The Girl With Aquamarine Eyes (21 page)

They would put him in prison for kidnapping. He’d never see
the inside of Princeton, which he’d spent months trying to get accepted into.
He gazed at his faded jeans. He watched in horror as the blue denim swirled and
melted, reforming into precise black and white prison stripes.

“Are you Tommy?”

“Uh, yeah.” Tommy shook the image from his mind.

“Have you seen a young girl named Heaven? She is missing,
and may be hurt.”

“This is not the football captain?” Tommy dared to grasp the
slim hope it wasn’t a hoax after all. Maybe she was real. Maybe it hadn’t been
a trick.

Tommy gazed at Heaven as she stood in the doorway. Her face
had gone frightfully pale. God, he didn’t want to go to jail. His dad would
have his ass.

He could run. He would take her, and call a taxi. They could
get disguises and find a small house deep in suburbia and live their lives in
peace. That is, until he turned the TV on after working at his blue-collar job
all day and watch in horror as his face was broadcast on the nation’s top ten
most wanted show.

“I’m not the football captain.” Harmon replied. “I’m a
musician. Do you know where she is?”

“Yes, sir.” He knew he must tell the truth, it was the right
thing to do. “I know where she is.”

“Where is she?”

“I won’t tell you. Not until you tell me what happened.”

“There’s no time, Tommy. I insist you tell me where she is.
You and I both know she is hurt.”

“Did you hit her?”

“No. She climbed a tree, jumped over a ten foot wall and
fell. Now tell me where the hell she is!”

Tommy winced. He could feel the power of the man creeping
through the phone line. He was suddenly convinced he didn’t want to be on the
wrong side of him.

“She is here, Mr. Steele, and she’s hurt. Well, she was
hurt.” The boy gazed at his jeans once more and breathed a sigh of relief. They’d
morphed back into the faded blue denim they once were. He wouldn’t have to
worry about his mug shot being in every post office across the country.

“What is your address?”

Tommy gave him the address and careful driving directions,
even though his home was right around the corner. He didn’t want to go to jail.
They would certainly throw away the key for this.

“Tommy, listen to me carefully. Don’t tell Heaven we’re
coming. I don’t want her to disappear again before we get there. “

“I won’t.” He replied. “Am I going to go to jail?”

“No. You did the right thing by telling me the truth.”
Harmon replied.

The phone went silent in Tommy’s hand.

* * *

The dark limousine slowly rolled to a stop in front of Tommy’s
house.

Harmon lowered the heavily tinted window, and studied the
mansion Heaven had somehow managed to find her way to.

The estate sported a meticulously managed landscape. The
multi-level lawn was scattered with trees, which also lined each side of the
cobblestone driveway.

He’d called Tommy during the short trip. The teenager
reassured him Heaven was still there, and had not run away again. The boy
sounded exhausted. He explained he’d been up all night, wondering what to do
about the injured girl. He confided he’d asked her if she wanted to go home,
and her refusal to tell him where she came from.

Feeling a bit more comfortable about Harmon, Tommy
enlightened him on how terribly swollen Heaven’s ankle was. Hesitatingly, he
added the swelling was completely gone by morning, but along with it a serious
cut had also disappeared.

Harmon watched Bice and Hawk walk up the front steps. He
could only hope Tommy hadn’t seen too much. He’d reassured Tommy on the phone
he wasn’t loosing his mind, and was probably terribly tired and stressed. He
suggested to the boy the possibility the wound never existed.

Tommy was a good and honest teenager. He’d have a new car
delivered to his home right away, in return for bravely finding Heaven in the
woods. She could have easily met with foul play or stumbled into the street and
been struck by a passing vehicle. He shuddered at the thought.

* * *

“Follow me.” Tommy motioned to Bice. “She was ready to leave, but I
talked her into staying a few minutes longer. She’s lying on the couch.”

He led him down the entryway, turned a corner and walked
across the living room to the couch in the center. Apparently, Heaven had
nodded off.

“Heaven?” Tommy whispered to the sleeping girl. “Wake up,
Bice is here.”

