Honor System (The System Series Book 4)

by Andrea Ring

  “No! She’s in pain and I can heal her! Why won’t you let me?”

  I call for Tessa, who comes running.

  Em is now sobbing, pulling desperately at the necklace. I try to hold her, but she squirms away from me.

  “What’s going on? Em, you’re not supposed to be in here. Daddy’s sleeping. What’s wrong?”

  Tessa scoops her up and holds her.

  “She wants to heal Grandma, and I said no.”

  Tessa nods. “It’s been three days of this. I’ll take her. You rest.”

  They disappear down the hall, and even though Tessa closed the door, all I can hear are Em’s cries.

  ***

  There’s no change with Erica, but at least she doesn’t appear to be getting worse. Three days before her death date, I finally muster the energy to hook up to her again. I’m able to move faster without having to keep her breathing. And the diuretics Sean administers seem to be keeping the lungs fluid free. I concentrate on the heart and finish replacing more than half of the hardened cells in about an hour.

  Chris and Nicole come in for a short visit, and it gives me a chance to take a bathroom break and swill some Dwellerade. When I return to Erica, Chris is comforting a sobbing Nicole in the corner.

  “This is hard to see, isn’t it?” I say.

  Nicole swipes her eyes. “It’s horrible.”

  “But she’s alive. We’re healing her.”

  “I thought you could heal anything,” she says. “I thought…I never thought Erica would end up like this.”

  “She hasn’t ended up like anything,” I say. “This is just part of the process.”

  Nicole buries her head in Chris’s chest. He gives me a small smile and leads her out.

  Guess I didn’t say what she wanted to hear. But honestly, this is a good lesson. What we do, it’s not magic. It’s not foolproof. We’re constrained by the laws of physics and finite resources and our own character flaws. We are not God.

  Maybe that’s what Nicole thought she’d be getting if she became a Dweller. And I can’t be sorry that I gave her the truth.

  Chris comes back in a few minutes later as I’m hooking back up to Erica.

  “Sorry you had to see that,” he says.

  “It’s upsetting. I understand.”

  “She just finally realized that this might be what she’s headed for.”

  I cringe. Of course that’s why she was so upset. And I wasn’t exactly tactful.

  “I’m sorry if I was too blunt.”

  “No,” he says, shaking his head, “she needed to see this. Being a Dweller doesn’t make you immune to sickness. It’s not a panacea.”

  “Actually, Erica being a Dweller hurt her, I think. She didn’t have the medical knowledge or the knowledge about her own body and abilities to make the right choices. She covered up a lot of symptoms, symptoms that would have clued us in a lot sooner to what was happening. It’s a good lesson for all of us. And it impacts whether or not we should roll this out to the masses.”

  “Your vote would be no, I’m guessing.”

  “Right now, yeah. I vote no.”

  “Are you close to healing her?” he asks, changing the subject.

  “About an hour, and I’ll have the heart fixed. The fluid buildup will stop on its own at that point, so her breathing should be steadier and deliver more oxygen. I think we’ll get her off the ventilator today.”

  “Will she wake up then?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t spent a lot of time on it, but I’m not sure why she’s in a coma now, unless it’s just her body’s response to healing.”

  Chris rises. “Then I’ll let you get back to work. Our prayers are with you.”

  I’ll take them.

  ***

  I heal the heart.

  We remove the ventilator.

  Erica breathes on her own, and her heartbeat is steady. Oxygen levels in the blood are normal without intervention.

  She’s still in a coma, but I’m out. I need more rest. I’ll work on her more tomorrow.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Even though I’m hyper-focused on Erica’s brain, I can hear the argument clearly.

  “I will not discuss this further,” Tyrion says. “I understand your dilemma, Nicole, and I sympathize. But we are not doing the therapy, and that is final.” I hear him stomp off down the hall.

  “He just proved what I’ve been saying all along!” Nicole cries. “He never intended to make me a Dweller.”

