Finding North

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  She grinned, and he smiled.

  “You are a sight for very sore eyes,” Alex said.

  “It’s lovely to hear your voice,” John said.

  “Miss me?”

  “I told you to skip those Cuban rum joints.”

  Alex smiled.

  “Thanks for coming home to me,” John said. “Again.”

  “Did I pass out in the bathroom?” Alex asked.

  “You did,” John said. “You got up to use the bathroom because . . .”

  “I didn’t want to throw up in front of my mom,” Alex said.

  “I see.”

  “She was being so nice, and . . .” Alex looked at him. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “Very little, surprisingly,” John said.

  Alex scowled.

  “What is it?” John asked.

  “Can you kiss me?” Alex said.

  “I feel like you’re very fragile, and I . . .” John started. He glanced at her, and she was smiling her crooked smile. “Now, that’s very unfair.”

  He scooted over to kiss her.

  “Why was I unconscious for a week?” Alex asked.

  “Your body needed rest to heal,” John said. “We agreed that you wouldn’t get it if you were awake. You lost consciousness in Cuba, and MJ decided to keep you that way. We met at Craig Hospital and concurred.”

  “Craig Hospital?” Alex asked.

  “Brain specialists,” John said. “They knew exactly what was going on and suggested rest as the best treatment.”

  “Was I in the hospital?” Alex asked.

  “Just for tests,” John said. “Mostly, you’ve been right here, though.”

  “In our bed?” Alex asked.

  “I wanted to keep you close,” John nodded.

  Alex wasn’t sure why, but his desire to keep her close seemed very sweet to her. She touched her heart, and her eyes welled. She kissed him.

  “Love you,” she whispered.

  He leaned into her, and she closed her eyes. He leaned back.

  “Are you awake?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Why do my brain and spine hurt?” Alex asked.

  “Think of it as whiplash,” John said. “Your system was rattled in the explosion.”

  Alex looked at him.

  “How are you?” Alex asked.

  “Good,” John said. “It’s been lovely to know exactly where you are and what you’re doing.”

  “Control everything,” Alex said. “Your master plan for my life.”

  John laughed.

  “Sorry,” Alex said. “I don’t mean to belittle how hard it is to have all this going on all the time.”

  “That’s nice of you, but really, it’s our life,” John said. “I imagine that, ten or twenty years from now, God willing, we’ll do something different. But for now, it’s our life.”

  “How is Howard?” Alex asked. “I asked Mom about Vince and Royce and Andy and Chris, but I forgot Colonel Gordon.”

  “And your children?” John chided.

  Alex gave him a pained look.

  “Going in order of what I know you care about,” John said. “Joey and Máire are with Max and Wyatt tonight because I’d hoped you would wake up again. They have been here with you while you slept. They are growing, happy, and really lovely.”

  John gave her a proud smile, and she grinned.

  “Howard is healing. He’s home for now.”

  “And his injury?” Alex asked.

  “He has a colostomy bag for the next month or so while his intestines heal,” John said. “His surgeons expect to reattach everything, and he’ll be right as rain. In the meantime, he’s on leave.”

  Alex nodded.

  “I’ll let the others tell you about what happened on base,” John said. “But, suffice it to say, your offices have been restored, for now. Joseph thinks you need to move.”

  “I do, too,” Alex said.

  “The team is working out of your office at the Federal building,” John said.

  Alex smiled.

  “What?” John asked.

  “It’s nice of you to get all these details for me,” Alex said.

  “I didn’t want you to move,” John said. “I knew that if you didn’t know about the team and everyone’s health, you’d get up and start calling or emailing or . . .”

  The phone on his bedside table rang. John let it roll over to voicemail.

  “Andy and Chris are bruised,” John said. “Andy cracked a vertebra, and Chris broke his wrist. They both broke small bones — ribs, fingers, toes. They are the miracle patients, because they’re healing very quickly.”

  “It’s part of their thing,” Alex said. “That whole team is selected for their ability to heal. It’s some blood thing.”

