Outer Banks (20 page)

“Oh, it's you alright.”

She moved her hand down my chest, the water had made her skin feel warm. I tried to remind myself this was going nowhere as she deepened the kiss. I couldn't let myself get carried away.

When her hand wrapped around me down below and began to stroke, I nearly lurched out of the tub in surprise.

“Em.” Her name came out as a groan. “You don't need to—”

She cut me off with another kiss.

“Remember the dinner?” she said. Hell, I couldn't remember my own name when she touched me like that, but I managed a nod. “It's the same thing. Just because I can't enjoy it myself doesn't mean I don't like to watch you enjoy it.” Her grip tightened a little, emphasizing her words.

My moan of surrender echoed in the large bathroom, and I let my head fall back against the wall as she continued. I was wound so tight, it wasn't going to be long. A few more strokes had my hands clenched in anticipation.

It was too much. Too many sensations. The warm water, the slippery suds, the pace of her hand, her naked body. I put up a good showing, but when I felt her lips by my ear I knew I was close. Then she whispered, “Come on, cowboy,” and that was all it took to end me.

I shouted out something, I don't even know what.

When I was able to open my eyes she was watching me, looking pretty proud of herself. I'd never seen her smile like that.

I kissed her. “Thank you.” I wanted to reciprocate, but there was nothing I could do to make her feel the way she'd made me feel. Instead I turned her so I could continue the massage.

I hadn't made it the whole way down her back when she stiffened. For a second I thought I'd touched one of the scars. But she was smiling when she jumped out of the tub and grabbed a towel.

“I just thought of something,” she said as she ran out of the room, still dripping.

“Huh. That was productive,” I said to myself as leaned back to enjoy the rest of my bath.

My phone rang while I was relaxing in the bubbles. I was able to reach my pants without having to get out of the tub.

“Hello?” I hadn't even bothered to see who was calling.

“Dill.”

“Hey, kid,” I smiled.

“What are you up to?” he asked.

“Uh…” I looked down at myself, feeling like it would be rude to rub it in. “I'm just cleaning up. How are you?”

We had a chance to catch up a bit. It had been a week since I'd heard from him last and I guess it wasn't all doom and gloom in the world. Fed up by the rise in crime within the complex, many of the residents had organized into neighborhood watches, working in tandem with OBX security. Corey had volunteered.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. On the one hand I was proud as hell, seeing that he was helping out like that, but I didn't want him to get hurt. He was still just a kid. But Corey assured me he was only doing observation and radioing in suspicious activity. That was good enough for me.

“Besides, my DS got busted so I've got shit to do around here.”

“Language, kid.”

“Sorry.”

“Keep your chin up. We're working on it from this end.”

“I'll be first in line, right?” He laughed.

I moved and the water slapped up against the tub. “You got it.”

“Are you taking a
bath
?” Corey asked.

“Oh, God.” I hung my head. I wasn't going to live this down.

Corey laughed.

“Do you have like toy boats in there?”

“No! I have bath salts.” I laughed with him, it was ridiculous.

“Is there a girl at least?”

“There
was
!”

Corey laughed again. “You old dog you. Later, dude.” He hung up and I got out of the tub to dry off.

I went down to the lab to see Em hunched over the microscope.

“How was the rest of your bath?” she asked with a giggle.

“Lonely.” I smiled and kissed her. “Corey called.”

“How's he doing?”

“Not as bad as before. Still, I wish I had brought him along when I broke you out.”

Emery hunched a little more. She seemed a little too focused on her work.

“What is it?”

“The formula. I'm having trouble getting it to liberate the red blood cells that fluid holds onto. It always ends up breaking down both. If I could break down the alien fluid but leave the human cells it already has intact, I'd be one step closer, I think. But I can't…” She rubbed her temples. “It's just not coming to me!”

