The REASON Series - the Complete Collection (24 page)

I do as she asks and she tugs on my arm. I feel her warmth beneath my fingers, and at my fingertips I can feel the cool metal of her circlet and her cheek pressing into my palm.
 

She leans into my touch.
 

My heart soars and warm tears stream down my cheeks as I take in the magnitude of the gesture: She’s just allowed me to touch her face. I feel her fingers along the back of mine as she press my hand to her.
 

“Do not cry.” I can hear the emotion in her voice, and a moment later I feel her own tears.
 

I release her hand against my cheek and bring it up to meet her other cheek. Eyes still shut, cupping her face in my hands, I rise up onto my knees.
 

I feel a soft nudge against my stomach and then feel her press into me. My body becomes a live wire as our bodies draw closer to each other.
 

She lifts her chin.
 

I slowly lower my mouth, seeking hers.
 

When we connect, a surge of pleasure and hope courses through my body; it is almost uncontrollable.
 

She presses her hands against mine for a moment, holding them against her cheeks, and her fingers weave in between my own. I can feel her tug slightly as I kiss her again, lingering longer this time. Then she pulls my arms past her shoulders until they bump into something behind her. She slowly lowers my hands onto an object. The surge of desire flies through me once again as I come in contact with something hard surrounded by soft velvet.

My eyes fly open and I gasp. “Vivienne.”
 

“Don’t stop,” she says breathily, and I gently slide my hands along the pure white feathers of her wings.

Looking down at her, reality becomes clear. This is the future. Our future.

“She will be our
banphrionsa
.” The voice that comes now is not Vivienne’s but a different female voice that comes with some sense of recognition, but yet not familiar.
 

“Princess?” How is this even...
 

I let the thought trail away and close my eyes. When I open them again, Vivienne has vanished. I turn quickly, looking for her, and realize that my wings have also gone.
 

I spin back around. In the spot where Vivienne stood just a moment ago is another woman. A familiar woman.
 

I stumble backwards.
 

“Mom?”
 

“Yes, baby.” Her voice radiates with emotion.
 

I can’t speak as I steady myself, looking again at the beautiful woman standing before me. She looks amazing. Her gorgeous blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and soft features are warm and inviting. She looks years younger than the pictures I have, almost like a teenager.
 

“How?” I finally manage to breathe.
 

In answer, she spreads her wings. “I am like you, my son. I too am an angel. Which is how you have become one.”
 

“But...” I have no words, and I crumple to the floor on my knees and sit back on my feet, my hands balling into fists against my thighs.
 

“There is much to learn,
A leanbh
, but your love
is in danger, and you are the only one who can save her. The child she caries is the key to restoring the natural order bestowed upon us as
aingeal
. There is an imbalance among our kind, made worse by the
foinse olc,
the source of evil, as Satan too will breed with one that will stand by his side no matter what.
 

“Your need for her is strong, your hope for her burns bright and hot. She needs you to help her, to guide her. She is pure. Despite the life she’s led, she is pure of heart. Never doubt that.”

The breath moving in and out of my lungs is thick. “She gives me hope.”

“As she should, my son. She should give you reason to be whole and pure yourself. You, too, know hardship. Your father did all he could for you and our family, but raising children was not his strength in life. You were forced to do it alone. Without me.”

I snort a laugh. This is all too much to handle.
 

“There is much more to learn, but know that we are here, we will help you, and when you return home, I will see to it that you have our histories at your disposal. It will help you understand your purpose. And ours...”
 

Her voice trails off at the end and I look up.
 

She’s gone once again.

Thirty-Two

I put my head in my hands. This is too much. All this angel stuff is too much to understand all at once. I don’t know how I’m going to handle all of this without going crazy. It’s surreal.
 

Cool fingers on my cheek bring a zing of pleasure. Once again I put my hand over hers, only this time it’s not the soft, warm touch of before. Her fingers are almost cold, and there is something hard and rough pressing into my cheek.

I let out a rushed breath and pull back, my eyes flying open. Bright, ice-blue eyes and a mess of beautiful red hair.
 

I stand up, stumble and fall back into the chair.

Her lips turn upwards in a smile behind the ventilator hose.
 

“Is that funny to you?” I laugh and smile at her.
 

She nods. Then tries to pull on the hose.
 

“Don’t.” I reach for her hands to pull them back. She doesn’t flinch at my quick movements, and my heart swells once again. I take her hands in one of mine and pull the chair up close to her bed.
 

A hum of hope and life and undeniable pleasure radiates through me. “I missed you.” The words are out before I can stop them.

A faint trace of a blush kisses her cheeks.
 

I notice that the natural light in the room has faded significantly. It’s later than I would have thought possible.
 

“Are you in pain?”
 

She shakes her head slightly.
 

“I’m going to push the button for Amanda to come, okay?”
 

Her eyes widen in recognition.
 

“Yes, Dr. Alston and Amanda have been taking care of you.”
 

She nods again, and I reach for the call button. As soon as I touch the button, there’s a commotion outside the room and the door clicks open.
 

Dr. Alston comes in first, followed by Amanda.
 

“Hello, Vivienne. Pleasure to see you again. Are you in any pain?”
 

I watch Vivienne shake her head. I can’t take my eyes off of her. An overwhelming sense of joy is taking control of my body at the fact that she’s awake.
 

She is looking at me, too.
 

Dr. Alston has gone to the fetal monitor again, looking over the last foot or so of tape. “How long has she been up?”
 

“I don’t know, I was sleeping against her bed. She woke me up.”
 

Vivienne pulls her hand from mine and holds up five fingers.

“Five minutes?” Dr. Alston asks. Vivienne nods, and Dr. Alston goes back to reviewing the tape.
 

