Atancia

by Figueiro, Wren

  When I ran back downstairs, fully dressed, Ben was waiting in the living room.

  “OK, I think I’m decent now.”

  “I’m sorry, Atty, I didn’t think I would be so easily distracted.”

  “No worries,” I copied the term he liked to use and sat down on the couch next to him. “So now what do we do?”

  At that he laughed, and I realized what I had said. I blushed again and rephrased, “I mean, what should we do today? Do you mind if we don’t mess with any animals for a while? I’d like to do something distracting, if at all possible.”

  “Well, I’m sure it would be possible,” he said and began to laugh harder.

  “OK, never mind. I seem to be having issues expressing myself. How about this? How about a picnic after we see Nana this morning? Something to get our minds of the whole situation.”

  “OK, sounds nice.”

  The park I took Ben to was just a tiny spot of grass surrounding a lake. It was next to a busy intersection but completely hidden by trees. There wasn’t much to do there, so it tended to be pretty quiet, which was exactly what I was going for. We spread a blanket on the floor and just sat for a while watching some ducklings play in the water. It was getting really warm out, Miami “winter” was definitely over, but the trees provided great shade, and there was still a fresh breeze in the air. This would never work in July when even the breezes are hot. The only place to be outside then would be the pool.

  After a while my stomach started to rumble, so I took all the food out of the cooler I had brought. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a couple of sandwiches and some fruit. Ben never ate much anyway. We ate without talking, but it was a really comfortable silence. Ben smiled at me every other bite, and I couldn’t help smiling back. When he finished eating he tapped his lap, motioning that I should sit nearer to him. I crawled over to his side of the blanket and sat between his legs, both of us facing the lake. He wrapped his arms around my waist, causing me to let out a contented sigh as I leaned back onto his shoulder.

  “This is really nice, Atty. Relaxing. Thanks.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For putting up with all my drama the past few weeks.”

  “Don’t be silly, I haven’t had to put up with anything. I’ve loved being able to help you. I can’t imagine you having to go through all of this alone.”

  “Me neither. So, thank you again.” I leaned my head back on his shoulder and turned to look toward him. He shifted his weight so he could support my head with his hand as he brought his lips down to mine. He tasted like the mango he had just finished eating. For some reason, I couldn’t help thinking that it must be imported, just like Ben. Mango season wasn’t for another couple of months.

  He lowered me slowly onto the blanket—never breaking the kiss—then placed his elbows on either side of my shoulders to support himself as his body lay next to mine. He twined his fingers into my hair, and I did the same with mine in his. We lay like that for a while, just feeling each other’s mouths and the energy flowing between us. I could feel the sparks of other beings coming from all around us, both in and outside the park, but that couldn’t distract me from Ben. He untangled his hands from my hair and ran them slowly down my face, my neck, my arms. Soft waves of current flowed through his fingers as I pulled from him with every bit of skin he touched.

  By the time Ben drew away and reminded me of our not so private location, my entire body was aching. It was as if every inch of me wanted to pull energy from him. I’d never felt such a deep need to let my skin touch something, anything that could give me a charge. It was a good thing we were in public. I hadn’t realized how effectively passion shut down the sensible parts of the brain. I used to wonder how people got themselves in horrible situations because of it. I understood then that it caused you to abandon all logic in a way that you had to experience to truly appreciate.

  Ben was lying next to me, staring right in my eyes, running his hand along my temple and ear, smoothing my hair back. “It’ll go away in a second.”

  “What will?” I asked, hoping he wasn’t referring to my desire to be near him.

  “The—um—discomfort.”

  “So this is normal, then?”

  “Yes. When things get intense like that, your whole body feels it; it’ll go away once you calm down. I’m sorry I got so carried away.”

  “I’m not. Not the least bit sorry. I can deal with a little skin sensitivity,” I said with a smile.

  “Still, I should have warned you at least. I just didn’t know how. It’s a pretty odd thing to explain. I’m sure you didn’t have these kinds of problems with human men.”

  “Well, you’re right about that.” I didn’t feel like mentioning that the reason I had no problems was because I’d never been that intimate with any human boys. “But I’ll take these kinds of problems any day.”

  He smiled at me and stood before offering his hand to help me up. “There are so many things I need to tell you about us, but I find it odd bringing them all up. I guess I should start though; you’re already behind when it comes to knowing our culture.”

  I nodded, and he continued talking as we walked toward the car.

  “Well, I know I told you a bit of this when I first told you about us, but I’m guessing you might have forgotten some of it or gotten confused. Like I said before, we don’t mate for life, but we do tend to mate with only each other. There have been times when one of us married a human, but their children are always human. They are not immortal unless they have more than 95 percent of our genetics.”

  I looked at him, puzzled by that math. Wouldn’t any baby be 50/50 of both parents? He continued before I asked. “What I mean by that is that if one of us has a baby with a human, if that baby marries another of us and has children, and those children marry among us, etc. After about five generations the baby has enough immortal blood to sustain him.

