“Specifically, was he exposed to the water or air supply and how do you keep him filtered now that he’s inside?”
“No. He wasn’t in direct contact with the water or air because I created a bubble around him. When Gideon and I arrived back to Aldous’, the bubble dissolved and absorbed into me. If Rath carried anything that was contagious, it would have transferred to me and my body would have taken steps to heal itself. As it stands, I was exhausted, but that was related to Aldous and Torrun’s powers being blocked and unable to reach me as I tunneled through the core.”
“Are you certain? I don’t mean to insult your intelligence. I simply need to know,” True pressed. “One of my patients reported symptoms before Rath arrived, but the others have stated after.”
“Yes, and to prevent cross-contamination now, Aldous sends all of Rath’s water and air through a filter in case he happens to be contagious. You can’t see it, but he’s in a protective casing now. This is just as much for his safety as it is for everyone else.” Lake waved her hand. The gesture sent blue dust into the air and revealed the outline of a bubble. “I was extremely careful. That little boy is more precious to me than my own life, as is his father. I would never do anything to compromise their lives.”
True’s attention shifted to Aldous as he spoke. “How is your patient now? Is she stable?”
“Yes. Seems to be fine. To update you on my research, I’ve found nothing beyond the similarities in the symptoms, and that both you and Torrun like to drink Leke and Lacasa ale respectively.”
Aldous made a sour face and wrinkled his forehead. “Lacasa ale? That’s disgusting. Neither of us drink that mess.”
“Perhaps your friend’s tastes have changed, son?” Lake offered.
“Hmm. I guess.”
“I want you both to know I am completely committed—”
True was interrupted by a beep and a hologram of her nurse. “Doctor, the patient in room C is seizing. Her airway has completely collapsed.”
“Call Dr. Blake and get him there now. I’m on my way.”
“Good luck,” Lake said, gripping True’s forearm.
Aldous didn’t speak, but True could have sworn she heard his words in her head, in her heart. Breathe, True, just breathe.
Heeding the words she thought he said, True inhaled, then released the tension inside before rushing out the door.
“What’s going on?” True pushed past the emergency personnel to the head of the bed where her staff attempted to resuscitate the Demon True first documented with symptoms. An assistant helped True cleanse her hands and apply sterile gloves. A thoracentesis tray waited.
“She called me to the room, saying she couldn’t breathe. Seconds later, she was down. Her throat is swollen shut,” the nurse said, eyeballing the Demon’s veins for IV access. “Exactly like the Witch we treated earlier.”
After a quick scan, True determined her immediate problem was the same too. “I’m doing a thoracentesis. Give one milligram of copaline and three hundred of darione.” True made the incision as her team continued compressions. Brilliant purple liquid poured into the canister, but the patient’s vital signs didn’t improve.
“True?” Dr. Blake said. “What can I do?”
“See if you can intubate. Her throat has closed. If not, then do a tracheotomy.”
Jumping in, Dr. Blake attempted to insert a laryngoscope, but met resistance. “I’m not wasting my time. Let’s put in a trach.”
“That’s fine,” True answered, switching out another canister. “Where is all this fluid coming from? Three liters already.”
“No clue.” Dr. Blake’s scalpel sliced into the cricothyroid membrane, then he pinched the incision and placed the tube inside. A nurse gave two full breaths with the resuscitation bag. Nothing. The Demon still couldn’t breathe on her own.
“Don’t stop.” After another full round of CPR, True stood. “Hands off. All clear?”
“All clear,” the room repeated.
The limp body flinched as the electrical current jolted throughout, but still, she didn’t move.
“Keep going,” True said, taking over for the person doing chest compressions. “Give another milligram of copaline and one-fifty of darione.”
For the next half hour, they worked, pumping the Demon’s body full of medicine. They found a rhythm briefly, but seconds later, she flatlined again.
“Call it, True,” Dr. Blake’s arm rested on her shoulder.
“No. Just one more time.”