“Calm down. Your heart can only take so much. You need to relax every once in a while. Those people on the island and around the world need you. Your dad needs you. I need you. No one would think badly of you for cutting yourself a little slack so you don't have a heart attack. Okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.” She took a deep breath. “Let's go for a walk,” she suggested.

“Sure.”

We walked together in silence around the gardens, holding hands.

“Have you noticed you wind down earlier when you get stressed?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She frowned. “And I usually work better under stress. That's what they call a Catch-22.”

“Are you still thinking?” I asked. “About the project, I mean. Right now.”

“Yes. I can't seem to stop.”

“You need a distraction,” I said. “Give your brain a chance to breathe. Tell me about your mother.”

“Not much to tell. She died when I was little,” she told me. “And what killed her nobody has been able to cure yet, either.”

I squeezed her hand. “You're trying your best, Em. No one can ask for more than that.”

“If there was a doctor who might have been able to save my mom, I would have expected more than their best.”

I sighed. There was no use trying to convince her she was wrong.

“Let's go back,” I said. This walk wasn't going to help.

When we stepped inside the house she stopped still. So still, I looked around the house thinking she'd seen an intruder.

Her expression was so blank and far away. She was in the middle of something. I took her arm and guided her back to the thinking room.

I watched as she came alive again. She pulled out the book where she'd copied her notes from the walls at OBX. She opened another book and began scribbling fresh notes.

She would occasionally look up at the ceiling before she started writing again. Then she flipped back a few pages to her older notes. It was like one of those research montages you might see in a movie, only it was all happening at once right in front of me.

“You're so cute when you're concentrating,” I said after watching her little whirlwind for ten minutes. I leaned over and stole a kiss.

“Please. I know this face and the word
cute
is not synonymous with it, Dillon.”

“Well, I think it's cute. And watching you work amazes me. Also makes me feel stupid at the same time.”

“Don't you think I'd feel the same way if I watched you put a car together?” she countered.

“I don't think it would be the same at all.” She laughed, but I wasn't joking.

I decided it would be better to get out of her way so I wasn't a distraction.

“By the way, I don't think it's possible for us to turn into Bugs.”

“Hold up! You're letting me win an argument?”

She just laughed and went back to her book.

I hated to have to tell her it was time. She really looked like she was on the brink of a breakthrough.

“Come on. It's time to get you into bed.”

She let out a sigh, like a kid being told it was bedtime.

“It will be here tomorrow.”

“Will I?”

It never occurred to me that the coma the Haunts dropped into was so complete and dreamless they might end up wondering if they would wake up each time. “Yes. You will.”

The next evening she was back at it as soon as she woke up. I had to bring her food to her in the lab. After that, I wandered back and forth through the house.

The television was on in the living room, but I wasn't paying attention, reading a magazine instead. I was alerted by the intense lead-in music of yet another Special Report. Emery heard it too, and joined me in the living room to watch.

“We have breaking news of a disturbance at the Outer Banks Facility in North Carolina. A number of Haunts are being detained after trying to escape the island, claiming it's no longer safe there. This after the third day of protests at OBX demanding better living conditions.”

They showed footage from the island, showing peaceful nighttime protests along with less than peaceful arrests. UV lights were used on some to subdue them until they could be restrained. I worried that Corey might have gotten mixed up in this, but I had no way to call him directly. I fished out the encrypted phone that gave me a direct line to Mr. Mitchell.

“Adam, it's Dillon.”

“What is it? Is Emmie okay?”

“Yes, sir. She's fine. I'm sorry. Have you seen the news?”

“Uh…no. I was occupied.” I heard the sloshing sound of a waterbed. “What's happened?” he asked.

“There's been a riot at the Outer Banks. Can you call your man at OBX and have him get Corey Ralston to contact me as soon as possible? I need to make sure he's okay.”

“Sure, sure. I'll do it right now.”

“Thanks.” I hung up and began pacing.

I turned to the TV again.

“We're like goldfish in a bowl just waiting for the cat to come!” a Haunt explained. “They can't make us stay here. We're American citizens! We have rights!”

