Coma (Paranormal Romance) (27 page)

I didn't answer, just blinked.

“Frail,” he muttered.

“How do you know the difference? You said
you’ve never done it before. Maybe we've just shared feelings.”

“Give me your hands,” he demanded, arms
outstretched toward me. I placed my palms over his, immediately
feeling his emotions mixing with mine. “And our bracelets are off,”
he pointed out.

“In the light of this new info, let me
rephrase my question from earlier,” I said, raising my brows, “Will
we feel like this forever?” My heart skipped a beat.

“Undoubtedly.”

“Then what's to forgive?” I giggled, but a
knock on my bedroom door interrupted us. Fast, I returned to my
body, throwing a comforter over my head just as Mom was peering
in.

“Happy birthday, hon,” in her sweet voice,
Mom said while clicking the door behind her.

I rubbed my eyes as if I had just awoken. Mom
sat on my bed, kissed my cheek, and pulled me into a long hug. Zack
silently smiled from across the room. I scowled at him to quit it.
It was distracting.

“Come downstairs for breakfast,” she said,
tucking my hair behind my ears. “You've got mail.”

As if punched to the plexus, I grabbed my
tummy. Mom looked at me worried, but I chased away her concern by
saying, “I'm starving,” and forced a smile.

She smiled, and got up, “Dad's waiting
downstairs, so hurry up.”

“Sure.”

The door silently clicked behind her, and I
looked at Zack desperately.

“It's gonna be okay, Ly” he pushed himself
off the wall, and started toward the bed.

“I don't think I can go through with this,”
an inner tremor started shaking my body.

Zack crashed on the bed, and placed his head
in my lap. Looking up at me, he said, “Yes, you can! Think of it
this way. If you really wanted to work there, you wouldn't see
anything wrong in pursuing your dream.”

“I know, but it's not my dream, and knowing
that––” I sighed, closing my eyes in despair.

Zack sat up and took my hands in his. A warm
surge of his feelings flooded my bloodstream. “And what is your
dream?” His green eyes searched mine, expectantly, sending another
surge of feelings my way.

“This is,” I smiled. “You and me.” His
emotions invaded my body, overwhelming me with nothing but
consuming love.

“Then you're not pretending. You are pursuing
your dream,” his eyes watered, “Our dream.”

A kick of undying love and need scorched my
body. I couldn't discern what feelings belonged to him or me, but
it was a state of being I never wanted to end. An unbreakable bond
between us was a physical, tangible thing, as well as emotional.
That boosted my self esteem enough to climb out of bed. On my way
to the bathroom, I turned around and said, “But I'm doing this
alone. I can't focus with you there.”

Zack smiled, and nodded. “Before you go, come
back here. I have something else to tell you.”

After brushing my teeth for the third time
since I woke up, I combed my hair with thousands strokes, delaying
the inevitable. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I assured
myself everything would be alright. Somehow it wasn't working all
that well.

I opened the door to my room, finding Zack
exactly where I had left him. Resting comfortably on my bed. As
soon as he saw me, he cracked a smile, and jumped up.

“Ready?” He asked, grinning.

“Not even remotely,” I rolled my eyes,
feeling my palms getting clammy.

“Sophie's frequencies are grounded,” he broke
the news, smiling wide.

“You're kidding?” I blinked.

“Nope. She did it.”

“Yes!” I shrieked, jiggling in place, feeling
a boost of happiness more than a truckload of candy could induce.
The bond with Zack was incredible, it made all things fall into its
place, but it didn't ease my worry. I needed a little more crappy
excitement to get me through this day, and this was just what I
needed.

“They're in Ethan's room as we speak,” he
flash an all knowing smile, and I knew what that meant. “Let's just
say, they're two happy puppies,” he chuckled.

“Yes, yes, yes,” I chanted, all worked up,
clapping my hands.

“Now use that, and go downstairs,” he brushed
the back of his hand down my chin.

I stormed out of my room, and rushed
downstairs, all worked up, feeling happy. Dad appeared around the
kitchen corner, and scooped me up from the last step, giving me a
spin.

“Happy nineteenth,” he said, putting me
down.

“Thanks, Dad,” I smiled, pushing down that
nagging feeling I was doing something bad.

