A Modern Viking: Sveyn & Hollis: Part Three (The Hansen Series - Sveyn & Hollis Book 3)

by Kris Tualla

  In fact, almost everything exhausted her.

  Hollis curled on her side with her back to the door and let her recently frequent tears flow again. Her life had gone through so many sudden and unexpected changes in the last seventy-two hours that she barely had time to process it all.

  New job, promising a great future.

  New hopes, smashed to smithereens.

  New love, suddenly possible.

  New lies, the truth being completely impossible.

  And all of this resting on an unknown future with an eleventh-century man now living in a twenty-first century world.

  Who wouldn’t be exhausted?

  A soft knock on the door. “Ms. McKenna?”

  Hollis rolled over. “Hi, Dr. Khan.”

  He approached her bed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not great,” she admitted.

  He punched a few buttons on the heart monitor, peering at the LED screen. “Your heart rate has been exceptionally boring since you were admitted. I see no reason to continue to pay it any attention.”

  Hollis smiled a little. “That’s good to hear.”

  Dr. Khan turned off the monitor and unsnapped the leads from the pads on Hollis’s chest. “You can remove those now.”

  Hollis peeled the square-ish pads from her skin and handed them to the doctor, who dropped them in the trash. He reached for the thermometer attached to the wall above her bed, slipped a clean cover over the business end, then pointed it at her.

  Hollis opened her mouth and guided the implement under her tongue. In a few moments the wall beeped behind her.

  Dr. Khan nodded and returned the denuded thermometer to its holder. “You have a low-grade temperature. This is very common after the sort of injuries you sustained, and is nothing to be worried about.”

  “Can I stay another night?” Hollis didn’t realize until that moment how badly she wanted to remain in this safe cocoon and not face the outside world just yet.

  “It is a reasonable request.” Dr. Khan looked at her kindly. “I believe, because of the fever, that you should be watched for the next twenty-four hours.”

  Hollis relaxed muscles she didn’t know were tensed. “Thank you.”

  He gave her a knowing look. “This is the most I can do, Hollis. Tomorrow you must be released.”

  “I understand.”

  Dr. Khan nodded again, then turned and left the room.

  Hollis curled on her side once more and slid into a deep sleep.

  *****

  Two hours after finishing a lunch where he only gagged on every fourth or fifth bite—the secret lay in not eating faster than his gullet could move the food downward, apparently—Sveyn walked three circuits around the nurse’s station. Two hours after that, someone knocked on his door.

  “Yes?”

  Stevie Phillips, Hollis’s coworker and best friend, stepped into his room. Her eyes widened and her jaw fell slack.

  “Oh. My. God.”

  Stevie’s fiancé George stepped past her and into the room. He stood beside the petite blonde, wordless and staring.

  Sveyn forced a shaky smile. “Hello, Stevie.”

  Then he turned to the lawyer. “Hello, George. Thank you for helping Hollis.”

  “How did you—oh, right.”

  Sveyn knew everything that had happened in Hollis’s life since he manifested to her on Labor Day weekend.

  And just five days ago, after watching the Ghost Myths, Inc. program starring Hollis and him, Hollis told Stevie, George, and that damned idiot Matt everything about Sveyn.

  She was prompted to do so by Stevie, who had begun seeing and hearing Sveyn on her own.

  The museum Registrar approached his bed now, her eyes still resembling saucers. “It’s you, Sveyn. It’s really you.”

  “In the flesh,” he quipped.

  Her eyes fell to his hand. “Can I touch you?”

  Sveyn extended his hand towards her.

  Stevie’s grasp was tentative at first, but when she encountered his warm and solid flesh, she grasped it wholeheartedly. “Oh my God. You feel like a real man.”

  “I am a real man, Stevie.”

  George stepped up beside her and extended his hand as well. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

  Sveyn assumed George wanted to feel his solidity as well but Stevie wasn’t loosening her grip. He held out his right hand. “Thank you, George.”

