Blooms of Consequence (Dusk Gate Chronicles Book 4) (10 page)

“Wow. I’m going to have to find him a really good treat.”

 “I think we can figure something out.” He’d been quite proud of the little bird after hearing that story from Ben.

She was quiet for a long moment, studying his face, and he scooted himself closer to her, watching her, too, unable to tear his eyes away. There were smudges of dirt and blood all over her face and neck, but it didn’t matter. Nobody – nothing – had ever looked as beautiful to him as she did right then.

“I love you so much Quinn.”

“I love you, Will. So much.”

“I don’t ever want to be separated from you like that again.”

She found his hand again and squeezed it tightly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Marry me, Quinn.”

Whoa. Where had that come from
?

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t look quite as shocked as he felt. “Are you serious?”

Was he?
Until that moment he had never let his thoughts drift that far into the future, but now that he was thinking about it, he realized that he couldn’t imagine anything else. “Yes, I am.”

She took a deep breath, and he saw her throat move as she swallowed.

His palms started sweating as he waited to hear the refusal that he knew was coming.

But when she spoke again, it wasn’t to say no. “Any chance we could talk about this when you’re done sticking needles in me and after my toothbrush and I have been reunited?”

He chuckled and smiled sheepishly, both relieved and shocked that she hadn’t just come out and told him to get out of here. “That was a little inappropriate of me, wasn’t it?” Although his heart was beating much more quickly than normal, he was surprised to discover that he wasn’t mortified by what he had just done. He was even more surprised to realize that his question had, in fact, been serious.

She shrugged. “Maybe a little.” But she smiled, and somehow the moment wasn’t awkward the way it seemed like it should have been – like him blurting out a proposal to her was the most natural thing in the world.

The atmosphere between them was easy and relaxed – well, as much as it could be, with her still in pain – as he scooted down onto the stool next to her. “So ... do you want to tell me what happened to this leg?” he asked, digging in a drawer for scissors.

“You really don’t want to know, Will.” She grimaced as he touched her.

He stopped. “Oh, yes I do.”

“I was following that guard – I think his name is Levan – up a little ridge, and I thought I might be able to get his knife, but I missed, and he pushed me away. I knew I was taking a risk.”

Anger gripped his stomach. “It’s not your fault, Quinn. You weren’t out there walking through the woods for fun. I wish you’d gotten the knife.”

“What would I have done with it anyway? Gotten away, maybe. But then I’d be wandering in the woods by myself, and we wouldn’t know my family is here. It
is
my fault. I went with him in the first place. So stupid.”

“What happened?” He started cutting away the leg of her pants to expose the whole bandage.

She closed her eyes. “I was getting water from the well by myself – I know I should have asked Ben to go with me, but he was busy, and I thought it would be okay...”

He stopped cutting for a second and squeezed her fingers gently.

“This guard came up behind me, and he had Annie’s horse – the little wooden one you carved for her.” Her eyes widened again suddenly. “Are you sure they’re bringing my family back here?”

At that moment, the door of the clinic opened, and Nathaniel came inside, but he was immediately followed by two more figures.

“William! Quinn!” Charlotte and Stephen both rushed across the room.

“Sorry, Will,” Ben called from the doorway.

William shook his head. “I didn’t expect you to be able to keep my parents out, Ben.”

“What were you thinking?” Charlotte shrieked in William’s ear. “You could have been killed! Or worse!”

“Worse?”

“You know what I mean, William.” She was hugging him so tightly, though, that her anger was unconvincing.

His father, though – he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen his father looking this upset. There were dark purple shadows under Stephen’s eyes, and his cheeks were pale as he looked back and forth between William and Quinn.

“Is she all right?” he asked, eyeing the IV and the stained bandage on Quinn’s leg. Nathaniel had already taken William’s place with the scissors.

“I’m okay,” Quinn answered, and William almost risked a smile at her determination to speak for herself. “Or I will be. What’s going on out there? Is my family here?”

“Yes. They’ve just brought your mother and your little brother and sister to the castle. I spoke with your mother briefly. She very much wants to see you, but I held her off for a little while. I wanted to know how you want to handle it. Simon is taking them upstairs.”

“Good. I don’t want them to see me like this.”

“Quinn, love, you were worse when we left the camp. She’s probably worried,” William said, stroking her hair back.

“I know, but I can’t, Will. I just – I need to be fixed up and clean and dressed, okay?”

“Okay.”

She turned back to Stephen. “Do you know what they’re doing here?”

“I don’t. I only talked to her briefly, and our only topic of conversation was you. You’ve had us scared half to death, Quinn. I don’t know what Jonathan is doing here, either.”

“Can’t you just ask him? He was arrested, wasn’t he?”

