The Deathless Trilogy

3.18. Free Fall

"Your skin feels ice cold. Were you up on the lookout?" Mom asks when I return from my chamber nap. I pull away from her hug, and sit on the edge of my hospital bed alongside Dad. "You two were talking for a while. Did it help?"

Winston has returned to his post beside Phoebe, and I glance back to smile at him. "Yeah, it did," I say. My head, though still filled with Gunther's words, feels clearer. But even with my mind rested, I can't shake the terror of Gunther telling me to go into Ian's mind tomorrow. What does he have planned?

I know I should tell Mom, but I don't want to give away that I slept in a cryo chamber. She'd be horrified, just as I was when I found Phoebe and Winston frozen in there. I bend the truth. "I remembered something else that Gunther told me," I say.

Her brows furrow. "What is it?"

"He wants me to be in Ian's head tomorrow. There's something he wants me to see."

"Absolutely not," she says, shaking her head. "He wants you to see something that will hurt you. I'm not letting that disgusting excuse of a man hurt you any more than he already has."

"What if it's important?" I ask. "What if it affects the war? I have to at least see, Mom."

Eleanor sings under her breath, "Told you."

Mom shoots her a look, then focuses it on me. "Then someone else will use the program to see what it is."

"I'll do it," Winston volunteers. No one responds to him, so he continues, "Phoebe is in there somewhere. I will take any chance I can get to be near her."

Mom considers it, then pushes herself off the bed.

"Honey...." Dad starts, but Mom flashes him her signature don't worry smile.

"Dr. Fowler, I'd like to test whether or not this would be possible, so we're ready for tomorrow. If not, we'll find someone else."

"Okay," Winston agrees, hopping off of his seat, and following my mom toward the door.

"Should you be working right now?" Eleanor asks her.

Mom looks over her shoulder, smiling. "I'll be right back. Dr. Guzman doesn't need to know."

Eleanor laughs. "Well if we're going to get in trouble anyway, I need to take a walk too." I must have concern painted all over my face, because she smiles at me and says, "Don't worry, a little exercise is good for pregnancy. I will be right back."

"Be good, ladies," Dad tells them as they leave with Winston. Then it's just the two of us in the infirmary, and my dad leans over to reach into his back pocket. He pulls out our assortment of words and phrases I collected from the estate, and lays them out over the blanket.

He opens his mouth to speak. I expect him to try to read one of the scraps of paper, but instead he says, "You were in the cryo chamber, weren't you?"

I'm speechless as my mouth falls open.

"I was in one before too, remember? I know the signs. Why did you lie to your mom?"

"I... uh...," I stutter. "I was afraid."

He nods. "I would be too. Don't go in there again, though. I worry about your body, Tiger Lily. It's been through so much already. Okay?"

I bite my lip. "But what if I can't sleep without it?"

"If you want to heal, you have to face what's hurting you and let it go. Sleeping in the chambers isn't a solution, it's just a band aid. You have to face Gunther and get him out of your mind yourself."