Myopia (Young Adult Zombie Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria Series) (18 page)

“You know what it is?”

“My spots, my shana, I …” He was slightly embarrassed. “I must have given it to you somehow.”

“So, are we sick?”

“They are birthmarks that sometimes move, and clearly, they have moved onto you. Everyone knows about shana where I am from--even those who do not have them--I just assumed you did. I am sorry.”

“Why did they move?”

“Because you are in love with me.”

“Oh.” Biting her lip, she rolled her sleeve down and resumed warming herself.

“But you cannot let anyone see this,” he warned. “The empirics—”

“Trust me,
no one
is going to see this.”

It was as if she was ashamed and this stung, even though they had to be discreet.

“The empirics will be here soon, so I need to keep my distance from you until they are gone. I cannot risk them even suspecting we are friends. They might try to do something.”

“When will they get here? How many are there?” Trembling, she moved away from the biel core.

“We have a few days and they will be here.” He didn’t want to worry her but he did not want to hide anything from her anymore. With all she was going through, it felt better to give her a few days of peace. He also knew that she could go to her mother with this, but he couldn’t lie to her. “Seven empirics will be here in a matter of days.”

“What? So soon? What are we going to do?”

“Nothing. They will ask a series of questions and once they have what they want, they will leave. We just want to take back our artifacts,” he explained.

“And they won’t take anyone from the island?”

“Wisteria.” Out of breath, Jason burst into the room. “Wisteria, you have to come now. It’s your mother.”

*****

“What happened to my mother?” From the look on Jason’s face, Wisteria knew this was bad. “Where is she?”

“On her way home,” he answered. “You need to go home now.”

“I am certain she is fine. I saw her on my way in,” Bach tried to comfort her.

She shoved past him. Getting home, she saw her mother in bed surrounded by Sabine Morel, one of the doctors on the island, Yvette’s stepmother, and Ferris.

Her mother seemed asleep.

“Mummy.” She hurried to the bed. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She fainted on her patrol today,” Sabine said, signaling to her mother’s patrol partner to leave. “She hasn’t woken up yet.”

“But she’ll be okay?” Sitting on the bed next to her mother, Wisteria placed her palm on her mother’s forehead. She felt warm.

“She’ll be up in a few hours,” the doctor replied.

“Why did she faint? Did she hear about Coles?”

Sabine laughed. “Yes, she heard about that. But that’s not why she fainted. It happens sometimes in the early stages of pregnancy. She might be anemic, but I’ll have to run some tests.”

“My mother is pregnant?”

“Yes, didn’t she tell you? This wasn’t a secret, as far as I know.”

“So Major Coles knew?”

“Your mother will have to explain that to you.” The doctor stood up. “When she wakes up, give her plenty of water, keep her cool, and make sure she stays off her feet. I’ll be back in the morning.”

“Do you know where David is?” she asked the doctor.

“I’ll get someone to look for him.” Moving to the door, Sabine stopped when she saw Bach standing in the doorway. “Maybe Bert can help you find him?” She left before he could reply.

He stood watching her mother with some uncertainty. “Coles left her and he knew she was pregnant. Perhaps he did not love her or learned the baby was not his.” There was no love lost between him and her mother.

“Bach, why do you say things like that?” She glared at him for a moment while realizing again,
He really isn’t like us.

“Wisteria…”

“Please leave. I want to be alone with my mother.”

Glowering, he turned and headed for the door.

“Wait.” She shook her head. Knowing her mother, what he said could be true. Coles didn’t say it was her mother who wanted to end things, but he might’ve been lying. They both could be lying. What she did know was that right now, her mother was unconscious and her stepfather was gone.

She signaled for Bach to enter. “Can you stay here with me until she wakes up?”

“I should look for your brother.”

“No, David will come home when he’s ready.” Forcing David to come back now would just make things worse because he’d be livid. She didn’t want to deal with that. Instead, she lay down next to her mother and watched her sleep.

He walked over and sat down next to her.

She was glad that he was with her and didn’t seem to want anything but to be here.

*****

The minutes turned into hours, but her mother never stirred. By eleven that night, she knew there had to be a problem. “She’s been out for eight hours. Sabine said she should be awake by now.” She got up. “I’m going to get her. Unless there’s anything you can do?”

“Pulse her?” He shook his head. “She is pregnant. I am not sure what will happen to the baby if I did that.”

Biting her lip, she grabbed her coat and left the room.

“Where are you going?” He followed her.

“Can you wait here?” Putting on her coat, she headed to the door. “I’ll get the doctor. If my brother comes home, tell him what happened.”

“Why do you not let me go?”

“No, no, stay with her, so I’ll know she’s safe.”

She felt him squeeze her hand.

“I love you,” he whispered.