  “Nicole, listen to yourself for one God-damned minute!” Chris says. “When you and I decided, your date of death changed. It changed right before my eyes. That was the decision that mattered. That was the one that changed your fate. Whatever Tyrion decides doesn’t have any bearing on that one decision!”

  “But if he never intended to give anyone the blood, ever, his decision is important!”

  “But it wouldn’t have changed your death date. Don’t you see that? If he’d already decided, then our decision meant nothing, changed nothing.”

  “I don’t see that!”

  “Maybe you’re going to work yourself up so much that you’re going to give yourself a stroke. Be reasonable. Call down.”

  “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down,” she says. “Kate, please, you see where I’m coming from, don’t you?”

  “I do,” Kate says, “but there are too many unknowns. You could be dooming yourself by becoming a Dweller. Maybe you fight so hard to get the therapy that we give it to you, and it’s actually the thing that kills you.”

  “It won’t,” Nicole whispers. “I know it, in my heart.”

  I imagine Kenneth rolling his eyes at that.

  “Mateo, you agree with me, don’t you?”

  “Nicole,” Mateo says, “we all love you. And everyone here will work to save your life. We know how scary it must be, with that date coming closer and closer. But we’re going to help. You need to listen to the experts. They know what’s best.”

  Nicole screams in frustration, and then I hear the click-clack of heels on the floor.

  “I’m sorry, everyone,” Chris says. “I hope you know it’s just stress. And fear. She’s terrified of dying young.”

  “We get it,” Kate says. “No harm done. But she probably shouldn’t be alone.”

  “She went upstairs,” Kenneth says. “Tessa’s there with the kids. She’s probably the person Nicole needs to talk to most.”

  I sigh in relief. Tessa can talk anyone down off the ledge.

  ***

  I shrug off the distractions and re-focus. I begin by doing a thorough check of Erica’s brain. Perhaps oxygen deprivation of some kind, or even her elevated blood pressure, caused an obvious problem.

  Not two minutes in, my brain gets a tickle.

  That’s literally what it feels like—like someone rubbed a finger on the underside of my brain and wiggled it back and forth.

  I’ll help, Em’s voice whispers in my head.

  No! I think. Where’s Mommy? How did you get your necklace off?

  But Em doesn’t reply to me. Instead, I get, Why did you lock the door? You said Mommy wanted me to heal you.

  What?

  Em, where are you? What are you doing? I think.

  Daddy, Nicole took me into the lab. She locked the door. She said Mommy wants me to fix her, but I don’t think Mommy would let me do that without you.

  A shudder runs down my spine.

  You’re right, baby. Mommy and I would never want you to do that without us. Wait for us, okay? We’ll be right there.

  She locked the door.

  I know. We’ll figure it out. Just find a way to stall until we get there.

  Nicole knows I’m talking to you, but she can’t put the necklace on if she wants me to fix her. She’s angry with me.

  I disconnect from Erica as fast as I can and heal our hands.

  Hang on. I’m coming. Can you scream for Mommy?

  Nicole said she’d spank me if I screamed.


  No fucking way.

  I rush from Erica’s room, gather everyone and explain the situation. Chris is dumbfounded.

  “She..couldn’t. No. She’d never…”

  “She is,” I say, and they follow me to the third floor.

  ***

  Tyrion and Kenneth start working on a way to open the door while I pull Tessa aside.

  “I let her go,” she says. “I let Nicole take her. I thought…I never thought she’d do something like this.”

  “She’s desperate,” I say, “and that’s what worries me.”

  “Maybe we should let Em do it,” Tessa says. “Then at least Em can get out of there.”

  “No. It’s dangerous, Tessa. I know she made Chris a Dweller pretty easily, but there’s always a cost. Always. I don’t want today to be the day that her body finally breaks down, do you?”

  “No. I just thought, as another option…”

  “As a last resort, fine. But no.”

  Tessa nods. And then I feel a tap on my leg.

  “Hey, Free,” I say, bending down to pick him up.

  “I heard everything you said. Nicole has kidnapped Em?”