  “I only bring this up because you might be like that, though I can’t be sure. When one of us has a special power, it’s usually because those genetics came from outside of our own. For example, my youngest brother, Matthew, has an irritating ability. When he asks you a direct question, if you are human or young, you have to tell the truth. Something about him makes you tell it to him. His mother was too human, she did not have enough of our genes to be immortal, but he does—just made it over the line.”

  “That does sound like an irritating ability. So if I ever meet him, I shouldn’t bother trying to lie?”

  “You won’t even have the chance to think about it. If he asks a question, you’ll just answer. You won’t realize what happened until after the words leave your mouth. He can’t do it to me or anyone over, say, 150, but he could definitely get you to talk to him straight.”

  Luckily, I hadn’t started driving yet because I had to stare at him in awe. “You’re over 150 years old?”

  He nodded and laughed at my expression. “But I’m in my 20s at heart!”

  When I composed myself I asked, “How come he can’t do it to people over 150?”

  “Well, as you get older your mind gets stronger, and you can defend yourself against a lot of things. You can even make your shield strong enough to guard your energy so well that others can’t feel you.”

  “That’s why sometimes I feel you coming and sometimes I don’t,” I said. I didn’t know how I hadn’t realized it before. It made so much sense.

  “Yes, I’m used to being on guard, but sometimes when I know you’re the only one around I remember and let you sense me. I did it at the airport when you came to pick me up. Did you notice?”

  “Yes, actually. I remember thinking I was crazy because I thought I felt you were near right before I saw you. But after I was with you for a while, I realized I usually do feel you. I’m only occasionally surprised that you’re close. I didn’t realize you were turning it on and off on purpose. I thought I just wasn’t good at it.”

  “Nope, you’re abilities
are fine, and if you walked near one of us who was young or off guard, you would definitely feel the person.”

  “That’s interesting. I guess it’s the best way to tell if someone is like me. I haven’t felt anyone except you, though. I guess there aren’t many of us here?”

  “I haven’t felt anyone except you, though that doesn’t mean much. I haven’t really been wandering around the city.”

  “I guess not. So you said your family lives in Australia for the most part. Is there a large population of us there?”

  “Maybe 30, not giant but definitely more than are usually seen close to each other. There are many of us in Europe. And several here in the U.S., but we tend to stay away from large cities.”

  “I guess Miami would count as one. You prefer isolated places?”

  “Yes, it’s easier to be aware of everything around us. No one gets lost in a crowd of energy. Plus, there’s the benefit of being surrounded by usable energy sources.”

  “Makes sense.”

  We stopped talking when we got to the hospital parking lot. There were too many people around, and we didn’t want to be overheard. The crowd thinned out as we got near the entrance of the hospital, so I flinched when someone walked out the doors. It was Christy. I hadn’t felt anyone approaching. It was crazy how quickly I’d become accustomed to sensing people.

  “Atty! You’re here! We had just been looking for you, but the lady upstairs told us you had stepped out,” Christy said.

  Ben tensed and put his arm around my side, holding me close. It wasn’t comforting though, it made me nervous. I was confused that I hadn’t felt Christy coming. I hadn’t felt Ana either, and she was standing right there. I couldn’t remember for certain whether I usually felt them at school. I was pretty sure I did. It took me a moment, but I recovered.

  “Hi Christy! Yes, we had just stepped out for lunch. I wouldn’t have left if I knew you were coming. Christy, this is Ben. Ben, this is Christy and that’s Ana. My friends from school.”

  No one attempted to shake hands but Ben said, “Nice to meet you both. Atty has told me a lot about both of you. Thank you for being so kind to her.”

  Ana just stood there awkwardly and let Christy speak. “Who wouldn’t be kind to Atty? She’s such a sweet girl. She told us a lot about you too, Ben. Though we weren’t certain that you ... well, you know.”

  “Yes,” Ben acknowledged.

  “Well, we just wanted to pass by and make sure that Atty was OK,” Christy continued. “I know you said not to visit, but we felt you might need support. Looks like you’ve got it, though.”

  “Yes. Thank you, guys, I’m fine.”

  “We’ll see you at school then. Bye, Atty. Nice to finally meet you, Ben.”

  Ben nodded and I waved as they walked toward the parking lot. I turned to look at him and realized just how tense he was. His brows were scrunched up, and he was scowling, staring at the spot where they had disappeared.

  “They’re Durand, aren’t they?” I asked quietly. He nodded curtly, and I became worried that he thought I had already known. “I could always feel them before. I thought they were human. I’m sorry! I didn’t realize the difference in how they felt. Not until just now when I couldn’t feel them at all.”

  His eyes shifted to mine and he smiled. “Don’t worry, Atty. You’re new at this. They probably knew that and took advantage of your lack of awareness. When did you say you met them?”

  “This year, in class. Why?”

  “I’m wondering how much they know about you, and why they happened to show up right as you started coming into your powers,” he whispered.

  “You think they were stalking me or something? They’re such nice girls.”

  “They’d have to be, wouldn’t they? Well, don’t worry. I’ll come to school with you from now on.”

  “You’re that worried?”

  “Better safe than sorry, right?”

  “I guess so.”

