Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (25 page)

"Good," he smiled. "It would have been terrible for the doc to go into your hotel room to pack your stuff for you and find a condom wrapper."

              She literally stopped walking for a second to look at him. "Who are you?" she asked slowly. He just smiled at her, and she shook her head again. They were almost to the room. "We didn't even use a condom," she quietly reminded him.

              "Oh my God, you're right!" he exclaimed.

"Stop it! You know I've been on birth control for five years."

              "Oh, yes, the great cramping incident of 2010," he waxed. "Lizzie was beside herself, not knowing what to do.... You missed eleven days of school that year."

"We're here," she enlightened him, gesturing at the front door.

              "That we are," he agreed. "Welcome to my home. Come on in," he said as she pushed the door open and helped him inside. He was fading fast now.

The cottage was only two rooms and a bathroom. The door opened into a compact living room area with a small stove and sink in the corner next to a fireplace. Cadence glimpsed what might be a bathroom in the back. The other room was a very small bedroom with a full sized bed, a straight-back wooden chair, a narrow dresser, and little else. She pulled him into the bedroom and led him to the bed. "Can you take your shoes off?" she asked as she began to remove his shirt. He complied without answering, and the distraction of his physique had to be shoved out of her mind.

              She moved to unbutton his jeans, which brought him back to her for a second. "Cadence, I don't know if we have time for that right now, but I'm willing to find out."

"Shut up," she said, trying not to giggle despite the situation. "You'll be more comfortable during your very long nap if you take these off."

Once he was down to his boxers, she helped him beneath the blankets, and then sat on the bed beside him. Beads of perspiration dotted his brow, and she took a second to wipe them away. "I've got Jamie on the IAC, and he's going to walk me through this," she explained.

              "Tell him I said, 'hi.' He'll know what it means," he joked.

"Green Aaron is weird." She couldn't help but giggle in spite of his condition.

"At least he's not creepy," he teased her, reminding her of the term she'd used to describe him the first time she had met him.

              She chuckled again for a second, but it was all she could do to hold back her tears. Her face settled into a serious expression, and she looked at him for a long moment before saying, "I love you, Aaron."

              "I love you, too, Cadence," he assured her. "I'm so sorry."

              "No, don't be sorry," she insisted. "In a few hours, it won't matter. You'll be back to your old self, and we'll get busy bringing in those bastards."

              "I'm just... so tired. I've been so tired for so long. I didn't even care anymore... about any of it. All I cared about was you."

              She leaned down and kissed him. "Right now, all I care about is you. You don't owe anyone any explanations. And if you don't want to be the Leader anymore, then don't be. I don't care. I just want to be with you. That's all that matters."

              He nodded, and she wasn't sure if he no longer had the strength to speak or was at a loss for words. Jamie gave her explicit instructions for how to administer the serum, cautioning her to make sure both vials were ready to go before she inserted the first one, because there was a good chance he would be reeling in pain after the first, which would make it much more difficult to get the second one in.
"At least I can clearly see his vein,"
she pointed out to the Healer. Jamie instructed her to climb on top of him and secure his left arm under her knee, holding his body down as best she could. "Are you ready, babe?" she asked.

              He slowly indicated that he was, and she leaned down and kissed him one more time before placing the blunt end of the second shot in her mouth so it would be ready. She lined up the first shot and pushed the plunger all the way down quickly, as Jamie had told her to. Aaron's whole body immediately went completely rigid beneath her, and she knew he was in excruciating pain. Tears pouring down her face, she tossed the first syringe on the floor, and pulled the second shot out of her mouth. He attempted to pull his arm away from her reflexively, but she was stronger than him in his current condition, and she stuck him again, quickly. His reaction the second time was not quite as intense, as if he simply couldn't take any more, and she was fairly certain he lost consciousness, though it was hard to tell since he was already so far out of it.

She tossed the second syringe, and collapsed next to him on the bed, throwing her leg across his body, her arm across his chest, an attempt to reassure him that she was still there. His body began to spasm beneath her, and she was inconsolable, no longer able to push aside the possibility that she might lose him, too. She buried her head in his neck, begging God for mercy at last, wondering how she was ever going to make it through this. "Please, please," she began to plead. "I can't... I can't handle it. You've got to let him be okay. Please...."

              Cadence had forgotten that her IAC was still on. She could hear some of her teammates crying as well, and then, Hannah's serene voice began to recite the Lord's Prayer. Christian, Jamie, Meaghan, Aurora, Shane, and Cale all joined in. They were all there. She suddenly felt embraced by the love of her teammates, and eventually cried herself to sleep.

              When Cadence woke up, it was dark outside. She immediately checked Aaron for a pulse. It was weak, but he was alive. At some point, she must have forced her IAC off because she was all alone. She kissed him on the cheek, and then carefully climbed over him, collected the used needles she'd tossed earlier and put them in her backpack for safe keeping, and then set of looking for some water and the restroom.

              It was late evening. She had slept for over twelve hours. While she was aware it made no difference to Aaron, he was out either way, she felt horrible. What if he had needed her and she was asleep? She vowed not to fall asleep again until he awoke. She went back to check on him, and using her night vision, she could see that the green color had spread to the veins in his shoulder, but it hadn't gone any further. She wasn't sure, but that seemed like a good thing. She adjusted the blanket and kissed him softly on the forehead before taking a seat in the very uncomfortable chair next to the bed.

Turning the IAC back on, she was immediately greeted by her teammates.
"How's he doing?"
Jamie asked.

