It's a Love Thing (25 page)

“
Only a week . .
.”

“
Though you may not believe
it, we Elysians are concerned with the Afterlife as much, if not
more, than you here on earth. If The Guides believed you had a
chance to alter Dex’s path of self-destruction, they might be
willing to risk more with Elspeth’s extraction.”

Sera looked at her hands. “I
understand. I don’t think I could anyway.” She tried to reassure
herself she wouldn’t have. It wasn’t fair to place more importance
on Dex’s life than on Elspeth’s.

Emily reached forward to tilt Sera’s
chin toward her. “Aren’t you concerned with your punishment,
Sera?”

Sera’s brow furrowed. “I
suppose.”

“
You will lose your job in
the Transition Center. The Guides will decide if further punishment
is necessary later, after you can be fairly tried.”

Sera nodded. “Thank you.”

Emily sighed. “Good luck, Sera. Even
if you only plant a seed, perhaps it will be enough.”

Sera forced a smile.
“Perhaps.”

Emily nodded officially at Sera before
winking out of sight. Sera leaned back onto the plush pillows. She
closed her eyes, intending to contemplate the various ways to get
Dex to talk to her, but sleep washed over Elspeth’s drained
body.

*****

Dex stumbled and fell into the door.
He welcomed the sting of pain on his forehead. Easier to deal with.
He grabbed the door handle and used it to pull himself up. After
struggling with it he finally got the door open. He tried to focus
on walking straight, though he doubted it’d fool his mom. Better to
just get up to his room and sleep it off. He longed for the numb,
dreamless sleep he knew awaited him.

He pushed the door shut, letting his
eyes focus in the dark room in front of him. Then the light flipped
on. He fell over backwards, putting his hand up to shield his
eyes.

“
Nice of you to come home,
Dex.”

When he was finally able to focus, he
saw his mom standing at the foot of the stairs. “Yeah. No problem.”
He scrambled up and headed for the stairs.

“
It’s three
a.m.”

“
Sorry.” He grabbed for the
stair rail.

“
Please.” Her voice
cracked. “Stop doing this. Please.”

He ignored her and the guilt pulsing
through him. This was Elspeth Ronan’s fault. Not his. She was the
one who said Sera’s name. Made him ache. Made pain burn through
him. He staggered down the hallway and into his bedroom, clutching
his dresser to steady himself. Knickknacks of every sort crashed to
the floor. A picture of Sera landed on top. He picked it up before
climbing to his bed.

Stabbing pains shot through his chest.
He hated Elspeth Ronan. He hated her more than he hated anyone ever
before. More than he hated Sera for leaving him. More than he hated
God—if God existed. He closed his eyes.

If You have any pity on
me, can You just bring on the numbness? Or sleep?

But Sera’s face still crept
into his brain; floated mercilessly through it.
Promise me something
, her weak voice
asked.

“
That I’ll go out and find
the first girl with the virus and kiss her so I’m not too far
behind?” he’d joked with the last bit of strength in
him.

She smiled, lighting up
the depressing hospital room, which made the sacrifice more than
worth it. “You know it doesn’t work that way.”

He leaned over and kissed
her, deeply, passionately, knowing it might be the last. “Too bad,
huh?” He’d stroked her hair. “You know I’ll promise you
anything.”

“
Just remember that we’re
going to be together again, okay?”

His heart stopped at the
implication. “I know . . .”

She’d tried to grip his
hand, but her attempt was ridiculous. “You look scared, babe. Don’t
be.” Then she closed her eyes.

He wanted to reassure her.
Wanted to bad. But words got stuck in the emotional tangle in his
chest.

He’d had to lean in close
just to hear her next words. “I don’t want to be in heaven without
you, babe.”

“
I’m sorry, Sera,” he said.
“I know you thought we’d be together again. I know you thought
heaven was real. But it’s not. It’s not.”

