Chapter 26
Day 08
"Clara?"
Spencer rolled out of bed, found his glasses and pulled the blanket back around him. He'd known it would happen, he wasn't really cold; it was the icy gray he had been expecting, the loss of focus, the loss of will. He'd crashed, not as hard as when Maeve died, but bad enough. He reached over to the other bed and pulled back the sheets.
No Clara
Rolling out bed was hard. Hell, breathing was hard. He ached everywhere, his head, his ribs, parts he didn't want to consider too closely. He got to his feet and shuffled off to the bathroom, but it was empty. "Clara?" He called out again. Maybe she was next door getting dressed.
No Clara.
Maybe she was in the kitchen. He shuffled downstairs, checked the kitchen, the gym, the sun porch.
No Clara.
Downstairs in the storeroom maybe?
Just as he went to check he heard it. He heard it. He heard the rhythmic buzzing of the MRI machine starting up in the basement.
His eyes flew to the clock over the stove. 10:30.
"No."
Before he could think he was at the door to the testing room. He hauled on it, twisted and turned the handle, but it didn't budge an inch. "No!"
Then he heard it
He felt it
He felt the machine in the basement start to thump, the magnets start to clash.
The scan start.
"NO!" Spencer lost it then. He howled out his anguish as he pounded on the floor, desperate for someone down there to hear him, to stop, to confront him, to do something, anything at all.
He didn't know how long he was like that but when he finally lost steam his knuckles were split open and there was a smear of blood on the floor. Okay, think. He had to think. He had to force past the grey fog in his head and think, damn it!
He couldn't get her out of there. What could he do? What could he do?
In the end he wrapped back up in his blanket, went to the door, and sat.
He sat, rocking gently, watching the door, letting the grey fog envelop him. As long as the machine throbbed beneath him there was nothing else he could do.
He sat and watched the door as the pure light crawled across the floor and the sun slowly set and felt the static buzzing behind his ears. What if something went wrong? What if she never came up? What then? Could he even live then?
When it was too dark to see he moved just enough to turn on light and then he sat.
At last the clock struck 6.
He held his breath.
One minute later the door burst open. She threw herself out of the chamber, landing on her hands and knees in front of him. He let out his first breath of relief.
She froze there, staring at the floor in front of her, eyes wide and unseeing, shaking.
His eyes were on her when he heard the squeak from the door. He turned just as the slender binder was pushed through and fell to the floor. Attacking the door would do nothing now. Instead he picked the binder up in numb hands.
Stage 3 – Continued observation.
Continue on as in Stage one. Testing will resume six days from today.
Physical contact is now allowed.
She turned to watch him as he put the binder down and looked at her. There was only one thing he could do.
He opened his arms to her.
For a long moment she watched him, trembling. Then she threw herself into his embrace.
He held her tight as she started sobbing.
Decision made.