by Guy Harrison
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning, I awaken to the sound of a television. Elena’s awake, too.
“Hi,” she says a weary smile on her face as she looks in my direction.
No longer numb from the night before, I just now realize that I sat in a chair in the corner of the room all night. I wipe the sleep from my eyes before approaching her bedside. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore.”
I look up at the television. She’s watching a game show. “We didn’t stop the plane.”
“I know.”
“And she’s still alive,” I say.
Elena looks into my eyes a moment before turning off the TV with a remote. “I’m sorry.” Her voice is so pained, I can’t tell what hurts her more, her abdomen or our failure.
“What are you sorry for?”
“Everything,” she says, looking over to her window. “Nick …”
“It’s not your fault.”
She shakes her head before looking down at her hands again.
I take a deep breath. “This is exactly why—I hope you won’t fight me on my next move.”
“What move?”
“There’s something I have to do. Alone.”
She gives me a confused look. “What do you have to do?”
A nurse comes into the room, pushing a cart toward Elena’s bed. “Good morning,” she says to the both of us. “Time for breakfast.”
“Thank you,” Elena says.
The nurse pulls the bed’s table over Elena’s lap and places the plate on top of it. She then bows her head, smiles, and exits the room.
Elena attempts to sit up before wincing in pain. “Calvin …”
“I don’t think I can tell you.”
“You’re going to try to find Ronni, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Then, tell me. Whatever it is, I’ll support you.”
I take a deep breath and walk over to the window, turning my back to Elena. “Remember when Richardson said that breaking the Arrowhead would be catastrophic?”
She exhales loudly. “Calvin …”
“What did he mean?”
“I … I don’t know.”
I turn to face her. “Elena, don’t bullshit me. Please, I need to know.”
“Taking the Arrowhead won’t solve anything.”
“I want to do more than just take it.”
Elena furrows her brow, scared and even more confused.
I lunge toward her bed and look her in the eye. “Tell me what happens. Or you’re just as careless as they are.”
She closes her eyes and swallows hard. “If you destroy the Arrowhead, all of the replicas lose their power, all Change Machines lose their power. And … all agents will lose their power.”
I back away from Elena, maintaining a blank stare.
“But, Calvin, what about our powers?”
“Don’t want them anymore.”
“And your face,” she says with a whisper. “You do realize—”
“Don’t you think I’m aware of that?”
Elena’s eyes remain fixed on me.
I turn and face the window again. “Elena, be honest with me. If I wasn’t Kevin, if I had had Calvin’s face, would you have still kissed me?” I turn around to look at her.
She averts her gaze, staring at the breakfast on her lap.
“That’s what I thought,” I say. To be sure, it was an unfair question. I would have called her bluff if she had said yes. I wouldn’t have expected anyone to kiss me with Calvin Newsome’s face. Still, I needed to give Elena an illustration of the kind of falsehoods that are created by the Arrowhead. “Where can I find it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would Richardson know?”
“Maybe. But even if he did, he wouldn’t tell you.”
“I’ll take my chances,” I say, walking past Elena’s bed on my way out of the room.
“You don’t know what you’re up against.”
“That was never a problem when you asked me to join your team.”
“Calvin, wait.”
I stop just short of the door and turn to look at her.
She has an emotionally pained look on her face. “Is it true what Ronni said? Do you still love her?”
I shrug. “Does it matter?”
“It does to me,” she says, holding my gaze for emphasis.
I look away so as to avoid her beauty before looking at her one last time. “Then I hope you’ll understand what I have to do.”
I notice Elena’s breakfast in front of her.
Untouched.
When I look back up at her face, tears form in her eyes. Before I change my mind, I leave Elena’s room. It may be the last time I see her.
I’ll leave it up to fate.