Chapter Two
Adam was stunned. After it had taken decades to track down Henry, here stood another supposed immortal who had simply strolled into his hospital room and struck up a conversation, albeit one sided. After the initial shock wore off though, a part of his brain started insisting that it was impossible. No matter what this Molly said, it had to be some scheme of Henry's. Once she had mentioned that name, Adam remembered that he had indeed seen her in the younger immortal's company, and they looked rather cozy at the time. Of course Henry had gone and fallen for that detective instead, but it didn't mean he wasn't still friendly with this one.
He wanted to sneer and inform her that she was playing games with the wrong person, to stare at her coldly until she flinched. And don't they all eventually flinch? His stare presently consisted of the slightly unfocused gaze of a man trapped in his own body however.
Molly continued to wash him, quiet again after her declaration. If she realized he didn't believe her, she didn't let on. Once his back was clean, she removed the sheet from one leg and buttock at a time, taking care not to overly expose him. After she'd reached the soles of his feet, she dropped the sponge back in the water and took a bottle from somewhere behind the container, showing it to him.
"It's an infused oil, my own formula; arnica, chamomile, calendula and horsetail. It will strengthen your skin, lessen any inflammation and help prevent bedsores," she said before opening the cap and pouring some of the concoction into her hand.
Placing the bottle back on the cart, she warmed the oil in her palms before spreading it down his body, adding extra as she went. When she had covered every inch of skin, she cocked a hip up onto the bed and began to massage it in. Her touch was light at first then harder, digging deep into the muscles until she was easing aches he didn't even realize he had. As she worked, the scent of the oil reached him and reminded him of green, growing things. It made him long to be outside, away from stench of antiseptic and sickness, and city.
"My mother was the first to introduce me to herbs when I was very young," Molly said, breaking the silence. "She taught me which ones could help, and which ones could hurt; how to heal a disease, end a life... provide an escape plan. It's served me well, and others like the villagers of Eyam, though I wish I had arrived sooner. Of course it's also gotten me burned at the stake."
Standing up brusquely, Molly gathered the sheet and flipped Adam back over while continuing to maintain his modesty. If this was some kind of seduction meant to distract him from Henry, it was the oddest one he'd ever seen. It also seemed strange that she hinted at escape. Why would Henry put him in here, only to release him after this elaborate charade? Was his conscience getting the better of him even though he refused to admit it? The whole thing wasn't making sense; why would a mortal, even one Henry had coached, hand him all this information and then offer up the hope of release? Even if he continued in this fashion, eventually he'd die and come back, only to hunt her down. It would be simple enough to disprove her immortality at that point. Of course, it could all be some strange form of torture, to offer the hope of release and then snatch it away. Something else she had said niggled at him though, a comment about an Eyam... He filed it all away for further thought, it wasn't like he had anything better to do, and the easing of stiff muscles was making it hard to think.
Repeating her earlier actions, Molly made sure the oil covered his entire front while avoiding his groin area. Once she'd finished with his arm, leg and chest muscles, she straightened the sheets and put him back in the hospital gown before kneeing up onto the bed. Carefully, she straddled his legs and sat back on her heels, while making sure not to place too much of her weight on him. She then leaned forward, rested folded her hands on his sternum and propped her chin on them while holding his gaze.
"I've noticed that you have vertical ocular control. Can you look up for yes and down for no?" she asked.
Adam looked up. A feeling ran through him, as close to happy as he could remember. Someone was finally trying to communicate with him.
"No horizontal control?" she inquired further.
He looked down.
"It's pretty common for Locked-In Syndrome," she said. "What about your eyelids, can you blink?"
Adam looked down, indicating no, but then closed his eyes. The movement was slow and difficult, but doable. At least the nurses didn't have to come in and tape his eyelids closed each night; one small humiliation he was saved.
"Well, that's something," Molly said with a smile. She paused a moment, just looking at him, and then asked, "You still don't believe me, do you?"
Adam looked down.
"I didn't imagine you would at first. I also think you probably saw Henry and I together at some point," she said, more of a statement than a question.
He looked up.
"Funny how that worked out. I had never intended to make contact with him. I usually don't if another immortal is trying to blend in with society. But, one of my clients was murdered and Henry turned up at my door, along with the police investigation." She stopped speaking when Adam's eyelids fluttered and studied him.
"You blinked, or close to it. It couldn't have been intentional so I'm guessing involuntary. I surprised you somehow... you didn't know there were others like us?" she asked.
Adam looked down three times in quick succession.
Oh, there are," she said, raising her eyebrows at him. "I know of five, other than you and myself, and Henry of course. Two are trying to live like Henry, within the constraints of everyday mortal life," Molly paused to grin and shake her head slightly before continuing. "They do manage to die quite a bit less than he seems to. One, Martin, or St. Germain as he prefers, developed a deep psychosis and had to be removed from the world at large before he became any more erratic. The other two are like me-well, one is like me in that he moves from place to place checking out rumors. The other is our source of information. He's actually pretty good at the technology thing for an immortal, and he tracks what's going on in the world to keep us updated. He also keeps an eye on Martin. We've crossed paths with you a couple of times, but found that you're a hard man to pin down for the most part. By the time one of us arrived, you were gone again."
Sitting up and pulling a cellphone out of her scrubs pocket, Molly activated the screen and tapped it several times. She must have turned the speaker on as well, since Adam could hear it ring three times before being answered.
"Molly, to what do I owe the unexpected delight of your call?" the male voice on the other end asked. If Adam was guessing, he'd say the accent was probably first acquired somewhere around India.
"Evren, I'm putting you on video," Molly replied before tapping the phone's face again. Once the screen lit up, she smiled at the screen. "Do you remember that friend that we've been trying to track down? I finally got him to stay still long enough for a talk." Flipping the phone around, she put the screen in Adam's line of vision.
The man on the video chat looked to be in his mid twenties. He had jet black hair which fell in loose waves to his jaw and wore a neat van dyke. His skin was the color of a good latte, and when he smiled at Adam his teeth were even and very white against the facial hair. A nasty looking scar ran down from his right eye and disappeared under the corner of his jaw.
"Ah, greetings, so glad Molly was able to track you down. She told me you're something of an expert on history. My knowledge doesn't go back much before the mid 13th century, but hopefully we'll have a chance to compare notes sometime," Evren said.
Molly turned the phone back toward herself. "Alright Ev, I need to go. See you soon. I'll call if anything else comes up," she said before blowing the other man a kiss, closing the app and turning off the device.
Just as she looked up from the phone, the hospital room door rattled. Molly glanced at it before turning back to Adam. "Hmm, sounds like my time's up," she murmured. "The ID I forged would pass, but the locked door is going to raise questions either way. Guess I'm going to need that escape plan."
As the rattling of the door became more insistent, Molly took something from her pocket and held it up so Adam could see. Tucked into her palm was a tiny, dark glass vial which she quickly uncorked before pouring the contents into her mouth with a sour look. After putting the bottle back in her pocket, she removed the sim card from her phone and leaned forward, placing it somewhere above Adam's head. By the time she sat back on her heels, she was shaking her head as if to clear it.
"I apologize for popping out on you like this. I'll be back though, we haven't finished our conversation. It may be a couple of days, I have some things to take care of first," she said, the last words slightly slurred.
Someone started pounding on the door but the sound of a quick reprimand stopped it as Molly laid her upper body on top of Adam's. He could feel her erratic breathing as it slowed and then stopped. On a whim, he started counting off the seconds as he'd heard children do. By the time he had finished nine one thousand she was gone, and he could hear keys jangling just outside the door.