Fallen (2 page)

She was estranged from her family, which would explain why she was all alone. She had become a professional ballerina after spending years in college studying business. She had been raised by affluent parents who had wanted her to follow in their footsteps and were disappointed with the choices she had made, thus the reason for the estrangement. Amir saw several past boyfriends, but no husband and no children. For all intents and purposes this woman was completely alone in the world. Yet, when Amir reached into the parts of her memories pertaining to dance, he felt a radiant joy. He now understood where Shayla’s perseverance came from. This woman lived to dance; it was a part of who she was. Amir was happy to know that once he was finished she would dance again.

He opened his eyes and continued to study her, taking a mental tally of her injuries. The fact that he was struggling to breathe told him that she could not breathe on her own, thus the tube down her throat. The throbbing pain in his head hinted at brain damage, although he wasn’t sure yet how extensive. There was also intense pain in his abdomen which clued him in to internal bleeding and perhaps even some damaged organs. His legs hurt the worst, however, and he knew that this injury was the most awful. Her legs had been completely mangled by the SVU and without his help she would probably walk with a limp for the rest of her life.

Amir leaned over Shayla’s still form and closed his eyes, concentrating on her lungs. In his mind he could see them inflating and deflating, filling with the air coming through the tube and then deflating again to expel it. He could see the open airway leading down her throat, through the trachea and the bronchial tree. Keeping this image in his mind, he opened his mouth and exhaled through it slowly. A white mist passed through his lips and curled through the air before seeping into Shayla’s nose. It traveled slowly down her nose and throat, through the trachea, and into the lungs.

Within seconds she was choking, her throat and lungs fighting against intubation as her body took over breathing on its own. An alarm attached to one of the machines beside her began screaming loudly before the door flew open to admit a nurse.

Barely sparing a glance for him, she rushed to Shayla’s side and ripped the tape from her face and pulled the tube from her throat. She instantly relaxed and her breathing returned to normal, but she remained unconscious. The nurse checked her vital signs, her face drawn into a puzzled frown. She turned to Amir, the corners of her mouth still turned down.

“
Are you family?”

Amir could not lie. “No,” he said. “I am a friend.”

The nurse seemed to consider this for several moments before she spoke again. “Only family is allowed in the ICU, but since you’re the only person who’s been to visit this poor girl in a week I’ll let it slide. If anyone asks, you’re her husband okay?”

Amir nodded his understanding. “Yes. Thank you.”

“
What took you so long anyway?”

“
I had to come from out of town,” he answered cryptically. “Quite a distance from here. Has anyone contacted her family?”

The nurse nodded. “There was a number in her cell phone for ‘mom and dad’. We called and left a message, but no response. Like I said, no one’s been to see this girl besides you. Anyways, I have to go now. The doctor will be wanting to know that she’s started breathing on her own. He didn’t think she would make it.”

“
And what did you think?” Amir asked out of curiosity.

“
I was hoping for the best,” she answered. “I could tell this girl’s a fighter. It’ll make me feel good to rub it in the doc’s face.”

“
What will happen next?”

“
Only time will tell,” the nurse said with a shrug. “If she survives she’s got a long road to recovery. For now I’ll talk to the doctor about sedating her. When she wakes up she’s going to be in a world of hurt.”

Amir nodded his thanks and turned to take a seat beside Shayla’s bed as the nurse left the room. He did not have anything else to do for at least another day or two, but for some reason he couldn’t leave. There was something in the human instinct to survive that touched him. Everything in her was fighting to survive and Amir didn’t want to miss one moment of it. He crossed his legs, sat back in his chair and watched her breathe.

Chapter 3: Memories

The human brain was truly a miraculous organ. Amir had always admired its complexity. It was also very fragile, he thought, as he probed deeply through Shayla’s mind for any signs of brain damage. Fortunately no part of her brain controlling speech or movement had been damaged. Unfortunately, the hippocampus, the part of the brain regulating long-term memory, had suffered extensive damage.

Without his help, Shayla would have no recollection of who she was or where she had come from. It would completely devastate her, having to re-learn everything about herself. She would have no memory of dance.

Amir place one hand on either side of her head and focused all of his energy on reconstructing her hippocampus. One at a time, he retrieved and filed away each of her memories, taking care to put them in the order in which he found them, like placing photographs chronologically into an album.

When he was finished he collapsed into his chair with a sigh, exhausted. Working with the human brain was quite an undertaking, one that always left him drained. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

Shayla peeked from behind the burgundy velvet curtain, her eyes wide with wonder. Every seat in the auditorium was packed. She scanned the crowd slowly, smiling with anticipation as she searched for two familiar faces. The longer she stood there searching, the more her smile faded until she was frowning. She released the curtain and turned away with a sigh. They weren’t coming. Again.

She didn’t know why she kept expecting them to show; they almost never did. Now sixteen, she supposed she should have been used to it by now, but the fact that her parents never bothered to come to her recitals never stopped hurting.

They were more than content to pay for her
lessons
.
A
fter
all
,
the more time she spent at the most prestigious dance school for young dancers in New York City, the less time they had to spend with her
.
W
hich meant more time spent working and more money to be earned.

Shayla swiped angrily at the tears running down her cheeks and checked her reflection in the mirror to make sure she hadn’t smudged her stage make up too badly. She studied her reflection as she dabbed at her eyes with a napkin.

