Okay I should start by saying I am sorry... I have taken way too long to post this chapter.
My excuse is life. Unfortunately my job requires that I take courses to update my license and I have been unable to take off anytime to do it. Therefore I have been working the days and coming home at night to read a very thick and boring text book. I have my exam in 2 days so I should be ale to update the next one shortly after that. Hopefully...
Thank you again to all my reviewers and to those who added this story to their alert. Roni & AJ (stalker) my faithful reviewers, I look forward to your comments. I hope it does not disappoint.
This chapter is a little smaller than the last few but I figured it was better than nothing.
Disclaimer: I of course own none of Stephenie's characters, if I did I would not be doing all of this studying.
Ch. 8.
The darkness had given way slightly to more of a fog now. I could hear muffled voices talking and pressure on my body, pushing me into something softer that Doc's cots but not quite a mattress.
The smell of grapefruit washed over me. My mind became more alert but my body still felt heavy and not quite connected to me. The voices became more defined, there was definitely a male and a female, yet there was nothing familiar about them. My eyes were still heavy and I couldn't force myself to open them but my eyelids glowed a bright orange like it was looking directly into the sun.
"Rainbows in the Crystals?" A male voice said so close I could feel his breath across my face. "Can you hear me?"
I wondered why the other voice did not answer him.
"Should I try more awake?" The female voice called from a few feet behind me.
"No," he responded. "Let's give her another minute. If she doesn't awaken at that point, then we will just go ahead with the extraction."
What did he say? I must have heard wrong…
"Let me try," a familiar voice said from behind the male.
I heard fabric shuffling followed by light pressure on my forehead. It was soft and warm – soothing me.
"Crystal? Please don't wander off on me now," my friend said to me, emphasizing the key word that would snap me into consciousness.
My eyes opened and were greeted with a concerned pair of midnight eyes – light dancing off the silver rings lacing them. I took in my surroundings slowly moving my eyes across the room, avoiding the bright white light shining down on me. The room was bleak with no colour to it. It had cream walls, white ceramic tiles and cream cabinets against the far wall with a small sink built into the top of them. There was a small window on one wall with tan curtains pulled over it. I was in the middle of the room on a gurney with a thin – but surprisingly comfortable – mattress. The comfort could be a side effect of the excessive amount of no pain that I am sure I was given.
To my left there was a woman, she was not much taller than me but was shaped like a pear. She had warm brown eyes mixed with silver and sand coloured hair that was cut into a bob ending just below her chin. She smiled at me before turning around to put a bottle into the cabinets, which I noted had no locks on them.
At my feet was a man, he was six feet tall, thin, with bronze skin, short dark hair and thick bushy eyebrows. He wore a serious expression, a mixture of concern and urgency in his dark eyes. The silver stood out more on him than most souls with the dark features.
I brought my eyes back up my friend beside me, looking at him silently for answers. He took my hand in his, much like the first time we meet and a warm smile spread across his face reaching those same eyes.
"Hey Crystal," Burns said. "It's me, Carves the Cities." That was discreet.
"What is going on?" I asked nervously after overhearing the previous comment from the other male.
The healer moved closer to the top of the bed and stood over Burns' shoulder and smiled at me. "Hello Rainbows in the Crystals. My name is Leaves to the Sky. I am a healer."
I just nodded at him, waiting for him to break the news to me.
"We have to move quickly here so unfortunately I am going to have to just get right to it," he started to explain. "Your host has a severe injury that will take a lot for us to heal and clean. There is also the concern over the amount of trauma the body has experienced due to the loss of blood and several occurances of loss of consciousness."
I made the mistake of looking over at my arm as he explained. I saw that the wound was still there and although it was covered in a fresh bandage the blood was still staining through the white. I shivered and looked back at him.
"I know you partner has expressed that you would not want to skip, but…"
My eyes widened in horror.
"…We feel that the best option would be for you to be extracted from this host and placed into a new one."
I lurched my body into a sitting position as the panic shot a rush of adrenaline through my body. I felt no pain in the sudden motion, again thanks to an excessive amount of no pain I am sure. My sudden movement though had caused the woman to dive across the room and clutch my bandaged arm. She had panic in her eyes and I felt bad for causing this kind woman to worry. Little did she know that I didn't care about my arm at that time, I cared about my body as a whole. I was determined in that moment – which in reality was only a few seconds of inner conversation – that I was going to fight to keep this body. My body.
"No." I stated as firmly as I could trying to be as strong as Mel was. "I will not lose my host."