I look up at the baby’s monitor; the heart rate is around one-fifty. Curious, I look at Vivienne’s monitor. Sure enough, captured about five minutes ago, there is the now-familiar pattern of Vivienne’s heartbeat when I’m around. I can’t help but smile.
 

Vivienne’s head moves in the same direction. I look at her and watch her roll her eyes. I laugh and she squeezes my hand. Her other hand goes back to the tube in her mouth.
 

“Not just yet,” Dr. Alston says. “How do your ribs feel? Do they hurt?”
 

She wiggles in the bed just a little bit, then she shakes her head.
 

“What about your wrist, does it hurt?”
 

She flexes her fingers, rotates her wrist and shakes her head again.
 

“Is it really possible that she is healed already?”

“Yes.” This time the voice is in my head. Seraphina again.
 

You know, you could make yourself known before answering my questions.

She laughs. “I was here when you went to sleep, remember? Not my fault if you forgot.”

Fair enough.
 

“Viv, how does your neck feel? Does it hurt?”

She scowls at the question then she shakes her head. I’d forgotten all about the bruises around her neck. Had I remembered those, then I’d have seen, like I do now, that the marks are much fainter than they were yesterday.

“Is she still on pain meds?” I ask, and Vivienne’s eyes meet mine again.
 

“She’s on a light dose of pain meds. But I’d be able to tell if she was giving me the runaround so I’d take out the tubes. She didn’t even flinch.” She turns to Vivienne. “Alright, Vivienne, we will take out the tubes. On one condition?”
 

She nods at Dr. Alston but is still looking in my direction.
 

“You don’t go running a marathon at least for a few days.”
 

I laugh out loud and see Vivienne’s eyes scrunch up and her shoulders shake with laughter, though she doesn’t make a sound.
 

“Mikah, I need you to move so Amanda can get in over there.”
 

I watch Vivienne scowl at Dr. Alston, and I laugh again at her expression.
 

Dr. Alston laughs in return. “He’s not going anywhere. We just need the room, okay?”

She nods reluctantly.
 

I stand up and sidestep Amanda’s approach, taking a seat at the end of the bed near Vivienne’s calves.
 

Amanda has gone to work pulling back some of the tape holding the tubes in place.
 

“Alright, Vivienne. Go ahead and breathe through your nose.”
 

Amanda reaches over and turns off the machine.
 

“Now I need you to take a big, deep breath through your nose and hold it, and then on the count of three, I want you to exhale as hard and fast as you can. Are you ready?”
 

Vivienne nods.

“Okay, breathe in.”

With the machine off the room is silent, and I hear the air enter though her nose, past the pipe. She scowls a little at the fullness of her lungs.
 

“One, two, three.”

Thirty-Three

On three I hear Vivienne’s rushed exhale. At the same time, Amanda holds down Viv’s shoulders and Dr. Alston pulls on the tube.
 

Then Vivienne starts coughing and wincing slightly. The coughing lasts for a few moments.
 

“Water?” Vivienne says in a raspy voice when she’s recovered.
 

Amanda is quick to grab the cup she brought in a few moments ago.
 

“Ice chips,” she says as I take the cup from her, and then she presses the button on the side of the bed to raise Vivienne to a sitting position.
 

“Hi, there,” I say, handing Vivienne the ice chips.

“Hi,” she says, still raspy.
 

“How you doing?”
 

She nods and puts a couple of pieces of ice into her mouth. “I’m okay.”
 

“Vivienne, how are you feeling? Any pain?”

She shakes her head. “No, but I’m really hungry.”
 

I smile.
 

So does Dr. Alston. “We can work on that.”

“How long...?” She trails off, clears her throat.

“It’s Saturday.” Dr. Alston pauses to look at her watch. “Seven twenty in the evening. You’ve been out since you came in yesterday morning.”

Both Dr. Alston and I are watching for any reaction from Vivienne, who lets out a long breath.
 

“Is everything...” Her free hand reaches for her stomach, and relief washes over her face.
 

I can feel the emotion wrap around me, engulfing me.
 

“Everything looks good. You both are doing good.”

Vivienne nods slowly, and then her eyes glass up.
 

“Can you guys leave us for a little while?” I ask Dr. Alston.
 

“Of course. Hit the button if you need anything, and we will get some dinner up here.”

“No need. I’ll take care of it. She deserves something better than hospital food.”
 

Dr. Alston laughs. “This is true. Okay, but keep it light, like soup or broth.” I nod. “I’ll be back in shortly.”

When the door clicks shut behind the doctor and nurse, I turn back to Vivienne, and she mouths, “Thank you.”
 

“Of course.”
 

I don’t say anything more. I’m not going to force her to talk. I get up to get my phone.
 

“Where are you going?” she asks.
 

I turn back to her and smile. “Getting you some dinner.”

“Oh.”

I smile a little wider and call Red.

“Hello, sir.”

“Hi. She’s awake and she’s hungry. Can you bring us both something, but keep it light and soft, like soup?”
 

“Of course. Celeste’s already got some stuff going, in anticipation of her waking up. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Thanks, Red. If you could, leave it with the staff and have them bring it in.”

“Absolutely. Call if you need anything else.”

“Actually, can you bring me one of my t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants?”

“For you, sir?”

“No, for Vivienne. I think she’d be more comfortable.” I look to her and she nods.
 

“We have clothes for her here if you’d like.”

I hadn’t realized they’d gotten that far already. “Pants. But bring one of my t-shirts.”

“On it. See you soon.”

“Yup.” I hit the end button.
 

I turn back to Vivienne. “Red will be here soon with some food.”

“Thanks.”