David kissed my cheek. “Don’t apologize. Your dedication to your friends is one of the many reasons I adore you. We’ll find each other later.”
He slipped something from his back pocket and brought it around. A lollipop! I grinned. He was the greatest guy on the entire planet. He handed it to me and gave me another quick kiss.
“That’s forty-one,” I said as he stepped away.
He looked at me, clearly not understanding, then it dawned on him, and he smiled. “No, it’s thirty-nine.”
I watched him stroll away, scrolling my mind through every kiss. I never miscalculated anything. Surely, he’d made a mistake.
Then it hit me, and I giggled silently to myself. I’d included the kisses in my dreams last night.
I’m such a goof.
I made my way back to the stall and peeked over the door again. With his eyes closed, Parrot sat propped against the wall, his legs outstretched in the hay. His horse stood beside him with her head hung low, resting her muzzle on his shoulder.
The tender scene brought a small smile to my face.
“Thanks for staying,” Parrot whispered, not opening his eyes.
His heartfelt words flowed through me, settling a content warmth in my soul. I was so glad I’d made the decision I’d made. “You’re welcome,” I whispered back.
I unlatched the stall door, stepped inside, and relatched. Shuffling across the hay-covered floor, I slid down beside Parrot, linked fingers with him, and laid my head on his shoulder.
Closing my eyes, I listened to his horse breathing. I inhaled the scent of clean hay and absorbed the slight lifting of his shoulder as he breathed.
Time passed, and the three of us stayed like that—Parrot and I quietly bonding and his horse breathing softly on his shoulder.
A few minutes later, Parrot rested his cheek on my head. “I never met my dad.”
My heart gave a slow thump, realizing Parrot was about to open up a bit. “No?”
“He died before I was born.”
How sad. At least I had some memories of mine. “Do you have any pictures of him?”
“Some. I don’t look anything like him.”
“You look like your mom?”
He lifted his cheek from my head. “My grandmother, actually. Or, at least, what she looked like before she got sick.”
“Sick? Is she . . . gone?” Death was never an easy topic to discuss. Most people dodged it altogether. Only someone who had experienced it could truly understand the depth the pain ran.
Parrot nodded. “She was sick a long time. I have no idea what she died of. She refused to go to the doctors.”
“Did she raise you?”
Silence.
“I guess that’s what you could call it,” he cryptically answered.
I imagined if she was sick, Parrot probably raised himself while taking care of her. “And your mom?” I asked.
“I had her until I was seven, and then my grandmother took over, but she was already sick at that point.”
“What happened to your mom?”
Seconds ticked by quietly, and, from his silence, I knew the subject of his mom was closest to his heart and most likely off limits.
He laid his cheek back on my head. “I don’t know,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. “I don’t know where she is.”
“Is TL trying to find her?”
“Yes.”
I squeezed his hand. “Then he will.”
With a quiet sigh, Parrot got to his feet. He paced the stall, not looking at me, obviously in deep thought. With each turn of his pace, I detected agitation growing in him. Finally, he shook his head. “I don’t know, GiGi, I don’t know. He should have found her by now.”
“Parrot . . .” Even I knew the difficulties in finding someone.
“With all the technology and the resources around this place. With all the people he knows. He should have found her.”
“Parrot . . .” He was getting agitated, a side of him I’d never seen before.
He pointed his finger at me. “And you know what just occurred to me? TL’s manipulating me just like Talon did. All everybody wants from me is my language ability, and no one gives me anything in return.”
I got to my feet. “That’s not true.”
“TL’s used me for exactly what he wanted, and he hasn’t come through with his end of the bargain yet in finding my mother.”
“Parrot . . .” I didn’t know what to say. I knew exactly how he felt. I’d felt the same way a couple of times.
Parrot kicked some hay across the stall. “I should give him an ultimatum, just like you did. Find my mother or I’m leaving the Specialists.”
“You don’t want to do that. I made a huge mistake when I did that. There are other ways to handle your frustration. And I realize that now because of all the mess I got in with bulldogging my way to Barracuda Key and getting Eduardo.” I took a step toward him. “Please listen to me—”
Parrot spun toward me. “I’m tired of listening. I’m tired of doing what people want. I’m tired of not getting what I want.”