“True, you know she’s gone. Whatever pulse she had came from the medication. Call it, hon.” His voice was soft, empathetic. Losing a patient never got any easier.
True glanced at the clock on the wall, smearing tears with the cuff of her lab coat. “Time of death. Twenty-three forty-seven.” She sniffed. “I need a minute.”
“I’ll handle this. Go gather your thoughts,” Dr. Blake said.
True left the clinic without waiting for his answer. She stepped into the synthetic cool of night.
And she ran.
Aldous bit his bottom lip, going back and forth in his mind about calling True’s clinic. He didn’t want to seem nosy, but wanted to make sure her patient was alright. Who was he kidding? Aldous wanted to know if True was okay. If she was happy, he wanted to be by her side, and if she was sad, he wanted to pull her close and comfort her. Aldous scarcely recognized himself. Beyond his family and a few friends, Aldous had closed himself off to love. Love. It was too soon to say he loved True. Wasn’t it? Love was a process and Aldous was meticulous in its steps. He wouldn’t allow some random woman—a Human—to waltz into his life and obliterate all his preconceived ideas about life. Never. Still, that wouldn’t keep him from making a call.
“Dr. True Mathieu, please.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. She’s stepped out for a moment. May I take a message, sir?”
No. Thank you. I’ll call back later.”
Aldous disconnected. He didn’t have to wonder where she’d be, nor did he not hesitate to follow.
Incapable of holding her weight any longer, True fell to her knees in the soft clover. What happened? What didn’t she do? What didn’t she see? How could she have prevented this? The Demon was a mother. A wife. A friend. She was an engineer and enjoyed doing puzzles with her children. Now, True would have to tell her family she was gone. A life cut too short by an unknown assailant with no cure. Beyond the Demon and the other patients, there was Rath. Sweet, innocent Rath with his silver-flecked black hair. If she didn’t find a cure, Rath’s fate was sealed.
“True?” Aldous knelt, reaching out his hand. “Are you alright?”
“Aldous? How did you know where I was?”
Boldly, he wiped a tear from her cheek and watched as it turned to a spark on his skin. “The Demon died?” He didn’t wait for her answer for he knew it as if he’d been there. Instead, he pulled her close. The feel of True’s skin burned and ignited his own. Impulsively, he pressed his lips to hers and his kiss lit a fire within them both.
Without warning, she pulled away. Her fingers lingered on her mouth.
“I won’t apologize for that,” Aldous said, breathless. “I wanted it as much as you did. Maybe more.”
True took a step back, blending with the shadows of the trees.
He blinked and she disappeared into the darkness.
Chapter Twelve
Several hours later, True stood outside Aldous’ room. After leaving him in the Forest Dome, she had returned to the office to tell the Demon’s family about her death and complete the paperwork, yet her mind, her heart, was focused on the kiss they shared. She had to see him again. But why had she come here without an invitation? What if he didn’t want to see her? True didn’t have the answers. All she knew was something remained unfinished between them, and she’d not sleep again until she was resolved.
In a swift motion, Aldous opened the door and pulled her inside, against the wall. His breath was hot on her neck and grazed the tender skin nex
t to her ear. True buckled against him, but he pushed back and positioned her arms above her head with one hand. With the other, he traced an imaginary line down past her shoulders, her breasts, and stomach, until he reached the waistband of her pants.
“Tell me… what… you… want,” he demanded. His tone was sharp, clipped by his own desire.
“I want you.” She did not hesitate for they were the only words in her vocabulary right now.
“How much of me?” he asked.
“Everything.”
Wasting no time, Aldous lifted her over his shoulder and carried her to his bed. Before she could think or speak, he’d removed their clothes, his fingers searching and finding the center of her sex. With ease and expert precision, Aldous took her to heights she’d never known, only to bring her down again. She ached for something more, something bigger. Him. If she didn’t have his cock inside her this moment, True would die.
“Please! Don’t stop, Aldous! I need you now.”
“When I’ve had my fill, I will give you what you crave. Until then, I’m going to savor my mouth on your body.” His tongue trailed down and stopped at her breast, circling and finally suckling her nipple.
