Walking Among Humans

Chapter 16 - Part 1

Mona

I finish my dinner as Ben comes back into my room. Feeling considerably stronger, I decide once again to attempt to stand up. The dizziness almost takes me to the floor. Within a heartbeat, Ben is by my side, wrapping his arm around my waist for support.

I looked up at him and smile. "Thank you."

"You should be resting."

"I'm fine. I'll rest when he's been caught. Speaking of which, how long was I out?"

"Almost three days."

"Then there's no time to waste. If we don't find him soon, it might be too late."

"Dad's got a tracking team working on it."

"They could use my help. I have a connection to him. How are you feeling? Shouldn't you be resting instead of hanging out watching over me?"

"I'm as good as new, thanks to you. I've actually never felt better than I do right now. I don't know how you did it, but I'm glad you did."

John taps on the door and walks in. "How are you two feeling?"

"I'm okay. Still pretty tired and a little hungry, but a lot of my strength is coming back."

John nods. "Well, there's more food in the cafeteria if you feel up to coming down. We're going to start the debriefing as soon as I get there."

"I'm on top of the world, Dad. It's like nothing even happened to me. In fact, I don't even have a scar so we don't have to tell Mom."

John looks at Ben. "Everyone saw what Mona did. If we don't tell Lois she'll kill us all when she finds out."

Ben and I both chuckle our agreement. John just shakes his head. "I'll see you downstairs if you're up to it. It should take me about twenty minutes to get down there."

Ben helps me across the suite so I can clean up a little. My clothes are still covered in his blood from the abduction.

Once I am in the bathroom, I send Ben out and call for Martinez, who is standing just outside the bathroom. "Could you please get me some clean clothes from my closet?"

She nods and goes to my room to get them. She returns with my clothes, and I ask her if she would mind staying with me in case I become weak again.

I wash up and put on clean clothes. I start to feel much better.

I'm still starving so we head to the cafeteria. I try to walk, but by the time we reach the door my exhaustion takes over, so Ben picks me up and carries me.

We arrive at the cafeteria and everyone is deep in conversation, so only a few people notice our arrival.

Ben finds a table in the corner that isn't occupied or covered in stuff, and puts me down in the chair and goes to get me some food.

I look around the room at the guardians, and a sudden feeling of regret washes over me. I have to fight back tears. They are all so willing to give their lives to protect me, and what do they get in return? A pat on the back, and if they are lucky told they did a good job. Doesn't seem like nearly enough to me. Two of them have already lost their lives in this battle. They had friends and families, hopes and dreams. And I took that away from them. I may not have been the one that killed them, but they would still be alive if they hadn't been protecting me. One day I will find a way to make this right, if it's the only thing I ever do.

With my hearing, I can hear every conversation in the room without an effort, and some of the things I hear only make me feel worse.

"I don't see why we should all give up our lives for one child when I'm sure there are others that deserve her position far more."