“No, William. The guards who found you were more concerned with getting you two and Quinn’s family back here to safety. And it isn’t like they have a protocol for arresting another kingdom’s prince, so they erred on the side of diplomacy.”

“Because Tolliver was being diplomatic when he captured Thomas?”

“Jonathan is not Tolliver,” Quinn said quietly.

Stephen sighed. “We can discuss this later when you’re feeling better. Is she really okay, Will?”

“Her injuries are not terrible, but I think she has redrash.”

“What?” Nathaniel said, taking her arm in his hands and examining it.

“It’s on her abdomen,” William said. “It hasn’t spread to her arms yet, and I haven’t looked at her back. She was already getting sick yesterday, I think – I just didn’t realize it.”

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Charlotte asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“I’ve been better, but I’m already not as bad as I was.” Her eyes widened. “Did I just expose my whole family to this?”

“Annie and Owen, maybe,” Nathaniel said. “But they probably won’t get very sick if they do get it. In little kids, half the time we don’t even know they have it. It’s like Fifth Disease in your world.”

“What is Fifth Disease?”

“Exactly. It’s a childhood rash illness that doesn’t even warrant a real name – like redrash. Most of the time, it’s not even worth missing school over. You had it when you were little, though. You were maybe five, I think.”

“What about my mom? Will I get her sick?”

“No. But I’m sure she won’t be happy about this. She caught it the one time she came here – from William, if I remember correctly. Spent the last two days she was here in bed, throwing up.” Nathaniel sighed. “It didn’t help her like this world any better.”

William’s heart sank. He knew, logically, that it wasn’t his fault, but of course he would have been the one who got Megan sick.

“Do we have to tell her?”

“I’m not comfortable lying to your mother, Quinn,” Stephen said.

“I’m not talking about lying,” she said. “But what if it just doesn’t come up?”

Stephen looked at Quinn, his eyes serious. “I won’t say anything. But if she asks me, I will tell her the truth.”

“Me too.”

“Then how you handle it is your choice, Quinn.”

 “What’s going on with the fire?”

He studied her for another moment before he answered. “They’ve got it fully contained on all fronts that impact people. The rest will come in time. We should be able to lift the evacuations by tomorrow or the next day. There are no serious injuries, so nothing for any of you to worry about. William and Nathaniel – are you up to taking care of her, or shall I send for some help?”

“I’m fine, Stephen,” Nathaniel said. “William can finish if he’d like, or I can take over for him.”

“Will?” Nathaniel said, after Charlotte and Stephen had left again, leaving Ben still watching the door. “What do you want me to do here?” He had finished cutting away the rest of the material on the leg of Quinn’s pants, and was now working on loosening the bandage without hurting her, but as soon as he gave the gentlest of tugs, she wrinkled her nose, and her chest stopped moving for a second.

“Do you want some pain medication, love?” William reached for the supply cart again.

“Will it make me sleepy?”

“Yes. But that might be a good thing. You’re going to need stitches again.”

He could see her processing that, weighing her options, but in the end she shook her head. “I don’t want to be groggy when I see my mom in a while.”

“It will wear off, you know.”

“I just – I need my head to be clear. Please let me try it without.”

“Okay.” He looked over at Nathaniel. “Can you do this, then, please? I think this time I want to be the one who just gets to sit with her and hold her hand.”

“I COULD KILL YOU both with my bare hands right now.”

“Hello to you, too, Linnea.” Quinn said, leaning heavily on William’s arm as he walked her into her bedroom.

“What in the Maker’s name were you thinking?” she flew across the room toward William. “You just introduced us all to a completely new level of stupid.”

“I think they’ve figured that out, Nay.” Thomas rose from the couch, and walked over to assist her. “Are you okay, Quinn?”

“I will be,” she said as the two boys helped her walk to the couch and sit down. “Right now, I’m really sore and tired, and my leg is numb.”

Fortunately, the medicine William had given her for the nausea and the fever was still holding out, and she didn’t feel really sick. Her stomach and back were starting to itch, though.

Linnea still looked furious, but she didn’t say anything else as she went to sit down across from her.

“She really wants to get cleaned up, Linnea,” William said. “I was hoping you could help her get a shower. I’ve got her leg wrapped up nice and tight so she can get it wet. And this is some lotion for when she gets out – she has redrash.”

Quinn shot him a look for talking about her like she wasn’t even here – like she was a child, but he was too far in his zone to notice.

He had removed her IV drip, and just capped the port and left it in her hand so she could walk upstairs and get cleaned up. She knew he was anxious to get another bag of fluids in her when she was done, though.

“Of course. You two get out of here,” Linnea commanded.

