Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (37 page)

Philip
came
over
and
sat
by
Lee,
breathless
and
seeming
to
battle
with
the
words
escaping
his
own
mouth.
From
behind
watery
eyes,
he forced
himself
to
acknowledge the truth.
“There
is
nothing
I
can
do,
Lee.
I
think
we
have
lost
him!”

Lee
took
a
deep
breath
,
trying
to
process
what
was
being
said. But
he
could
not.

Jennifer
once
drew
his
attention
back
to
her
and
earnestly
asked,
“What
would
you
do
to
have
him
here?”
Lee
simply
answered,
“Anything!”

Again
Jennifer
kissed
Lee,
this
time
she
whispered,
“I
might
not
be
able
to
take
your
pain
away,
but
maybe
I
can
give
you
your
brother
back…”
She
stood
up
and
walked
towards
the
table
where
Tom
was
lying
on
his
deathbed.
Making
her
way
around
to
the
other
side
so
she
could
look
Lee
in
the
eyes
warmly,
lovingly,
fondly
and
she
affirmed,
“From
the
moment
I
met
you,
I
knew
you
were
different.
I
didn’t
know
how,
and
I
still
don’t,
but
one
thing
I
know
is
I
love
you
with
every
breath
I
have.
Every
beat
of
my
heart
beats
for
you.
I
loved
you
when
I
said
hello
and
I
still
love
you
now
at
the
end,
when
I
say
goodbye…”

Lee heard these
words,
stood
straight
up
through
any
physical
pain
he
endured;
it
was
secondary
to
what
he had
heard.
Trying
to
make
a
dash
across
the
room
to
stop
Jennifer,
but
he
was
too
late.
She placed
her
hand
on
Tom’s
head
and light fused her palm to his forehead. The skin on her face began to age and weather as if she were an old woman, the only thing that stayed unchanged were her eyes, which she kept firmly locked onto Lee’s. Her hands must have only been on Tom for a few seconds but these seconds seemed painfully long. Breaking her gaze away from Lee her eyes rolled back in her head and
with
that
she
collapsed
on
the
floor.

The cabin around Lee froze for a moment and all he could see was the bodies of Tom and Jennifer lying in front of him. The pain in his chest overcame all the other injuries that his body was suffering from and for a second his worst nightmare played out before his eyes. To lose one was unthinkable. But to lose both of them would surely break him in two.

Lee
ran
over,
grabbing
her
as
she
lay
on
the
floor,
pulling
her
up
close
to
him.
Lee
was
beside
himself
fearing
he
was
losing
her
as
well,
but
instead
of
looking
to
a
past
already
experienced
as
he
had
when
Tom
lay
on
his
lap,
he looked
to
a
future
that
he
was
going
to
be
denied
if
Jennifer
died.
Seeing
the
kids
they
were
going
to
have;
he
saw
the
day
they
would
get
married
with
Tom
by
his
side
as
his
best
man.
He
saw
them
growing
grey
together
and
he
saw
this
disappearing.

Philip
also
ran
across
the
room.
Taking
Jennifer
out
of
Lee’s
arms
, he
blew
into
her
mouth,
doing
this
a
few
times
until
Jennifer
let
out
a
gasp
for
air
as
if
taking
her
first
breath
after
drowning.
Her youth came back with each breath taken.
She
struggled
to
catch
her
breath
for
a
moment
or
two
and
then
focused
on
Lee
.

“It's
too
late,
there’s
nothing
I
can
do,
I
can’t
bring
him
back…”
It
was
right
then
that
Lee
also
knew
why
Jennifer
found
him
so
special
and
different
to
touch.
It
was
then
Lee
got
a
better
understanding
of
what
Jennifer’s
strength
and
weaknesses
were, he could see it was tied in with her lifeforce and how it flows through her,
but this was
not
really his
concern at
that
moment.

Lee
and
Philip
stood
up
and
walked
to
the
table
where
Tom
was.
Philip
began
to
work
on
his
son
again
to
try
to
save
him.
Tom
was
so
strong
that
even
for
Philip
giving
CPR
was
like
trying
to
give
CPR
to
a
wall.
Philip wouldn’t let his son go and kept fighting to save him. His arms got tired and he could hear Tom’s already broken ribs crack under the pressure of Philip’s robust hands on his chest.

Tom’s
eyes
opened
and
he looked
at
his
brother
and
father. Looking them both in the eye without talking, he told them to stop and let him go. And they did. Philip’s hands fell down by his side and he just stood looking at his big strong son. Tom’s eyes
rolled
back
in
his
head,
and
giving
out
a
soft
breath,
he
was
gone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lee
and
Philip
stared
at
each
other
in
disbelief
at
what
had
just
happened. Collapsing
to
the
floor
as
his
whole
world
fell
apart
in
that
moment,
Lee
couldn’t
believe
what
was
unfolding.
Sitting
on
the
ground
by
the
table
where
his
brother
lay
, he tried
to
accept
that
he
was
there
but
he
wasn't,
refusing
to
believe
that
this
could
actually
be
reality.

