by Glover, Nhys
‘One bomb wipes out a whole city? Now I know you’re crazy! Or you think I am.’ She knew that if she had been close enough to him he would have grabbed her, at that moment, and given her a shake. It was written in his wild blue eyes.
‘Look, I think you need to see this. Really see it. But no, maybe…’ Her first thought was to take him to the Research Centre, and set him up in a virtual reality room, where he could experience for himself the events she was describing. But did he need that? And would it be too much, too soon? He was only eight hours out of surgery.
‘How can I see this?’ he asked, when she didn’t finish her sentence.
‘I thought I could take you to a VR room and play some of the footage we have. But I don’t think … Let me see if I can pull up some front page newspaper stories that might convince you.’
From its holder on her belt, she took out her tablet. While she stared at the blank surface, she thought about newspaper coverage on the end of WW2. In a second, the small screen was filled with the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer August 15 1945. It read: ‘PEACE – Truman Announces Jap Surrender, Ends Fight; MacArthur Named Chief; Draft Calls are Slashed ‘
She handed the tablet to Luke and watched as his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets in shock. He turned the tablet over and looked at the back, and then touched the screen tentatively.
‘What is this?’ he barked out at her, his voice threaded with hysteria. Too much. She had given him too much. He was still recovering from his injury. His head must be hurting him, and she was bombarding him with technology and future events he can’t even comprehend.
She tried to take the tablet back, but he clung to it, snarling at her. ‘Leave it. I want to know! Tell me!’
‘Lukas, please. You are not well. I am sorry. I am handling this badly. It is too much for you to take in. Millie said you would not be able to understand it all so fast. I am so sorry. Let us forget all of that for now…’ she pleaded with him.
‘What is this?’ He waved the tablet at her, his eyes crazed.
‘It is a Tablet. A hand held computer terminal of sorts. No, that will not work. You do not know what a computer is. It is like a film, like your moving pictures - movies. It is like a moving picture screen.’
‘How did you get that paper on it?’
‘I mentally asked for it. My Tablet is connected to my mental wavelengths. It responds to my thoughts.’ Oh God, this is wrong, so wrong.
Chapter Seven
At that moment, when the panic was overtaking her, and Faith thought she was about to hyperventilate, Cara walked into the room and embraced her.
‘Okay Faith? He giving you a bit of trouble?’ She pulled a humorous face, and Faith could breathe again. Cara would know what to do. She had been through this herself.
Cara turned to smile at the panicking man on the bed, her arm still wrapped around Faith’s trembling shoulders.
‘Luke Daniels, I’m Cara Henderson. Or in this world, Cara Westchester, because that was where I came from before I was Retrieved. You are being swamped by all this. I know. Been there. Take a couple of deep breaths and forget all this crap, and just be here in this room with two gorgeous ‘broads’ who are worried about you. That’s all that’s important right now. Being here. The rest doesn’t matter right now.’
Something about Cara’s no nonsense approach, and maybe her accent, seemed to get through to Luke because he relaxed visibly, and did as she told him. Cara reached over and took the tablet from his hands and gave it back to Faith.
‘Too soon, honey. He’s spinning out. Millie said as much. He needs grounding. Order him a cup of black coffee with plenty of sugar.’ She smiled her encouragement at Faith who took the tablet in shaky hands, and did as she suggested.
Cara extended her hand to Luke, and he took it tentatively. They shook. Then she sat down on the edge of his bed, for all the world as if they were lifelong friends, catching up. ‘Right, better. Wacky set up, hey? I thought my Retriever was looney tunes, especially when he started going on about him being three hundred years older than me. I wanted him to prove he was a time traveller, and the only way he could do that was by opening the Portal. Do you remember the bright light?’ She paused and waited for his reply. He nodded slowly, never taking his eyes from her face.
Faith felt a stab of jealousy. Lukas was bewitched by Cara’s beauty and easy going manner. How she wished she could be like that with him. But she was just a useless idiot, way out of her depth.