“Oh, shit!” I sat down and closed my eyes. “Why did I leave him there?”

“It's not your fault,” Em tried to comfort me. I was not comforted.

“What if someone hurts him?”

“You really care about him, don't you?” Emery noted with a tilt to her head.

“He's just a kid and he doesn't have anyone. I know what that's like.”

“I need to stop fooling around and fix this.” She looked at the chaos on the television. “Before things get worse.” With that she walked down the hall to the lab.

Chapter Sixteen

I held out a cup of blood as I entered the lab. “Em, I didn't mean to make things worse. You've got enough on your mind as it is.”

“Can you take a sample from me?” she asked after taking the cup. She seemed to be fighting the urge to bite into it.

“Again? You can't do it?” I asked.

“I already used my left arm today, I need to get it from my right. I'm not left-handed. You would do a better job than if I did it myself.”

“Barely,” I muttered and took a deep breath. “You know I didn't sign up for this. I said I would protect you and keep you from endangering other people. I consider the kissing and whatnot perks, but extracting fluids? Nope. Definitely didn't sign up for that.”

“You do a good job though, and I thank you as always for stepping outside of your comfort zone.” She bowed graciously.

“My comfort zone is in another state, Em.”

“Come on, be a sport. And to thank you properly, I will close up shop early so we can spend some time together before I wind down. Besides, being with you is the only thing I've found to really relax me.” Maybe another bath? My jeans felt a little tight all of the sudden.

“Okay. Where's the needle?” I asked with dread in my voice. I still didn't like jabbing anyone with needles.

“Get a half dozen vials so I won't need you to stick me again anytime soon.”

“How soon is soon?”

“A day or two.”

I cleaned off her arm with an alcohol swab. I grunted my irritation as I slid the needle in and swapped out the vacutainers. Once there were six filled, I pulled the needle out and applied a bandage and a kiss.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” I said like it had been a huge burden. She rolled her eyes and took the samples back to her workstation.

My phone buzzed.

“Hello?”

“Dillon, it's me.”

“Corey!” I was so relieved. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I'm fine. I hid in the grocery store that they use for clothes now.”

“Good thinking. Has everything calmed down?”

“For the most part. There were a couple of fires. I wanted to help, but I wasn't allowed anywhere near all that.”

“Good. I'm glad you're okay. Just be careful, kid. If you get hurt it'll be my fault.”

“No it won't,” he scoffed.

“Well, it would feel like it to me.”

“So you don't want me to get killed because you couldn't live with the guilt?” he joked.

“Right.”

“It's
all
about you isn't it?” That made us both laugh.

“Apparently.”

“Don't worry. I'll lay low if things get worse. Thanks for checking up, cuz. Later.”

“Later.” I hung up and looked at Emery. “If things get worse I might have to get him out of there. Maybe your dad could stay with you if I left?”

“I'm sure we can work something out.” She rubbed my shoulders. “Don't worry. He's all right now. We'll figure it out. He's your family.”

Corey and I had always joked about our relationship. I mean, we were cousins, but it was a pretty distant link. I hadn't really taken it too seriously until she said it. I was surprised by how true it felt. She hugged me for a bit before she went back to work.

I took my usual place on the stool in the corner. At some point, I dosed off. Probably with boredom.

She shook me awake. “Dillon. Dillon!”

“What? Is it time for bed?” I opened my eyes and looked at the clock on the wall.

“Not that. I think I did it.” She whispered like it was a secret and was worried someone else in the house might hear.

My brain wasn't working quite yet. “You did what?”

“
It
. I think I found the cure.”

I blinked a few times and then stared at her in confusion.

“Already?” I said in shock.

Now she was the one looking confused. “I found the cure too fast for you?”

“No! It's just that given the time and manpower the government already put into this…”

“Well, they didn't count on some womanpower,” Emery said with a smirk. Then she started on some of the details.