I put my hand over my heart, feeling his frustration all the way to the core of my soul. “I know what it’s like to lose a parent and to do anything for retribution or to get that parent back. Not many people can say they understand what you’re feeling, but you know I do. All of us here are like you in one way or another. None of us have homes, have families. You don’t want to leave. Please, please, please, listen to me and believe what TL has told you. He will find your mother.”
Parrot closed his eyes and dropped his head back. “I just want my life to make sense. I want things, for once, to come together for me.”
I closed the small distance between us. “I want the same thing. I want my life to make sense, too. I want to feel settled. I want to feel completed. Being here with all of you is the first time I’ve felt a smidgen of wholeness.” I grabbed his arm. “And I know you feel the same way. Trust that feeling. It’s a good thing. It’s right. You’re meant to be here.”
He opened his eyes and looked straight into mine.
“Don’t let personal emotions cloud your judgment. It’s okay to trust us, your team. We love you.” I smiled. “I love you. I won’t let anything happen to you. Just like I know you won’t let anything happen to me.”
Parrot stared deep into my eyes, then reached out and pulled me into his arms.
I hugged him hard, hoping he felt my raw honesty. Hoping he made the right decision.
He pulled out of our hug a good solid minute later. “Who knew you’d turn out to be the resident psychologist?” he said, smiling.
We both chuckled at that.
Parrot nodded. “I’m going to do this mission. And afterward, if TL still hasn’t found my mother, well, we’ll see.”
It wasn’t exactly what I had hoped to hear, but it was something. And I understood where Parrot was coming from. Now all I could do was hope that he decided to stay, and I wondered if I could somehow help find his mom.
later that night, I went for a walk. With all the talk about Parrot’s family, I was missing my parents a lot. I needed to clear my head. As I made my way out of the ranch into the yard, I found David near the pool. With a three-quarters moon and a clear sky full of stars, it cast a romantic aura over the quiet night.
He lay on a lounge chair staring up at the stars, and as I approached, he lifted his head and smiled.
Holding out his hand, David nodded me toward him, and I crawled onto his lounge chair. Neither one of us spoke a word as we lay side by side, holding hands, staring up at the sky.
Some time later, he pulled me close, and I rested my cheek on his chest.
He let out a long sigh. “I’ll miss you,” he whispered, and minutes later began breathing heavy.
I listened to him sleep, smiling. I’d miss him, too.
One week later, I met TL and Parrot at the elevator hidden behind the mural. We were scheduled to begin our inoculations.
Nothing like a good needle to start your day out right.
Jonathan walked up. “Everybody ready to get stuck?”
We all smiled.
The elevator opened, and we boarded at the ranch level. TL pulled what looked like a quarter from his pocket and pointed it to the bottom left corner of the car.
Parrot and I exchanged a curious glance. What was going on?
He pressed the center of the quarter, and a yellow laser shot out. “We’re going to Subfloor Three.”
I perked up. “Subfloor Three?” How cool. “What’s on it?”
TL pointed the quarter to the bottom right corner of the car, and a yellow laser shot out again. “Brand-new medical clinic. We just finished it two weeks ago.”
How in the world? “You mean people have been down there building a clinic, and none of us knew it?”
“Yes.” TL did the quarter-laser thing to the bottom right corner.
I hadn’t seen anybody come and go from the ranch. “How did they get down there?” Maybe another secret passageway like Chapling’s?
TL did the quarter-laser thing to the final corner and the elevator slowly descended. I waited for him to answer my question, but he didn’t.
“TL, did you hear my question?”
TL put the quarter back in his pocket. “Yes. And I’m not answering it.”
And there you had it. Yet another secret.
The elevator opened, and we all stepped out into what looked like an empty hospital emergency room. I scanned the area and estimated it to be roughly fifty by fifty feet.
To the right sat three rooms with their doors standing open. I peeked inside and saw, basically, a hospital room with a bed, TV, bathroom, and a couple of chairs. To the left sat three rooms as well. One appeared to be an operating room, the other had equipment in it, and the last mirrored a dentist’s exam room.
Along the back wall sat cabinets with medicines, gauze, needles, rubber gloves, and other miscellaneous medical supplies. Beside the cabinets sat a couple of wheelchairs, IV stands, and a crash cart.
