Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
All along.
FORTY-THREE
YOU’RE AWAKE AGAIN.”
As the condition report was presented to him, Daniel wasn’t so sure about that. But he knew who was talking to him. Then again, he could probably be dead and still recognize his Lydia’s voice.
Opening his lids, he had a thought that he was tired of playing patient—but then all he saw was her smile. She was so blindingly beautiful, in a way that had nothing to do with how she looked. She was glowing from the inside—and by some miracle, he was still alive to be warmed by her.
“You are”—he cleared his throat with a little cough—“a sight for sore eyes.”
She started blinking away tears as she kissed him. Then she eased back, and he was able to orientate himself. He was in a hospital bed—but not in any of the ones he was familiar with down in the underground lab.
“Where… are we?”
“Cathy’s bedroom.”
He rolled his eyes. “She’s changed her name again.”
“This time it’s sticking—”
“IsGusokay?” he asked in a rush.
“Yes.” She stroked his face. “And Blade made it through as well. Gus had to operate on him in the middle of a battlefield in the foyer. But he’s doing well, and so is Xhex. She’s with him now. She hasn’t left his side, actually. She showed up at just the right time with just the right kind of friends.”
Daniel frowned, and tried to piece things together properly. When that effort didn’t go far, it dawned on him that—
“You’ve told me all this before, haven’t you.” As she nodded patiently, he remembered other things… explosions, escapes… “My memory’s sketchy.”
“It’s okay. Gus says everything will come back, we just have to give it time.”
Daniel took a deep breath. And then another. And braced himself for a coughing jag. When it didn’t come, he frowned.
“What time is it?” he asked.
“Eight o’clock-ish.”
“In the morning.”
“No, at night.”
“Oh. How long’s it been since the attack?”
“A couple of days.”
“Oh,” he repeated.
Glancing down at himself, he discovered that there was an IV in his other arm and beeping from somewhere behind him, all common things to him. He also had the joy of a catheter. But something was different.
Lydia… was different. She was glowing in a new way, an aura of some kind of emotion he couldn’t remember her having before turning her face and her hazel eyes into something that seemed almost dreamlike.
“What day is it?” he asked.
“Thursday, December first.”
All at once, he went to sit up. “What? That’s more than a couple of—how long have I been out of it?”
She didn’t stop him from going vertical. She didn’t warn him to calm down. She didn’t call out for Gus or a nurse or another doctor.
She just stared at him with those glowing eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he said slowly.
With a little laugh, she brushed away another round of tears. “Knock knock.”
“Okay, now’s not the time for jokes, Lydia. I don’t get what the hell is going on—”
“Knock knock.”
“Who’s there,” he snapped, aware he was being an impatient ass, but come on. After all the shit that had happened—like, fifteen fucking days ago—he was not in the mood for games.
“Cancer free,” she said.
“What?”
Lydia took his hand again. “No, the proper response is ‘who.’ ”
Daniel blinked. A couple of times. “Who… is cancer free.”
“You.”
In the quiet that followed, he tilted his head. “I’m sorry, what did you say…?”
“Blade was right. Whatever is in that scorpion’s venom? It’s a cure. Gus is over the moon, and I guess he and Cathy are going to partner with some big pharmaceutical company down in Houston to develop the compound and figure out how to make it in a lab. That scorpion sting has a revolutionary, tumor-targeting chemical in it that starves cancer cells. They can’t access any energy, and anything that doesn’t have energy dies.”
He took another deep breath. And another. Then put a hand over his chest.
“It takes time,” she said gently. “But everything inside of you is reducing. They’ve been doing regular imaging up here—and the results are irrefutable. And guess what, Cathy took the venom five days ago. She’s having the same experience. They don’t know if it will work for all cancers, but for you two, it’s a miracle, and that means for other people, it will help as well.”
“Cancer… free? Have you told me this before?”
Lydia shook her head. And then laughed a little. “They told me to wait until you were further recovered, but I just can’t hold it in anymore. And I get the shock. It took me some time to get used to it, too. I can assure you, though, you’re cured.”
“I don’t… understand. Am I dreaming?”
Lydia shook her head again. “No. This is real—”
“Oh, God.”
Hard to know if that was a prayer to keep him awake and to believe in what he was hearing or if it was thanks to a higher power… or if it was just a pair of words that humans uttered when they don’t understand a shocking truth.