“It all came down to the blood. Not in the system, but the
marrow
, where new blood is created. It wasn't enough to separate out the alien factor, the body had to be stimulated to create more human blood cells first. It's going to require a transfusion at this stage, maybe two, but in time we might get it so the body can do the whole process on its own. Then it's just a matter of filtering out the inert alien fluid. I'm thinking maybe modifying a dialysis machine. The density differences should make that easy. Still, that's phase three testing at least.”

She paced around the room like she was counting down the seconds until Christmas. “I haven't been able to test it properly yet of course, but the whole thing looks pretty stable.”

I was so happy I nearly fell off my stool. “That's great, Em!” If she had found the cure she would soon be healed and then she and I could…

I faltered on an ending for my perfect fairy tale.

She was a big wig doctor, and at the end of the day I was just a mechanic. How was it going to work out when she didn't have to slum it with a normal Joe anymore?

I was instantly angry at myself for being so selfish. My anxieties were nothing in light of this news. We could figure out our future another day.

My excitement was renewed. “This is wonderful news, Em. What do you do now?”

“I have to test it. I'm going have you give it to me tomorrow night so we have a whole night to study the results.”

Three seconds. That's how long it took to sink in that she planned to test it on herself.

“Absolutely not! I know in the past I've done everything you've asked. But you can't ask me to do this. I
won't
. There is no way in hell I'm going to let you try some unproven drug on yourself. What can I possibly do if something goes wrong? No way!” I ranted.

“I know it sounds risky, but sometimes it has to be done. Haven't you ever heard of Barry Marshall?”

“No, and I don't give a rat's ass about him. This is insane.”

“You don't have much faith in me.” She pouted. The pouting had worked before, but not this time. Not even being held at gunpoint was going to make me an accessory to this stupid idea.

“Look, Em, LP's and blood samples are one thing, this is entirely different. You can't ask me to do this.” I made my face as serious as I could and looked her straight in the eye.

“How am I supposed to know if it works?”

“And what if it doesn't? Look, maybe I can get you someone. I mean, it's what I do—”

“No! I'm not going to try this on some unsuspecting person you capture. That's wrong!”

“Doing it on yourself is just as wrong!” I argued. “What if it backfires horribly?”

“Dillon, you're blowing this way out of proportion.” She actually sniffed at me. “It's safe, I know it.”

“Okay, so it's safe, but what if there's something wrong with the first round that could easily be fixed, but you're not here to fix it because you messed yourself up?”

“I'll have notes.” She held out her hands like that made perfect sense. “Another team can continue—”

“And how long will it take them to figure it out? Will they know where you went wrong? Will they have your intuition to know what to try next? It's irresponsible.” I walked away from her, out of the lab, out of the house.

She walked out on the porch as I paced in the driveway.

“I can do it myself,” she threatened. “I don't need you.”

I turned on her, glaring. At that moment I felt like I was about five feet taller than her as she shrank back from me. “Would you do that? Would you do this to yourself even when you see how strongly I'm against it? You don't care how I feel?”

“I do care. I just know it will be fine.” She glanced away. It was only for a fraction of a second, but I saw it—doubt.

“Look me in the eye with a one hundred percent guarantee you will be fine. Swear on your father's life.”

I could tell she desperately wanted to convince me, but she wouldn't lie.

She looked away. “I can't.”

“Then I can't let you do this to yourself. I'll stop you.” I could make threats too.

“Dillon, be reasonable. This is my body. It's my choice. Don't you think I deserve the right to decide what happens to me at this point? I can do this.”

I couldn't believe she'd made me consider it, but she had. She was right. If it were me, I would probably feel the exact same way.

“Let's try to work out a compromise. Tell me what you need to do this right.”

“I won't let you trap someone—” she started.

“I wasn't planning on it. Strictly volunteers, right?”

“Yes. They would have to volunteer after being fully informed about the procedure. Full disclosure. But after all the other testing went bad, no one is going to trust a lone scientist out in a cabin, Dillon.”