‘Yeah, well that light is the Portal or gateway through time. And when Jac opened it in my apartment, I nearly lost it. I thought I was seeing things, you know?’ Cara looked at him again to get his reaction, and he nodded obediently.
‘We had pretty advanced stuff in my time, so a shower of lights wasn’t too much of a stretch for me. So I still didn’t believe him. In the end, he took me for a quick trip to Ancient Greece, and I couldn’t not believe him then. So then I decided I was the crazy one. That it was some huge delusion I was experiencing. It took a while before Jac got through to me. I was very stubborn. Still am, so he tells me.’
‘Jack? The Arian pin-up boy in a dress, Jack?’ Luke finally found his voice to ask.
‘Ouch! I can see you guys haven’t hit it off. Alpha Male thing, I guess. Yeah, Jac Retrieved me, just like Faith Retrieved you. Except I got some say in it. He met me a few weeks before my D Day – the day recorded for my disappearance. I got to choose whether I came to the future or died. Sounds awful, stated that way, but that’s the reality. Like for you. If Faith had left you there, you would be dead now. Instead, you get a second chance.’
Luke looked from Cara to Faith and then back again. He nodded.
‘So, drink some coffee,’ Cara handed him the mug of steaming beverage Faith had just had dropped off. ‘And just go with the flow. Don’t try to make sense of it, because it won’t make sense to you for a long while yet. Sooner or later, you’ll get it. But not while your brain is on overload.
‘Imagine going back to your twelve year old self, and explaining the details of what you’ve been doing as a commando. He wouldn’t get it for a while, either. You are that twelve year old boy, here. Relax. Get well. And enjoy the attentions of your pretty companion. Faith is a real sweetie. You’ll like her. But take it easy on her, huh? She’s doing the best she can.’
In her gentle way, Cara was giving him the same warning Jac had done, and Faith saw him cringe. It wasn’t his fault. They shouldn’t blame him for her shortcomings. If she had done her job better, he wouldn’t have panicked.
‘You said your time. When did they Retrieve you from?’ Luke wasn’t finished with his questions, even after Cara’s warning.
‘You seriously want to know?’ she asked, shaking her head as she slid off the cot and prepared to leave.
‘Yeah, I seriously want to know.’ His voice was rock steady, and Faith could read the challenge in his gaze.
‘2011. Seventy years after you.’ Cara smiled at his shocked expression. And with that little bomb shell, she floated out of the room, leaving a deathly silence in her wake
‘I’m sorry I’m giving you such a hard time.’ Luke finally found the words to fill the silence that had fallen after the beautiful blonde had left. Was every person in this place straight off a catwalk?
No, his little angel would not make the height restrictions for that. Her petite size was one of her more endearing features. She was so small he could almost fit her in his pocket. And she was as soft and gentle as a kitten. Which made what he had been doing to her all the more reprehensible.
She was only doing what she was told, and had only been trying to answer his questions to the best of her ability. It wasn’t her fault that they’d spun their tale too far from reality for her to keep up with.
For a few moments there, he’d almost believed Cara. Her down to earth story was the most believable one he’d heard so far. But then she’d spoiled it by telling him she was from 2011. Where did they get this stuff?
But the far more crucial question was why? Why were they spinning this tale? Surely, if they were Nazis, they wouldn’t tell him they had lost the war. They wouldn’t tell him they had exterminated two million people.
That his mission had been to discover the truth of such wild stories coming out of Poland through AK sources, gave him a moment’s pause. But then, he considered the level of insanity such an act would require – the number of people who would have to take part in such an event, to pull it off. How could it happen? The logistics alone confounded him. No, no one could possibly believe such stories. Not even the Nazis were capable of such wholesale slaughter, while civilians stood by and watched.
So why tell him it was true? Why show him a made up picture of The Philly Inquirer saying the Senator for Missouri, Harry Truman had announced the surrender. That would be Roosevelt’s job. He was President. Or would have been after the elections in early 1945. If he’d lost the election, there was no way Truman would have been the Republican’s choice. It didn’t make any sense. Surely they’d get their facts straight.