Bice gazed at Heaven. His breath caught in his throat. She
looked like she’d fallen into hell itself. She was covered with scratches, her
hair was entangled in various types of weeds and her wrist appeared swollen.
There was dried blood on her knee, but no wound was visible from his position.

“Heaven, it’s me, Bice. Wake up.”

Her aquamarine eyes flashed open. A look of disdain darkened
her face as she slowly recognized him. She pulled the pillow from under her
head and threw it at him.

He caught the pillow and tossed it aside. “Take it easy,
Heaven.”

She scowled at him. “Get away from me. I am nothing but a
freak to you. I hate all of you.”

He ignored her sarcasm. “We have to get you out of here. I’ll
ask Hawk to carry you to the car, you don’t like you feel like walking.”

She gazed at him, tears filling her eyes. “I hurt all over.
My ankle seems better, but now my entire body hurts. I did a stupid thing last
night.”

“I’m sad to hear this, Heaven.” He fought the urge to give
her a well-deserved tongue lashing. He knew he must bite his tongue, no matter
how hard it might prove. She looked terrible, and he wouldn’t pour salt on the
wound. He attempted a feeble smile. “We’re going to get you fixed up right
away.”

Bice motioned to the lumbering bodyguard. Hawk lifted Heaven
up without a word, and briskly carried her out the front door to the waiting
car.

Tommy followed behind, watching as the burly man laid her
across the back seat. “Who are you people?”

“I’m Bice, and this is Hawk, Harmon’s bodyguard.”

“Tommy?” Harmon emerged from the far side of the car. “Thank
you again for all you’ve done for Heaven. Here’s your cell phone.”

Tommy gazed at the charismatic man before him. He’d never
paid much attention to the looks of the same sex. But this man had an aura and
majesty about him that could light up a concert hall. He’d heard the name
before, but couldn’t remembered his music. He probably sang songs from an era
well before he’d been born.

Tommy stared at the phone in his hand. “Thank you, Mr.
Steele.”

“No,” Harmon replied, “thank you for all you’ve done. I’ll
be in touch. For now, it looks like we’ll be headed to the hospital to make
sure Heaven didn’t break any bones.”

Tommy watched as the three men slipped back into the long
luxury car. They’d only been in his driveway for seconds. He never had a chance
to ask about the beautiful girl in the back seat. He suddenly wanted to know
everything about her. Where she went to school, her favorite sports and hobbies
and foods and well, everything.

But as always the oh-so familiar black fog of loneliness
crept into his mind as he watched the dark car speed away. It was pointless, he
was a nobody. Even if she went to his school, she probably already knew he was
the campus geek. She’d never take a second look his way. By morning, she’d
probably have forgotten about him.

Tommy watched as Harmon waved at him once more, finally
disappearing behind the blackened window.

He suddenly felt alone. Very, very alone.

* * *

Heaven gazed out the window of the enormous car.

The morning had gone from a vivid blue, to a dull dreary
grey. Dots of rain dappled the darkend windows. The gloom outside seemed to
match the gloom she felt inside.

“Heaven,” Harmon interrupted her thoughts, “I want to talk
to you about last night.”

She gazed at the handsome musician, already knowing what was
coming. The Great Lecture. Insurmountable Great Lectures followed her back at
the children’s home. Seemed nun after nun had one issue or another with her. No
matter how she’d tried to be the wallflower, to go unnoticed by cowering in the
gloomy corners on the playground, they seemed to always seek her out. As Harmon
had.

The blasted hurricane was the reason she was stateside. The
fragrant island winds were now a distant memory in the course of a few weeks.
She had nothing to say to him. She turned away and stared out the window once
more.

Harmon ignored her distant demeanor. “Heaven, listen to me.
First, we’re taking you to the hospital to have you checked out. You had a
terrible fall last night.”

She snapped her head toward him. “What do you care, Harmon?
Why must my life be your choice? Why didn’t you leave me on the island?”

“You know this. The hurricane.”

“There was more, and you know it.”

He sighed. He was growing very, very weary. Maybe Bice was
right all along. He’d made a go of it, yet now he was in the position where he
could say he’d made an honest attempt to once and for all clear his conscience.