Alone in the shower, with Linnea just outside and the door propped open in case she needed her, the stress of the day finally got to her. Under the hot water, the tears gushed out in an unstoppable flow. She wasn’t quiet, but Linnea left her alone, and for that she was grateful.

 After twenty minutes or so, she was finally drained and calm again, and Linnea helped her turn the water off and get into her robe.

Linnea dressed her in silence, helping her rub the soothing lotion on her back and then getting her into a simple, soft cotton blouse and a long flowing skirt that would hide her injury, but allow for easy access when William or Nathaniel came to check on her.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, as Linnea helped her up onto the bed and began combing her hair.

Linnea rolled her eyes. “You I’m not so mad at. I’m a little peeved that you went up to that well without a guard – and you really don’t want to know what you put William through last night – but
him?
Will’s not supposed to be the idiot in the family.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea of what that was like.” Whatever he’d spent the night thinking about had led to that proposal down in the clinic. And her own night – alone and injured in that tent without him – had her seriously considering it. “I think he’s pretty upset about what he did already. He knows how stupid it was. But it’s not like anybody saw any of this coming.”

Linnea nodded. “How long are you going to avoid seeing your mother?”

“I’m not avoiding her. I just wanted to get myself put back together before she saw me in a million pieces.”

“She’s your mother. Do you think she cares about that?”

Quinn took a deep breath. “She needs to see me okay, Linnea. She needs to see me handling this, and even happy here. It’s important.”

“Oh,” Linnea said, setting down the comb and coming around to face Quinn. “You’ve made a decision, haven’t you?”

“I told Prince Jonathan who I really am. In front of my mother.”

It only took Linnea a second to regain her composure and remove the look of shock from her face. “That will do it.”

“Pretty much.”

“All right, then. You need to be on the couch, and not the bed, and I’ll do something nicer with your hair. Maybe a little blush and lipstick, too. You’re awfully pale.”

*          *          *

By the time Linnea and Thomas left her room to go and retrieve her mother, Quinn felt much more human, if not entirely better. She was clean, and her hair was done – she’d even allowed Linnea to talk her into the makeup.

William had re-attached the IV drip, and given her another dose of the anti-nausea medicine, along with some pain medication that was less effective, but at least wouldn’t put her to sleep, now that some of the numbness in her leg was beginning to fade.

He was next to her on the couch, holding her hand as she waited, anxiously staring at her open doorway.

“You can do this, love. It’s just your mom.”

She nodded. She hadn’t yet told William what she’d told Linnea. “I know.”

All of the careful mental preparation she’d been doing for the last few hours was for naught, though, the moment Megan walked in, and dashed across the room to her.

She thought she’d gotten all of her tears out when she was in the shower, thought that all of the hours of deciding how she was going to handle this, would keep any extras at bay, but she was wrong.

The moment her mother’s arms were around her, a torrent of saltwater poured from her eyes, and great heaving sobs wracked her chest.

She wasn’t alone, though, her mother was crying, too.

“Come on Will,” Linnea said from the doorway, and a minute later she shut the door as everyone else disappeared, and it was just Quinn and her mom.

“Are you really all right?” Megan asked when they were both finally calm again. She was looking at Quinn’s IV suspiciously.

“I’m fine, Mom. Nathaniel and William are just very cautious.”

“I saw you earlier. I’ve been so worried about you, and nobody would tell me where you were.”

“I know. I’m sorry – that was my fault. I didn’t want you to see me like that.”

“You didn’t want me to
see
you like that?” Megan’s voice rose. “You’re my child, Quinn! I want to be there for you, especially when you’re sick or hurt.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to hold back the flood of emotion that came at her mother’s words. “I know you do.”

“Then why wouldn’t you let me? Did I really mess things up between the two of us so badly that you don’t even want your mom when you’re hurt?”

It felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. “No, Mom! It isn’t like that.”

“Then tell me what it’s like.”

“First of all, what are you even doing here? Why would you bring the kids here?”

“I was worried about you. I didn’t ever plan on doing anything like that, but the other night, the kids and I were just on our way out to dinner, when my cell phone rings. It was the hospital, calling because Nathaniel hasn’t shown up for two shifts in a row, and they’re worried about him.”

Quinn’s mouth fell open. “Why would they call
you
?”

“I’ve always been his special emergency contact – it was something we worked out years ago, just in case something like this ever happened, in case one day he just stopped showing up at work. Who else could they call? I’m sure they tried his house first, but William isn’t there, either.”

“I guess that makes sense, but still...”

 “I know you said you might not come home until the end of the break, but when I got that call – I just knew something was wrong. I couldn’t just sit there, knowing so much more time was passing for you here...”