  As George shook his hand, Sveyn confessed, “It was my fault Hollis was rude to you on your first date.”

  George blinked. “What?”

  “I was jealous and I made her say that rude thing.”

  Stevie seemed to have regained her composure. “What rude thing?”

  Sveyn shook his head. “No. It is done.”

  George looked anew at Sveyn. “Thank you for telling me. You are a true gentleman.”

  “As are you.”

  Both Stevie and George stepped back and their gazes moved over Sveyn.

  “You look just like when I saw you in Hollis’s office,” Stevie said, “Only without the leather and fur.”

  “Those are gone,” Sveyn said. “Though I do not think I will mourn for them.”

  George looked around the room, the walked to a door and opened it. On the floor of the closet was a plastic bag. He lifted it and turned to Sveyn. “Might they be in here?”

  “I do not know.”

  George set the bag on the end of the bed and opened it. He wrinkled his nose. “I think these used to be your clothes, but honestly? They reek.”

  Sveyn reached for the bag. George handed it to him and he looked inside. Those were indeed his clothes.

  And they did, indeed, reek of leather and sweat and dirt and blood, aged over time.

  Thank God I could not smell myself.

  Sveyn closed the bag and handed it back to George. “Will you dispose of this for me?”

  “Of course.” George set the bag by the door after twisting it tightly. “What will you wear when you leave the hospital?”

  Sveyn stared blankly at the lawyer. “I have no clothes.”

  He nodded. “I’ll get you some. What size?”

  Stevie elbowed him. “He wears a Viking long.”

  George laughed and slapped his forehead. “Yes, that was a stupid question.”

  “When will you be released, Sveyn?” Stevie asked.

  He shrugged. “I think tomorrow or Wednesday.”

  “Then we’ll shop tonight,” she said with authority. “We just have to figure out what to buy you.”

  “Stevie?” Sveyn ventured.

  She looked at him, eyes bright at the prospect of shopping. “Yes?”

  “My skin hurts. Please buy me soft clothes.”

  “Your skin hurts? Oh!” George nodded slowly. “Of course. You haven’t felt anything since you die—didn’t die in ten-seventy.”

  Sveyn was glad George understood. “Yes.”

  “That makes it easy.” George turned to his petite fiancée. “We’ll get him sweatpants and a t-shirt. And flip flops.”

  “It’s January,” Stevie countered. “How about a sweatshirt and shoes and socks instead.”

  “He’s a Viking.” George grinned. “He’s not going to be cold.”

  Sveyn watched their exchange, fascinated that there were now three people in his life who knew where he came from, what happened to him, and how he suddenly was alive, and none of them questioned that any of it was true.

  He refused to count Matt because that man should be gone, never to return.

  Stevie huffed a sigh. “Fine. You win.”

  George faced Sveyn again just as his dinner tray was being delivered. “We’ll go shop now and bring the clothes back later.”

  Grateful that he would not need to eat in front of them, Sveyn smiled broadly. “Thank you.”

  Stevie walked toward the door. “I want to see Hollis before we go.”

  *****

  Hollis was awakened by the clack of her dinner tray on the ro
lling tray table. She stretched and rubbed her eyes before she opened them, surprised to see how dark it was. The clock said five thirty; she’d slept for three hours and she felt immeasurably better for it.

  Hollis sat up in bed and pulled the tray table close. She uncovered the dinner plate. Meatloaf. Hollis sighed.

  I wish somebody would bring me a pizza.

  Someone knocked on her door. Could it be… “Yes?”

  Stevie hurried into the room, sadly pizza-less.

  Darn.

  “Oh my god, Hollis—we saw Sveyn!”

  “We?”

  George walked into her room behind Stevie.

  “Hi, George.” Hollis tried to smooth her unruly curls out of reflex. “I look awful, I’m afraid.”

  “You look good for a woman who almost died, Hollis,” he said. “And that’s all that matters.”

  “Thanks.” George always was a nice guy. “So you saw Sveyn?”

  “Yes!” Stevie sat on the end of her bed. “And he looks exactly like when I saw him in your office that one time!”