Composing
himself,
he
mustered
his
strength
and
got
to
his
feet.
Fixing
his
view
on
the
ground
first,
he
then
brought
his
eyes
up
as
far
as
the
table,
taking
another
breath
and
looking
up
again,
this
time
to
his
brother’s
lifeless
face.

Lee
just
stared
at
the
body
that
his
brother
used
to
live
in
and
the
deep
sinking
numbness
he
had
experienced
earlier
just
multiplied.
Lee
couldn’t
cope
with
this.
Once
more
he walked
over
to
where
his
brother
lay
and
ran
his
fingers
through
his
hair
as
if
for
reassurance
that
the
man
in
front
of
him
was
actually
his brother.
Lee
knew
it
was
him,
but
found
it
hard
to
reconcile
that
he
was
there,
but
he
was
not.
Staring
at
his
brother,
looking
for
signs
of
life
that
would
not
come,
he felt
someone’s
hand
caress
his
and
take
hold
of
it.
He
didn’t
turn
to
see
who
was
there,
as
he
knew
already
it
was
the
soft
touch
of
Jennifer.

Lee
simply
stared
at
his
brother
and
choked,
“I'm
not
ready
for
this…”
Each
breath
Lee
now
took
with
tremendous
difficulty.
Gasping
for
air
again
he
spoke
softly,
“I
am
not
ready
to
say
goodbye…”
Pausing,
he wiped
a
tear
from
his
face
and
whimpering said,
“I
am
not
ready
to
say
goodbye
and
he's
already
gone.”

Jennifer
squeezed
his
hand
reassuringly
and
just
listened
to
his
words. She was determined to be a rock for him, for whatever he needed and right now she knew he just needed her to be there. He just needed her unwavering support as he tried to get through this tragedy.

“He's
gone
and
I
never
told
him
I
loved
him,
I
know
he
knew
I
did,
but
I
never
told
him…”

Philip
had
already
taken
his
phone
from
his
pocket
and
began
to
let
people
know
what
had
happened.
Ringing
the
hospital
where
he
worked,
he
requested
someone
come
to
remove
the
body.
Ringing
close
family
members,
he
asked
them
to
spread
the
word
to
people
who
would
be
concerned.
After
he
made
a
few
calls
he
turned
to
Lee
with
deep reluctance,
saying,
“I
know
this
is
tragic.
I
know
we
are
both
dying
inside,
but
you
have
to
get
out
of
here.
There
will
be
people
asking
questions
and
with
your
body
as
injured
as
it
is,
you
need
to
not
be
here…”

Jennifer
took
Lee
by
the
hand
and
led
him
away;
she
took
him
outside
where
he
could
gather
his
thoughts.
Sitting on a bench outside the cabin, she held his hand in both of hers, feeling the sorrow pass through him with each tremor of his hand. This was only the beginning and she knew it. She had been through this pain before and it only got worse and never got easier. You just had to learn to make room for the pain in your life. But she was going to do everything in her power to help this man. Gently she led him from the bench and to the car, knowing that he could barely see what was happening anymore, as he was completely lost in his grief.

She
took
Lee
home,
tended
his
wounds,
and
waited
until
he
was
ready
to
ask
him
what
happened.
There was no urgency because no matter what had unfolded that night, she knew the feelings between them would be unwavering. But she also knew that Lee would need to process it sooner rather than later and talking it through with her was the best way she could think of right now.

Lee
calmly
told
her
everything
that
transpired
that
night,
about
how
he
found
the
compound
high
up
in
the
hill,
found
and
rescued
his
brother
and
that
McKay
used
Tom
as
bait
to
flush
out
whoever
had
the
files
Tom
found.

Lee
fell
asleep
in
his
own
bed
feeling
a
little
safer
and
when
he
woke
he
felt
a
familiar
numbness. His eyes felt heavy in his head and sore from uncontrollable bouts of crying that seemed to hit him every hour. Pain still resonated in his throat; another side effect from the cries of loss. A deep pain was drilling deep in his head as if a part of his brain had been removed, his body was no longer his own. He felt detached from himself physically as his body went into autopilot and got up out of the bed.

Slowly
dressing
himself,
his
body
still
ached,
but
that
was
secondary
to
what
was
happening
in
his
head
and
his
heart.
Making
his
way
downstairs
, he
forced
himself
to
eat
some
toast
despite
not
wanting
too.
Jennifer
was
by
his
side
every
second
of
the
process
and
looked
after
everything
for
him.
“Where
is
Tom?”
Lee asked, with need in his eyes.

“He's
already
at
your
Dad's
place…”

Jennifer
and
Lee
got
in
the
car
and left
in
the
direction
of
Philip’s
house.
As
they
drove,
Lee
gazed
out
of
the
window
, thinking
it
strange
how
people
were
going
about
their
business
as
usual.