The Pulse Series (Book 1): Pulse (20 page)

I turned to look at Jane, but as my eyes scanned over the woods I saw a man step up from behind me. Bradley was here! I was safe! I turned to look up at him with tears of joy, but instead all I saw was the face of Benny. My heart dropped.

"So you need your goon for help, huh?"

Jane spat toward me. "He's just here to make sure you don't try to run away. We're sorting this out right now."

I shook my head. "I don't even know what the hell you want with me. Why do you hate me so much?"

She glared at me. "Because you stole Bradley."

I blinked at her. A small smile crawled onto my face. I could help it. I burst out in laughter. She was shaking in rage at me. I wasn't feeling at all charitable after she had slammed her foot into my face.

"Aw. Widdle Janey had a cwush did she?"

"He was mine."

I snorted. "He was never yours. You are nothing but a sad little love struck girl. It's pathetic. He and I are together, and there is nothing that's going to change that.

"This might." She stepped forward faster than I thought she could and slammed her forehead into the bridge of my nose. I heard the crack and cried out in pain and the blood started pouring. My eyes watered and I couldn't see. I fell to the ground and landed on the mush that was half snow half dirt.

I felt Jane lift me and start dragging me. I blinked to clear my eyes and saw that we were only a few feet from the edge of the pond.

I heard the low voice of Benny behind us. He sounded worried. "Jane." She didn't respond. "Jane!"

Jane dragged me closer to the pond and I started scrambling in the snow. I couldn't get a grip, and all too soon we were at the edge of the water.

"This is for stealing my boyfriend, bitch." She lifted me by the back of the hair and slammed my face down into the water.

I screamed in pain as I came into contact with the freezing water, and thrashed as hard as I could. I could feel the water rushing into my mouth, but no matter how hard I struggled I couldn't get out of her grip. The world started to go black and struggling was getting harder. I felt tired. Weak. I felt like giving up. The pain started to fade. I just wanted to sleep. Was that so much to ask? I was about to try to get some rest when I felt myself get pulled out of the water and placed back onto the ground.

It was too dark for me to make anything out. All I saw were blurry shapes moving around me. I closed my eyes to stop the world from spinning, and it was only moments before I fell into a deep, dark sleep.

TWENTY-FOUR

I woke to a beeping noise that pounded through my head. Each beep came with a spike of pain that spread out from behind my forehead. I tried to open my eyes but a bright light blinded me, forcing me to shut them tight again to prevent my head from hurting more.

"Alex, are you awake?"

I opened my mouth to respond but devolved into a coughing fit that lit my throat alight with flame.

"Here, drink," said the voice that I now recognized as Bradley. I felt him press a cup to my lips and I gulped the contents down. My throat was still sore, but much better after the coolness of the water.

"T—Too bright."

I felt the bed move as Bradley stood and walked over to shut the blinds. The light coming through my eyelids dimmed, and I tested opening my eyes. I still needed to blink a few times for them to adjust, but I was able to look around the room. I was laying on a bed in a room hooked up to a heart monitor which was causing the beeping. I winced at it and Bradley walked over to it and reduced the volume. I went to grab the cup again, but found my hands wrapped in bandages. He lifted it to my lips again and I drained the cup. I smiled at him, but he just frowned back at me.

"How do you feel?"

"Like hell. How long have I been out?"

"Three days." Bradley shook his head. "What happened?"

I paused before responding. I remembered going to the pond to meditate, but after that it was all a blur. "I… think I had a fight?"

Bradley let out a humorless snort of laughter and shook his head. "Yes, evidence would suggest that you were in a fight. What we want to know is, who with?"

"We?"

"There is an inquiry to what happened, but due to the snow there wasn't much to go on at the scene. We were hoping you'd be able to tell us what happened when you woke. What can you remember?"

I closed my mind to try to remember what I could. "I was going to do my usual meditation training, but I went to the pond you showed me instead of my usual spot. I remember someone coming, but nothing after that. I'm sorry." I frowned and shook my head.

