Tethered Souls | Books 1, 2, and 3

43 | Halo

━━━─── • ───━━━

• Luna •

It was late afternoon the next day, and Luna and Amir hadn't gotten any further in their plans to escape. He had a plan from the beginning, but it now seemed like it wouldn't work. And she wanted to be mad at him for coming to St. Matthew's without thinking logically, but she couldn't, because he'd flown across the world for her. He was there to help her get out.

After a small dinner was brought into her room, Sergeant Decker came to escort her to a medical lab on the second floor. Luna hoped she'd see Amir at some point, but she guessed the staff had him doing other things at the moment. She hated not knowing what he was doing and not laying her eyes on him, and for some reason, neither of them could connect telepathically.

"So, why are we in here?" Luna asked Sergeant Decker as she sat on the bed.

"We are waiting on Dr. Kim."

Luna sighed. "Figures. You know you don't have to stay in here."

He folded his arms and straightened his back. "You do remember who I'm working for, right?"

"Sure. Dr. Kim." She chuckled. "I figured you were going to stand outside by the door like you always do."

"Monitoring you is my job," he replied.

He seemed completely different since the first day she met him. She wanted him to step out of the room so she could try to connect to Amir, but now she has a sitter in there and can't do anything.

"Well, you don't have to stay in here. I can sit quietly and not do anything stupid."

"Dr. Kim doesn't want any chances."

"What does he think I'll do? There isn't anything in here. No medical equipment. Nothing I can do to harm myself. I wouldn't do that. I have my daughter." And she had a life with Amir to begin. She couldn't say that.

"I can't risk losing my job over a hope. I have to stay in here."

"How would you feel if you never had privacy? Wouldn't you feel exposed?"

"I would. But there's nothing I could do about it, Ms. Carlyle."

Luna pulled her legs up and sat cross-legged on the bed. "Stepping outside the room would get you fired?"

"Probably. I can't take the risk."

"You can't walk outside the room for a moment?"

"If I do that and I am seen, then I put myself in jeopardy." He paused for a moment. "Why are you insisting on me leaving you alone?"

Crap, busted.

"Just because." She laid her chin down on her knee. "I just feel better when I'm alone. I'm used to it."

His jaw squared, and he gazed down, chuckling.

"You are different from the other ones, you know."

"How? By requesting you to leave me alone for a measly two minutes?"

He opened his mouth but closed it quickly, not answering her reply.

"I am different. I shouldn't be in here." She couldn't see his expression under his beret, but she could sense he had a little empathy for her. "But you know that, right? That my being in here, plus Chase's son, and Camille Taylor, are all fine?"

"I'm not a doctor, so I can't clarify whether you three as sane or not," he responded dryly. "I've worked very hard where I am."

"Well, congrats. That's good."