Centaur Legacy (13 page)

In a tone I guessed she saved for
people she really didn’t care for, she said, “This isn’t speed
dating, Mr. Strayer. Take care of your injuries. I don’t want to
see you back here.”

Daniel was laughing in the corner, not
even trying to maintain any amount of decorum. “Crash an’ burn,
Beau! I guess she told you. You catch on fire again, you better
find another hospital.” Initially his sarcasm reminded me of Cami,
and I thought it was a charming trait. Now it was seriously pissing
me off.

I caught the nurse’s elbow just before
she stepped through the doorway. “Hey, I’m sorry if I’ve offended
you. I’m new in town, and I don’t know anybody. I thought you might
like just to talk for a minute.”

“Nice line. Has that ever
worked?”

“Line? It’s not a line. I just wanted
to get to know you.”

“Sorry, I don’t mix with
patients.”

“Well, that works great. You just
discharged me. I’m not a patient anymore.”

Her smile warmed, marginally, “Have a
good day, Mr. Strayer. You can get your prescription filled at the
pharmacy downstairs.” She put her back to me and began walking down
the hallway.

I sprinted the few steps to get in
front of her in the hallway, “Will you be there?”

“In the pharmacy? Mr. Strayer, you seem
like a nice enough man. I’m not meeting you for coffee, or tea, or
down in the pharmacy.” Her voice was stern. I shouldn’t have
pressed her, but I did anyway.

“Would you believe me if I told you
I’ve never been on a date in my whole life? Today I caught fire
trying to help someone in a car accident, and my life flashed
before my eyes. I don’t want to die not knowing what it’s like to
sit across the table from a beautiful woman and to have a normal
conversation. C’mon, say yes.”

Her voice suddenly took on the
attributes of a drill sergeant when she said, “Mr. Strayer, for the
last time, no. If you ask me one more time, I’ll call
security.”

Daniel had caught up to me in the
hallway, and this latest exchange made him double over with
laughter, “Daaaaaamn, Beau, you need to quit while you’re ahead.
She’s going to have your ass in jail.” I decided that I was glad
she didn’t try to look under my new t-shirt. I was sure the burns
had completely healed by now, and given this exchange, the nurse
would probably turn me in for insurance fraud if she saw that I was
completely healed.

Daniel was still laughing at the
elevator, “What would have possessed you to try to pick up a nurse,
while she was working?”

“Why not?”

“Chicks don’t like it when they’re
working, Bra. At least not the ones I know. They think it’s
demeaning.”

“Really? That’s stupid. She was pretty.
I just wanted to get to know her. I thought that humans didn’t have
dating rules?”

“This is California, Beau. All the
girls are pretty here. You want a babe to hang out with, look for
the one wearing the smallest bikini on the beach – there’s someone
who wants to be picked up. Not here.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

The last several hours had blurred
together, but it occurred to me that Daniel had been driving me to
Cami’s apartment because he had to get to work. “Hey, man, are you
late for work?”

Daniel looked at his watch, “If I left
right now, I’d only make it in for three hours. It’d be better not
to go in at this point. I already called my boss.”

I nodded. I felt uncomfortable bringing
it up, but I asked anyway, “Daniel, do you think it would be okay
if I met your dad?”

“My dad? Why would you want to meet
him?” Daniel eyed me suspiciously.

From things Daniel had told me, their
relationship had been past strained since he returned from Florida.
I didn’t want to strain their relationship further, but his father
might be the only person on the planet who I could talk to about my
decision right now. “I’ve kind of decided I want to stay here. I’m
ready to, you know, to be normal. . . if that’s
possible.”

“What about Cami?”

Daniel’s question threw me for a loop.
“What do you mean? I’ll move out of her apartment if she comes
back.”

“I mean, I don’t trust any Centaur but
you. If you aren’t looking out for her, what’s going to happen to
her?”

“I already told you, she’s got a
Centaur who she’s either already chosen or is going to choose soon.
She’s safe.”

Daniel wasn’t happy when he accused,
“So, you’re just turning your back on her?”