He needed to stop. Cara was right, at least about that. He was working himself into a fine old state, and it didn’t serve him. Maybe that was what they were trying to do. Maybe they were trying to drive him crazy, so he couldn’t think straight when they started asking the all-important questions. Yet why would Cara be the one to try to calm him down, if that was their plan?
Luke noticed that Faith, who had taken the seat by his bed, was wringing her hands silently. His heart went out to her in one unexpected rush. She looked so upset, so out of her depth and lost.
‘Angel, come here,’ he said, holding out his right hand to her. Faith looked up, startled, and dropped her hands to her lap. She didn’t do as he asked. ‘Please, Faith, come here.’
This time she did as he asked. Tentatively, she approached the bed, looking for all-the-world as if she expected him to attack her. She placed her left hand in his, and he squeezed her fingers reassuringly.
‘I know none of this is your fault. I don’t blame you.’
She jerked her head up in surprise and met his gaze. Her eyes were like rain clouds filled with glistening, unshed rain.
‘I do not want you to crash and burn, Lukas. Please, just try to go with us on all this for a while. I know you cannot believe me yet, but at least believe that I mean you no harm.’
‘I know you don’t, Angel. And I’m a tough cookie. I don’t break that easy. So don’t you go worrying about me.’ He dropped his voice, so it was low and soft as velvet. He used this voice only with special girls. They’d always seemed to like it. And Faith was no exception. He watched as she shivered and blushed.
He pulled on the hand that still lay in his, so she had to bend over the side of the bed. With his left hand he reached up, ignoring the pain such movement caused him, and ran the back of his fingers down her soft cheek.
‘You are like no one I’ve ever met, Faith. I want to…’ And instead of saying what he wanted, he shifted his hand to the back of her head and drew her down to him. It was too soon, he knew it. She was not a tart he’d met at a dance. This was a lady, and she deserved to be treated as such.
But the temptation to kiss her was too strong, and he had never been one to fight temptation. He looked into her startled, grey eyes that were no longer brimming with tears. She knew what he planned to do. And she was open to it. Not excited by the idea of kissing him, but open to it.
His first impression, as he stroked his lips across hers, was of softness. The second was of warmth. And last of all, there was electricity; a surge of it so powerful he drew back in shock, his lips tingling from the connection.
‘What the he…ck!’ he exclaimed as the tingling continued after their lips separated. This was not what he had expected. He’d heard about such currents between lovers, but had never felt one himself. How could she be responsible for such a charge?
‘Did I do something wrong?’ Faith looked at him in wide-eyed innocence. She seemed unaffected by whatever he’d felt.
‘No, Angel, no. It was…’ He didn’t let himself finish. Instead, he drew her head back to his and kissed her more deeply. Maybe it was the delicacy with which he’d approached her the first time that had caused the tingle.
Again, he felt the warmth and softness against his lips. But this time there was also slick wetness as her mouth opened under his. This was home territory. This was what a kiss was supposed to feel like. But when he made to enter her mouth with his tongue, a spike of pure sexual energy shot through him, right down to his awakening arousal. The surge was so powerful, so potent, he felt as if he was drowning in it – all control forfeit. He pulled back abruptly, panting.
‘What …’ he spluttered.
‘I’m sorry. I’m not an experienced kisser. I want to learn to do better, if you can be patient with me,’ she murmured, totally misinterpreting his withdrawal.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth as she formed those words. How could a mouth be so potent? The temptation to clamp his lips against hers, and thrust deep into her welcoming warmth was dizzying. Not normal. This was not normal. Sex was just sex. It was easy. It was pleasurable. It could be exciting. It wasn’t pure animal need like this. It wasn’t overwhelming intoxication that left you not knowing where you were, or even caring where you were.
It wasn’t this.