“Then we take it to OBX's research team, hand it over. Let them find volunteers.”

Emery shook her head. “Remember why they kicked me off the team in the first place? They were worried Haunts posed a security risk. And after the queen showed up in New York? You think they'll trust me? Someone's bound to assume I'm a puppet and it's some kind of Bug trick. Something to turn Haunts to Bugs or some crazy thing. It'll be held up for a year while they decide if it's worth the risk.”

I continued pacing and then had an idea. It was perhaps the worst idea I'd ever had. But the more I tried to push the thought away, the more Corey's words echoed in my mind.

“It's not like I wouldn't volunteer…”

“Would I be remembered as a hero?”

“I'll be first in line.”

I realized I was acting out of fear of losing more people I loved. I needed to think about them and what they were willing to lose for what they wanted.

“So if I could find a person who would be willing to volunteer, would you consider it?”

“Who would risk it?”

I thought about Corey joining the neighborhood watch and wanting to help put out the fires after the riot. “A hero, that's who.”

“What?”

“Corey told me he wanted to be first in line. Can you wait until I bring him here?”

“How long?”

“Eight days.” She frowned at my answer. “Eight days, maybe seven. You can take that time to run more tests and fine tune it. You need to do this right, Em. No shortcuts just because you want it so bad.”

“Fine. I agree to your terms.”

“Thank you.” I kissed her on her head and her cheek and then ended up at her lips. “Now, I need to get you to bed.”

I tucked her in, but wasn't climbing in with her. “You're not joining me?”

“I need to make a few calls. Start making arrangements. I'll be here when you wake up. Then hopefully I'll be heading out.”

“Okay. Stupid compromise,” she grumbled, but smiled.

I kissed her head once more before I closed the door. I paused before locking her in. It hadn't seemed necessary lately, but maybe it was. Right now she was the world's greatest hope. And that hope needed to be kept safe.

I pulled out my phone and called Mr. Mitchell.

“Is Emmie okay?”

“She's fine. She needs me to bring her a test subject for her first trial.”

“Excellent.”

“She insists the person volunteer.”

“Oh, for crying out loud, Emery Estelle! How am I supposed to ask for volunteers when this work is top secret? They can't know where she is until we're sure it works!”

Estelle?

“I may have someone. He's at the Outer Banks, I'll need to ask him before I go in. Can you have Rick find Corey again and tell him to call me?”

“Yes. You think he'd be willing?”

“I think he might.”

“I'll take care of it.”

I hung up.

I wasn't going to pressure or guilt Corey into doing this. It had to be his decision. But he was young and wanted to be a hero. I was afraid I already knew what he was going to say, and I was taking advantage of it.

Sleep didn't come easily as I lay there next to Emery, worrying.

Corey called me about twenty minutes after he would have woken up. Emery was still out cold.

“Hey, Corey! How's it going?”

“I spotted some jokers trying to break into a house and called it in.” The phone started to get fuzzy and crack. “Son of bitch,” he muttered in irritation. The beacon pulses must have been interfering with the line, but given recent events I wouldn't be surprised if it was the call being monitored.

“Watch your language,” I scolded. “I have a question for you and I want you to really think about it before you answer.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“Do you remember when I was bringing you in how you talked about being a hero?”

“Yeah.” He said nothing else.

“Did you mean that? I mean, if there was a really good chance everything would turn out okay, even if there were no guarantees, would you risk it?” I couldn't let there be any misunderstanding on the subject.

He was quiet for a moment. So long, I thought maybe the call had been disconnected.

“Dillon, at this point I would risk it even if it wasn't a good chance.” I understood what he was saying. “There's too much at stake.”

“Okay. Good to know. Do you still like the game room at the Willows?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah. I haven't been there for a few nights, but I really like the foosball when someone wants to play.”

“That was always one of my favorites too. I suggest you quit the watch and stay close to home the next few nights. Maybe bone up on your game.”