The first person I notify my rejection to is Dr. Jackson. Once he hears my situation, he tells me to have someone drive me straight over to the hospital, where he'll be waiting to have me checked.
"What about your parents? Shouldn't you call them?" Nathan asks as he escorts me quickly out of his apartment and into the parking lot.
"Are you off your rocker? The last thing I need is for them to freak out because of the cornea rejection. I'm pretty sure they're already worried now because I was supposed to be home a while ago. For now, this stays between you and me," I answer curtly.
It feels like forever before we reach my Mom's car. When we're inside, Nathan puts the keys into the ignition and the engine roars to life. Before I know it, we're zooming down the road and going towards the highway, leaving Peachtree City behind. I shut my eyes and listen to the rumbling noise of the car, trying to distract myself. Only a month has passed since my surgery. I thought I'd be okay from then on. But I listened to Erika's way of pleading, trying to get me to find her murderer. My heart went out to her because of what she'd been through in her real last memory.
And like I always do with someone who's desperately in need of assistance, I gave her my undivided attention by helping the best I can and this is what comes knocking at my door: trouble.
Mom's car is brought to a halt in front of the Northside Hospital. I never thought I'd need to come back here because of an emergency like now. Nathan comes around to my side and helps me walk to the entrance. The sliding doors open to reveal Dr. Jackson, who's sitting on one of the chairs by the doorway, waiting for me like he said.
"Oh, Alexis. I looked forward to our next check-up, but I hoped it wouldn't be for this reason," he says as he stands.
He takes my arm gently and guides us down the hall to an elevator that's at the far end of the corridor. Nathan sticks right by my side still, holding on to me. I'm glad he's here. I'm glad he didn't leave right when Dr. Jackson took me in. Nathan's the only one who's currently keeping me from truly losing my head.
The elevator ride up to Dr. Jackson's office is silent and tense. One hand grasps Nathan's and the other grasps the rail against the wall as a wave of pain after another washes over me. My whole head aches as do my eyes.
This doesn't necessarily mean this is a transplant failure, I tell myself. It could just be a case of eye irritation and nothing really major.
That's true. Things like what's happening now are pretty common. I'd gone over that in the post-op orders Northside had given me once my surgery was completed. So the case could be something simple such as irritation. But still...this episode can also mean the transplants have been rejected...
I shut my eyes for an instant.
Don't quit on me now. Please, I silently beg Erika. I can't lose you.
Dr. Jackson brings us into his office. Fear takes ahold of me and I freeze in the doorway. What if his office is the last thing I see? What if after this I lose my eyesight and never see anything again? Everything will go back to the way it was before.
"It's okay, Ali." Nathan brushes a lock of my hair behind my ear. "I'm right here."
"Don't go yet," I whisper, though it sounds more like I'm imploring him rather than commanding him.
He gives me a small, kind smile and sits into the chair across the door.
Dr. Jackson clears his throat. I back into his office. The door shuts behind me but I can still see Nathan through the little glass window cut into the heavy wood. Dr. Jackson steps in front of me, blocking the window from my view. I tear my eyes away from the door.
"Let's hop up on the bed here and take a look at those eyes, shall we?" he says.
I do as I'm told, nervously fiddling with the hem of my shirt. He grabs the little penlight and shines it into my eyes. He doesn't say anything while observing me. The only thing that's audible enough to be heard in the room is his clock. The soft ticks fill the air, the same noise repeating every three seconds.
"They're indeed very red," Dr. Jackson declares, stating the obvious.
"They hurt, too," I add.
"I see. When did you say they started to hurt again? Back at your friend's house?"
"Yeah. I was getting ready to go back home, actually."
"Are there any additional symptoms you feel?"
"Um, my eyes are sensitive to the light as well. That's about it."
"Okay. I'm going to have one of my nurses come in so they can squeeze a few drops in your eyes to see how they'll take it. In the meantime, I want to keep you here for a bit to see if they'll clear up. We want to make sure what's happening is really a rejection and not something else. If it isn't that, then everything should be all right. We'll just have to adjust the amount of eye drops needed and that should take care of it."
"What if it is r-rejection? What will happen?" I ask. My throat feels so dry, like I haven't had anything to drink in years.
"Then we'll deal with it if we cross that bridge. It's a big if, Alexis."
'If' doesn't mean anything, I almost say. I clamp down on my tongue to hold those words back and nod instead. Dr. Jackson puts away his penlight and stands up from the stool.
