Shards

chapter 40

Chapter 40:

It was some time in the night, late enough so that some would consider it the morning. My breath came in panting bursts, and my arms trembled from the strain. Just ten more pushups. My shaking muscles gave out on me and I tumbled to the cold, concrete floor. I was starting to wonder if my memories were really worth the lost strength my two weeks in the hospital had cost me.

At least none of my friends had seen me like this. The only ones I'd had contact with since arriving at the cult's Washington safe house were Denis and Jake. Even Emme was out gathering information. One good thing about working with this group was the access to technology and manpower, and their strange amount of connections. How did a group like this have so many powerful friends?

No matter all the new complications and people, we still only had one objective: find Kyle and Dale. And I couldn't do that in my current condition. Grasping the edge of my fold up cot, I pushed myself to my feet. I could do some wall sits to cool down before bed. I'd just gotten myself down into the uncomfortable crouch when the door to my broom closet of a room opened. It was Ian.

He looked tired and was heavily favoring one leg. As he moved closer I smelled BO and a little bit of blood. What was going on? Where had they been?

“A little help?” I held out my hand.

There was really no need to explain why I was working out in the middle of the night. He must understand how weak I felt right now. He took it and pulled me back into a standing position.

“You okay?” I asked, trying to take in every bit of his tattered clothing.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” He grinned at me.

“I'll take that as a yes.” I poked his injured leg lightly with my toe. “Just a bruise?”

How was it that I could tell that from just the look on his face?

“You're back, I can see.” He evened out his weight easily, confirming my theory. “I've missed you. You were you... But-but it wasn't the same.”

I nodded. “I remember.” I touched his face, in a way I knew I normally wouldn't. “I've missed you too. For you it may have been two weeks, but for me it was a lifetime, literally.”

He took my hand in his, removing it from his cheek, and pulled me out the door.

“Did any of the others come back with you?”

His hand in mine felt strange. Why was it that we never touched? It's not that it felt awkward or wrong, it had just never been necessary.

“Just Audrey.” As if reading my mind, he released, his hand falling back to his side. “We'll fill you in on everything that's happened.”

Audrey looked just at beat up as Ian, but she smiled widely when she saw me. The three of us slipped out one of the windows onto the fire escape, so we could talk out under the stars.

They had definitely not wasted the time I'd spent in dreamland. Apparently, Chris had showed up the day after I'd gone under. After a typical squabble they'd decided to tell James and the police about my whereabouts and allow them to bring me to the hospital. Both Audrey and Ian assured me that it was just because of the leg. They couldn't have removed the cast by themselves. Aside from that, they were fully capable of taking care of everything without help.

At first they'd refused to work with the cult—as we decided to call them—remembering all the stories Sophia and I had told them. But the things they'd offered had been just too tantalizing. Now, we were all glad that they had.