  “Good to know,” John said.

  “Vince?” Alex asked.

  “He says he’s had worse injuries,” John said. “I guess we know that.”

  Alex smiled, remembering the long months at Walter Reed with Vince as her roommate.

  “Vince and Royce . . . Well, truthfully, they are lucky to be alive after being that close to such a big explosion,” John said. “They were lucky that they were on a medical base and received treatment within minutes. They are lucky that table wasn’t bolted to the floor. But, it’s going to be a long road for both of them.”

  Alex’s eyes welled with tears.

  “They are both clear that they will do what they need to get healthy,” John said. “They are coming back to the Fey Team. That’s what they say.”

  “But?” Alex asked.

  “You know how it is,” John said. “Anything can happen.”

  Alex nodded.

  “You should take your meds,” John said.

  He held out two white pills.

  “The last time I took those, I fell asleep for twelve hours,” Alex said.

  “It’s what they do,” John said.

  “Mom said they were ibuprofen,” Alex said.

  “That’s what I told her they were,” John smiled.

  “Sneaky,” Alex said.

  “You need to sleep,” John said. “These breaks are for you to move a little bit, eat something . . .”

  He held out an Ensure for her.

  “ . . . drink water, use the toilet, and go back to sleep.”

  She opened the container and drank as much as she could.

  “I can’t stay here forever, John,” Alex’s voice rose with impatience. “I have to figure this out, or . . .”

  “The world will burn,” John said. “Yes, I know. Thing is, that if you don’t get well, the world will burn anyway.”

  Alex looked at him and blinked.

  “I’m more injured than I feel,” Alex said.

  “Your brain,” John said. “We’re not sure if it’s this explosion, years of strain, the assault, last year’s stabbing, the accident last week, multiple concussions, or . . . You know those headaches you get? They may be caused by this injury.”

  John shrugged.

  “You need rest,” John said. “The neurologists are confident you will heal with no noticeable injury with rest, quiet, and lots of love. Rest first.”

  Alex saw the pain and worry on his face. Knowing that she put those creases on his face was like a knife in her gut. She smiled her crooked smile and raised her eyebrows.

  “Lots of love?” she asked.

  John grinning and shook his head. She nodded and took the pills.

  “Bathroom?” Alex asked.

  He came around to help her out of bed. He went with her into the bathroom. He helped her with the toilet and then helped her back to bed.

  She lay down and was out. When she opened her eyes again, it was daylight, and Samantha was sitting in the green chair, working on her laptop. Maggie was lying on the bed next to her. Alex sat up.

  “This is a great room,” Samantha said without looking up. “It’s so quiet and peaceful. How did you do that?”

  “Ghost hunters ca
me and cleaned out the space,” Alex said.

  “No really,” Samantha said.

  “Really,” Alex said.

  “What about . . .” Samantha leaned forward and whispered, “Jesse.”

  “He’s not stagnant energy or a stuck spirit,” Alex smiled.

  Samantha gave a thoughtful nod. She got up and gave Alex an Ensure drink. When Alex finished the container, Samantha gave her some water.

  “While it’s just us . . .” Samantha said.

  Alex looked at her sister and smiled.

  “I wanted to say thanks,” Samantha said. “When you yelled, ‘Get down!’ Helen and I . . . We froze. If Art hadn’t grabbed us, we’d be . . .”

  Samantha nodded.

  “He told me that you ordered him to take care of me and not you,” Samantha said. “His job is to take care of you, but you ordered him not to.”

  Samantha gave a soft smile and nodded.

  “I realized . . .” Samantha turned away from Alex and walked to the dresser, where Alex’s pills were laid out. “ . . .that I’m mad at Mom.”

  “Oh?”

  “She’s the one who left me,” Samantha said. “When she came back, she wasn’t available to me because of stuff with dad, and then you guys came along. I’ve kind of taken it out on you and Max since then. I apologized to Max, but . . .”

  Samantha walked back to the bed and sat down.