He leaves with the promise to get me a nurse and be back in a couple of hours. I still remain on the bed, head down, waiting. I'm praying this is nothing more than an irritation. Up until now, I've come this far without any problems. I don't want to lose my sight again.
A few minutes later, a young lady, who I assume is the nurse Dr. Jackson sent, walks into the office with a small tray of medical instruments and an assortment of liquids. Looking at them warily, I grimace, hoping none of those tools have to be used on me. She sets the tray down on the counter beside the bed I'm sitting on and goes through the bottles of fluids.
As she checks the labels, she suddenly says, "I remember you."
I look at her quizzically, not remembering seeing her at all before. "You do?"
"Mm-hm. Last time you came in, I helped Dr. Jackson with your corneal transplant. You'd think I wouldn't recall seeing you because of the many faces that come in and out of here everyday. But for some reason, you're an easy face to remember. Maybe it's because of your hair, how curly and red it looks. It makes you stand out a little."
I subconsciously touch a long tendril of my hair. She's right about that. My red hair does stand out.
The nurse then turns around, holding a bottle in her hand, and walks toward me. Now I can get a full look at her. She's wearing dark blue scrubs and a lanyard is hanging around her neck with a name tag, which reads: Penelope. She has a pixie cut, the ends of her brown hair dyed purple, and appears to be in her mid twenties or so.
"If you can lay down for me real quick, please," she orders.
I nod, laying flat on the bed.
Before I know it, the drops go into my eyes and I find myself blinking numerous times.
"That should do it, hopefully it'll fix you right up. You can get back up now." I sit up as Penelope sets the bottle back on the tray. "Is that sweet young man sitting outside yours?"
It takes me a couple seconds to realize she's talking about Nathan.
"Oh, uh..." Blood rushes to my cheeks. "...yeah, he's...well, I dunno, honestly."
And it's true. I'm not really sure if he'd even consider me in that way, after how I've treated him from before, before this whole investigation began. I haven't been very nice to him.
"Well, he's certainly not waiting out there to get a check-up." She chuckles. "You're lucky."
Lucky? Is she serious? I've gotten eye transplants from a dead college girl who was brutally beaten and raped by a coldblooded monster, which, through the things Nathan and I discovered today, just so happens to be none other than Reuben Baker that we now need to go arrest. Sure, I'm the luckiest girl in the planet.
Then again...
If Erika hadn't come into my life, I would've never seen Nathan again. If Erika hadn't come into my life, I wouldn't have been able to see things again like I used to, or meet the people she knew. I blink as the realization of that sets in.
"Yeah," I say slowly. "I suppose you're right."
Penelope smiles. "I know I'm right. Not every guy is like him, you know. In my opinion, he's a keeper."
I think about what she said. Nathan has been very helpful and sweet to me, devoting also his time and effort to help out with Erika's case. And then earlier, when I was feeling stressed out, he comforted me. He stuck by me, even coming all the way up here to Dr. Jackson's office. He kept me sane enough so I wouldn't freak out. With everything that's happened so far, Nathan still cares about me. I realize I do, too. A whole lot, no matter how many times I denied it to myself. I'd just asked him not to leave me and he's here, waiting outside.
Penelope picks the tray up from the counter and holds it against her hip.
Right before she leaves, I ask her, "Hey, can you, uh—"
"You want me to send him in?" I nod. "Certainly, sweet pea."
I press my back against the wall and close my eyes for a minute before Nathan comes in. To distract myself, I try to envision the drops making their way to the different parts of my eyes, helping the redness and pain vanish, helping me.
Please don't take my vision away. At least not yet. Give Nathan and me more time to prepare things and arrest Reuben, I tell Erika.
"Hey."
I open my eyes. "Hi. How do I look?"
Nathan smiles. "Beautiful."
I punch his shoulder playfully. "No, I mean, how do my eyes look?"
"Better. Not as red as before." He scoots an empty chair in front of the bed and takes a seat. "You'll be fine."
"What if I won't be? What if things go to hell from here?"
"It won't. Rejection episodes are pretty common, Ali. Most patients experience at least one in the first month and a half after their surgery." He holds his phone up. "Looked online while I was outside."
I look at him, then sigh. "If that's what it says. I don't wanna end up blind again. I took that for granted before the chemical accident. And now, after finally being able to see, I don't want that to slip away. I don't want Erika to take it away."