“You are looking at a fully functional hospital,” TL said. “From now on, for anything we need medically, we go here. And this”—he pointed toward one of the exam rooms—“is Dr. Gretchen.”
Parrot and I turned . . . and simultaneously flinched.
Dressed in a white lab coat and taking up the entire doorway stood the biggest woman I had ever seen. She towered at least six feet four inches and probably weighed two hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle.
With her salt-and-pepper hair pulled back in a tight bun, hands fisted on her hips, and legs spread wide, she scowled back at us.
I swallowed.
She moved her scowl from me, to Parrot, and landed on Jonathan. “Jonathan,” she growled in a voice deeper than Jonathan’s.
I turned and looked at Jonathan. I swore I saw him swallow uneasily, too. “Been a long time, Gretchen.”
She snorted. “I see you’re still wearing that eye patch.”
Jonathan didn’t respond.
Parrot and I exchanged a quick, inquisitive glance.
“Dr. Gretchen has worked for the IPNC for twenty years,” TL began the introduction. “She’s one of the best doctors I’ve ever worked with. She and I have been talking over the past several weeks, and I’m incredibly pleased to announce that she’s accepted my offer to work for the Specialists as the head of our medical clinic.”
I smiled, deciding this was a woman I definitely needed to like me. With my klutziness, there was no telling how often I might be down here. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Gretchen.”
She took her eyes off Jonathan and narrowed them in on me. I kept my smile in place.
With a brusque nod in my direction, she tromped across the clinic and over to the cabinets.
In my peripheral vision I saw Jonathan wipe sweat off his forehead. Interesting. These two obviously knew each other. I wondered what the history was, exactly. Had they been on missions together? Had they trained together? Had they dated?
The last thought almost made me laugh. I couldn’t see the two of them together.
Dr. Gretchen pulled out a series of needles and vials. I tried real hard not to look at the size of the needles.
“I’ll do the guys,” she rasped, “in Exam Room One. And the girl in Exam Room Two.”
I didn’t bother telling her my name was GiGi, not “girl.” I figured that’d come in time.
Carrying a tray with the supplies, she stomped into Exam Room Two, and I followed. “You can do the guys first, if you want.” I knew my suggestion wouldn’t fly, but I threw it out there anyway.
Dr. Gretchen shut the door. “Drop your pants. Lean over the table. This one’s going in the butt.”
“Okay.” So much for my suggestion.
I dropped my pants and leaned over the table. I saw her reach for a needle and squeezed my eyes shut. I heard her unwrapping something. Then she pulled down my underwear a little, and I felt something wet, presumably alcohol.
I cringed, knowing what came next. I waited, and waited . . .
She smoothed something in place and snapped my underwear up. “All done. See you tomorrow for the next one.”
“All done? But . . .” I twisted around and pulled my underwear down, and sure enough there was a bandage. “I didn’t feel anything.”
Dr. Gretchen got this cocky look. “Of course you didn’t. TL said I was the best.”
I pulled my pants up. “How big was the needle you used?”
She picked up a clean one from the tray and held it up.
My eyes widened. “That’s huge!”
She smirked. “And Jonathan’s going to feel every inch of it.”
Spinning on her heel, she swung open the door and trudged out. I hurried behind her and watched as she flung open the guys’ door. “Drop your pants,” she grunted. “This one’s going in the butt.”
The door closed.
TL stood nearby, leaning against the wall. With a quick glance in his direction, I pressed my ear to the door, wishing beyond wishes that I could be in there to watch.
“You first, little guy,” Dr. Gretchen said.
I knew she was referring to Parrot, because Jonathan was in no way little.
A couple of seconds ticked by. “All done,” she rasped.
“And now you, Jonathan.” I could visualize her getting an evil smirk on her face.
A couple more seconds ticked by . . .
“Ahhh! Ooowww!” Jonathan yelled. “Dammit, Gretchen!”
I put my hand over my mouth to hold in my laugh.
A couple seconds later, the door opened, and Dr. Gretchen nearly floated out with a huge grin on her face. She winked at me and whistled her way across the clinic, then disappeared into another room.
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