"It's okay." Bradley gave me a small smile, but he was still coiled tight like a spring ready to jump. "You were suffering from a concussion when you came in. You also had a fractured ankle, and were showing the first stages of frostbite on your fingertips. You're lucky we found you when we did."

"How did you find me?"

"When you weren't back after an hour, Sarah went to find you. You weren't at your usual spot so she came straight to me thinking we might have been together. When she said you were looking for a place to meditate I thought of the pond right away. If we had been twenty minutes later you might have died from hypothermia."

"Wow." I closed my eyes again and tried to think as hard as I could, but there was nothing that came to me. My head still throbbed, and trying to force myself to remember was just making it worse. "This is so frustrating."

"I know." Bradley stood and ran a hand through his hair. "I was looking forward to nailing someone to the wall. Do you have any idea who it could have been?"

I considered for a moment then turned to him. "Jane is the most probable. She's had it in for me ever since I got here, and I don't know why."

Bradley grimaced a little bit, but smoothed over his expression so fast I might have imagined it. "Yes, I thought of Jane, but she has an alibi."

"Benny?"

"Yes."

"And you believed that?"

He rubbed at his temples. "Of course not, but I checked them both and neither of them had any marks on them. There is no evidence to suggest their involvement, so there is nothing I can do."

I frowned at him. "There is something you're not telling me."

He sighed and walked over to the window. He placed his hand on the glass and looked out over what I assumed were the grounds. I could only see some mountains in the distance, but they were mountains I recognized, so I knew we were facing north. After a minute of silence he turned to me.

"Jane and I were dating. Before you got here."

It felt like my world had collapsed. Like I had taken a step back from my body and was watching from outside. My body felt hollow. "You dated her?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"A long time ago." He shook his head. "About a year."

"What happened?"

"I got promoted."

My mouth dropped open. "You're telling me you dumped her because you got promoted?"

He spun on the spot to look at me and raised his arms in front of him. "I had to! It was a great opportunity. She understood."

"What do you mean 'understood'?"

Bradley gave a shrug. "I mean she accepted it. I explained the situation and she was fine with it. She was even happy for me."

I felt sick. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not." I might have believed him if he were able to meet my eyes.

"Then you're not telling the full truth. Tell me what happened."

Bradley sighed and turned back to the window. "I told her… I told her that we…" He swallowed hard. "I said we would get back together once I wasn't her superior officer any more. If either she got promoted, or our training was over and we went into field work, we would be together again."

I felt like I had taken a step back from my body. Everything looked the same, but it felt like everything around me was huge and about to crush me.

"So she was waiting for you." I closed my eyes. "And then…"

"Yeah." He let out a sigh. "And then you."

It didn't feel real. I couldn't believe what he had told me. It all made sense now. Jane was under the impression they would get together again, but when I came along Bradley forgot about her and turned to me. For all intents and purposes, I stole her boyfriend. The technicalities didn't matter, all that mattered is that's what she believed. I couldn't look at Bradley. He had led her on and then discarded her the moment it suited him. How could I be sure he wouldn't to the same to me?

"I think I want to be alone for a while."

"Look, Alex—"

"No." I opened my eyes and stared at him. "Just let me think about this for a while, okay?"

A few seconds passed in silence before he walk out of the room and closed the door behind him.

I wasn't sure how to react to this. Our last week together had been so happy. I had thought we had been getting to know one another. How many other secrets did he have? How could I trust anything he said again? There was a small knock on the door and it opened a crack. I looked up to see half of Sarah's face.

"Care for a visitor?"

I smiled at her and nodded, then winced at the pain in my head. Sarah frowned and rushed over to me, throwing her arms around me and bursting into tears. "I'm so sorry!"

I winced at the pain from her squeezing me, but I lifted my own arm to drape around her anyway. I could use the comfort. "Sorry? For what?"

"It was all my fault. I should have been with you."

I pushed her back and looked into her eyes. "You listen to me. This is not your fault, okay? It's Jane's and Jane's alone."

