do keep cropping up spontaneously.”
Maggie interrupted to hit my knee. “Like the energy surge you gave Melody and I after you healed my nose?”
I gave a thumbs up.
“It wasn’t just you two that got the power surge, it was Silver and I as well. I couldn’t explain it to you in front of Melody without admitting about Silver’s existence since you need four Weavers for it to work, or at least we think you do. The effect wasn’t as strong with you two as it was with Kara and James. With about three seconds of contact, they gave us more than enough energy to heal your nose and not have a blood sugar low.”
Maggie raised her red eyebrows at me, and it was so nice to see her face back to its normal proportions again that I smiled.
“What, is something wrong with my face?” she asked.
She started to get up to grab the mirror from her desk, and I slapped her leg to get her attention. “Your nose is better than fine, Maggie. I just thought that even if the only thing I could do were heal, I would trade everything else away. I’m so glad your face is back to normal.”
I thought tightly to Silver. “Thank you, Sister!”
Silver said sweetly, “You’re welcome!”
Maggie pursed her lips, and I think she was still trying to figure out if I was having a laugh at her expense.
“Gerome told me you were the one who found the girl outside the fence. The way Malcolm said it, you were inside asleep and then you ran outside in your socks to the fence line like your butt was on fire. What happened?”
“If she didn’t think we were nuts before, what’s she going to think about dreams and urges to run places out of nowhere?”
“You’re not helping, Silver,” I said that out loud, and Maggie looked at me sideways.
“Sorry, she was just saying you were going to think we’re crazy when I tell you about the girl in the grass.”
Maggie chuckled. “We’re Weavers, honey. All of us are more than passing strange and slightly crazy.”
I went ahead against my reservations. In a tumble of words I went through the whole story again explaining about the dream, the need to leave the house, the movement by the fence, Calvin Harris pulling his rifle at the sight of the girl, and Malcolm ordering him to hold his fire. “Maggie, I think Calvin would have shot her if we weren’t there.”
Maggie drew a deep breath and considered my story before she answered, “Cora won’t admit anything is wrong with that boy. The closest she’s come is refusing to pass on her Council seat to Calvin, but I don’t know that she realizes just how bad he is.”
She exhaled hard as if releasing pent-up tension. “Since her husband passed, all she cares about is the Council, and the rest of the world is an inconvenience, including her children. Melody had more than a few run-ins with him at the school, but he was always so circumspect. Usually, he only got caught when another child told, and there was never any proof. Calvin wouldn’t have been able to hide the sound of the rifle report, so there’s no way he would have gotten away with it. Maybe the girl just scared him?”
I shook my head no.
“That’s what doesn’t make sense to me. My gut instinct was telling me he was after her. There’s a bigger picture none of us are seeing, Maggie. When Malcolm called security and mentioned Calvin was on the other side of the fence; I don’t think they knew.”
The jingle of the front door bell interrupted whatever Maggie was about to say. My aunt stood to extend a hand my direction. “We’ll continue this later. Would you like to be my assistant today?”
“Sure.”
The afternoon passed in a blur of snot-nosed patients, young and old, as I played gopher for any supplies Maggie needed. The only serious case was a cute curly-headed three-year-old boy named Abram that was having issues with his asthma. Once Maggie got him hooked up to a nebulizer, his wheezing improved.
Abram’s mother, a petite full-figured brunette woman in her twenties, ran her fingers through his hair the whole time he held the mask to his face, kicking his little feet in the air as they hung off the side of a cot. It made me wonder about having a family someday and if it would ever be possible as intertwined as we were. Did Silver want a family, too? She’d mentioned it in the laundry room this morning, but I hadn’t paid attention to what that meant for us since then.
“It 'd be good to have a family one day.”
My sister’s voice sounded wistful as my eyes lingered on the scene of mother and son.
I turned away, busying myself restocking the tongue depressors in the metal cabinet by Maggie’s office, and thought back, “Only if they have a better childhood than we did. Besides, we do have a family now. Maggie and Gerome.”
Silver shot frustration at me.
“You know what I mean, Cassandra.”
I did know what she meant. I just didn’t know how much of a reality it could ever be for us. What man would sign up to marry two women in one body? Silver laughed in my head.
“We don’t have to marry the guy, just get his genetic ‘donation’ and move on down the road.”
I shook my head side to side. “That’s not the way, Silver. We need a partner who can back us up. Fathers are important. As short as our time with Mom and Dad was, I still value it.”
Silver harrumphed. “Doesn’t matter, we’ve got time. Hey, after we get out of here, can I walk us home?”
Since I was glad she was dropping the subject I thought back, “Sure, I’ll warn Maggie though since you might trip over our own feet.”
“Har-de-har, Miss Smart Ass. Practice makes perfect.”
I heard the bell over the entrance jingle again and hurried to the front so Maggie could keep an eye on Abram’s treatment. My aunt smiled at me in thanks as I passed her. When I emerged from the hallway to the front counter area, Nicky and David were already lifting the flap, both of them looking windblown.