Burns gripped my shoulders to hold me in the sitting position, not that he needed to as I was so tense that I didn't think it would be physically possible for me to lay back. I shot him a pleading look.
"Is there anything you can do so Crystal can keep her host?" He asked the healer. "She has never skipped before and we are quite attached to both of our host bodies."
"You have lost too much blood," Leaves to the Sky explained to me. "We have not been able to come up with a proper substitute yet to replace it in our hosts."
"Can you not do a transfusion? I remember those from my host's memories." Burns inquired.
"It may work, although I have never personally performed one. My host did previously, so his memories should be enough." The healer said. "Do you know what blood type your host is Rainbows in the Crystals?"
I thought back through Pet's memories and remembered something her mother had mentioned once. "I am AB-."
The healer shook his head and looked at Burns. "That may be hard as it is a rare blood type. We don't have stock in the healing centres as most souls would be extracted from their host bodies."
Burns smiled, which I thought was terribly inappropriate considering the news we were just given.
"I am AB- as well," he stated proudly. I smiled at him and relaxed my shoulders under his hands.
"Well in that case we can start the transfusion," healer Leaves to the Sky said. "Sings in the Darkness could you come with me so we can prepare?" She nodded and the left us alone in the room.
Burns laid me back onto the gurney and I no longer had the energy to fight against it. I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes letting myself relax.
"Wanda?" Burns asked with a slight panic to his voice.
I opened my eyes and looked up at him. "Yes?"
"Okay good. I was afraid you were unconscious again..." he paused. "You were out for a few hours last time. I sat by you the entire time"
"I was?" Wow, was I really out for that long?
"Yes. I was so worried Wanderer." He placed his hand on my forehead once more, gently brushing back some stray hairs. "How would I ever forgive myself and how would I have explained this to everyone in your cave?"
"Ian!" I tried to sit up once more but this time Burns held me down. "He must be worried sick…." I could only imagine what he must be going through right now. If it had been reversed I would have been a mess.
"Don't worry he is okay."
"But what if he did something," my mind was running through thousands of possibilities. "What if the seekers found him?"
"He hasn't moved," Burns explained. "You made him promise not too."
"But…"
Burns got up and walked over to the small window and pulled back the curtains. I could see that he had been telling the truth about how long I was out of it – not that I would ever expect him to be capable of lying. It was clearly the middle of the night as the view from the window was dark and the street lights were glowing from the parking lot.
"You see," he gestured out the window. "We have a clear view of the parking lot and the Jeep is perfectly safe where I left it, and if I looked closely I can make out the tarp in the back." He closed the curtains and made his way back to the side of my bed. "It looks the same as when we left it."
I nodded at him, but had to bite my bottom lip to hold back the tears I felt coming to my eyes. I didn't know if it was from the thought that I had almost got Ian caught or the knowledge that he was in emotional agony right now. It could have even just been from all of the events of the day.
We were unable to say anything else to each other as the two healers came wheeling a second gurney into the room with them. I at first was concerned that they had brought me another host despite my protests, but realized that the bed was for Burns.
We both lay on our gurneys as the healers set up everything. I looked at my friend, grateful for finding a native soul like myself that I could depend on and trust.
"Thank you Bu-Carves the Cities."
"I am just glad I can be of help Crystal."
I watched as the healer took out the needle and pressed it to Burns' skin. That was a mistake. As soon as I saw the blood start to flow out I knew I had doomed myself. My head got light and the beige room started to spin within a matter of seconds. I didn't fight it this time. I closed my eyes and let the quiet darkness take over once again.
When I opened my eyes again I felt more like myself. All the cloudiness I had been feeling was gone. I was not sure how long I was asleep this time but as I surveyed the room I assumed it had been a long time once again. I heard a steady beeping sound coming from beside me and looked up to see a monitor. I followed the wires from it and saw it was connected to a clip attached to a finger on my damaged arm – or my previously damaged arm.
I lifted my hand to exam my arm. Other that a thin pinkish scar that ran up my forearm there was no evidence that I had been injured. I rotated my arm to test it out and was pleasantly surprised that it felt as good as it looked. I put my arm down and took in the rest of the room.
To my other side Burns was once again seated in the uncomfortable looking chair. His gurney was no longer in the room. He was sunken into the chair with his head on a painful looking angle with his chin pressed against his shoulder. He was in a deep sleep that was evident by the steady low snore coming from him. It was nice to have someone with me during this whole ordeal, even if it wasn't the person I really needed with me.