*****

Sera panicked when she realized she
slept through the rest of the afternoon and the night. The rays of
sunlight slanting across her bed attested she’d lost twelve hours.
And yet she didn’t feel stronger. She felt weaker. She sighed and
pushed herself up out of bed anyway. After a shower, she went to
the kitchen.

Corinne was cooking eggs and pancakes.
“Your color looks stronger.”

Sera smiled. She saw Elspeth’s face in
the mirror. It looked wan and tired. “Thank you.”

Sera ate as much of the food as she
could, pushing most of it around the plate. Elspeth’s stomach
didn’t hold as much as Sera wanted to eat.

“
There she is,” a masculine
voice interrupted. Sera turned to watch a stocky man enter the
kitchen. He gathered Elspeth up in his arms, squeezing her tightly.
Sera held her breath, ignoring the pain the hug caused to Elspeth’s
body. He must be Elspeth’s father, Rick. “If your mother hadn’t
been guarding your bedroom door, I would’ve woken you up the minute
I got home from work.”

“
Sorry . . . Dad.” Sera
tried to look apologetic.

He glanced across the table at
Corinne, a flash of pain floating through his expression. “Just
stick around as long as you can.” His voice sounded husky. He
cleared his throat and took the seat next to Elspeth, still
gripping her hand. Sera didn’t mind. It meant she didn’t have to
try and eat anymore.

“
What do you girls have on
tap for today?” he asked, probably trying to keep the atmosphere as
normal as possible.

“
I’m going to make some
cookies and see if I can bribe Dex into talking to me some more,”
Sera said.

Rick and Corinne exchanged a look.
“Oh?”

Sera looked down at her plate. “It’s
important to . . . to try and help him.”

“
It’s good of you to care,”
Corinne forced a smile.

Rick put his fork down. “I thought
we’d do something as a family. Maybe drive up to the
lake.”

Sera didn’t want to say she didn’t
have much time and she didn’t want to waste it driving to the lake.
Especially since all Elspeth’s body would handle was lounging in a
chair. “I need to talk to Dex,” she said instead.

“
Maybe you can invite him.”
Corinne stood and gathered up her and Sera’s plates. “He could
probably use the distraction.”

“
Great idea,” Rick
agreed.

Sera nodded. She might as well
try.

“
I’ll get your things
together while you go talk to Dex,” Corinne offered. She patted
Sera gently on the shoulder.

“
Thanks.” Sera pushed away
from the table. She met Corinne and Rick’s concerned expressions
and tried to look stronger than she felt. Rick followed her out to
the porch anyway.

She didn’t want to, for appearances
sake, but she had to walk slowly across the yards and grip the rail
tightly when she climbed the steps to Porter’s front door. To her
surprise, Dex answered.

“
You again.” He started to
push the door closed.

Sera lifted her arm and laid it on the
door. She knew the non-existent force didn’t stop the door from
closing, but Dex paused. Maybe it was the bony, sickly look of her
arm.

“
What if it was you, Dex?”
she asked.

He leaned against the door frame.
“What?”

“
What if you died and had
the chance to come back and help Sera. Would you stop just because
she pushed you away?”

“
You’re not
Sera.”

Sera folded her arms. “I’m not
quitting.”

Dex pulled the door open a little
wider. “Okay. Fine. What’s today’s lecture?” His voice sounded
distant and cold.

Sera smiled, but Dex didn’t return it.
“I had something different in mind. My parents want to take me to
the lake to spend time together. I’m hoping you’ll
come.”

“
No, thanks.” Dex moved to
shut the door again.

“
If you don’t come, I’ll
stay to talk to you.”

Dex sighed and shook his head. “By the
looks of it, you don’t have much time left. You should be dead
now.” Sera didn’t let his attitude bother her. That’s what he
wanted: for his callousness to drive her away. “You should spend
your last days with them.” He nodded toward Elspeth’s
house.

