Chapter 4

Bray hurled Amber into the side room that had been Jay's and slammed the door behind them.

"Why did you say you would marry me?" Bray yelled at her.

"Because I love you, Bray," Amber cried, her own temper rising, "I've always loved you, you know that."

"Then why did you also say you would marry him?"

"I didn't."

"Amber, I saw him ask you and then I saw you kiss him."

"You think you saw him ask me! You don't even know what he actually said!"

"How many things do you usually say on one knee?"

"I don't know. Plenty I expect. All he was doing was telling me he'd decided to go back to the city; to risk death to try and save his brother. I don't know what happened, Bray. One minute he was telling me what his plans were, the next we were kissing. It happened once, Bray. Once. And it will never happen again."

"How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"Why would I lie? Do you think if I was in love with Jay, I would have accepted your proposal?"

"I don't know what to think. It's not just that it was another guy, I could accept that: I wasn't there and you didn't know if I would ever be back. It was the fact that it was someone else's guy: Ebony's guy! You know, you two sometimes seem to have a lot in common, not least your taste in men!"

"Bray, I don't know how to make you believe me if you are determined you're not going to, but what I do know is this: what happened with Jay was a mistake. It will never happen again. Not with Jay, not with anyone. If only there had been sound on those monitors, you could have heard that what I am telling you is the truth. Bray, I swear it's the truth, you have to believe me."

"I think I know a way to find out."

"What?"

"A way to find out whether you are telling the truth or not. You said if only we had sound on the monitors."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, what if we got someone to watch it who didn't need sound, they could tell me what happened."

"Oh," Amber realised what he was talking about, "you mean get Paul to watch it and report back to you!"

"Exactly."

"Fine!"

Amber slammed the door as she stormed out of the room. She couldn't believe Bray wouldn't believe her, wouldn't trust her word. As she marched through the ward to the outer door, Ebony watched her with a smirk on her face, then went back to nursing her beloved Jay.

--

Mega left the hospital with plenty news for his wife and the farm workers. He drove back up to the farm with a grin on his face and a light in his eyes.

--

Aeryn and Tai San wandered into the kitchen after a few hours going through the different plants Aeryn kept in her garden and comparing notes on their uses and dangers. Now that the business part of the day had been concluded, the fun part could start. Tai San was easy to talk to, Aeryn had found, although the fact that she could talk about anything was a mixed blessing. Her first question was so direct that it took Aeryn by surprise, even though it had been asked before, when Aeryn had visited her in the hospital.

"Have you moved the beds together yet, then?" Tai San asked with a look that made it seem as though she just asked no more than whether Aeryn took one sugar or two in her coffee.

"No, not yet," Aeryn replied nervously, "Patch said we had to be careful with his side until it healed fully so we're waiting for him to tell us it's okay, Mega's side I mean, Patch doesn't know about the sleeping arrangements. At least, I think he doesn't!"

"How is Mega's side?"

"He's seeing Patch today. Right now probably, or more likely he's on his way home by now. There haven't been any mishaps but I'm not gonna say anything more in case I jinx the whole thing. Are you satisfied now?"

"For the moment."

Aeryn sometimes thought Tai San was incorrigible, but two can play at that game.

"How's life with Lex and Siva?" Aeryn asked.

"Well, I am happy: it was my idea, after all. I think Lex is getting used to it, but I do not think Siva is happy. I think she would give anything to have Lex to herself again."

"You're probably right. Have you any idea what to do about it?"

"I do not feel that I need to do anything about it. I married Lex because I loved him and he loved me. As far as I can tell, that is still the case. The fact that he also loves someone else now does not stop him loving me."

"Tell me something, Tai San. How long were you and Lex together before the Technos came along?"

"Six months, a year maybe, I am not sure. It was hard to keep track of the days after the Chosen invaded."

"Yeah, I heard about them. They took away Paul's sister, Patsy."

"And Ryan, Cloe and Jack. They were also responsible for Dal's death."

"Who was Dal?"

"He was Jack's best friend. He could not believe it when he finally found his way back to us and learned that his best friend was dead. They had parted on bad terms. It was very hard on him."

"I can imagine."

--

Alice walked over to Ryan, her baby on her back, and handed him a glass of water. She took the child's makeshift harness off of her back, cradled the babe in her arms and sat down next to Ryan.

"You know you don't have come up here every day, Ryan," she said.

"I like it up here. It gets me away from the city."

"But you're constantly travelling back and forward between the two," she had decided the 'make him think it's his idea' approach was the best one to take.

"I like the walk. It gives me a chance to think. Besides, I like having Lex around again, we go back a long way and he really needs someone to talk to these days."

"Oh," well that approach fell flat on its face, she thought, why not try the direct one, "But what if you were to stay here instead. Would you miss the city that much."

"I guess not," Ryan replied, after some thought, "But the way things are, I get the best of both worlds."

"Oh."

Alice gave up, for the moment anyway, and changed the subject.

--

Trudy and Hawk were laughing together over some joke when Amber walked in. She felt extremely like she'd just interrupted something and felt a blush creeping over her face. The feeling of embarrassment, however, was not enough to hide the hurt and confusion in her face and Trudy rushed to her side.

"Amber what's wrong?" Trudy cried, "You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"Jay woke up, Bray hit him, now he's unconscious again and Bray wants Paul to watch what happened with me and Jay so that he can find out whether or not I'm telling him the truth."

The words fell out so fast Trudy had a hard job piecing together what her friend had just said, whilst Amber burst into tears and clung to her for comfort and support. Quietly, in the background, Hawk gathered up the children and led them out of the room to let their mothers have some time alone.