She supposed she should be grateful. After all, there were a lot of neglected kids out there. So many young people her age lived on the streets with no place to call home and no one to care for them. Shayla had parents who could afford to send her to one of the best private schools. Her bedroom was like an advertisement in one of those teen magazines, stuffed to the ceiling with everything a girl could ever want. Walking into her closet was like walking into a department store.
The
brand new car she’d been given for her birthday was parked outside of the auditorium, its cherry-red paint gleaming in the afternoon sun.

Yet Shayla would trade the car in an instant to have her parents here now, to witness her very first solo performance. She was nervous; her palms were sweaty and her legs trembling. She would hand over the keys in a second if it meant they would be here in the audience, smiling proudly and cheering her on…

Amir awakened with tears in his eyes. He wiped at them with the back of his hand. Repairing a person’s memory almost always left its imprint in his own mind
.
T
hose memories tended to embed themselves into his dreams. His heart hurt for the young girl who only wanted more of her parents’ attention and affection.

It was no wonder they were estranged. Parents like Shayla’s often confused the material possessions they could provide with real and lasting love. It was a shame, really. After having been inside of Shayla’s mind, Amir could clearly see that she was a good person. Her soul was surrounded by radiant light. Her parents were really missing out by not knowing her.

He leaned forward with his chin rested on his hand, elbows on his knees, and watched her. She certainly was beautiful, that much was obvious even through the dark bruising around her eyes. He like
d
the texture and color of her skin, like warm chocolate, and the shape of her full mouth. He just knew that her smile would be as radiant as her soul.

His eyes wandered down to her throat
,
where he detected the slow but steady cadence of her pulse. He placed his hand to his own throat and found that the rhythms matched. He kept his hand pressed there and his eyes on her throat as he drifted off to sleep once more.

Amir did not aid Shayla’s healing in any way for the next week. He knew that his assignment did not require him to remain by her side constantly, but he still couldn’t bring himself to leave her. There was something magnetic about this woman’s soul; the radiance of it pulled at him like a magnet.

Almost against his will, he found himself standing over the hospital bed, his mind delving into her thoughts and memories. He knew he was being invasive, but found it hard to stop. After seven days he knew almost everything about her. It was quite an unsettling experience.

He had never taken the time to get to know one of his assignments before. Outside of the inner workings of their physical bodies, he knew nothing other than the basics: age, weight, height, names of family members, illness, and the fact that Father wanted them saved. But this woman he knew everything about, and it made him want to help her more. It made him want to be there for her.

He supposed that was it, really. The more he swam through her memories, the angrier he became at the realization that no one had ever been there for her. Amir decided that he would be.

On the seventh day, Amir decided that it was time to move forward. He stood and walked back to the side of the hospital bed where Shayla lay, unconscious. He stretched his hands out over her body and did another inventory of her injuries. Her legs, both set and in casts, were healing nicely. He gave them just the slightest nudge, knowing that being stuck in a hospital bed was sure to depress a woman like Shayla. She would want to begin rehab as soon as she was able. His hands stopped over her abdomen
.
H
e knew there was damage inside. He closed his eyes and visualized her organs, concentrating all of his energy on mending what was damaged.

He was so intent on what he was doing that he did not notice her stirring in the bed. His mind was so fully focused on what was happening just beneath his hands that he did not feel her reaching for consciousness. His eyes were closed, and so he did not see hers open.

Chapter 4: Awakening

As Shayla fought for consciousness, the first sensation she experienced was pain. Excruciating
,
to the point of being nearly unbearable, it almost caused her to retreat back into darkness. Never one to give up easily, she fought against the pain and forced her eyes open. The brightness of the fluorescent lights overhead caused her to snap them shut again.

Her throat was sore and her mouth dry; her tongue was
as
rough as sandpaper. She remembered stepping off the curb just as the bright lights of a speeding car came careening toward her out of nowhere. She decided that she must be in a hospital
.
B
ased on the intensity of her pain she guessed she’d been hit by the car and was badly hurt. The fact that most of the pain was radiating from her legs was a good sign
that
she was not paralyzed. Her deepest fear now pushed aside, she decided to try opening her eyes again.

When she did, they stung from the brightness of the lights but she forced herself to endure it, knowing that she would adjust in time. Above her, the lights hummed. It was annoying, but she figured she would eventually get used to it. She turned her head slowly toward the equally annoying sound of the machine by the bed monitoring her vitals. Then she saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned toward it much too quickly, causing her head to spin.

She closed her eyes, forcing back the nausea that rolled over her in one tremendous wave. When she was able to open her eyes again, she realized that the movement beside her was a person. A man, in fact.

At first glance, the man appeared to be glowing. From the top of his dark head, down to his white collared shirt, a bright white light seemed to be coming straight from him. After staring for a moment, she realized it must just be the fluorescent lights and her eyes just needed more time to adjust.

Gosh, he’s handsome,
she thought, her eyes sweeping over thick, black, wavy hair, high cheekbones and a firm mouth. He was looking down at her with brown eyes only a few shades lighter than hers rimmed with spiky lashes. At the puzzled expression on her face he smiled
and
her insides melted into a puddle. The slight upward tilt at the corners of his mouth and flash of white teeth were devastating.