At the moment, all she wanted to do was fall apart in his arms and have him take care of everything. Sadly, she knew that wasn’t going to help her mother or stop the Family from doing whatever it was they were planning. Peeling herself away from him, she left the house.

She rode her bike toward Sabine’s house. On her way, she noticed James, Jason’s dog, running through the street alone. It was odd because Jason never let the mutt roam alone, afraid one of the residents would catch him and use him for food.

Arriving at Sabine’s house, she banged on the high gate surrounding the compound.

After a few minutes, Yvette came out. “What are you doing here?”

She hadn’t seen Yvette since they were outside the walls of the island. The girl had been excused from school for a week. “I’m looking for Dr. Morel.”

“Please, it’s Mrs. Morel, not Doctor,” Yvette corrected. “My stepmother is a surgeon.”

In England, once doctors became surgeons, they were no longer referred to as Doctor. Calling a surgeon ‘doctor’ was a sign of disrespect. Why that mattered right now was a wonder to her. “My mother is sick and I need to talk to Sabine,” Wisteria pleaded.

“Can’t it wait until the morning? Sabine is busy.”

“No, it can’t.” She tried to push her way through, and saw Sabine standing at the door.

“What is it?” the woman slurred, like she’d been drinking.

“My mother still hasn’t woken up,” Wisteria explained. “You said she’d be awake in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll be there shortly,” Sabine called out and stumbled. “Yvette, make me some coffee.”

“Whatever, cow,” Yvette sneered at the older woman and stormed into the house.

“I’ll be there soon.” Sabine staggered away.

Not convinced Sabine would be in any condition to help her mother that evening, Wisteria headed over to Jason’s. Sure, he was a vet, but he might be able to do something.

When she reached the tower, she saw James trotting in through the open main doors. Again, it was weird to see the dog running around, because Jason always kept a good eye on him. Following the dog in, she found the building completely dark. Shining her flashlight around the hall, she made her way to the main apartment when saw something out of the corner of her eye.

There was a body lying on the middle of the floor a few feet away from the stage.

The body had sandy blond hair and she knew it was not Jason. Hurrying over, she rolled him over and saw it was Steven. “Steven.” She shook him, but he didn’t move. Something grazed her in the dark and she jumped back. “Oh!” Shining her light around in fear, she heard something run past, and it licked her arm. “Oh, James.” Relieved, she gently moved the dog aside and turned back to Steven.
 
She wasn’t sure what was wrong with him, but she wondered if it was the same thing that had happened to her mother.

Getting to her feet, she searched the tower for the vet, but she didn’t find him or anyone else. Now she needed Sabine for her mother and for Steven. She hurried back to the doctor’s house. Getting to the gate, she heard yelling and crying from inside. Curiously, the gate and front door had been left open. Everyone in Smythe locked their doors because they were afraid of biters attacking. Now the home of the new head of security was wide open? There was something seriously wrong and she wanted to run away, but she needed Sabine to help her mother.

Wisteria reached for her sword, but realized she’d left it at home. Looking round, she picked up a large rock, and carefully entered. Spread out on the floor in the dining room, she saw Sabine collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Bruno was kneeling over her, trying to perform CPR.

“You did this, you bitch,” Yvette hissed when she saw Wisteria. “She was fine until you came here.”

“No, she was drunk when I came,” she replied.

“Sabine’s allergic to alcohol, so I don’t know what you saw. Just get out.” Yvette pointed to her. “Get out of my house now.”

She backed out, but stopped when she heard a loud thud.

Hearing the sound as well, Bruno leapt up. “Porter.”

“My brother.” Yvette hurried after him.

Following Yvette, Wisteria saw Yvette’s ten-year-old brother unconscious on the ground. “What happened?”

“Get out! You’re doing this!” Yvette screeched at her.

Walking out of the house in a daze, Wisteria headed back to the bungalow.

A passing patrol car cruised to a halt in the middle of the street. The driver just sat in the car.

Walking by, she saw the driver was asleep behind the wheel. “What’s going on?” she muttered.

“He’s unconscious, right? Passed out?”

Wisteria jumped, surprised to see Hailey standing behind her. “You scared me. I don’t know.” Moving over to the driver’s side door, she knocked on the car window, but the man didn’t respond. “How did you know he was unconscious, Hailey? Did something happen to your father?”

Hailey was too far away to see the person inside the car. “People are passed out on my street, too. I came to find Sabine.”

“I was coming here about my mum—”

“Well, after she’s seen my mother. My father is the head of the leadership council. We’ve got to make sure she’s okay first.”

“Hailey—”

“This isn’t an argument. If my mother dies because Sabine was looking after your garbage family, your mother will get evicted. And without Coles to protect her, I don’t know how long you’ll survive.”