by T. R. Graves
Chapter 15
Genetic Anomaly
Carlie
The girl standing before me was a Genetic Anomaly. She had Down syndrome, an individual with a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21, and was one of the many people President Barone was working to eliminate.
With her facing me, I was able to take in all of the traits that told me she had Down syndrome. Her small stature originally led me to believe she was prepubescent. Now I was able to see she was closer to my age. Her almond-shaped eyes and protruding tongue were other very obvious characteristics.
"I-I… I just wanted to say thank you," I said lamely.
After seeing how terrified she was, I felt awful for touching her even though I'd only done so in order to thank her for waiting on us, because I didn't like it when people did for me what I should be doing for myself.
My words meant nothing to the girl. She'd been noticed, and that was something she was supposed to avoid. She moaned as if I'd hurt her and snatched her hand away from me. She tried to run from the tent, but a standing Thorne grabbed her around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest.
"Shh! Rorie…" he hummed. "She's not going to hurt you, sweetie. I promise."
He rocked her while he held her tight. I thought about excusing myself, assuming my presence might actually be exacerbating her hysteria. It took a solid ten or fifteen minutes for her to calm down enough for him to pull back and look her in the face.
He used his thumbs to smooth the tears from her face before saying, "You believe me, right? She won't hurt you."
Rorie turned her head slightly toward me and watched me carefully before bobbing her head.
"Good. Now go back to the galley tent and bring the roasted duck you made. You know it's my favorite, and I've been waiting for it all day," he said, pulling her to him and kissing her forehead sweetly.
With his kiss and the admission that he'd been waiting for her roasted duck, everything about her lightened. She grinned widely and skipped from Thorne's arms and out the door of the tent.
Without a word of explanation, Thorne turned back toward the table, sat back down, and began eating. I suspected Rorie's meltdown was one he'd seen more than once, something he'd been dealing with his whole life.
"I-is she your sister?" I asked very carefully.
He didn't say anything. He poked at his salad, tore at the bread, and pretended as if I'd not said a word.
Finally and just when I thought he was passive-aggressively refusing to answer me, he said, "Rorie is…" He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "My twin. Barone insisted my sister be aborted in utero, but my parents refused to do anything that would risk my life. Against my parents' wishes because they've wanted to put her in Asylum, a preparatory school for others with genetic deformities, I've spent my entire life teaching her things that will make her functional. I've done that so she'd have something to offer people if anything happened to me, so she'd have options other than that of a preparatory school for Down syndrome rejects."
"I think what you've done for your sister, what you did with your sister just now is…" I gulped around my embarrassment. "Wonderful."
Thorne stopped chewing, gulped as loudly as I'd just swallowed, and nodded. "She's my sister. What else would I do?"
"I know a lot of people who would be ashamed of her… who would send her to a home rather than spend the first second with her, teaching her skills that will take her through life," I said before mustering every ounce of humility I had to offer. "You were right earlier, Thorne. I don't know anything about you or your family. I do know I admire you."
Having been prepared to tell me exactly what he thought about me and my prejudices, Thorne seemed taken aback by my confession. He stared toward me with an open-mouthed gaze.
"What?" I asked, spearing a piece of lettuce and shoving it into my mouth.
"I-I've just never met anyone who didn't think Rorie should have been selectively aborted," Thorne confessed.
I shrugged. "It sounds to me like you haven't been surrounding yourself with very good people."
He bobbed his head and said, "It seems you might be right, Carles."
Like me, he ate his salad, and this time, he was eating it because he enjoyed it, not because he was trying to avoid talking to me.
When Rorie came back with a tray loaded down with even more food, she seemed a little more comfortable with me. She didn't work as hard hiding her face and had even let the bonnet fall back and hang around her neck.
She beamed when I said, "Rorie, this is absolutely the best roast duck I've ever had."
Seeing how happy I'd made his sister, Thorne grinned just as widely. His mouth dropped for a second time when I hopped up, pulled another chair up to the table, and said, "Eat with us, please."
Several emotions crossed Thorne's face.
Worry.
Gratitude.
Acceptance.
Deciding he would share his sister with me, he stood and held the chair for her. Nervous, she was clearly not comfortable with what I'd suggested, until Thorne said, "I agree with Carles. You should eat with us, Rorie."
She laughed with excitement when Thorne dumped the bread in the middle of the table and used the plate to share our portions with his sister. She rocked happily in the chair and giggled as her brother served her.