“Here,” he handed me the letter. “It's from
Antarctica,” his brows shot up as he grimaced to show his
surprise.

I swallowed hard, and ripped the side of the
envelope, preparing my fake excitement to come out at any moment. I
pretended to be reading it, then pressed the letter against my
chest. I started screaming, then jumping up and down. Dad's gawked
at me. I shoved the paper into his hands, and stormed off into the
kitchen, yelling:

“MOM!”

“What is it?” She snapped around, folding her
apron on the countertop.

“My dream came true!” I yelled, excitedly
bouncing up and down. “I got a job!”

Dad came into the kitchen, handing Mom the
letter, scratching his head. She put her reading glasses on, and
took the letter.

“I don't know, honey,” Dad said, sitting down
at the table.

My world sank, dragging my face with it.
Good. It will look genuine. “Why? It's what I was hoping for all
this time. I worked hard to get it, Dad.”

“But it's Antarctica,” he looked at me as if
I was supposed to understand what he meant by dragging out the last
word.

“Yeah, and?” I played stupid.

“I'm with your father on this one,” Mom
voiced her opinion, gripping Dad's shoulders from behind. He
covered one of her hands with his palm.

“No! You can't do this to me,” I felt tears
burn the back of my throat.
If they don't go along, I'll have to
be dead to them
—I thought, cringing mentally.

Mom and Dad exchanged looks, then Dad said,
“If it means that much to you––”

I looked up expectantly, “You have no idea
how much.” I sniffled, thinking how clueless they were. I felt
dirty again.

They both sighed loudly, exchanging a couple
of more looks. “Okay, then. We'll support you on this one, but I
have one condition,” Mom said, gazing softly at me.

“Which one?”

“You'll come in for a full medical. I have to
make sure you'll be able to handle those temperatures,” she
said.

“Of course,” I smiled.

“I'll have to look into this some more,” Dad
said, ogling the letter. I expected nothing less of him, and we
were prepared for it.

“This is the best birthday ever,” I smiled
wide, and went to hug them.

“Not yet,” Mom giggled. “We have a gift,
too.”

“We've noticed how much you've been into
chemistry again since Christmas,” Dad got up, and reached for his
back pocket, pulling out an envelope, “So Mom and I decided to
invest in your lab.”

“No way!” I screamed, excited. For real.

“Yes,” Dad smiled, and handed me the
envelope. “It's a gift certificate. They supply everything for our
lab at the hospital, so they'll have what you need to make a small
lab at our basement.”

“It's not much, but it'll be a good start to
test some of your hypotheses,” Mom winked.

“Aww, you're the best!” I hugged them one
more time. They were incredible, and the guilt I felt would be hard
to digest. I definitely felt like an ungrateful monster.

~*~

Having a private, albeit poor lab in my
basement made our search for cryobox materials that much easier,
and faster. Now some things have been made in my lab without
raising suspicion. The only thing we had to be careful about was
what might resemble drugs or weapons. Those supplies were
immediately scratched off the buying list, and handled by Ethan or
Zack. Luckily, there weren't that many to slow us down.

Mom and Dad's gift certificate covered the
cost for building a lab, but supplies were another thing. That's
where the money I had earned at Mario's came in quite handy. I
second guessed quitting that job, but with all the preparations for
Antarctica, and building cryoboxes, I had no room for extras.

It was a sad day when I handed in my notice.
I'll miss everyone. Even Jake. Antarctica was a perfect cover story
for them, as well, so Mr. Thompson, the manager, congratulated me
on that job, and wished me luck. He even said that I was welcome to
come work for them if I ever needed some extra cash, then hid his
watery eyes. I wanted to hug him, he was nothing but good to me,
but it somehow might have not been appropriate, so I only went with
the handshake.

On the last day of my job, my new family,
Ethan, Sophie, and Zack, were waiting for me at our usual table.
They knew it would be hard to end that part of my life, so they
came to support me. All this time, we managed to blend two worlds
into one right there at Mario's, so it held a special place in all
our hearts. Mine in particular. It meant so much to me. I spent my
high school years there, it was my first job, my independence, I
lost my best friends there, and I met my new ones.