I couldn’t understand Daniel’s anger.
Why did he think something bad was going to happen to Cami? I had
to admit that when she was at her grandmother’s house, I’d been
worried, but she was okay now. Dad was hiding her, and she had
Drake with her. “No, Daniel. Cami is. . . well, she’s
fine.”

Daniel and I didn’t know each other
very well, so confessing my plan to him felt awkward.
Unfortunately, unless he understood, my refusal to return to South
Carolina would look like a betrayal of some kind. I didn’t know if
he thought I was betraying him or Cami. “Look, I’m twenty-nine. You
know at thirty I’m no longer eligible to be chosen by a Centauride.
I’ve seen guys like me my whole life – we’re pathetic. You don’t
know what it’s like to see the disappointment in your own father’s
eyes. I just don’t want to do it anymore. I figure if I make the
decision, maybe it won’t eat at me so badly. I’m okay if I don’t
carry on my family’s bloodline. I’m willing to give up my place in
my family, not because I don’t care about them, but because I
wouldn’t be able to survive their rejection a year from
now.”

Daniel didn’t say anything. It felt
good to finally say it out loud, so I just kept talking. “You
wanna’ know what scares the shit out of me? I don’t know how to
start a new life. We both just saw me strike out with a girl when
all I wanted was a cup of coffee and conversation. I don’t know how
to be a human. I can’t even pretend. You’re the only human I know,
and you’re three-quarters Centaur.”

“That’s funny, Beau. Here I’m hangin’
out with you, hoping you’ll magically show me how to be a Centaur,
and you’re with me thinking I’ll somehow turn you human. We’re a
couple of losers.” Daniel cocked his head, then added, “But one of
us is bound to come out happy.”

“And the other is going to fail
miserably.”

“No offense, Bra, but I hope you
fail.”

“Me too, Daniel. Me too.”

“I guess we could go see Pops. He’s a
little easier to get along with than your father.”

I laughed at Daniel, “Dad’s not so bad,
unless you come unannounced at 1 a.m. after he’s had the most
stressful day of his life, then punch him in the face for good
measure.”

“What kind of an idiot would do
that?”

I couldn’t contain the laughter and
neither could Daniel. I nearly buckled over remembering the night
Daniel flew to our house looking for Cami. He didn’t get the
answers he wanted from my dad, so he hauled off and punched him.
Mom and I watched the whole thing from the living room window. It
was like watching a car accident – you know you shouldn’t watch,
but you can’t turn your attention away from it.

Daniel led the way to the exit when a
nurse in green scrubs caught us in the hallway and said, “Excuse
me.”

We both looked at her, a little
confused because she wasn’t familiar. She asked, “Are you the two
who helped with the car accident on PCH?” I nodded; the road we’d
been on was called the Pacific Coast Highway, but everyone
shortened the name to PCH. “Lacey Perish was the girl you pulled
from the car. She asked if she could speak with you. I went up to
the burn unit, but they said you weren’t admitted.”

“Uh, yeah. They checked me out. I’ve
already been discharged.”

“If you have a minute to say hello,
she’s in room two twenty-nine. She’d like to say
thank-you.”

I looked at Daniel, and he shrugged his
shoulders. She was a Centauride, so neither of us should be in her
room without an escort. I started to decline when Daniel said,
“C’mon, Beau.”

I shook my head, “Naw, you go ahead,
Daniel. I’ll meet you outside.”

The nurse gave me a strange look, “Mr.
Strayer, it’ll only take a second. She just lost her brother and
her fiancé. She’s very upset. Allowing her to thank you will help
her grieving process.”

I didn’t want to be a jerk. I’d been so
wrapped up in my own drama, I had nearly forgotten that I’d heard
the two Centaurs ascend to the pasture after the
explosion.

We followed the nurse into her room.
“Lacey, I found a couple visitors for you.”

Lacey was younger than I: she was
really young. She looked like a sweet kid, probably no older than
twenty. She’d been crying: her face was red and her eyes still
shiny with tears. I saw her trying to sit up a little straighter
and adjust her blanket to better cover herself.

