They didn't go home until after everyone had gone to bed. "We'll tell them in the morning," Jonas said, and Charity nodded wearily.

Jonas dreamed about the Community that night, but it wasn't a nightmare; it was a memory.

"We have a unique learning opportunity today, class," the Instructor of Nines said, as a doctor-in-training wheeled a medical cart into the classroom. "Pierre, come up here, please." Pierre walked up to the front of the room. "Pierre has a rare condition that causes fatigue and discomfort," the instructor said. "Today we will learn how injections work by watching a doctor administer the cure for this ailment. Our doctors work tirelessly to improve our lives by researching medicines that will eradicate potentially harmful diseases."

Pierre rolled up the sleeve of his tunic. The doctor swabbed a patch on his arm with a cotton ball, then administered the painless injection. Pierre rolled back down his sleeve and walked back to his seat, grinning with pride that he had been used as a learning experience.

"Injections are administered directly into the bloodstream," the instructor continued.

That's it, Jonas thought, and awoke.

He spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and thinking.

000

Charity looked very grave at breakfast the next morning. During a lull in the conversation, she cleared her throat, starting to speak. Jonas handed her the orange juice carton. She stared at him.

"Isn't that what you were going to ask for?" Jonas asked, pointed at her empty glass, and putting emphasis on his words.

"Uh, yeah," Charity said, playing along.

Barbara laughed. "You must be psychic, Jonas!"

Charity shot him a pointed look under her brows. He shook his head very slightly. The rest of the family didn't notice.

000

Jonas went onto the back patio after breakfast, and Charity followed. "What is it?" she asked him, sitting down at the picnic table.

"I remembered something last night," Jonas said. "A boy in my age group back in the Community—Pierre—he had an illness that caused fatigue and discomfort. I remembered that his symptoms were feelings of light-headedness. It could be the same disease you have, or at least something similar."

"So?" Charity said.

"Chare, they cured him with a painless injection."

Charity stared at him. Jonas stood and began to pace. "I thought that the lack of disease in the Community was due to enhanced genetics, but I remember a blind woman in the House of the Old—if disease were eradicated, that wouldn't happen. They have cures in the Community. There are plenty of diseases they could eliminate—"

"Are you getting at what I think you're getting at?"

"I have to take you to the Community find out if they have a cure."

"Yes, you were getting at that," Charity said. "Are you nuts?!"

"Shh!"

She lowered her voice. "Jonas, they might kill you," she said incredulously. "If the Giver didn't succeed, that's enemy territory... You'd be going to your death!"

"And if I don't, you're going to yours." He glared at her. She dropped her eyes.

"I can't ask you to do this for me—"

"You're not." He knelt in front of her and took her hands. "I'm asking you. Charity, I couldn't live with myself if you... died and I knew that I hadn't done everything I could for you. That my fear could have meant the difference between your life and death. Even if they don't have a cure, at least we'll know. It's the not-knowing that would drive me mad."

"I think it already is," Charity said quietly. Jonas stared up at her, confused. "Your nightmares, Jonas." He looked away. "I know you dream about the Community," she went on doggedly. "I hear you cry out in the middle of the night, and it tears my heart out. I've heard you call to your family, to your friends, plead for their forgiveness." Jonas covered his face with one hand and turned away. Charity kept a tight hold on the other hand. "Do you think this will heal your heart as well as my body?"

Jonas nodded. Charity didn't speak for a long moment.

"Alright," she finally said, weakly. "How do we keep this from Mom and Dad?"

000

They decided to tell Barbara and Scott that they were going to spend a week with their friends at Jackie's family's cabin in the mountains. That way, they would have enough time to get the injection and return.

"That's if everything goes well," Charity said. "What if it doesn't and we don't come back?"

"I've got it covered," Jonas said, and Charity didn't ask any more questions.

When Jonas tucked Gabriel in that night, he hugged him a little harder and a little longer than usual.

000

They left early the next morning, before anyone else was up. They took the family's SUV and drove up the long hill behind the house. Looking back, there was the valley spread out below them, Elsewhere, gleaming in the easterly light. Looking forward, there was Jonas' haunting past, the place of his nightmares, but also the place where he first learned to love. Turning their faces westward, they started down the rough dirt road toward the Community. As they descended the hill, they were cut off from the light. Charity shivered. "Something feels different," she said. Jonas only nodded. His mind flashed back to the letter he had left on his bed in case they didn't return—his last message of love, gratitude and an apology for deceiving those he most cared for.

Even if we die, he thought, at least Gabriel is safe. Then he put Elsewhere from his mind.

TBC


AN: There's more coming! I swear! I needed to figure out how far Jonas was from the Community, and I wanted to do that before I posted any more. Just hang on!