True’s back arched. She tried to touch him, but he held both wrists at her side.
“My turn,” he growled in a voice that sent a jolt of pleasure to her core. Alternating between kisses and soft bites, Aldous didn’t leave out any piece of skin. “Mine.”
Responding to his downward movement, True groaned.
“This is mine,” he said as he pressed hard into her need. “All mine.”
“Oh, God.” True bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying out. His touch was more satisfying than she could describe, but she wasn’t accustomed to losing control. She tensed at the thought.
Aldous sensed her apprehension. He moved to kiss her thigh and met her eyes, but left his fingers deep inside her. “You’re holding back, love. Don’t hold back. I promise I will give you all you desire and more. Let me make love to you. Give me everything.”
Her hands gathered in his silver and black mane, daring him to push deeper, and her legs wrapped around his neck to guide him. Losing herself in the moment, she jerked his whole body up only to shove him down again. This time, she climbed on top of Aldous and thrusted her sex in his face, bucking her hips as his hands palmed her ass. True’s orgasm came quickly in an explosion of warmth and color.
After a moment’s rest, she shifted, even with him. Grinding against his hardness, True watched his eyes roll back in his head. She was the one in control now. Using all the determination she had left in her body, she took him to the brink of pleasure and pain until neither one of them could wait any longer. Aldous flipped her on her back and plunged inside, and True cried out, raking her nails down his chest.
“I want to be one with you,” he whispered, nuzzled against her neck.
She furrowed her brow. “What? How much more one could we be?”
“Let me in your heart and I’ll show you.”
Though she didn’t understand what he meant, True gave herself to him with abandon. Wild and uninhibited, he quickened his speed, taking them both to the summit of life and all its mysteries. Blood pulsed through their veins and their bodies melded together as liquid gold. As they reached their climaxes, True dissolved into Aldous, until she didn’t know where he ended and she began.
It was the best feeling she’d ever known.
True woke unsure of where she was. An arm reached out in the darkness, pulling her close. Aldous. Why had she come here? What had they done? The night’s events inundated her mind, and her only rationale was that she’d relied on instinct. She felt different. Liberated, maybe? She couldn’t pinpoint it, but as he stirred, rolling to his back, she knew she couldn’t stay and figure it out. It was six in the morning and she wasn’t sure, but wouldn’t be surprised if Lake was bringing Rath back soon. The last thing she or Aldous needed was having to explain to his mother or son why she was in his bedroom.
True debated writing a note, but decided it was cliché, so she settled for a kiss to his forehead before leaving.
Unable to get Aldous off her mind, True decided to go to her office instead of home. In all her years, she’d never been so bold… showing up at a man’s house, saying and doing things that burned her cheeks even now. She turned on the faucet and splashed her face, accidentally sniffing in the water. Coughing, True nearly choked.
“Damn.” She wiped her nose and mouth, taking deep breaths to recover.
As she stared at the falling water, True thought about the sick patients. They had nothing in common, excluding their symptoms. No known interaction, they hadn’t eaten at the same restaurants, or even shopped in the same stores. They were from all walks of life, different species of Metas. But they all had one thing they shared: the water. Sure, Dr. Blake had said diagnostics on the environment had been performed, but what if they weren’t looking hard enough? What if the toxin was hidden? No. Cloaked. Masquerading as something else. It was a long shot, but True was willing to explore this.
She filled a vial from the lab and placed it inside a large centrifuge. Water’s molecular formula was obviously two of hydrogen and one of oxygen, but what if there was something clinging onto one of those elements, easily missed in basic investigative checks? Spinning the centrifuge, the two atoms divided, and True used a robotic arm inside the machine to separate them into different petri dishes. Looking first at the oxygen through a microscope, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. She moved along to the hydrogen and nothing seemed strange with it, either… until…
Her arm brushed against the light switch and the room went dark.