“Hey, Nicky. David, isn’t it too early for you to be here?”
His eyes softened, and he gave a small closed lipped smile. “It’s not that early, I’m usually here around six thirty or seven p.m., and I feel terrible about how long of a day Maggie’s put in, especially with how banged up she is.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach and landed on my feet with a splat. We'd healed Maggie's face. This would be interesting, to say the least.
“Dun-DUH-duh!”
I did an abrupt about face and started back down the hall thinking furiously at Silver. “You hush, or I’m walking us home.”
I hustled fast enough that I had time to catch Maggie’s attention and motion with my head eyes wide as I touched the bridge of my nose. When Nicky and David came out into the patient area, they were talking between one another and laughed while they shrugged off their coats, so they didn’t look in my aunt’s direction right away. Maggie turned her back to them and started a conversation with Abram’s mother. When the pair called a ‘hello,' she waved a hand with her back turned to acknowledge the greeting.
Nicky had put her first-aid kit away in the hallway, so her hands were free. I noticed her pants were slightly muddy from kneeling on the ground outside the fence, and I drifted closer to see if she was saying anything to David about today’s events.
“…was lucky she wandered in the right direction since there’s nothing around for miles. I bet she would have died from exposure. She didn’t regain consciousness, but all her vitals were prett
y steady by the time they took her in the ambulance.” Nicky noticed me listening and cocked her head. “You were there behind the fence, right?”
“For a minute. Do you think she’ll be okay?”
While both David and Nicky were distracted, my aunt finished up her consultation with Abram’s mother and exited as quietly as she could behind the pair to her office.
Nicky’s face took on a compassionate expression. “She looked to have been through a lot. Mud and blood caked her body, so it was hard to assess all of her injuries. From what I saw she might have had some broken ribs and possibly an arm, not to mention the fact that she was sans clothing or shoes. Her feet were pretty torn up.”
Maggie’s voice as it carried from her office interrupted whatever else Nicky would have added about the girl in the grass. “David…Nicky…can you come in here, please?”
Nicky leaned down and pulled one of her pant legs away from her knee with her free hand then murmured to David, “I guess I’ll get changed after I report in.” David smiled in sympathy, and they walked toward Maggie’s office together with their coats thrown over one arm.
My aunt hadn’t called my name, so I stayed out in the patient area to keep an eye on things. What was she up to? I knew she couldn’t hide her healed nose from them forever, but it would have been nice to know the game plan. Once the nurses were both inside the office, I heard the door close, and I stopped straining my ears to listen because it was pretty much pointless.
“It’s fine, Sister, she’ll think of something to say that will put them off. We may butt heads, but she’s pretty fast on her feet. Maggie’ll tell us on the way home.”
I gave an absent ‘mm hmm’ under my breath and drifted toward the counter area so that I could be doing something. Abram’s mother gave a delicate fake cough when I reached the end of their cot.
“Maggie gave me the inhaler and the cough medicine, but she didn’t say if we should return tomorrow for another breathing treatment. Should we?”
I realized the humming, droning sound of the nebulizer had stopped, and they were through with the young boy’s treatment. At least, he wasn’t wheezing anymore and had a healthy pink flush to his chubby cheeks.
“Let me ask right quick.” I turned on my heel toward Maggie’s office and knocked. The murmur of voices stopped then David opened the door. Maggie was behind him leaning against her desk. Nicky stood next to her inspecting my aunt’s nose.
“What do you need, dear?” asked Maggie.
“Abram’s mom wants to know if she should bring him back tomorrow for another breathing treatment.”
Maggie gently swatted Nicky’s fingers from her face. “I think we’ll just head home so I can get some rest. Nicky, why don’t you tell Mrs. Hill they can come tomorrow at around the same time if it’s convenient. I would ask that you both respect my wishes about the conversation we just had. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
David looked me up and down while he held the door. What explanation had Maggie given them? Maggie took the time to go to her desk and get her coat off of her chair and then snag mine from the arm of the couch before she maneuvered past David.
“Nicky, never mind about our patient. I’ll handle it on the way out. Why don’t you get your pants changed? Oh, and I just remembered, I loaned a black shirt and some yoga pants of yours to Kara, but I’ll make sure to get them back.”
Nicky smiled, her face was kind and patient. “I’m just glad she’s up and about to borrow clothes.”
David seconded softly, “We all are.”
I averted my eyes from David’s too intense scrutiny and waited for Maggie. I followed silently in her wake, watching the graceful hypnotizing sway of her round hips until she stopped to confer with Abram’s mother.
The patient in question was running in circles at his mother’s legs, making wet engine sounds with his moist lips and pretending to steer an imaginary car.
Silver chimed in acerbically, “Gee, do you think he’s feeling better? I’m curious what Maggie said because it didn’t take her long to get that little situation under control. It should be interesting.”
Maggie escorted Abram and his mother to the front counter and lifted the flap for them to pass through. While mother and son were getting properly shod to handle the elements on one of the benches in the lobby, Maggie piddled around with some things under the counter wasting time.
“Remember I get to walk us home!”
