The Starling Saviour

Chapter 12

'You couldn't,' Hilton corrected me again. 'No one could be that great.'

Laughing in unison, I peered around the rest of the ward again. There were so many officers in beds in a much worse condition than Hilton, nurses and doctors hurrying to and fro to cope with the mass of people. And one of those nurses was Elliot.

'Aria?' He asked, relieved but in a stressed tone.

Coming closer, he grasped me into a long hug.

'It's nice to see you too,' I laughed nervously, confused at Elliot's concern.

'I was so worried about you!' He exclaimed, taking his arms away from me. 'I heard patients talking about 'the new forensic scientist saving them all', and I had a lucky guess at who they were talking about.'

'My, you are the detective,' I laughed sarcastically, before Elliot hugged me again.

'I thought... I thought you were dead,' he said gravely. 'You weren't here, so I assumed you'd... Died at the crime scene.'

'And you didn't come find me?' I asked, pretending to be offended.

'I'm being serious, Ari,' Elliot said quietly. 'I didn't come and find you because... Because couldn't the idea that you were gone.'

'Well, now you don't have to think about that,' I smiled reassuringly. 'I'm here now!'

'Yeah,' he smiled.

But if this is how Elliot reacted to me disappearing for a morning, how would he cope with us being in danger 24/7 when we started our crusade? Especially since I was the only one who could actually fight, I would be the one in the action head-on.

Maybe he just needed toughening up.

---

'Aria Coleman?' I heard a voice call my name as its owner strided up to the desk in the gym foyer that evening.

I nodded at him, realising he must have been my trainer for my boxing classes.

'That's me,' I smiled warmly.

As he looked at me, I felt as if I had seen these eyes before, and that mouth speak those words. But I had never met him before, surely. Yet a strange feeling had washed over me, trying to convince me this wasn't our first meeting.

'...I'm Ted Grant, your boxing coach,' he said to break the awkward silence between us both.

I got the impression he had the same strange feeling I had.

'Its nice to meet you,' I shook his sweaty hand, instantly regretting it.

Discretely wiping my hands on my clothes, I realised how fussy and frivolous I had become. I needed these classes badly; I'd suffered through much worse than a not-so-perfect handshake, and now I was disgusted at perspiration. I really needed a reality check if I was going to be the new vigilante of this city.

'Have you done any boxing before?' Ted asked as we entered the training room.

'Not boxing,' I shook my head. 'But I know some self defence techniques. Nothing much.'