“What the hell?” True turned the illuminator to a brighter setting. Something was clinging to the hydrogen atom’s core. It was small, minuscule, and if she hadn’t been searching for this specific problem, she never would have seen it. Still, this discovery didn’t yet support her hypothesis without further experimentation.
After she isolated the unknown entity, the only course of action True could think of was exposing it to someone who was otherwise healthy. She removed Aldous’ vial of blood from the cabinet and poured several drops into the same dish as the unknown variable.
Then she waited.
Ten minutes later, Aldous’ blood had turned black and congealed like jam. But if the toxin was present in the Complex’s water system, why wasn’t Aldous sick too? Why wasn’t everyone?
With that question in mind, True mixed her own blood with the bacteria and nothing. Absolutely nothing. Did this bug only affect Metas? Or was True special?
Those were both questions that could be answered later. True had to call Dr. Blake and so they could isolate the problem. The lives of everyone in the Complex depended on it.
Aldous roused at the sound of laughter. His son’s. The bed sagged as Rath rocked back and forth.
“Papa’s still in bed. He’s in his birthday suit too, Mamil.”
“Hand him some clothes, Rath!” Lake yelled, louder than normal, ensuring Aldous heard.
“Hi, Papa. Here are your clothes.”
“Oh? Um. Thanks.” Aldous slipped on the pants, grateful his son was too young to realize what he’d done the night before.
“Mamil made us something called biscuits. Want one?” He flipped a switch next to the bed to turn on the light.
Aldous rubbed his eyes and his pupils adjusted to the brightness. “Sure.”
“Papa? Are you hurt? You have scratches on your chest.”
“No, son. I’m good.” Embarrassed, he inspected the rose-colored marks shimmering like rubies. He brushed his fingers over each one, healing himself.
“Let’s go eat.”
He snatched a shirt from the floor, putting it on before he and Rath joined Lake in the kitchen. “Morning,” he said as he accepted the cup she offered, breathing in its rich, invigorating aroma. “What’s this?”
“It’s called coffee. You look like you need it
.”
“Mamil, Papa has scratches on his chest. Like a tiger got him. Rawrrr.”
“Real-ly?” Lake drew the word out in two syllables. “A tiger, eh?”
Aldous may have prevented Rath from detecting True had stayed overnight, but Lake knew immediately. Lucky for him, she wouldn’t pry, but that didn’t stop the smug I told you so grin from creeping into her face.
“Leave the biscuits in for five minutes,” she instructed. “There’s a plate of yellow mush called butter in the fridge. Try it with the biscuits. It’s wonderful.”
“Where are you going?” he asked, but then decided he didn’t want to hear her speak the answer. “Never mind.”
“I’ll talk to you later.” Lake kissed Rath, tousled Aldous’ hair, then left.
Aldous pulled breakfast out of the oven. He sat a biscuit on two plates and allowed Rath to put as much butter on his as he wanted. After a few minutes of playing, the fluffy bread was soggy and covered with an oily sheen. “You know you’re going to have to eat that, don’t you?”
Rath stuffed a bite into his mouth, making a sour face.
Throwing his head back, Aldous felt his laugh in the pit of his stomach. “Silly boy. Here.” He popped another biscuit onto his plate. “I was joking with you, but seriously, stop playing with your food.”
After only one bite, Rath pushed the food away. “I’m not feeling well, Papa. May I go lie down?”
“Of course. What’s wrong?”
“Just tired. That’s all.”
Aldous opened his arms and squeezed Rath. He picked him up and took him into the bedroom. “I’ll be in to check on you in a few hours, okay?”
“Sure, Papa.”
When Aldous returned to the kitchen, Torrun stood at the bar, picking at Rath’s biscuit. “Human food. Disgusting.”
“That one’s a biscuit. It’s not so bad.”
“Hmmph. Anything Human is bad. Have you heard about the possible epidemic sweeping the Complex? A disease with unknown origins that has Rath’s symptoms.” Torrun sat his mini-pad on the bar and brought up a holographic image of several documents. “And do you want to know why?”
True North (The Complex Book 0) Page 7