Ghosts

Chapter 17

"You got this Mr. Seed. One step, two step."

Carmina slowly walked back, her hands held out in case she needed to catch the large man stepping forward in her direction. Jacob Seed admired her enthusiasm, but if he went down, there was a ninety-eight perfect chance that he would crush her. His recovery had gone rather smoothly. The burns he had endured were not nearly as bad as they had initially believed. The worst part of it all may have just been a dislocated shoulder upon landing from the blast. And his wounded pride. Sitting in a bed for a week straight though, that left his body sore and atrophic which was why Carmina sought it up to herself to get him up and moving. He was grateful to the Rye girl. Sitting in that bed left him out of all the happenings and left him with only rampant thoughts of what his daughter and Rush had gotten themselves into by seeking out New Eden. By seeking out Joseph.

The chit-chatty Carmina took it upon herself to try and take his mind off that and began to explain how they had a few new arrivals as they continued his walk inside the infirmary. He had already met the eccentric young doctor Selene, but had yet to meet Prosperity's newest pilot, Rich, or Roger he believed his name was. The others were both old friends and complete buffoons, Sharky and Hurk. Tagging along with them an ex-Highwayman woman and a baby that Hurk claimed to be his. Unsurprisingly, they also had in tow one ex-Peggie whose name still made his throat fill with bile. Perhaps like himself, the years changed Vittoria for the better.

It was drawing close to dinner time and he knew his only company would soon have to go which meant he'd be left alone with his own thoughts once more and all the ghosts that came them. Carmina seemed to sense this as she led him back to his bed.

"I can come bring my dinner here and eat with you if you like Mr. Seed. I'm sure my parents won't mind if I miss one dinner with them."

"No." he came across abruptly.

The cheer in her face waned causing him to feel guilt. He meant it to sound less rude than it came off to be. As he sat on the edge of the bed, he took her hand into his, patting it.

"I'm sorry. Go eat with your family. I know your father has been eager to spend some time with you. Don't take that time for granted."

Carmina bit her lower lip, nodding her head. She was a people person, something that Jacob himself was not and she was empathetic in a way that reminded him of a particular woman whose whereabouts still eluded him, including his daughter's.

"Mai will return soon. I know she will." Carmina chimed as if reading his mind.

Jacob thanked her for the pleasantries and for the physical therapy, unable to respond directly to her statement. He was confident in his daughter's ability to prevail in any situation she was placed in. What he was not confident in was when he would ever see his wife again. Jacob Seed has seen his fair share of ghosts. He'd seen the faces of those he killed on the battlefield to the faces of his younger brothers as mere children when he closed his eyes at night. He saw the enraged face of his father as he wound up his arm to swing. He saw Miller take his last breath along that desert sand. Tonight was no different. Once Carmina left, he was alone in the infirmary, haunted by the face of a young girl inside a gun shop. He knew the day he saw her that she would play a special role in his life. He just had no idea how topsy-turvy that role would become. No idea that one day, they'd share a family together. That the day he left to go in search of Mai was the day he'd last see her.

Fuck this.

He was not going to sit here and feel sorry for himself. Jacob Seed was a man of action, and he had decided that he had been away from his loved ones long enough. In the time he moved from his bed to the infirmary door, he could hear people shouting outside. Instinctively, he prepared himself for the worst. Was it another Highwaymen attack?. He brushed the door open seeing all the survivors in Prosperity clamoring to the front gate. As he stepped out into the open, Carmina's voice called for him.