  “I’m sorry,” Samantha said. “Mom and I went to a couple of therapy sessions while you were in New York and then again this week. It’s helping, especially since Mom found out that she might have been tricked into leaving me. I don’t know why, but that feels so true to me, so real. Anyway, I now vow to be mad at Mom and not take it out on you.”

  Alex smiled.

  “Let’s get you to the bathroom,” Samantha said.

  Alex rotated her legs to the side of the bed and sat up. For the first time in a while, she felt less woozy. She let Samantha help her to the bathroom. With Samantha’s help, Alex attempted a shower, which was a moderate success. While Alex brushed her teeth, Samantha changed the sheets. Samantha helped Alex into a clean pair of pajamas and got her settled in bed before giving her the white pills. Alex settled back and fell asleep again.

  She opened her eyes. The room was dark. Maggie was not lying on the bed next to her. She looked at the chair. No one was sitting in the chair and John wasn’t in bed with her. A golden light shone from the mostly closed bathroom door.

  “John?” Alex asked.

  “In here,” John’s voice came from the bathroom.

  She got out of bed and went to the bathroom door.

  “I had the most amazing dream,” Alex said. “I had a brain injury and was in bed. It was like a movie. Every time I opened my eyes someone else was there. And they were really nice to me.”

  “Oh, yeah?” John’s voice said.

  “Even my mom and Sami,” Alex laughed. “Some crazy dream.”

  John didn’t respond. She waited a minute.

  “John?”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  She opened the door to the bathroom and found herself floating over an operating room. Her body lay on the operating table. There was a huge hole in the left side of her where her hip had been shot away. Her face was covered in an oxygen mask. The machines were squealing. The surgeon was screaming orders at a bevy of agitated nurses.

  In the corner of the room stood a black skeleton. As if it felt her stare, the black skeleton looked up at her and sneered. When it moved, she saw that it absorbed the light and color around it. The skeleton tiptoed on boney feet to the bed. When it leaned over her body, Alex could see through its black ribs to the misery of her own shredded and bleeding flesh.

  The skeleton looked up at her and laughed a deep, blood-chilling laugh. The room vibrated with the terrible sound. As if he’d heard it, the surgeon pointed his scalpel at the skeleton.

  “Not today,” the surgeon said.

  He glanced up at Alex floating above him.

  “You will not die today,” he said to her. “You are needed here.”

  Over the surgical mask, Alex saw his gorgeous hazel-grey eyes. His eyes were large and almond shaped. Although he was wearing a surgical cap, Alex could have sworn he had a bony neural ridge starting at his head and going down his back.

  “A dragon,” Alex said.

  The surgeon looked up at her. He pointed his scalpel at her.

  “Get back here,” he said.

  She tried to get back into her body, but the horrifying skeleton blocked her path. The closer she got to it, the bigger it became. It opened its mouth, and the stench of rotting flesh filled the room. The creature’s hard, bony hand reached around her wrists. She looked down, and the hand had blotted out the color and form of her hand. All that was left was the grey-black of nothingness. It stretched up to consume her whole, blot out her very existence.

  She screamed in terror.

  And she opened her eyes.

  The room was dark. Maggie was not lying on the bed next to her. She looked at the chair. No one was sitting in the chair and John wasn’t in bed with her. A golden light shone from the mostly closed bathroom door.

  “John?” Alex asked.

  Raz came out of the bathroom. He walked across the room and sat on the side of the bed. For a moment, his hazel-grey eyes just looked at her. He leaned forward.

  The black skeleton came through his body. Obliterated by the skeleton, Raz crumpled onto the bed. The terrible black skeleton circled the bed. She screamed and reached for Raz. Her fingers caught the silky fabric of the shell of the man she’d known. She fell back and the horrible black skeleton dropped down on her. The black skeleton pressed on her, stealing her energy. Reeking of death, the creature smothered her breath. She tried to scream and . . .

  She opened her eyes.

  The room was dark. Maggie was not lying on the bed next to her. She looked at the chair. No one was sitting in the chair, and John wasn’t in bed with her. A golden light shone from the mostly closed bathroom door.