"He's still alive,"
Cadence assured them.
"It's hard to say. He's out. The veins in his arm are green all the way up to his shoulder. What do you think?"

              There was a long pause of consideration before the Healer replied,
"I don't know, Cadence. Most of the time, if it's going to take, it does it pretty quickly,"
he admitted.
"But then, I did some research, and there are only five noted cases where this has worked."

              She didn't like that answer.
"Well, there's about to be six,"
she assured him.
"Besides, those were all Hunters, so it could be completely different."

             
"That's true."

"And you thought I'd Transform in a few hours, and it took days,"
she reminded him.

             
"All valid points,"
he agreed.
"I'm not trying to discourage you, sweetheart,"
Jamie explained, empathetically, "
I just want you to know what my experience has been, that's all."

             
"I know, Jamie. I'm sorry,"
she said quietly.
"How are you feeling?"

             
"I'm okay,"
he said, his voice sounding a bit stronger than it had the day before.
"I'm home. All of us are home now."

"That's good,"
she said.
"I can't wait to see you--all of you."

"We can't wait to have you two home, either,"
Aurora assured her.

"Speaking of home,"
Cadence said,
"has anyone contacted my parents? They don't even know where I'm at."

"I talked to your mom and your grandmother earlier today,"
Hannah assured her.
"Your family sends their love."

             
"Thank you, Hannah,"
she said quietly. They were silent for a few moments, no one really knowing what else to say.
"Jamie, do you think there's anything at all I can be doing to help?"
she asked.

             
"Other than praying and making sure he's as comfortable as possible, I don't think so,"
he admitted.

              She sighed, afraid that was what he was going to say.
"Okay. Well, I know y'all want to know what's going on, but I'm going to turn the IAC back off. I just need to concentrate on what's going on here."

              As much as they didn't want her to cut them off again, they seemed to understand, and she said her goodbyes. She leaned over and felt his forehead. He still felt warm, but not as clammy. His breathing seemed fairly shallow, however, which concerned her. She kissed his forehead, and he stirred just a little bit. "Aaron?" she whispered into his ear. She got no response, however, and she scooted back into the chair, left in her own solitary thoughts with only the sounds of the insects outside to keep her company.

Eventually, their cries brought her outside. The heavens were ablaze in a spectacular composition of twinkling lights, an assurance that she was not alone after all, and despite all the loss she had gone through in the past year, her prayers were not for naught; perhaps she just needed to be more convincing. She fell to her knees there in the open field in front of the house beneath a myriad of constellations and prayed, begging God to heal him, to bring him back to her. Otherwise... she had no idea how she would go on.

              After a few hours, she went back inside to check on him and saw that he had shifted his position. Immediately, she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Aaron?" she asked quietly. "Can you hear me?"

It took a long moment, but his eyelids began to flutter, and then he opened his eyes. She gasped. "Hi," she said smiling. "How are you feeling?"

              He swallowed hard and she grabbed the glass of water she had sitting nearby. With a lot of effort, she was able to get a few sips down him before he finally said, "Not good."

"But you're getting better," she assured him, running her fingers through his hair.

He smiled weakly. "You're so beautiful. I tried to resist you, but I couldn't."

              She leaned forward and kissed him gently. "Good. I'm glad you didn't," she whispered. "Is there anything I can get you?"

              "You," he replied quietly.

              "I'm right here," she assured him.

He moved his head slightly to the side to indicate he wanted her in the bed with him.

"Oh, no, I can't. I'll fall asleep again," she explained.

              "Cadence, I want to hold you."

              "But, what if you need me?"

              "I need you now."

She understood. Slipping her shoes off, she pulled off her shirt, and took off her jeans before pulling back the blanket and pressing her body against his. He felt warmer than usual, but at the feel of her, he sighed, and she was hopeful the skin-to-skin contact would have a positive effect. Within a few moments, he smiled at her one last time before fading away again.

              Surprisingly, she didn't fall asleep. She spent the rest of the night wrapped in his arms, listening to him breath. He stirred a few more times but never opened his eyes, and when the sun came up, she was thankful he had made it through the night.

              And then, something changed.

The sky was still full of pink and orange streaks when she realized his breathing was becoming irregular. It began to grow more shallow, as well. She tried rousing him, changing his position, and removing the blanket and herself in case he was just too hot, all the while pleading with him to stay with her, but nothing seemed to be helping. At around 6:00 AM, he took one labored, shallow breath, and then there was silence.

              Cadence waited, sitting on the edge of the chair, leaning in and listening intently. A minute passed, then two. "Aaron?" she said, holding back her tears. Still nothing. "Aaron, come on, don't do this to me," she begged. She checked his pulse and pressed her head against his chest. There was absolutely no sign of life. "Aaron!" she screamed, no longer able to fight the tears. "You can't do this to me! Come back!" she begged. She had taken a CPR class in high school, so she tried going through the sequence of breathing and chest compressions until her fists were sore and she was hyperventilating. Eventually, she collapsed on his chest in despair, sobbing uncontrollably.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually she pulled herself off of him. She almost couldn't bear to look at him. Even now, completely still and silenced, he was certainly the most beautiful person she had ever seen. She ran her hand across his cheek and down his jaw. His eyes were closed, and she would leave them that way, even though she longed to see his eyes one last time. They wouldn't be the same anyway. She kissed his lips, noting how cold they felt, kissed his forehead, and then pulled the blankets up to his chin. "I love you, Aaron McReynolds," she said quietly.