"So it was her then?"

I grimaced. "To be honest I can't remember. I don't have any memories after arriving at the clearing. I shouldn't put the blame on her if I'm not sure, but after what Bradley just told me I'm putting my money on her being responsible."

Her eyes narrowed. "What he told you?"

I sighed and explained to her what he had told me after I woke. By the end her mouth was open wide.

"I can't believe it!"

"You didn't know?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, Bradley was an officer when I got here. I had no idea. No wonder she has it in for you."

I sighed and nodded. "It sucks, it's nothing I did, yet I understand her feelings."

Sarah frowned and gestured toward me. "It doesn't excuse this though."

"No it doesn't, but like I said I don't want to make accusations when I'm not sure of anything."

"So what happens now?"

I shrugged. "Nothing I suppose. With no evidence there is nothing that anyone can do. I'll just have to be more careful."

Sarah frowned and shook her head. "I don't like it." After a few moments she gave a sigh. "But I guess there's nothing else we can do. How do you feel?"

I gave her a smile. "Like a donkey kicked me in the head."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Oh. Right. Pills."

I frowned as she leaned over my bed and picked up a small cup with pills. I tossed them back, and after a couple of minutes felt them start to kick in. They started to mute the pain in my head, but it was still there. Sarah filled my cup of water back up again, but instead of gulping it down again I took smaller sips. I didn't want to throw up the pills by drinking too much water.

I put the cup down and turned back to Sarah. "Bradley gave me a run-down of the damage before, and from what he says it sounds like I got off pretty light."

"Pretty light?" She frowned. "What did he say?"

I shrugged. "Just concussion, fractured ankle, and frostbite."

Sarah pushed air from her nose in a humorless laugh. "A concussion? I wish. When you came in here you had severe swelling and tissue damage on the surface of your brain. The doctor drilled a hole into your head to relieve the pressure."

My hand jumped up to my head to feel for the hole. There was nothing but bandages.

Sarah pulled my hand away. "Their magic injection fixed the skin, but Vorboyov said it would take a week or so for the bone to heal as long as you keep taking your pills. Same for your frostbite."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Magic?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Can you explain how it works?" I shook my head. "I didn't think so. Magic."

"Okay, okay. Any idea why can't I remember anything?"

Sarah gave a shrug. "Vorboyov said it might happen. Something about the the differences between short term memory and long term memory. The damaged tissue would cause your short to disappear before it could write to the long? Does that sound right? I don't know all the technicalities, but I do remember he said your brain was fine now. No damage aside from the memory loss. You will have headaches for a few weeks while your brain gets used to the new tissue though. There are a different set of pills for those that you need to take once a week for a month."

I nodded and considered her words. I almost couldn't believe I had come that close to dying. I wished I could remember more than anything so I could get Jane punished. If it even was Jane. She was the most likely, but could I be certain? No, I couldn't. I sighed.

I tried to lift myself up on the bed and felt a shock of pain run down my leg, causing me to cry out in pain. Sarah winced and helped me up into a sitting position. I pulled the sheet away to reveal my leg in a brace.

She nodded at my leg. "Three weeks. After that you can start on light training again."

I shook my head. "This will put me so far behind."

Sarah laughed. "I knew you would say something like that."

I looked around the room at all the devices and medical gear, and frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"This level of health care. It's amazing. I almost died, have damaged brain tissue, a hole in my head, frostbite, and a broken ankle--and it will all be gone in a few weeks? Why isn't this available everywhere?"

Sarah shrugged. "It's expensive."

"How expensive?"

"How would I know?"

I sighed and shook my head. "Never mind now. Let's go see the doctor."

"Are you sure you're up for it? Maybe you should stay in bed for a while."

I nodded toward the wooden devices in the corner. "Just do me a favor and go and grab those crutches over there." I assumed Bradley must have left them there for me. He would've known I wouldn't have wanted to stay in bed. I frowned again at the thought of him, and pushed it out of my mind for a later date.