The Mediator: Egyptian Style
I heard voices. Low, deep voices. They were talking amongst each other. However, I could not make out what they were saying.
But they were coming closer. They were mumbling, purposely so I couldn't understand.
That was when I opened my eyes. I had to see who the voices belonged to.
When I first opened my eyes, this blinding white light shone in my eyes. I immediately closed them and then tried again.
After a few minutes of trying, my eyes finally adjusted to the light.
Then I glanced toward the back of the room and found the owners of the voices. Jesse and Mr. Matthews.
"Jesse?" I asked. I was confused. Where was I? What was I doing here?
Jesse immediately turned around and rushed over to me. "Susannah? Oh, gracia Dios, you're awake," he muttered.
"What am I doing here? And where is here, exactly?" I asked.
"Querida, you're in a hospital. You were unconscious when I found you."
"Unconscious from what? What happ—" And then it all came back to me. Everything. When Nefelinuf and I were fighting, me going up to Shadowland to get rid of her . . .
"Susannah?"
I shook my head. But that just served to give me a major migraine. "Are we still in Egypt?"
He nodded. "Yes. I had to get you to a hospital immediately." I noticed Harrison had dematerialized. Whatever.
I nodded. Well, that made sense. He was training to become a doctor. And he'd make a damn good one too. "How long am I in here for?"
A tiny smile tugged at his lips. "The doctor says you have a concussion, but you should be able to leave in the morning if all is well."
"What time is it, then?" I asked.
He looked down at his watch. The one I gave him for his birthday last year. "Nearly midnight. You should get some rest, querida. We have a long flight in a few days."
"Wait, when are we leaving?"
"Sunday. In three days." He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Now go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
"Will you stay here?" I asked.
He smiled. "Of course, querida. I would never leave."
I smiled too. "Good," I said and closed my eyes. And, before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.
- § -
By ten o'clock the next morning, I was safe and sound in our hotel suite. I was lying in bed with Jesse lying next to me. So, yeah, we were just lying there. Occasionally Jesse would lean kiss my hair or forehead and whisper something to me in Spanish, which drove me nuts.
But otherwise we were just lying there, taking in each other's company. Which, you know, was not all that bad. I would have preferred to do something else . . . but Jesse said that we should wait until later when I had gotten enough sleep.
But Jesse seemed to be contradicting himself a little bit, if him suddenly kissing me and running his hands over my chest was any indication.
But, you know, I didn't mind. Not one bit.
And it is our honeymoon, after all. God, we should be doing it everyday.
If we went to, say, the Bahamas, I don't think Jesse would have been as fascinated and we would have spent more time in the bedroom.
Le sigh...oh well.
Jesse was leaning over me, his forehead resting on mine. He was breathing pretty raggedly, as was I.
And then he went back to kissing me. And, I, of course, kissed him back. I would have been out of my mind not to.
And one thing led to another and . . . well, I think you get the idea.
- § -
Jesse and I were sitting on the balcony outside our suite later that night, a little while after . . . you know. He had his arm around my waist and my head was settled on his shoulder. We had a huge blanket wrapped around both of us.
We were just looking at the stars. They were brighter here. A lot brighter. Jesse pointed out a lot of the constellations to me. He draw them out on the sky with his finger and I would watch, amazed, because I could actually see them.
When I was younger and still lived in Brooklyn, I could almost never see the stars. I would be lucky if I could see one at night. And, when I moved to Carmel, I was amazed to see that I could actually see the stars at night.
But this . . . it was way better than back in Carmel. It was so clear, so crisp. It was unbelievable.
I remembered briefly about going into a planetarium when I was in middle school. I remembered some of the constellations that Jesse was telling me about, but I never really saw them, you know?
It was just amazing.
And it was even more amazing when Jesse leaned over and kissed me and whispered, "You're amazing," in my ear.
I giggled. Yes, giggled. Shock of the century. "I'm going to miss being here," I whispered, more to myself than him.
But he responded anyway. "Me too," he said.
I smiled to myself. "As crazy as this trip has been, this is what I'm going to remember the most."
Jesse chuckled. "Yes. But, you know, we could always do this back in Carmel."
I sighed happily. "I know. But its clearer here."
"Hmm," he said.
And we sat like that for a while longer. I really didn't keep track of time.
But then Harrison popped in.
You know, he was in the back of my mind. I wondered what had happened to him. If he had moved on or not, or if he was stuck frozen like that forever.
Guess not the latter.
He smiled at us. And, for once, I actually smiled back at this guy.
"I wanted to say thank you," he said. "You helped me a great deal. I wish you two the best of luck in the future."
Jesse looked at me and I grinned back. And, just as he had appeared, he disappeared with a flash of blinding white light.
He had moved on.
And I felt happy. Happy that I had helped someone. Helped a LOT of people, actually, considering I just sent a relentless, unforgiving bitch up to Shadowland. You must know that I usually do not resort to that, but it just had to be done.
Jesse's armed pulled me against him tighter, if that was possible. I snuggled into him more and sighed happily again and just relaxed in his arms.
"You were right," I suddenly said.
"About what, querida?" he asked.
"That it was a big mystery. I should have respected your curiosity. I'm sorry about the other day and making you mad . . ."
He leaned down and kissed my hair. "You shouldn't be sorry. You were right, too. This is our honeymoon and we should have been able to enjoy it." When I didn't say anything, he said, "I know its not really what you had expected, querida, but this really was an enjoyable trip."
"I agree," I replied and leaned up and kissed him. He responded to it willingly. His other arm came around my waist as well and he gripped me into him.
Once again, I sighed happily. I broke the kiss and whispered, "I love you," and then crashed my lips back on his again.
Disclaimer: Meg Cabot owns the Mediator characters and series. I just own the plot and Harry and the evil Egyptian princess. Oh, and the camels.