Chapter 2

Vincent shook his head and his shoulders slumped forward as he took in this information. "How could someone do that to her, Mary?" he begged for a reason.

"I saw many horrors in the world Above before I came to live here, Vincent. There is just no understanding the sickness some people will sink to. Now, I'd better go back in and help Father."

Nodding his head, Vincent stood there with his heart bleeding for the helpless woman he felt such an odd connection to.

When they finished caring for the woman and Mary had gotten her into a clean gown, Father told Vincent he could come back into the chamber. He went right to her side and immediately took her hand into his. He was concentrating on and trying to understand the connection he felt with her when Father interrupted his thoughts.

"Vincent, I would like an explanation as to why you brought this woman here!"

"Father, she would have died without help," his son protested.

"She could have gone to a hospital!"

"There wasn't time, Father. She needed immediate help!"

"You must get her out of here as quickly as possible! And tell her nothing!" Father insisted.

"Yes, Father. I am going to take her to my chamber now so I can better watch over her."

"She will need to sleep to help the healing process."

"I will make sure of that, Father."

"And give her these…" he handed his son some pills. "I was saving them for an emergency…if one of us became ill…"

"This was an emergency, Father. She would have died."

Father allowed Vincent to pick up the unconscious woman and gently move her to his chamber. He worried constantly about his son and the dangers he faced because of his differences. Well, there was nothing more he could do tonight. He would go to bed and check on the woman's progress in the morning.

For the next six days Vincent kept watch over the woman he had found in the park. Mary handled the more intimate matters of caring for a female for him, and Father checked on their patient several times a day, but Vincent was her primary caregiver.

He was able to keep up with his classes because of the sedation she was under. It was during the evening and night time hours that he could examine the pull this woman had for him. Vincent knew the pain he had felt the night he found her had been hers, there was no other explanation for it. What he didn't know was why he had felt it, and so intently at that. Another puzzle was why he felt this connection with a woman he had never met before.

There had been times in the past when he could sense the heightened emotions of others. But, before this, it had only occurred with people he'd known all his life or at least for a long time.

What made her different? He had no answer to that. All he did know was that even though the classes he was teaching were only a short distance away, that distance seemed too far. There was almost a feeling of physical pain when he was away from her.

On the morning of the seventh day Vincent could tell that the woman was struggling against the sedatives left in her system. When Father had looked in on her the night before he had said she was healed enough to no longer need to be kept unconscious. Vincent then knew she would wake up on her own some time that day.

Mary had just changed the woman's bandages after Father had checked her stitches, when their patient began to shift around as she started to wake.

Father looked down at her and said, "We need to keep her quiet. We might have to restrain her."

Catherine was still feeling disoriented when she heard the male voice say that. She started to scream.

To be continued….