“But what would possess you to bring the kids? If you were so sure something was wrong, why would you bring Annie and Owen?”

“It was a very last minute decision. It was just starting to get dark. I could either take the kids into the restaurant and sit and worry about you, or drive to the bridge. I didn’t even really think about it.”

Quinn sighed. “I know how those decisions are. I thought people maybe grew out of that.”

Megan chuckled softly. “Growing up isn’t a one-time thing. There’s no magic point where you’re just grown up and you make the right decisions all the time.”

“Well that stinks.”

Her mom actually smiled. “Anyway, the important thing now I guess is that we’re all safe, and you’re going to be okay, and we can all go home together when the gate opens again.”

A weight dropped into Quinn’s stomach so suddenly that she was very glad for the medicine William had given her – without it, she might have thrown up again right then.

She stared down at her hands, remembering the conversation she’d had with Linnea while she was finishing getting ready.

“Your mother isn’t going to like what you have to say, Quinn,” Linnea had said. “You have to understand that and be ready for it. There’s nothing you can do, no amount of explaining that’s going to change that. In time, she might learn how to be okay with it, but not tonight. You still have to tell her. You can’t dance around the issue, or try to soften the blow, or any of those things that ultimately fall into the category of not being honest with her. She deserves the truth, and she needs to hear it from you.”

She knew Linnea was right, knew that it was why she was in here alone with her mom. William would have stayed with her, to make it easier. Linnea and Thomas would have, too. But that wasn’t fair. This was between Quinn and Megan, and her mom did deserve to hear the truth from her.

“I’m not going home, Mom.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but she knew her mom heard, because suddenly she grew completely still.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean... I might go back there sometimes, temporarily – to visit, to see you, but I’m going to live here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Quinn! You’re sixteen. You can’t just move out!”

“I’m almost seventeen. And it doesn’t matter, anyway. Sixteen is of age here. I’m an adult.”

“Well, in our world that’s still called kidnapping.”

She took a deep breath. “So call the police, then, Mom. Tell them I’ve been kidnapped and I’m being held in a castle in a kingdom in another world.”

“You’re not even finished with high school!”

“I know. But that doesn’t matter here, either.”

“Why, Quinn? Why are you doing this? Is your life with me and Jeff and Annie and Owen really so terrible that you feel the need to run off and live like a fairy tale princess? Is that it? Is it because we don’t live in a castle with servants running around, catering to your every whim?”

Her jaw dropped. “Really, Mom? That’s what you think of me?” Tears threatened behind her eyes again, but she wasn’t going to let them win.

 “Is this about William, then? You’re going to leave your family and run off after a boy at seventeen?”

Quinn bit her tongue, fighting back the rising anger that would only make things worse if she allowed it to get hold of her. Her mother was upset. Very upset, and she had a good reason to be. She was going to say things she might not mean.

She waited for her mother to get it out of her system, to finish yelling, finish what she needed to say. And then she allowed silence to settle between them for a long moment before she spoke.

Her hand drifted up to the necklace that Linnea had helped her put on – her gold birth pendant. She held it, rubbing the etched surfaces between her thumb and forefinger.

“My father lied to you.”

“No kidding. He told me his family was loving and supportive and that they would never do something like come and try to take my child away.”

The tears almost won this time, she had to look away for a second while she blinked and wiped under her eyes with her sleeve. “Look, Mom ... I know you’re upset, and that you have every right to be. But I’m trying to talk to you here. You aren’t going to like this conversation. I can’t change that – and neither can you. But we could try to talk and understand each other without saying mean things that we’ll regret later. Please?”

Megan’s eyes were red and damp again, too, but after a moment, she nodded. “I’m sorry. I’ll try. But I don’t think it’s a given yet that I’m going to lose this argument.”

She nodded. That was okay. Her mother didn’t have to accept everything tonight. “So long as you let me be honest with you about what my intentions are.”

 “Fine. So Samuel lied to me about what, exactly?”

“Who he was. Who his family is. Because Stephen and Charlotte are not his family.”

“I know Stephen is only his cousin or something, Quinn. He never told me much about his real parents. He told me he went to live with Stephen’s parents when he was a teenager – they were his aunt and uncle, I think.”

“Well, they might have been very distantly related, but they were not his actual aunt and uncle.”

“No, you’re right. He did say they were more distantly related – otherwise William would be
your
cousin. I know all of this. He didn’t lie about it. I don’t know why you think he did. I know he wasn’t really a prince or anything special. And that was fine with me. It was bad enough I was marrying someone from another planet.”

Quinn rolled her eyes at the planet remark, but decided not to comment. “That’s the part he lied about, Mom – the part about not really being a prince.”