  We paused the discussion to go up in the packed elevator, but once we were off Ben asked me not to go anywhere without him until he figured out to what family Christy and Ana belonged. As we neared the double doors that led into the ICU he said that we’d talk more about it later. We waited to get buzzed in, and I saw that Dolores was speaking to one of the doctors just outside Nana’s room. He looked up as I approached, and Dolores turned toward me. She must have been the one to tell Ana and Christy I was out. The doctor was still talking when we arrived.

  “We’ll speak more later, Mrs. Villareal,” said the doctor as he turned to check on the patient next door to Nana.

  “Is something wrong, Dolores?” I asked. She looked upset.

  “I have to speak to you, Atty, about something very important.”

  It didn’t sound like good news, and I couldn’t get myself to respond, so I just nodded. She waved at the nurse who was behind the reception desk, and she stood up motioning we should follow her.

  “Ben, if you could please wait for us outside, I’d really appreciate it,” Dolores requested.

  “Certainly. I’ll be in the waiting room if you need me, Atty.”

  I nodded and followed Dolores and the nurse. She showed us to a small office behind the desk.

  “Use the room as long as you need, Mrs. Villareal.”

  “Thank you,” Dolores responded.

  She closed the door, then asked me to sit down.

  “You’re scaring me, Dolores, what’s going on?”

  “Atty, had Nana ever discussed her wishes with you, if something were to happen to her?”

  “No, we didn’t really talk about anything happening to her. She was always so spirited that I rarely worried about her.”

  “Atty, Nana appointed me as her legal representative in case of medical emergencies and as the executor of her living will. Do you know what that means?”

  “That she wanted you to make decisions for her if something happened that prevented her from expressing her wishes,” I responded. My heart was beating frantically, wondering where she was going with this conversation.

  “Atty, Nana requested that no extraordinary measures be taken to sustain her life if she fell ill or was in an accident. That is, she didn’t want to be kept alive with machines. She wanted to be let go.”

  “What?” I couldn’t comprehend what she was saying.

  “Atty, Nana specifically stated that if she was so sick that she had to have a machine breathe for her, then she did not want to live. Actually, she never wanted to be connected to a machine in the first place. But by the time I got here, she was already stable, and she was your only family. I couldn’t bear to tell anyone about the will. Everything happened so quickly I just couldn’t think straight. But it’s been weeks now, Atty, and I have come to truly realize that we are prolonging her life against her wishes. It was wrong of me to ignore my duty as her representative. I have told the doctors about the will. I’m sorry I didn’t do it to begin with.”

  I couldn’t do anything but stare. I’m sure my eyes were wide with horror.

  “Do you understand what I’m saying, Atty?”

  It took me a moment, but I nodded yes. A few more seconds passed while she patted my hand as I sat there, dumbfounded. Finally, everything clicked in my brain, and I actually processed what she was saying.

  “Dolores, no! You can’t do that! She can get better! I can make her better!” Tears were falling down my face, not from grief but from anger. How dare she do this? To her best friend!

  “Atty, you can’t make her better. No one can. The doctors have told me her chances of recovery are extremely minimal. There is nothing they or we can do to make her better.”

  “No! You don’t understand! I can! I can make her better! You just have to give me some time! Please, Dolores! Please!”

  “I’m sorry Atty, this is what Nana wanted. I cannot ignore her wishes. The doctors are going to disconnect her from the respirator. She’ll be heavily sedated. She won’t feel any pain. It’s what she wanted.”
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br />   “No!” I yelled again, but I couldn’t stay in that room any longer. I threw the door open and ran out of the ICU. I had to find Ben; we had to figure this out and quickly. I must have looked crazy when I ran into the waiting room because Ben popped right out of the chair he was in and jumped the table in front of him to get to me.

  “What’s wrong, Atty?” He asked as his hands rose to my face, forcing me to look straight at him.

  “She’s going to disconnect Nana! She’s going to kill her, Ben!”

  “What?”

  “Dolores! She says that Nana asked not to be kept alive with machines. We have to stop her, Ben; we need to fix this!”

  He could probably tell I was on the verge of hysterics because he let go of my face, grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room.

  We didn’t talk until we had reached the car. We got in and shut the doors. Ben turned the car on, but we didn’t pull out of the space.

  “OK, Atty. Explain what happened. What is Dolores going to do?”

  I told him about Nana’s living will and how Dolores had told the doctors to disconnect her.

  “When are they going to do it?”

  “I don’t know. She didn’t say. Or maybe I left before she could.”

  “All right, first I need you to calm down. I’m going to ask Dolores when they’re going to disconnect Nana. Do you want to come with me or do you prefer to stay here?”

  “I’ll stay.”

  “OK, but move to the driver’s seat and lock the doors when I leave. If you see anything or anyone suspicious then take off.”

  Ben got out of the car, and as soon as his door closed I was crying again. What was Dolores thinking? Nana was her best friend! How could she do this? I was so confused and wrapped in my thoughts that I jumped when I heard a tap on the car window. It was just Ben coming back. I slid over so he could get in the driver’s seat.

  “OK, Atty. I spoke to Dolores. They’re getting everything in order, but it seems like Natalia will be disconnected in two days. I need you to try to stay calm. You’ll never be able to control your power if you’re this upset. Do you understand?” I just nodded.