“
The only reason I’m alive
is because Sera wants me to help you.” Sera ignored the look of
derision on Dex’s face. “If it comes down to it, I’ll choose you
over them. So it’s all on you if I die on your step today, trying
to talk to you.”

Sera thought her blunt statement
might’ve caused Dex’s lips to twitch a little. “That’s
ridiculous.”

“
Yes or no?”

His eyes swept over her face, probably
taking in the dark circles under eyes, sunken cheeks, and ashen
pallor. “Can you handle a day at the lake?” he asked.

“
I’m fine. Have you got
something better to do?” She raised her eyebrows questioningly at
him, before casually placing her hand on the house to support
herself. She didn’t think she fooled him.

Dex looked away. “I consider a lot of
things ‘better to do’ than spending a whole day being reminded of
something I’m trying to forget.”

Hurt zinged through Sera, making her
stumble forward. She gripped the door frame and looked up, wishing
more than believing tears weren’t swelling in her eyes. “You want
to forget me,” she whispered.

Dex took her arms in his, helping her
stand back up. “What did you say?” he asked, staring at her
closely.

Sera took her hands back. “You want to
forget Sera?” she corrected.

Dex paused before answering. Finally
he looked down at the door handle, running his fingers along it.
“Yeah. Because maybe if I forget her, I can quit feeling like a
truck ran over me a few times, then drug me along behind it.” He
met Sera’s eyes for a brief instant. They shone with fresh pain. As
if Sera had died only hours before.

She couldn’t stop Elspeth’s hand from
rising and reaching for his face. “Oh, Dex,” she said
softly.

Something about her tone made Dex
freeze and stare at her, watch as her fingers brushed against his
cheek, but then he jerked away, trying to shut the door.

Sera cleared her throat. “If you stay
so do I.”

He peered at her through the sliver of
open door. He shook his head. “Fine. I’ll get some things. You’ll
probably need me to carry your dead body from the lakeside to the
car.”

Sera ignored the harshness. “Thanks,
Dex. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

*****

Emily closed the door of the
Transition Center with a snap, ignoring the angry growl of her
stomach.

“
Easy!” she said to herself
with a laugh. “I can’t help it that I had to reassign three
overseers this afternoon.”

“
Busy day?”

Emily turned to see Jenner approaching
with a handful of files. “What’s this?” she asked when he handed
them over.

“
Sera Finn’s and Elspeth
Ronan’s Arrival schedules. Mr. Christopher said you were overseeing
their cases.”

Emily raised her eyebrows but didn’t
object. “Of course . . .” She sighed.

“
I guess they’re sort of a
special case.” Jenner smiled. “The Guides must want it handled with
the utmost care.”

“
Yes. They do.” Emily
straightened the folders in her arm. She glanced up at Jenner,
remembering him sitting alone at dinner the night before. “Are you
hungry?”

His smile stretched out into a grin.
“Yes. Thank you.”

Emily led the way down the hallway
toward the dining hall. They walked in silence, their shoes
clicking on the tiled floor.

“
How are they?” Jenner
asked when they reached a table. “Sera and Elspeth?”

“
Sera is fine, obviously.”
Emily smiled to herself. “Elspeth’s body is losing strength quicker
than expected. We’ve never allowed a body to go this long before we
extracted it. Apparently the attack of the virus speeds up. And
Sera is pushing it far past what normal victims do at this
stage.”

Jenner poked at his peas, scattering
them with his fork. “So you may have to extract Elspeth sooner than
Sera wanted?”

Emily bit her lip, thinking of a
message she’d received from The Guides that morning, saying almost
the exact same thing. “Perhaps.” She took another bite and
swallowed. “Did you know Sera when she was first
extracted?”

Jenner frowned and shook his head.
“No. I didn’t meet Sera until we were put together.”

Emily stared down into her food,
wondering what compelled her to warn Jenner about what Sera’s
disposition might be when she returned. “Do you know you resemble
Dex Porter a great deal?”