Chapter 10
The jar of peanut butter fell with a dull thud and rolled away as Alec stood and stared at Parker's trembling body.
"Parker," he breathed her name as he dropped to his knees at her side.
He saw the whites of her rolled back eyes and the thick vein at the side of her neck as she seized again and his mind went blank.
What do you do when someone has a seizure? He asked himself over and over again but no answers came.
His panic ran white hot. His thoughts jumbled and bubbled and snapped within themselves and all he saw was Parker in distress, again, and he couldn't help her.
And then the word flashed through the chaos in his mind.
"Sono."
It fell from his lips whisper soft as he gazed at her helplessly. She tensed and convulsed again. Panic pushed the word from his chest a second time, firmer and with purpose.
"SONO."
And finally, with a soft sigh, Parker was still.
Alec watched her for a moment; his eyes wide and his hands frozen as they hovered above her, unconsciously waiting for her to seize again.
She stayed still and he exhaled a hard breath and sat back on his heels. He ran his shaking hands over his face.
What the hell!
His first conscious thought speaking to his shock and confusion.
When his racing thoughts calmed enough to allow rational thought, he reasoned that perhaps he'd pushed too hard too fast. Her programming was deep- like a Trojan uploaded to a computer. He believed he'd broken through one level of the infection and he likely encountered- or even unlocked- something much more virulent and dangerous. Whatever it was it didn't want her remembering.
Dammit!
He pounded the ground beside him in frustration then caught himself. He knew this was no time to lose control or focus. He needed to be better than he'd ever been to break through to Parker- to set her free.
He looked at her again and a phantom sensation fluttered his lips. He could still feel her in his arms, the length of her body pressed against his, the taste and the softness of her lips against his. He eased over to her and, with hesitant hands, lifted her onto the sofa.
The dim lights bathed her with the same soft glow that always made him stare at her. He parted the hair that fell on her forehead and kissed her there gently before he stood up and walked back to his computer.
"There has to be something you're missing," he demanded out loud.
Alec hated not knowing something. He hated not having the answers. He prided himself on always being able to work it out. When Nana was sick and refused to go to the doctors because they couldn't afford it, Alec found a way. When they almost lost their house, he found a way. He landed a commercial jet on an open-water highway for crying out loud. He could do this. He had to do this. It was Parker. There was no other option but to work it out.
He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles and then he got to work. He looked through every file he'd previously unearthed, went over every scenario, and ruled out almost every solution he'd devised. He typed and scanned and decoded like a man possessed for four hours straight yet everything lead him back to the same conclusion- he had to return to Hastings' Institute.
He was stuck. He couldn't and wouldn't risk taking Parker back to Hastings with him but he couldn't leave her by herself for fear that she had another seizure or that she woke up alone and blew the place to Smithereens trying to escape.
He rubbed his tired eyes.
Things were simpler when there were five of them. They took care of each other. They always made sure the team came first.
He was exhausted. He'd been running on an average of three hours of sleep for the past two weeks and it had been about 48 hours since he'd last had a moment to close his eyes. Not to mention really eat something. He knew that he was in no state to take on the Hastings goon squad at the moment. They'd be on high alert given his last bold assault on their security.
A jaw-dislocating yawn snuck up on him as did the weariness in his bones and the aches in every one of his muscles. He needed to rest even if just for a few minutes.
He turned back to Parker lying still and soundless on the sofa and his body involuntarily led him to her.
He eased himself between the sofa and the coffee table and lay flat on his back, crossing his feet at the ankles and resting one arm over his eyes as the other glided along the sofa face until it found its quarry. He felt Parker's hand, warm and soft. It reassured him that she was there with him and regardless of the turmoil that may have been going on inside her mind he got her back, flesh and blood and whole.
Alec wrapped his fingers around hers and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.
The hours passed swiftly. Alec's body relished the sleep and drank it in greedily.
He didn't hear when the soft alarm sounded on the computer screen alerting him that the lockdown was over. He didn't hear as the bolts and gates of the loft's walls all clicked unlocked simultaneously. He didn't hear as the sofa's leather creaked ever so slightly as weight redistributed. He didn't feel the soft warmth grow tense and pull out of his grip. He didn't see a pair of hazel eyes look down at him coldly, curiously wondering how best to render him into deeper unconsciousness so she could take him away.
She moved over to his console with the stealth of a cat. She lifted her left foot and ran her fingers along her boot's heel until she felt the give. A little pressure and the edge eased itself loose enough for her to pull it free. She wiped the small hard plastic on her jeans before she inserted it into her ear and clicked it to life.
"The subject is contained," she spoke softly into the comm device, and turned to look at her still sleeping objective, "do you want me to terminate?"