「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(315) Detained

"You want me to read your mind?" I prodded in an astonished tone but eager, and almost desperate, nods were her only comprehensible reactions.

Helplessly surrendering to her critical begging, I gently fixed my fingers to her temples and shut my eyes, carefully filtering through the memory zone packed like a convoluted maze of honeycomb cavities.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, Mrs. McCoy. I just wanted to give you an update that Cain Marko has been secured in the solitary cell you requested and will be shipped out with all the other prisoners in just a couple of moments," articulated the ambiguous yet familiar voice of a young man.

"And also, the President would like a word with you," he claimed hastily and in a meek tone.

"Raven, I need you to stay calm," the President advised sincerely.

"I've just received intelligence that Hank has been detained at Alcatraz. It's actually a clip, but the IT team is still in the midst of validating it. In any case, I'm sending someone to escort you back from Westchester right away," he declared in a sober tone and it was seconds after then that her pocket device unwittingly slipped from her clasp.

Slowly, releasing my contacts from her head, I levitated her phone from the parquet where it had conspicuously crashed and delicately tucked it back into her hand but she just looked at me with a blank stare. There was an ominous tension that roared through the ambience but nothing could mask the splintering cracks of her heart that was imminent to shatter.

"Relax, Raven," I encouraged, mustering a brave smile that might not have been altogether convincing given that I was perhaps just as equally, and colossally, intimidated.

"Try to breathe," I whispered, drawing her into a warm hug and she slouched limply against me, yet miraculously without any tears, as I tenderly stroked her back.

"Everything's going to be fine. Just ready yourself and I'll come with you to Washington, alright?" I proposed in an earnest tone.

"Thank you," Raven spouted courteously.

"That's not what sisters are for," I teased, smirking at her blatantly.

"I'm sure you'd have done exactly the same for me," I consoled with a benevolent smile.

"Freshen up and get dressed. I'll be right back," I reassured, kissing her cheek politely, and she automatically reciprocated an affable one before I dragged myself into my chair.

Allowing Raven some space to simmer off, I scooted down the corridor just a couple of doors and expeditiously swapped my pajamas for whatever that lined themselves first in my drawer. Coincidentally, the lightweight cable knit top in blush paired with mid blue skinny jeans were relatively sufficient to combat the fine autumn weather.

Basically throwing on a grey scarf, I swept my vanity of essentials into my travel sack and immediately rounded up with Raven as I hooked the bag brimming with medications onto the back of my chair. Although already adopting a stabilized human form, Raven was clearly still thoroughly unnerved, given her terribly pale complexion, and since her designated driver was still awhile out from the mansion, I decided to steady her with a sweet drink.

Discreetly deviating from our course, I managed to coax her into the kitchen for a hot chocolate but the luxury of our own privacy in the soothing calmness of an early morning was shortly disrupted just after I had served up the remedying beverage.

"Lynn! What a surprise!" Jubilee blurted just excitement as she casually ambled into the area, mildly jolting Raven who jumped in her seat, almost tipping over her drink.

Shush, I pleaded, contacting Jubilee's eyes with a serious glare, as I wrapped my fingers around Raven's mug for added support.

"It's alright. He's going to be here in two minutes. So be a good girl and finish this, then we can go outside," I persuaded with a balmy smile and as she obediently nodded, I finally turned my attention, egging Jubilee's baffled stance on towards the exit.

"Why are you all packed? Are you heading somewhere?" Jubilee investigated in disorientation, frowning at my well-equipped portable transportation.

"I have to go to Washington with Raven," I revealed pensively.

"Will you be gone long? Is everything alright? You actually look a little ill and your hair's in a mess!" Jubilee commented, highly anxious, as she crouched down and gingerly straightened my accidentally unkempt locks subconsciously ignored in my rush out.

"Frankly, I don't know," I confessed, shrugging my shoulders in a listless fashion.

"I need you to help me keep an eye on the children. And if I don't come home by tomorrow, you and Storm will be in charge of the school," I asserted, squeezing her palm, but her sober expression failed to falter.

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to keep you posted," I conveyed in a wholehearted tone.

"You brought your phone?" Jubilee contended with a small smirk of amusement, unmistakably a deliberate attempt of instilling humour.

"Raven has one of those," I countered smilingly.

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Thank you everyone for an amazing 10K reads! I don't know what else more I can ask; except perhaps that you enjoy the remaining chapters! I'm still working on all my other books and the progress is really slow with work piling up. Do pardon me if I don't update as often for those; I really do seek your patience and understanding. 😘😇