  I look at Tessa. She looks as confused as I feel. What should we say?

  “Looks like it. But it’s gonna be alright. Nicole won’t hurt her.”

  He looks at me earnestly. “I respectfully request that you remove my necklace. I will not be able to sit here and worry unless I can speak to her. Please.”

  Tessa doesn’t hesitate. She fumbles with the clasp and removes his necklace.

  “You’ll be a comfort to her, Free,” she says.

  He nods. “Can you put me down now? I may need to concentrate.”

  I kiss his head and put him down. He stalks off to an empty corner and sits on his knees facing the wall.

  Hurry, Daddy. Are you close?

  I think so, I tell her. Let me talk to Chris.

  “Someone has to stay with the boys,” Tessa says. “Should I take them out of here?”

  “Call Jack and Dad. He went home for a nap. Have them bring the vans. If this goes badly…yeah, they shouldn’t be here.”

  Tessa nods and hurries off.

  “What’s the status, guys?” I ask.

  Chris pulls his phone down off his ear. “I’m on the phone with our IT firm. They can override it, but only if they’re in the building. It can’t be done remotely.”

  “What’s their ETA?”

  “Forty-five minutes.”

  Daddy? How long?

  Forty-five minutes, I think. Tell Nicole that she has to lie down. Tell her it will take three hours to fix her. Then tell her you’re going to start.

  You want me to fix her?

  No. But she won’t know the difference. Just tell her you’re doing it so she won’t hurt you.

  There’s a pause.

  She doesn’t believe me. She thinks I can do it in a few minutes.

  Just keep lying to her, I think. She doesn’t really know. Say whatever you have to to stay safe.

  Ahhh! Em screams in my head. My forehead feels like someone cracked it open. My entire skull throbs with Em’s pain, and it forces me down to my knees.

  “Thomas!” Tyrion yells, grabbing my arm. “Is it Em?”

  I nod.

  He gazes at the locked door with so much hatred that I fear the heat of his gaze will melt a hole in it.

  “Is she okay?”

  “I don’t know,” I grit out.

  Em? Em? Talk to me, baby. Tell me you’re okay.

  I only get sobs.

  Tyrion helps me to sit down on my butt, and he takes a seat beside me. He puts his hands on my temples and attempts to massage the pain away.

  “Does this help?” he asks.

  “It does,” I say. “Just don’t let anyone see us.”

  He gives a small laugh. Then his hands stop suddenly.

  “Free does not have his necklace on.”

  I crack an eye open and watch as Free positions himself firmly in front of the door. He puts his little hands on his hips.

  “We took it off so he could communicate with Em.”

  “He looks purposeful,” Tyrion says. “Does he have the ability to open the door?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  Free bends forward slightly, his head almost resting against the door. His body starts to shake.

  “See what he’s doing, Tyrion,” I say. “That doesn’t look good.”

  Before Tyrion can rise, Free falls in a heap to the floor.

  ***

  We suddenly hear ear-splitting shrieks from Em. My headache doesn’t get worse, so I know she’s not in any more pain. All of us hop to our feet and crowd around the door.

  What is it, Em? What’s wrong?

  She’s…Nicole…she’s dead.

  I gulp.

  “What is it?” Chris asks. “Are they okay?”

  I don’t know how to say it. So I just say it.

  “Nicole had the aneurysm.”

  He stares at me.

  “We have to get in there! We have to—”

  “They’re still thirty minutes away,” Tyrion says.

  None of us moves.

  Chris nods and heads off down the hall.

  ***

  Em, talk to me. How are you doing?

  I get nothing, though I keep trying.

  Free recovers after a few minutes. He says he blacked out, but it doesn’t seem like he’s been physically harmed.

  “Can you connect with Em?” I ask him.

  His face goes blank.

  “She is passed out, I believe. She’s not in pain, though.”

  “Is she breathing?”

  “Breathing, yes. Bleeding a bit, too, but she has blocked the nerve signals.”