Soon the three of us were eating. Thorne—a man I'd never met before today and now wholeheartedly admired—and I went out of our way to praise Rorie on her cooking and the meal's presentation.
Right before we were finished eating, she reached across the table, put her tiny hand over mine, and said, "My brother likes you, Carles."
Rather than be embarrassed by her or get angry that she'd broken some social rule, Thorne chuckled.
"Rorie, you're not supposed to tell people personal things about me." He glanced wistfully over to me and winked. "We've talked about that," he scolded her with a grin on his face that told both of us she wasn't really in trouble.
"But you do. You've never let me meet one of your girlfriends. I like Carles, too. I want you to marry her," Rorie said seriously.
Thorne shook his head. This time he was a little stricter with her. "I'll never marry anyone, Rorie. I'll take care of you forever. Just as I've always said I would."
"No. I want you to marry. I want you to be happy. Carles makes you smile," Rorie insisted.
When Thorne looked over and saw my face burning, he waved Rorie to a halt. "That's enough, Rorie. You're embarrassing, Carles."
Rorie squeezed my hand tighter. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just like you so much," she said sweetly.
I put my hand over hers and said, "I like you, too, Rorie, and I don't have to be anything to your brother for the two of us to be friends."
"You'll be my friend?" she asked, surprised.
"I already am," I said before leaning over, squeezing her hand with both of mine.
"All right, you two. Rorie, we have another guest who should be here any minute. Why don't you bring the Surrogate's meal in here? He can eat while we talk about our trip back to the preparatory academy."
Rorie couldn't get up fast enough. She loved her brother and was determined to do anything he asked of her.
"I-I'll be back, Carles. I'll be back," she assured me before leaving.
I'd purposefully waited to ask questions about my family and Jayden until she left. I got the feeling Thorne went out of his way to make sure she wasn't kept in the loop as it was related to his plans. What I didn't know was if it was for her protection or for his. Regardless, I respected his decision.
"Who is the Surrogate?" I asked calmly.
No matter how kind Thorne was to his sister, I was determined to keep my family's love for Jayden hidden. Jayden was a Surrogate, and there were those who thought of them as second-class citizens. Others didn't consider them citizens at all.
"Jayden St. Romaine is on his way here."
I wanted to sigh in relief. I wanted to be the lovelorn teenage girl and run
from the tent and wait for Jayden to arrive.
"Why didn't he travel with me?" I asked. Calmly. Cooly.
Thorne's stare darted up to me. He'd spent an entire life trying to hide his affection for his sister. He knew what hidden love looked like in much the way I knew when Mom and Gran were contemplating a new experiment..
"You almost died. MediTech was alerted about your medical emergency. We were dispatched, and you were the only person who could be lifted out of there in the MediChopper. Believe you me, it took more than a few of us to explain to him that he couldn't fly back to the infirmary with you. Before we got off the ground, St. Romaine was running behind us. Like I said, I expect him any minute. There's no way he was going to stop and rest before he made it here," Thorne explained.
"How long have I been here?" I asked.
"Three days."
There wasn't anything I could say to that. I'd lost three days and my entire family. Jayden was on his way, but there was no mention of Gran or Tawney. I was afraid to ask about them. I worried that if they'd gone in search of the safe house on their own, my questions would put them in danger.
I'd wait for Jayden. He'd tell me what I need to do. What we need to do.
As if on cue, there was a noise outside the tent. Since it didn't seem I was being held captive, I ran toward it. I had to see if Jayden had made it.
Outside of the tent, I saw that sitting in the middle of this forest was a dozen or so caterpillar-type tents with one giant donut-shaped pavilion in the middle.
Jayden hadn't wasted any time finding me. The minute I stepped outside, I was nearly tackled by him.
"Carlie! Oh my God, Carlie!" He pulled me into his chest and hugged me tight.
I didn't care who saw us. I hugged him back. In his ear, I whispered, "Where's Gran and Tawney?"
He stiffened and glanced around to see who was near.
"I convinced them to keep going. I swore to them I'd stay with you until MediTech arrived. When they wouldn't let me come with you…" His whispered voice was hoarse with dehydration and worry.
I palmed his cheek and looked into his eyes. "I'm going to be fine. You need to let me take care of you. You need something to drink and eat, and you need to sleep. After that, we'll talk about what we need to do."
He was shaking his head as if he were going to refuse my suggestion when Rorie came up behind us carrying a tray with the food and water Jayden's body required.
Looking over my shoulder, Rorie said, "Thorne, why is he hugging Carles. Does he know you're going to marry her?"