  George leaned toward her in a sort of courtly half-bow. “And he said he was the one who put certain words in your mouth on our date.”

  Hollis’s jaw slackened. “He did?”

  “He did.”

  Hollis bounced her gaze to Stevie and back. “Not that that changes anything, of course.”

  George caught her intent. “No. You and I weren’t, um…”

  “Right for each other,” Hollis finished the sentence. “No chemistry.”

  “None.” George straightened and looked lovingly at his fiancée. “And when we leave you, we are off to buy Sveyn a set of comfortable clothes to leave the hospital in.”

  Hollis gasped lightly. “He doesn’t have any clothes!”

  “Not a stitch.” Stevie giggled.

  Hollis pointed at George. “What’s in the bag?”

  “Sveyn’s destroyed leathers.”

  “Can I see them?”

  George shook his head. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  “They stink to high heaven,” Stevie stated. “And I’m not exaggerating.”

  That was disappointing. “What are you going to do with them?”

  “Sveyn asked me to dispose of them.”

  Hollis was horrified. “Absolutely not! Those things were made almost a thousand years ago!”

  Stevie wrinkled her nose. “What do you want to do with them?”

  She didn’t know for sure; only that she couldn’t bear to part with the clothes, destroyed or not.

  “I’ll get them un-stinky somehow and decide after that.” Hollis pointed at her closet. “Put the bag in there for now.”

  George squinted at her. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m definitely sure.” Those are the clothes Sveyn was wearing when she first saw him. And for months afterward.

  George complied with Hollis’s request, then spoke to Stevie. “We should go buy the clothes so we can get back here before visiting hours are over.”

  Stevie hopped off the bed. “Good idea.”

  “Hey guys,” Hollis began. “Can I ask a couple favors?”

  Stevie nodded. “Shoot.”

  “I need a ride home tomorrow.”

  “Stevie has to work, but I can drive you,” George offered. “Sveyn might be released, too, so I’ll plan on driving you both.”

  Stevie’s eyes twinkled. “He’s staying at your house, I assume.”

  “Yep.” Hollis looked at George. “Thank you, so much.”

  “What’s the other favor?” Stevie asked.

  Hollis put the lid back on her cooled and bland meatloaf dinner. “When you bring Sveyn his clothes, could you bring me a pizza?”

  Chapter Seven

  Tuesday

  January 12

  Hollis let Sveyn sit in the front of George’s BMW because it was easier to get in and out of the passenger door. Sveyn was still a bit unsteady on his feet, and bending over and straightening was difficult with his stitches.

  “The doctor spoke with me, but I only understood part of what he said,” Sveyn confessed when she and George went to his room to collect him. “These are the papers.”

  Hollis read over the instructions which were pretty straight forward: rest, walk, drink. If temperature or pain level increases call. Use pain meds as prescribed.

  She looked at the surprisingly robust Viking. “Do you want pain medication?”

  “No.”

  “Have you been taking any?”

  He frowned. “Yes. But it makes me dizzy.”

  Hollis nodded. “Then we’ll try you with just ibuprofen when you get uncomfortable.”

  “I do not mind being uncomfortable, Hollis.”

  She gave him a kind smile. “I mean, when the pain gets too uncomfortable.”

  Sveyn wagged his head. “My entire body has been hurting these three days.”

  “It has?” A surprised George looked at Hollis, then back at Sveyn. “Why?”

  “I have not felt anything for so long,” Sveyn explained to the lawyer. “And now I feel everything.”

  “Is it getting better?” Hollis asked.

  Sveyn nodded. “My lungs no longer burn, I am not aware of my heart beating, and these clothes do not scratch my skin.”

  George was able to find a store at the mall which carried clothes for tall men. Sveyn was now attired in black sweatpants and a soft gray t-shirt.

  George said Stevie also insisted on a sweatshirt, so Hollis carried the blue one Stevie selected.

  “To match Sveyn’s eyes,” George explained with a roll of his.

