Saphora: vol.1 Retention (The Athena Universe) (18 page)

“Thanks
,” she said bluntly. He shifted uncomfortably and went to explain himself, but Lupin cut him off.

“There’s no doubt that you hit your head in a fall like that. If not on the ground, then on the branches on the way down
,” Dr. Lupin said. Johnson nodded.

“Oh definitely. That checks out, no doubt. I’m just trying to figure out how in the world this tree fell
,” she said, walking towards it. “I mean look how sturdy it is. What could have made it fall?”

Saphora stopped to think about that too. At first she had thought that the force of her hitting the tree made it fall. But how could that be? She didn’t
weigh all
that
much. And trees withstood all sorts of weather. Surely it could stand up against the thrashing of a twenty-something year old woman, right? Then what
did
make the tree fall?

“Yeah, it’s thick as heck. Maybe it’s old?” Roland suggested. Johnson shook her head.

“It wouldn’t just fall like that. I mean, I’m no tree expert or anything. But I’m pretty sure that’s not how it would have gone down. And there are no axe marks or anything on these. Not that I can see anyway.”

“And why would there be? If someone was going to cut down the tree, they would have seen or heard Saphora climbing it. They w
ould have told her to come down,” Glover argued.

“Unless
they were
trying
to hurt her,” Roland said. Glover and Johnson looked over at him. “What if someone was trying to hurt Saphora by cutting down the tree? But she survived – with a concussion that lead to the unfortunate death of Jones?”

“So you’re saying his death was an accidental result of the failure to kill Saphora?” Glover asked. Roland shrugged.

“A possibility.”

Johnson looked to Saphora, who was doing everything in her power
to not mentally be present.

“Do you have any enemies, Saphora? Someone that might try to hurt you?” she asked.

“Dr. Lupin,” she blatantly mumbled. Fran took a step towards her.

“That’s not funny, Saphora. This is a serious question. Has anyone been threatening you?” Fran asked, concerned. Saphora hesitated before giving the only other answer she could think of.

“Tebias.”

Fran huffed and threw her hand
s up in the air, fed up with the nonsense that she kept talking about. She didn’t want to hear any more stories.

“
As expected. It’s the only person she knows that has tried to hurt her before. It’s only natural for her to call on that memory,” Lupin noted.

Johnson sighed, shaking her head as she looked back at the tree once more.

“Glover. Call the guys out here to do some clean up. Everything on these parts,” she said, gesturing to the two halves of the tree. Glover nodded, taking out his phone to make the call.

              They waited around for the other workers to come through and start searching the place until Saphora, Fran, and Lupin were told that they could leave. The three of them were heading back to Fran’s car when Lupin started a conversation with the reluctant Saphora.

“Saphora. We need to take a look at your back now
,” he said, walking towards her. He stopped at the distance he shrunk when she turned to look at him as she walked. Lupin cleared his throat, glancing from the wary Fran back to the temperamental Saphora. “It could be some sort of infection. It’s spread since the last time we-“

“No.”

“Saphora, it needs to be looked at. What if it’s-“

“It doesn’t need to be looked at. You people have been looking at it for years and coming up with nothing. It has spread before. I was fine. I
am
fine.”

“But we’ve noticed
your increased, err – instability since that night. It could be related to the-“

Saphora stopped walking, and Lupin stopped short, almost tripping himself in the process.

“You think my
anger
has something to do with the
marks
on my back?” she asked in disbelief. In appall. “No, doctor. It has nothing to do with my anger, or my dislike for you. I’ve always disliked you. From the first session,” she said, taking a step forward.

“Saphora,
” Fran urged warily.

“I kept it aside for Fran’s sake. Out of respect. But since you’ve ma
naged to get her on your side, that level of respect is slowly but surely depleting,”

“Saphora!” Fran said in offense.

“I don’t see any reason to hold back exactly how I feel about you anymore, doctor,” she said, before moving to walk past him. Lupin reached forward to grab hold of Saphora’s arm.

“It nee
ds to be done for your own good,” Lupin urged. But instead of grabbing her arm, he ended up catching hold of the back of her sweater because of her movements. The sweater stretched backwards, exposing Saphora’s back to the crisp cold air and to Lupin’s eyes. They both gasped. Lupin at what he saw, and Saphora at the chill that surged through her, followed by the hot flow of anger. She spun around to rip his grip of her, and in the process, she slipped up. Winds whipped from her body into Lupin in an instinctive act of self-defense. Lupin’s eyes fluttered at the sudden gust of wind. His glasses wobbled on his face and his hands quickly reached up to keep them steady.

The winds left as quickly as they had come, stunning both Lupin and Saphora. Her eyes went wide, realizing what had happened and she anxiously awaited Lupin’s reaction.
Once his eyes opened, they seemed to hold a different expression. They shifted from that of shock, to realization. He didn’t even look around. To see what had caused the wind. Because he was looking at what caused it. She took a step back, away from his peering eyes. Knowing that if she stayed silent, it would only make his detached assumptions more valuable.

“… Don’t touch me
,” she breathed, glancing at the angered Fran. She hadn’t seen. She looked back at Lupin, who was adjusting himself. “I’m not going to any more of your sessions. You’re fired. Whether Fran does it or not. Burn my files. No – as a matter of fact, give them to me. I want them.”

Lupin chuckled.

“That’s funny? They’re about me. They’re mine.”

Lupin shook his head, pulling his sleeves down and clearing his throat.

“No, Saphora. Those files – your files, belong to the government.”