  Too petrified to say anything, Alex watched the door. She hugged her knees against her chest.

  “Bad dream?” she heard inside her head.

  Alex looked around the room. There was no one there. Frozen with fear, she shut her eyes tight. She felt the skeleton near her.

  “You may open your eyes now,” the voice said.

  Alex opened her eyes. The room was bright, and she was cold. She could hear the rhythmic beep that meant she was in the hospital. She smelled freshly brewed coffee. Drawn by the smell, she sat up and looked around. She was in her own private hospital room. Wearing her usual linen outfit, Bestat was sitting in the blue plastic chair next to her bed. Her dark hair hung loose to her waist.

  “How . . .?” Alex asked.

  “You had a seizure,” Bestat said.

  “I did?”

  “You were rushed here last night,” Bestat said.

  “I was?”

  “The dream?” Bestat nodded.

  Alex gave an involuntary shiver.

  “Am I better?” Alex asked to avoid her fear.

  Bestat gave her a broad smile.

  “What did you see?” Bestat asked.

  “I saw the surgical room after the assault,” Alex said. “The surgeon . . . He . . .”

  “Yes,” Bestat said. “He is Josh’s father. He is also my kin, one of two even older than I. Amam was his . . . student when he knew Sasha Peretz.”

  “Josh’s mom,” Alex said.

  “He is also one of the top trauma surgeons in the world. You were lucky to get him.”

  “Lucky?” Alex asked.

  “You’re right,” Bestat said. “Luck has only the smallest sway in these matters.”

  Alex nodded. She fell silent and wondered if this was real. Would the skeleton come out of Bestat? Terrified, she glanced at Bestat.

  “What did you see?” Bestat asked again.

  “Skeleton,” Alex shivered with fear. “Terr
ible, scary . . . like it was terror itself or some horrible version of death. Smelled like rotting blood, flesh. I . . .”

  “Seemed black or possibly the color of ash?” Bestat asked.

  “Seemed to absorb the light around it,” Alex said. “Dreadful. It grabbed my wrist, and . . .”

  Alex looked at her left wrist. Her wrist was blistered and red, as if a burning hand had grabbed onto it. The sight of her burned wrist was almost more horrifying than the skeleton. She tried to move her right arm but found it anchored to her side with tape. Bestat came to her side of the bed. When Bestat put her hand over the burns, Alex felt instant relief. She leaned forward to Bestat.

  “What’s happening to me?” she whispered. “Am I brain damaged?”

  “There is an area of your brain — Max’s, too — which is a little different from most humans’,” Bestat said.

  “Different?”

  “Ever wonder how you see Jesse? Or my real shape, for that matter? Or ‘just know’ where a hostage is and what the captors desire?” Bestat smiled. “It’s from a part of your brain which gets a little . . . out of whack sometimes. You start seeing and interpreting other bands of light.”

  “Out of whack?” Alex asked.

  “When you get knocked around too much,” Bestat said. “It’s one of the reasons I came to you in the Mariscal Mine.”

  “What is?”

  “You needed some help getting it back into . . .”

  “Whack?” Alex asked.

  Bestat smiled. Alex was struck by Bestat’s loveliness. She watched the crinkles at the edge of Bestat’s mouth when she smiled and the glint of Bestat’s teeth. Somehow, just looking at Bestat made Alex feel better.

  “Why do we have this thing?” Alex asked.

  “It runs in your mother’s family,” Bestat said. “Recessive gene. Her father had it. Benjamin’s father had it as well.”

  “We were bio-engineered,” Alex said.

  “No one imagined there would be two,” Bestat said. “That is something you did yourselves.”

  “Why were we made?” Alex asked.

  “You’ve guessed why,” Bestat said.

  “Will you tell me?” Alex asked.

  “The easiest way to say it is that the black skeleton you saw in your dream is real,” Bestat said. “It absorbs everything light, everything good, and leaves only suffering and struggle in its wake.”