  “You can park next to my car,” Hollis said to George once they were in her condo’s parking lot..

  He pulled into the empty slot. “Let me carry something,” he said as he opened the driver door.

  The entire car shook as a thunk and a loud grunt emanated from the front passenger seat.

  Hollis leaned forward and asked Sveyn, “What happened?”

  The Viking rubbed his head. “I forgot.”

  “Forgot what?” He didn’t have any possessions to forget.

  He glanced over his shoulder with a very odd look on his face. “I forgot to open the door.”

  Hollis gasped and burst into excruciating but unavoidable laughter.

  George stared at her. “What’s so funny?”

  Hollis waved at Sveyn to explain because she was trying not to laugh so hard, even though that man’s expression hovered precariously between embarrassment and irritation.

  “I always moved through things,” he grumbled. “I forgot that I cannot do this now.”

  George was clearly struggling to contain his own surprised amusement. “Do you know how to open the door?”

  Without saying a word, Sveyn grabbed the level and pulled. The door popped open.

  “Great.” George climbed out and shut his door.

  “Are you all right, Sveyn?” Hollis wiped her eyes. “Do you need help?”

  The tall figure in front of her swiveled to his right, grabbed the edges of the door frame, and heaved himself out of the vehicle.

  Hollis disembarked with her purse, the sweatshirt, and the plastic bag with Sveyn’s leathers. George took everything but the purse, and Hollis walked up the path to her door.

  She fished out her key, unlocked and opened the door, and went inside.

  George followed and set the stuff on the bar-height portion of the kitchen counter. “Do you need anything? Do you want me to bring you something to eat?”

  Hollis watched Sveyn, his pace slow but determined, walk the last few yards to her front door. She turned back to George.

  “Pizza and garlic bread knots. I’ll write it down.”

  *****

  Sveyn stepped into Hollis’s familiar condo, though nothing about it felt familiar. He was embarrassed that he banged his head on the car window when he tried to move through the door out of habit.

  New habits were clearly required.

  He w
as glad when Hollis asked George to bring their favorite meal, and anticipating the full flavors of the pizza and knots made his mouth water.

  Perhaps they could have wine as well.

  I want to taste the white one.

  There were still two matters of significant importance that he needed to discuss with Hollis. One could wait. One could not.

  After George left, Sveyn took Hollis’s hand. “I must talk to you.”

  Her brows pulled together. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yes,” he said. “But now I will fix it.”

  Hollis looked frightened; there was no other word to describe her expression. “What is it?”

  “Can we sit?”

  “Yes. Of course.” Hollis walked stoically to the sofa and sank into the cushions.

  Sveyn wanted to kneel in front of her, but was afraid he might not be able to stand back up if he did. So he sat in the chair next to the couch and faced her.

  He spoke slowly, concentrating on using the English words which were coming more easily every time he spoke. “For many years, Matt did not do what a man should have done.”

  Hollis’s expression darkened. “Do we have to talk about Matt?”

  “Yes,” Sveyn said. “Because I am not Matt.”

  “Obviously.”

  Sveyn pinned Hollis’s gaze with his. “For this reason, I will do what a man should do.”

  Hollis looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Sveyn winced a smile. “Do you remember when I said I had something to ask you, but I would not ask you when I could not see you?”

  “Yes.” She drew a quick breath. “It’s bad, isn’t it.”

  Sveyn tilted his head. “Why would you think this?”

  “Because good news can be shared over the phone,” she stated. “But bad news is always delivered face-to-face.”

  Sveyn huffed a laugh. “I do love you, Hollis. You are so interesting.”

  “I love you, too. Sveyn.” She scowled. “So just ask me, already.”

  “Do you love me?” he asked just to hear it again.

  “Of course I do.” She waved her hand over his frame. “And now that you’re fully here, that’s not so crazy.”

  Sveyn felt a pleasant warmth flush his chest. “No. It is not crazy at all.”

  Hollis raised her brows and glared at him. “Speak.”