I looked back to the small window at the other side of the room. I could see a warm light coming through the crack between the curtains. I knew the sun was starting to rise and I worried about Ian. I had hoped he had managed to get some rest last night but I knew that was not going to be the case. He would be a mess and it was my fault. I had to get to him.
I pushed myself up on the gurney but managed to get myself tangled in the tubes that were attached to my body. I struggled to untangle myself and in the process must have woken Burns from his peaceful sleep.
"Good Morning Wanderer," he said between yawns. "Do you feel better?"
"Much better," I said. "Thanks to you."
"Glad I could be of service."
"Um, can you help me untangle myself so we can get out of here?" I looked down at the mess of tubes.
"I would but we have to wait until that final bag of IV is finished before the healer can do a final examination of you," he said.
I glanced at the window once more, hoping he could wait just a little longer.
"He is okay."
I looked at Burns confused.
"I convinced the healer that I needed to get something from our car last night once you were asleep. I wanted to make sure he didn't try anything that could put him, or you, in danger."
I looked back at the window once more before laying back on the thin mattress, giving up on the tangled mess I had created. "So he is okay?"
"I wouldn't say he is happy, but he will wait for us," he explained. "I told him what was happening and that it would be a while before you were strong enough to leave."
"Thank you Burns," I said smiling up at him. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
"You're more than welcome, Wanderer."
We sat in silence listening to the steady beeping of the monitor. My mind was on getting back to Ian and Burns seemed to be lost in a deep thought. The silence was broken by him clearing his throat.
"Can I ask you something?" He finally said.
"Sure."
"What do you plan to do when you reach the end of your body's life cycle?" Burns asked nervously. Placing my hand in his.
"I plan to do the same thing I was going to so when I gave back Mel's body," I explained. "I want to be buried here with my friends and family. I could never bear leaving Ian whether he was alive or not."
"Don't you think he would want you to live? To experience all that you could..." he paused. "You could always get a new host..."
"I refuse to be a parasite anymore." I looked at him determined. I could hear the rate of my heart beat increase on the monitor. Afraid it would attract attention I took a deep breath to settle myself.
"Have you talked to Ian about this?"
"No..." I had to admit that we avoided talking about our fragile mortality.
"I am sure he would agree with me Wanda," he took one of my hands in his. "This universe would not be the same without your soul."
"He would want me to be happy, to think of myself. That is all he ever wants," I was confused as to why this was so important to Burns. "But I could not be happy in a new host without him, whether on this planet or any other."
"But you have other people you care for..." he started "Like Melanie, Jaime, Jared, Jeb and even Sunny?"
"Yes of course I love all of them too," I said. "They're my family."
"And do you care for me as well?"
"I do." I said quietly. "You are..."
My speech was interrupted as Burns suddenly leaned forward and touched his lips to mine. I froze not knowing what to do. Once he realized he got no response from me he immediately pulled his head back and I looked at him with both shock and panic in my eyes.
"I am sorry..." he apologized, regret clearly written across his face. "I just thought..."
"It's okay," I didn't like to see him upset. "I was going to say that I do care for you. You are like my family as well, but even more so as you are a soul that has also gone native. Ian though is my mate, whether it be my soul mate or human mate, he is the one." The regret was now gone from his face but was replaced with disappointment.
"I just want you to know that you could still be happy..." he said quietly, his human ego bruised slightly. "I could make you happy if you decided to stay..." I opened my mouth to reply but he put a finger to my lips. "Please don't say anything. I just wanted you to know that I will always be there for you and I can wait."
He pulled his finger away from my mouth and the other hand unwrapped my hand. I sat there in silence starring at him. He looked over at the bag over my head and then at the clock on the wall. His face still showed the disappointment.
"You drip is almost done and it has been awhile since the healer has been in to check on you," he said as he rose from his stiff chair. I was surprised I didn't hear his back and knees cracking as he rose from the uncomfortable looking piece of furniture. "I will go grab them and see if we can get you back home."
He arrived shortly after with healer Leaves to the Sky. After a quick exam he declared that I was free to go, but gave me some supplements that he said I should take for the next few weeks to ensure my body was fully recovered. I thanked him for all of his help and understanding before Burns and I made our way out into the parking lot under the warmth of the sunrise.
This should make for an awkward car ride. I wanted to use the line Ian had said to Wanda, before she knew his feelings for her as a warning as to what was coming from Burns. "You're more than welcome, Wanda." I feel bad for Burns...but really how can you compete with Ian? Sigh...
I will try not to make you all wait too long this time.
R & R!
-Mel