Now, he was dealing with a runaway. He was a musician, not a
ready-made dad. The attorney’s he hired had gone over this with him. He’d also
met with a counselor before the guardianship could be finalized.

He was honest with her and from the bottom of his heart,
explained to the therapist his nagging guilt over the years how his actions
resulted in Heaven winding up in the orphanage.

He couldn’t move on from that day on the beach. No
resolution came as the months ebbed into years. He never mentioned Heaven’s
strange eyes to the therapist and the odd connection he couldn’t sweep away.
The woman might declare him mad.

Heaven was a missing puzzle piece to something. What, he
didn’t know. He wouldn’t force her to stay at the estate. He couldn’t. If she
refused, he’d be left with no choice but to return her to the children’s home
until she became of age.

“We’re here.” Bice interrupted his thoughts. “Let’s get her
checked out. Afterward, you two can discuss this when we’re back at the estate.”

Harmon watched as Heaven continued to gaze forlornly out the
window. He stole a glance at Bice. He seriously didn’t know what he’d do
without his assistant. The man knew exactly when and where to step in, and take
over.

* * *

They sat quietly in the waiting room, watching the children on the
floor play with plastic cars, and building blocks. People came and went, babies
wailed, stretchers were pushed down the halls carrying those too ill to walk.

Heaven could only stare at the sick and the ill, unable to
utter a word. Her heart was breaking for them, as they struggled to heal from
their unknown ailments. She wanted to help each and every person who came
through the doors.

“Heaven?” A nurse from the reception area called to the
waiting crowd.

Harmon nudged her. “Come on, they’re ready for you.” He held
his breath, as they followed the nurse down the hall into another waiting room.
He suddenly felt a peculiar, sickening feeling. A sort of premonition something
was going to happen any moment. He glanced at Bice. His assistant walked
quietly a step behind, seemingly unaware of anything around him. The man looked
like he needed a drink.

He gazed stonily at Heaven. “Lets go, and try to stay out of
trouble today.”

“I will, I promise.” She replied.

* * *

Dr. Killmore studied the x-rays which belonged to the odd girl with
strange eyes.

The handsome physician suddenly felt old. Although only
forty-five, he now sported a touch of grey at his temples, which stood in stark
contrast against his ebony hair. Unable to stand it a moment longer, he finally
ripped his tattered tie from his neck and slug it across his office.

He gazed at the clock. He’d promised his son he’d be home by
now. But, it didn’t happen. The moment he stepped from the plane, the emergency
department called him and asked for his immediate presence in the trauma unit.

He was horrified to find his patient to be his son’s best friend,
and his only friend, Ben. The boy had been in a tragic car accident the night
before, coming home from a party. He didn’t yet know the details, but the
teenager was in a coma, and would soon be transferred to the intensive care
unit.

The trauma team called him for good reason. It was all
carefully planned. It wasn’t so much they needed him to save the boy’s face,
but he’d also found himself in the undesired position of being the bearer of
bad news to Tommy.

His son and Ben practically grew up in the hospital, and
followed him around as he worked his evening rounds. The entire staff knew the
boys.

He’d worked carefully over Ben’s face the next two hours,
trying to bring back his badly damaged features, until more extensive
reconstructive surgeries could be scheduled. He’d sewn the wounds closed as
best as he could.

As he was about to leave, the patient with the odd blue eyes
arrived. As tired as he was, he agreed to see her even though she wasn’t a
plastic surgery patient.

He’d flexed Heaven’s wrist during the examination. She cried
out in pain, and grabbed his tie. She was quick as a snake and before he could
inhale what he knew would certainly be his last breath, she twisted his
neckpiece around her good hand and yanked it tight. She’d literally tried to
wring his neck.

Her guardians were forced to pry his neckpiece from her, as
she seethed in agony. He had no choice but to order x-rays on the sore wrist.

He shook his thoughts away, and peered once again at the
X-rays. The damage to her wrist was extensive, and many tiny bones were
shattered.

He called the trauma room and ordered a cast applied. The
girl was lucky. A few more broken bones, she would’ve required surgery. After a
final X-ray, she would be good to go home. Then, he could finally go home.