“I remember Silver, but they need to leave first, and Maggie needs to know, so hold your horses.”
Abram wouldn’t stop swinging his legs. Eventually, his mother trapped his feet one at a time between her knees and got his shoes on.
When they ducked out with a final wave and a burst of the elements, I turned to Maggie. “So, what did you tell David and Nicky?”
She shrugged. “The truth. I borrowed from you a bit and said there were some things I couldn’t explain right now, but I would when I could and reminded them about keeping confidentiality. David is more suspicious of you than Nicky. She’s still oblivious and cheerful as always. I have a loyal staff…what can I say? Not to mention we’re Weavers. Weird is the norm, not the exception.”
“In that case, I need to let you know something before we head back to the house. Silver and I thought it would be a good idea to train in each other’s specialties. I’m in charge of piloting our body the majority of the time, and she’s the queen of the Web. Do you care if I let her walk our body home?”
Maggie blinked and then broke out into the biggest grin I had seen in a while.
“Wow, I think that was the strangest request I’ve ever gotten, and I’ve heard some real doozies. Sure, I’d like that. Why would you ask me permission, though?”
“Silver isn’t as smooth at moving us around as she’d like right now. You need to make sure she doesn’t trip and land us on our butt.”
Maggie chuckled. “So I’m your spotter?”
Silver said, “Yup!” at the same time that I said, “Exactly.”
“She said yes, so let’s go! Switch!”
I rolled my eyes, and Maggie frowned at me in confusion. “Silver wants to change right now, but I’m getting our boots on first, or we’ll be here all night.”
“Hey!”
When Maggie and I went through the flap, and after I had my footgear squared away, I breathed out through my mouth and in through my nose then rolled my shoulders to relax my hold on our body.
“Okay, now I’m ready, Silver. Try not to get us killed!”
My twin’s mental signature was too excited to be irritated.
“It’s only walking…what’s the worst that could happen?”
Chapter Fifteen: Off Balance
Once the switch settled into place, my eyes moved to take in the lobby of the infirmary without direction from me. Disoriented, my body rose to its feet and turned toward Maggie where she stood waiting by the door. Silver raised a foot to take a step, but it ended up being more of a shuffle.
“Did you forget how to walk?” I asked.
When Silver spoke aloud, our voice was rougher.
“I forgot about the boots…was not expecting our foot to be that heavy.”
Maggie sauntered over and placed a hand on our right elbow to lend support. “So you’re…Silver now? The sound of your voice is different than Cassandra’s…a little deeper. Are you going to be able to handle walking in the wind? It’s gusting pretty hard.”
Silver lifted our foot in a reasonable step and straightened our spine, pulling her elbow out of Maggie’s grip to say snappishly, “I’ve got it now.”
I admonished her. “Don’t be rude, she’s only trying to help us.”
I could tell that had earned me an eye roll by the way the room rotated. Silver turned our head toward our aunt.
“Cassandra says I shouldn’t be rude…sorry.”
Maggie just narrowed her eyes and gave a curt nod before she went to peer out the windows. The weather had most definitely not improved. The
blowing wind didn’t have dry dirt in it anymore. Nothing as simple as that, now it contained moisture and dirt. Who knew it was possible to rain mud? Maggie gave a deep sigh as she watched the wind blow the wet in a sideways sweep.
“You better pull our hood up and tuck in our hair.” As I spoke, my aunt began to do the very same thing.
I couldn’t shake a sensation like an itch at the back of my mind that something was wrong. It bothered me so badly that while Silver pulled up our hood and tucked in the loose ends of our dark hair, she vented to me.
“Do you trust me so little? I promise to be careful, Cass.”
I shoved the feeling to the side since I couldn’t see any immediate reason for it and assured my sister, “It’s not about you. I’m just feeling twitchy, and I can’t pin down why.”
Silver tugged the hood down on our forehead and said to Maggie, “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Maggie shook her head without making a smartass comment—which wasn’t usually her way—and twisted the doorknob. Immediately the sound of the wind increased threefold, and Maggie had to grip the door tightly to prevent it from yanking out of her hands. Once we were both out, Maggie made sure the front door was closed all the way before we proceeded down the dirt road.
The moisture in the air wasn’t enough to saturate the ground again, but it made the surface slippery. Maggie and Silver almost landed on their butts just in the first twenty yards. Silver gave up her obstinance and helped Maggie as much as herself by linking their arms at the elbow. They used each other to brace against the wind and for balance. No one else was out in this weather. They were smarter than us, I guess.
“Great job, Silver! I almost think it helps to have this crappy weather as a distraction, plus nobody is out to watch us be uncoordinated.”
Silver smiled because I could feel our lips in an abstract way, sliding over our teeth, then she thought, “Eventually, we’re moving away from here one day, right? I would say this weather is for the birds, but even they’re not stupid enough to be out in it.”
Our left boot chose that moment to slide suddenly, and Maggie had to stop to brace herself to prevent our fall, giving a loud grunt.
Chimera (The Weaver Series Book 1) Page 23