He shakes his head. "Nah. From what her grandmother, Faith, and Adrian said, telling us how nice of a person she was, I don't think Erika's going to do something like that to you."
"I hope not."
"You won't go blind, I promise. Everything will be okay."
As if to reassure his statement, he takes my hand into his and holds it. Our hands fit together like we'd been made to clasp them into one another. Missing pieces of a puzzle, two halves of a clue in a mystery. I like the way they feel, it feels perfect. I turn his hand over and interlace my fingers around his. He looks up at me and flashes one of his cute smiles, to which I return it.
Dr. Jackson comes back two hours later to check how my eyes are taking to the drops Penelope put in. After careful examination, he confirms the medication has worked and my corneas haven't been rejected, thankfully. He alters the amount of drops I need to put in my eyes daily and releases Nathan and me with a friendly goodbye. We walk out into the warm night and out to the parking lot to look for my Mom's car, which we find only after passing by a few others.
When we hop in, I insist Nathan that I drive now since my eyes are feeling better. I take him back to the police department because his car is still there and he'll need it to get back home. The ride there is quiet, but I don't really mind. The silence is okay with me for now.
Once ten minutes have passed, I pull by the front entrance of the station and park the car. I keep the engine on, though. Nathan lingers for a little longer. I can sense he's not wanting to leave yet.
"Well, I'll be calling you shortly after everything's sorted. It shouldn't take long to do," he says.
After dealing with my little eye incident, I almost forgot we still have things to attend to, like finding Reuben.
Can't wait for that to come.
"Okay," I reply. "Hey, I just wanted to thank you for helping me. I know I've said this before, but I really appreciate what you've done as far as the case goes. And sticking by my side when I needed you to keep me sane."
He chuckles. "No need to thank me. I was willing to stay with you even if you told me to go pound sand."
I look down, remembering what Penelope told me. He is a keeper. "Thanks, Nate."
"Of course. See you later."
"Yup, later."
He climbs out of the passenger seat and closes the door behind him. My foot presses down the brake, getting ready to move the shift stick, when Nathan taps lightly on the window. I crack it down halfway.
"Ali?"
"Yeah?"
"I—" He pauses for a second, mulling over about what he's going to say. I think I already know. I can hear it in his voice. I know because I want to tell him, too. And I almost do, until he apparently changes his mind. "—drive safe, all right?"
I nod, though I try to hide my disappointment by giving him the best assuring smile I can muster.
"I will. Bye."
"Bye."
I watch as he walks up the stairs to the station. Once the door closes, I roll the window back up and a sigh escapes me.
"I love you, too."
When I arrive home, I get out of the car and go up the front walk. All I want to do once I'm inside is head upstairs to the privacy of my room, crawl into the safety of my covers, and forget about everything for the rest of the evening. But that's not going to happen. My parents are going to have other ideas in mind.
Dad blocks my path the instant I set foot in the house, his arms folded across his chest.
"Where the hell have you been?" he demands. "Do you have any idea what your mother and I have been through for the past three hours?"
"I—"
Mom emerges from the living room into the hallway, her cell phone in her hand.
"Ali!" She lifts it to her ear. "She just got home. Yes. Thanks, Karen."
Crap. I'm totally in for it now.
Mom tosses her phone onto the couch where an enormous pile of clothes are sitting and comes rushing toward me, giving me one of her spine-crushing hugs. We stay embraced like this for a minute, then she backs away a little to look at me and I can see her eyes are swollen and red-rimmed.
"Alexis Bethany Morgan, you are in so much trouble. We've been worried sick about you! I mean, you didn't text us or leave a note to let us know where you were going. We thought something awful might've happened to you, we were nearly about to call the police."
"Well, I'm here now. I'm fine, Mom."
Dad appears beside her, his face a mask of anger and concern. "Come to the living room and sit on the couch," he orders.
I do as I'm told and drag my feet as I follow behind them. I plant myself in the middle of our sofa, hesitantly looking up at my parents.
"We want an explanation. Now," Dad says.
"And don't give us that crap by saying you were out working, because I called the IHOP at Peachtree City and they said no one by the name of Alexis Morgan works there," Mom interjects. She sounds like she's fighting very hard to stay calm and collected. "If you haven't been working anywhere, what have you been doing?"
My eyes dart from her to my father, unsure of what to say.
She runs a hand over her face. "Look, we just wanna know what's going on with you. We want you to be truthful with us."
I heave a sigh. "I'm very bushed. Do you mind if we discuss this tomorrow?"