Saphora’s eyes narrowed.

“What?”

“Those files, if you’re a threat to society, belong to the government.”

Now Fran looked at Lupin with the same expression as Saphora, even taking a step forward.

“A threat to society?” she repeated. Lupin, nodding, not even looking over at Fran.

“That’s right. With Saphora’s recent violent behavior and with this case happening, she could easily be marked as a potential threat. If you walk away from my office, I’ll have no choice but to hand your files over to the police when they ask for them.”

Both Saphora and Fran stood shocked at the words that lacked such a required level of remorse. They glanced at each other. And then at the nonmoving Lupin, before Saphora spoke again.

“You can’t do that,” she said as barely a breath.

“On the contrary. I’d be betraying my country if I didn’t
,” he said sternly.

Saphora grimaced and her hands clenched into fists. She couldn’t believ
e it.

Lupin shifted his weight onto his other leg, now looking at Saphora with an air of cockiness. So quickly had the tables seemed to
turn. And it made Saphora’s head spin. Her mouth opened and closed as she searched for something to say. But her well of infinite responses had suddenly gone dry at the threat of being exposed.

“I’ll see you on Monday
,” he concluded, turning around and continuing on the path to his car. She stood speechless as he walked away from them. But instead of going after Lupin to yell at him, she slowly turned to Fran, her expression caught between disbelief and fear.

“You … You’re going to let him do that?” she asked Fran. Fran shook her head. Not as an answer, but as a form of pleading with Saphora.
She fought for words to say but could come up with nothing by the time Saphora rolled her eyes and started walking away.

“Saphora? Saphora!” Fran called after her, as she followed close behind. “What am I supposed to say, huh?” she asked, catching up with her and doing her best to match her pace.

“That you don’t approve, for starters,” Saphora scoffed, shaking her head.

“Saphora
, looking at your back is for your own good,” she said, desperate for her to see her side of things. “What if it’s something dangerous? A disease?” Saphora scoffed again.

“When have I ever, in the entire time that you’ve cared for me, been ill? From even
so much as the common cold?”

“
That’s not the point,” she said, pulling on her arm. Reluctantly, Saphora complied and stopped walking. “Can’t you just understand that I’m worried about you? I know you think you’re invincible, but can’t you just do this? So I can put my mind to ease?” she seemed to beg. Saphora’s gaze softened as she heard the pain in her voice. “There are so many things … That I don’t understand. This – if I could figure out just one …”

It both warmed and chilled Saphora to hear that. On one hand, Fran seemed to be genuinely concerned about her, despite her failed attempts to show it. But on the other hand, she was also making a point. As long as she had known Saphora, in reality, she knew very little about her.
And that hard truth suddenly became very clear to her. The most trusted person she had in her circle of one, knew little to nothing about her. Fran’s eyes searched Saphora’s for some sign that she understood what she was saying. And Saphora gave a soft grin, for the sake of Fran’s nerves.

“Yeah … I’m sorry.”

Fran sighed and wrapped her arms around her tightly, resting her chin on her shoulder. Saphora’s hands found Fran’s back in the embrace, and she gently pressed her fingertips into the fabric of her puffy down coat.

“Thank you,”
she said, pulling out of the hug. Saphora nodded, before Fran pulled her back into her embrace. And just then, Saphora’s phone vibrated against her pocket, making both Saphora and Fran gasp and flinch. They pulled away from each other again, looking down at Saphora’s pocket. Saphora’s eyes widened as she realized the only other person that could be calling her was Maverick. His prize for winning the question-battle was exchanging numbers. A smart move on his part. But bad timing on Saphora’s. She reached down to silence the phone, as Fran’s brows pinched together.

“Who’s that?”

“No one.”

“I’m not calling you. And I know Dr. Lupin isn’t. Who is it?”

“It’s just … some telemarketer.”

Fran grimaced.

“You know I don’t like you shopping online.”

“
Sorry … I’m gonna … go for a walk and calm down, okay? I’ll meet you at home.” Fran gave a worried glance. “I promise.” Fran sighed and looked around at the area, shaking her head and folding her arms.

“I don’t want you out here by yourself anymor
e … It’s dangerous,” she sighed.

“I’m not going to stay here. I’m going to walk around in town. And even if I were to stay here, the police are here. A bunch of them, at that. What’s the worst that could happen?” she asked, glancing down at her phone that had started vibrating again. But this time, since their bodied weren’t pressing together, Fran
didn’t take any notice to it. Fran reluctantly agreed, putting a hand on Saphora’s shoulder.

“Think about what I said, okay?
”

Saphora nodded, trying to smile to reassure her.

“Oh, hey! I was starting to think I called the wrong number,” Maverick said on the other end of the phone. Saphora shook her head, as she walked along the side of the road. Fran had gone to work, and she had left the site where the police were gathering evidence.

“No, I was just in the middle of something, sorry.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you still busy? You didn’t have to call me back if you’re busy.”

“No, I was just with the police. It’s fine.”

Maverick nearly choked on the water he had started drinking. He moved the phone away from his mouth as he cleared his throat.

“
Police
. Oh – well. Okay then.”

“Why were you calling?”

Maverick cleared his throat again, suddenly very nervous. There was something about her bluntness in the way she spoke that did that to him. Put him on edge.

“Oh, I was just, uh
… I was wondering how you were.”

“How I was?”

“Yeah. I mean … Things were pretty – rough last night. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh … I’m … I’m okay. Thank you,” she said awkwardly.