Tying loose ends at Mario's was actually
saying goodbye to my former life forever, but no-one knew that, so
I had to push down overwhelming emotions, or it would have been
weird. That piled up, so when I sat down next to Zack, all that
I've been holding in, now pushed to get out. Sophie and Ethan
flashed compassionate smiles, but one look at me, and Zack knew I
was on the verge of a breakdown. He took my hands and smoothed his
palms over mine. Instantaneously, I felt his soothing emotions
enter my body, mixing with my pain, taking the edge off. I closed
my eyes, concentrating on nothing but his love. The pain in my
chest subsided, calming my breathing. My eyes snapped back open,
meeting Zack's refreshing smile.

“Holy shit!” Ethan screamed, clasping both
hands over his mouth.

“What?” Sophie's head snapped toward Ethan,
her curls following shortly after.

“They're unbreakables,” he uttered, his mouth
staying open, eyes protruding. Zack and I exchanged looks, and then
smiled wide in confirmation. Indeed, we were.

Sophie was the only one in the dark, saying,
“Would anyone care to explain?”

Ethan moved his gaze on her, “Remember the
other day when I told you about our ability to share feelings?”
Sophie nodded.

“Oh, you did?” Zack jumped in, chuckling. I
elbowed him to shut up. He mouthed a
“what?”
, shrugging. I
narrowed my glance.

Ethan just darted a glare, then looked back
at Sophie, “There's this rare thing that can happen. If two people
feel a certain way about each other, an unbreakable bond forms,
tying them forever.”

Sophie's sharp intake of air reverberated
between us. She looked at Zack and me, then snorted, “And why are
you surprised?” She returned her gaze to Ethan, twirling a curl
around her finger, “It was obvious they were––” She paused for a
moment, “––
quantumly entangled
from the start,” she giggled,
winking at me.

“I have to say that Soph always did know more
than us,” I said, both Zack and I chuckling.

“Does that mean you'll leave TGA?” Ethan
looked at us expectantly.

“No, why?” Zack frowned; Soph and I exchanged
confused looks.

Ethan snorted, “We don't have unbreakables.
The opposing side does!”

I narrowed my eyes, “I don't see the
significance. Now TGA has the unbreakables, too. So what?”

“Do you know something we don't?” Zack tilted
his head, carefully inspecting Ethan.

“No,” Ethan chuckled, “I just figured I'd be
your best man when you marry. I'm offended!”

Zack and I chuckled, lacing our fingers.

“Say what?” Sophie's brows furrowed, “Are you
guys getting married?” Her glance bounced between Zack and me.

“The unbreakable bond
is
the
marriage,” Ethan draped his arm over Sophie.

“Motherfucker!” Sophie shrieked, kicking
Ethan's arm off of her.

“What?” Ethan raised his shoulders,
confused.

“You left that part out, and you knew it
could happen to us,” she punched him in the shoulder.

“Would it be so bad if it did?” Ethan
chuckled, smoothing his palm over the shoulder to ease her
blow.

“Yeah! I'm too young to be married,” Sophie
crossed her arms, glaring at him. “We’re not doing it!”

“C'mon Soph,” Zack interjected, “We didn't
expect it to happen, either. It's so freakin' rare.”

“Well, you're stupid!” She scowled, tilting
her body away from Ethan's, “I could have told you it would happen
to you.”

“It's not a bad thing, Soph,” I stepped in,
“You knew how much we cared for each other, right?” She nodded, her
face angry. “What's the point in denying it then? Just because some
bond confirms what we already knew, doesn't mean it's the end of
the world.”

Hearing me say that, Zack's eyes twinkled. He
connected our hands, giving me the insight in how it felt for him.
My entire body made a spasm, and I blushed.

“That right there,” Sophie pointed her finger
at us, “What was that?” Her mouth formed a perfect little letter
o.

Heavily blushing, I replied, “Zack showed me
how he felt at this moment.”

“Oh,” Soph giggled, anger leaving her
face.

Ethan grimaced, “Argh, they're gonna get all
weird on us now.” Sophie's fist connected with Ethan's shoulder
once again.

“Jerk,” she snickered, edging closer to him.
He wrapped his arm around her, and kissed the top of her head,
grinning wide.

“We've got a perfect place for your
cryoboxes,” Ethan dropped the bomb as if it were picking up the
groceries, not freezing our asses forever. Naturally, he meant
Antarctica.