Without replying, because, damned if he had the brain cells to form words in that moment, he shifted up so that he could reach her. Sensing what he was about, she dropped down closer and allowed him to claim her lips again.
The low, half painful moan that came from her, sent him over the edge. His mouth devoured hers, drawing from him feelings he had never experienced before, passion he didn’t know he could feel. It wasn’t enough. God, it wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted more. Thrusting into her mouth, dancing with her tongue, was like the very tip of an iceberg that threatened to crack him open, so he could drown in ecstasy. He wanted more.
This time it was Faith who pulled away with a little cry. She stepped back out of his reach, her fingers trailing over her swollen lips. Her grey eyes were alight with a passion he recognised as kin to his own, and fear. His angel was afraid of him!
‘Sorry, sorry… Damn, I seem to say nothing but sorry to you, don’t I? You don’t have to be scared of me, Faith. I wouldn’t hurt you. Ever. I know you’re a lady. I respect that…. ‘
‘Don’t. Stop Lukas, stop. I’m not scared of you.’
‘Then what? I can see the terror in your eyes. You don’t have to lie to me. You’re young and innocent. And I came on too strong.’
‘Lukas! I do not lie. Ever! And I am neither young nor innocent. Although I am not overly experienced, I have to add. What you see in my eyes is fear of …’ she paused, unsure how to go on.
‘Fear of the killer in me, the “warrior by choice”. Is that it? I offend your gentle sensibilities?’ He felt the surge of anger replace the passion of moments before. He would not apologize for what he was or who he was. Killing was what he was trained to do. It was what he was good at. It was a skill others found useful. Hitler would walk all over Europe if he wasn’t stopped by men like him.
‘Stop it, Lukas! Why do you have to jump to conclusions all the time, without knowing all the facts? Is that how you do your job? If it is, you must make a lot of serious mistakes!’ She was angry now, and they were yelling loud enough to attract the attention of other white togaed staff.
‘Faith, what is wrong?’ asked a middle aged man who hurried into the room. He was an attractive, well maintained man with distinguished grey at the temples of his army short dark hair. The lock of grey-streaked hair that fell over his forehead should have looked ludicrous on a man his age, but it didn’t. It suited him.
‘Nothing Karl, I am sorry for disturbing you. Lukas and I are trying to settle a misunderstanding. It became heated.’ She blushed and looked away from the man who had placed a fatherly hand on her shoulder.
&
nbsp; ‘This is not like you. I have never heard you raise your voice before. Maybe it might be better for you to leave our patient to someone else’s care. I can assign…’
‘No, Karl. Please. I am so sorry for disturbing your facility. It will not happen again. I promise you.’
‘I am not reprimanding you, Faith. You should know me better than that. I am just unsettled by this unusual display of emotion. I want to help you.’ Lukas saw it then – in the gesture, in the eyes. This man loved his woman! A flash of such uncontrollable jealousy roared to the surface that he barely had time to tamp it down before it had him bounding off the bed and slammed the male against the wall.
He was old enough to be her father, for god’s sake! And the way Faith looked up at him with adoration and deep affection, it was clear the man meant something to her too, for all his age.
‘She doesn’t need help. Faith is just dandy. A few fireworks never hurt anyone.’ He all but snarled the words at his rival.
‘You need to calm yourself. It has only been a few hours since your surgery. If you keep this up, you will open up your wound.’ Karl turned from Faith, and his nut brown eyes crackled with warning.
This was not someone he wanted to cross. He could see it in every line of his body. Whatever his role in Faith’s life, he was more than willing to throw his weight around to keep her safe.
Safe from him.
‘Karl, please. I was just about to leave for the night. Maybe a sedative might help Lukas settle. I will not cause your patient any more problems.’ Faith placed both her hands on the older man’s bare arm. And Luke wanted to yank them apart. She said she wasn’t innocent. Could she be married to this guy? His proprietary behaviour would make sense then.
But no, she wouldn’t have let him kiss her if she was married. Especially as her husband was wandering the corridors of the hospital.