  Dear God.

  There’s nothing I can do. Absolutely nothing.

  The next thirty minutes are the most agonizing of my life.

  FAQs

  Do you have a website? Visit me at www.andrearing.net. If you comment on my blog or send me an email, I will answer.

  Can I sign up for your mailing list? Please! Sign up by clicking here!

  Have you written any other books? Yes! For the latest list, visit my website or Amazon.

  How many books do you have planned for this series? Just one more. As I jumped in time from Book 1 to Book 2 (ten years, to be exact), I’ll be jumping in time again to finish the series. I’m fascinated by the idea of a society where everyone can heal themselves.

  What are you working on next? Finishing the 5th book in The System Series, and then the 3rd book in my romantic fantasy series, The Nilaruna Cycles.

  I’ll be going off the beaten path to publish a couple of nonfiction books early next year, and then I’m toying with an idea for a young adult urban fantasy series.

  Note to my readers: Thank you for following the journey of the Dwellers. As an independent author, I rely solely on my readers for support. I’d love to hear from you! Send me an email. Write a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Comment on my blog. You’re the reason I write, and I’ll never forget that.

  Book Excerpt

  And now read a chapter from Andrea Ring’s new romantic fantasy series, The Nilaruna Cycles:

  THE GO-BETWEEN

  Book 1 in The Nilaruna Cycles

  The Go-Between

  I. MAJA

  Awareness of an intruder prickles over my skin, and I shiver.

  The new Go-Between approaches. I close my eyes and merge my mind with hers.

  Cold, it’s so cold. Why do I have to come here at night, crossing the rapids of the Swifty over that fraying rope in the dark, the spray soaking my legs to my thighs, as if the rope weren’t slippery enough without being wet? And no torch. No torch! Who thought that was a good idea? I don’t care if the old man doesn’t like it. If I break my leg on the way up, he will not even have a Go-Between.

  Silence. Except for my feet crunching dry leaves on the path, my occasional blunder into a bush or a tree branc
h. The high priest told me no animals reside within a league of the cave, but I didn’t believe him. I have to stop and listen. There must be at least a cricket.

  Nothing. My labored breaths. My heartbeat pounding in my ears. Nothing else.

  That’s the fork, right up ahead. Lit by the moon peeking through the branches of two oaks. The fork is clear, as he said it would be. I must go right, up the face of the mountain.

  Oof! Darn rock in the path! Mother told me to wear my leather slippers, but Father insisted on bare feet. Bare feet, two moons past harvest! I thought he was crazy at the time, but there’s no way I could have crossed the rope in slippers.

  No sound now. No more trees, so no more leaves. My feet padding along on dust and rock. My impatient sighs.

  The rocks on both sides of me seem to rise as I climb, until I’m almost in a tunnel, and the moon overhead casts crisscrossing shadows over my path. I must be close.

  I hunch my back, bow my head, and ignore the burning of my thighs and my ever-present limp as the path steepens. Crazy old man. Crazy old town! Why don’t they just move him? We have a spare room since Peter…we have a room. I could take better care of him if he were nearby. If I were going to take care of him.

  I chuckle at that. Silly little girl.

  And she freezes as my laugh rumbles into the night.

  Great stones! He’s laughing? The old man is laughing? But he’s alone, he’s supposed to be alone. Who laughs by themselves?

  I have to get this over with.

  She appears in the doorway of the cave and stops, hands groping for the wall.

  “Two paces to your left,” I say.

  She hesitates for a heartbeat, then reaches for the wall, leaning against it for support. I’m in her mind, so I know she’s scared out of her wits, and trying not to show it.

  “Bit of a climb,” she says, voicing the bravado she doesn’t feel.

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  She has the audacity to snort.

  “About that,” she says, straightening up and turning her face to my voice. “I’d like to discuss moving you.”

  I raise a thick eyebrow at her, but of course she can’t see me in the dark.

  “First day on the job and already looking to make changes. Perhaps we should start with introductions.”