Daniel was the first to speak, “Hi,
Lacey, I’m Daniel.” He motioned to me, “This is Beau.”

She pursed her lips together. I
recognized the look. She was trying to hold in a fresh wave of
tears. After everything she’d gone through today, you’d think she’d
know it was fine to be a little vulnerable. Her voice was strong
when she cleared her throat and said, “I just wanted to say
thank-you.”

Daniel looked at me. I nodded in
response to her. When Daniel concluded that I wasn’t going to say
anything, he answered, “It was all Beau. He’s the one who pulled
you out.”

She nodded. I felt worse than I had
five minutes before. If I’d just been a few seconds faster, I might
have been able to save her fiancé, as well. She wouldn’t recover
from the loss any time soon. He had had a life to look forward to.
I felt a loss for the Centaur I’d never known. Would his bloodline
carry on? Did he have brothers or did my delay cause his bloodline
to cease? “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” I hoped she had heard the
words, but my voice was barely over a whisper.

Her voice was much stronger than mine,
“You did more than most could have, Beau. Thank you.”

I nodded, desperately wanting out of
the room. I felt like the walls were closing in on me, and I needed
air. Why would I be permitted to live when I had nothing to live
for? I didn’t have a life waiting for me. I would have to make my
own, and it wasn’t even a life I’d fought for. Why would their
lives not be spared?

I couldn’t take the feeling anymore, so
I gave Lacey a half wave and walked toward the door, “I’m glad
you’re going to be okay.”

When I hit the door’s threshold, her
raised voice found me, “Beau, be careful.”

I stopped in the doorway, angled my
body slightly, “I will.”

“I mean on your trip. She needs
you.”

I’d already decided I wasn’t going back
to South Carolina. What was she talking about? “What? What
trip?”

“To South Dakota. She needs you. I can
see it.”

I took a step back inside the room.
“Who needs me?”

Daniel had been standing just to the
side of Lacey; he leaned into her. “What’d you say? South Dakota?
Is it Cami?”

Lacey looked a little confused, “Yes, I
think so.” Her head did the smallest of a circle as her eyes lost
focus on us; it looked like she was concentrating on something not
in the room. “I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well. . .” Her voice cut
off for a second, she took a heavy breath, and when she spoke again
her voice was shaky, “I’m sorry. I woke up this morning and had a
really bad feeling about Ted and Tom. Tom was my brother, Ted was
my. . . betrothed. They were going to play golf, but I had this
vision of a car crash and their burning bodies. I begged them not
to go. I told them I’d do anything if they just wouldn’t go. . .”
Tears streamed down her face, and she took several ragged breaths.
Lacey was a seer: she saw the future. She had known of the accident
that was to take their lives and couldn’t prevent it.

Neither Daniel nor I said a word. Her
sobs were deafening, and Daniel reached down and instinctively held
her hand trying to comfort her. She didn’t shrug away from his
touch as I would have expected, not because he wasn’t a pure-blood
but because he was a male. She continued, “I couldn’t stop it. It
happened anyway.”

Daniel’s voice was kind, “You can’t
stop fate, Lacey. I’m sorry for your loss, but there’s nothing you
could have done. I’m sure they are both looking down and happy that
you’re alive, wanting you to make the most of the rest of your
life.”

She nodded through the sobs. I didn’t
want to be insensitive, but I needed to know what she was talking
about. I inched closer to her, and when I was close enough to keep
my voice low, I asked, “You said Cami needs me? Are you
sure?”

“Not yet, but she will.”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t work like
that. She’s in South Dakota, and I can see her screaming for help.
I can see someone trying to help her. I see you, Beau.”

“What’s happened to her?”

“I can’t see that, either.” She gave an
exasperated expression, “I’m sorry, I wish I could control the
visions better. When I see the future, it’s always just glimpses,
sometimes words. In this vision I could see cars with license
plates, so I know what state. Otherwise, they’re really just
random.”