Mom looks like she's willing to permit it, but Dad crosses the room until he stands right in front of me.
"No. We are going to discuss this now." He shoots daggers at me, his jaw working hard. "I don't know what's gotten into you, running around wherever it is you go at an ungodly hour."
"It's only ten thirty."
Mom throws her hands up in the air. "Alexis! Answer your father!"
I close my eyes. I can't keep this up anymore. I have to tell them everything. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I breathe out.
"I didn't really have a job, I never did," I say. "I've been involved with something else, I just didn't realize it'd take this long."
"What would?" Mom asks.
I clasp my hands together and look down at them. "I've been doing some research on my donor."
"What? Why?"
I don't know who to look at since my parents spoke simultaneously. However, I simply let the words pour out of my mouth. I share with them everything—leaving out the paranormal parts—finding out that the donor who gave me my new set of eyes was a young girl named Erika Stryder and she was murdered a month prior to my surgery. Upon discovering this, I wanted to know why she was killed, so I reached out to Nathan because I figured since he's with law enforcement, he'd be more helpful to me.
I tell them about the drive we made to North Carolina. Over there, we talked to Erika's relatives, where they gave us a little backstory about her. Then I traveled to Buckhead to meet Faith, who was a very close friend of Erika's. She told me, after our conversation about their friendship and moving down here from Winston-Salem, she had a hunch Erika was romantically involved with one of their professors at a university they attended, which turned out to be true.
Adrian, or Professor Kelly as I explained, confessed to me about his relationship with her. They had been seeing each other but tried to keep it a secret.
It wasn't too long before Nathan and I found out there was another guy at the university who took a liking to Erika and he discovered her relationship with Adrian. He grew jealous and threatened to expose the two of them to the entire college. However, he didn't really go through with that plan but went with another. It was the night he lured Erika to the Ivory Plaza Resort & Spa, making her believe it was Adrian she was going to see. But upon arriving there, things went awry and Reuben ended up killing her.
The entire time I spoke, my parents didn't even interrupt me. They just stood there, staring at me with wide eyes. Once I'm finished telling my tale, I exhale, feeling in a way glad to get this off my chest. Well, almost all of it. I still haven't told them about my visit to Dr. Jackson's office.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Dad asks.
"Because I knew you guys weren't going to let me start my own search like this, seeking out for someone's murderer," I answer simply.
"You're damn right about that," Mom says sternly. "I don't know what you were thinking, getting involved in a murder case. Doing such a thing is police work. You realize what could've happened if you came in contact with the criminal? You know you could've gotten killed?"
"Not with Nathan there. He wouldn't have allowed that to happen." And that's the truth. I know he'd go to great lengths to protect me.
"It doesn't matter, Alexis! Jobs that involve investigating crimes and murders are meant for people like Nathan, who work in law enforcement. You're not in that field. Hell, you aren't even in college yet." She then sighs. "I don't ever want you immersing yourself into things like this again. You scared the living daylights out of us, especially me."
"I'm sorry."
Dad perches on the edge of the coffee table across from me. "Honey, it's all right. But you can't lie like that. Like your mother said, what if something would've happened? You mean the world to us, we love you too much for you to get hurt."
"I know," I say.
"Next time, tell the truth. We're your parents, you can come talk to us, okay?"
"Okay. But I may have to do one more thing before dropping this. I have to help Nathan with some of the things pertaining to Erika."
Dad gives me a look of reluctance, but then says, "Fine. Just promise us you won't go during the nighttime."
"I won't." I stand up from the couch. "You mind if I hit the hay? I'm tired."
"Yeah, we all should be going to bed."
It's nearly eleven and my parents have to go to work in the morning. Plus, my body is craving sleep and I know for a fact I'm going to need the rest. It won't be long before I see Nathan once again. And when I do see him, it'll be to arrest Reuben for Erika's murder. I'm going to need that strength for what lies ahead after tonight.
I hug my parents and peck them on their cheeks before walking down the hallway to the comfort of my bedroom. I change from my clothes to a nightshirt, feeling in a sense glad to be rid of them. I stagger over to my bed, collapse onto it, and turn my bedside lamp off, soon shrouding myself in darkness. The longer I stare at the ceiling, the heavier my eyelids become. At first, I resist the temptation to close them, only because I want a few spare minutes to stay awake. But they soon start to droop down and before I know it, I drift into a dreamless slumber.