T.O.R.N.: There's Only Right Now

Chapter 6 Running

Asante woke up at the sound of her own snoring. Obadias laughed. She took in his salt and pepper beard, caramel skin, and enormous eyes with the longest lashes she's ever seen on a man or woman. His salt and pepper roots spread perfectly through his not so manicured dreadlocks. She guessed he was about thirty from how youthful his face looked, besides his gray hair she didn't see any other evidence of aging, his perfect caramel skin, flawless. His gaze intently focused on the road.

He turned to her and said, "Are you feeling better, you knocked out pretty quickly after we got out of the city."

The forest lined highway they traveled was breathtaking, the sky was clear as the sun's rays lit up the vibrant powder blue horizon. However, Asante couldn't enjoy the view. She had fallen asleep with her mind racing. So many questions and emotions overwhelmed her at once. She was disoriented and frightened but more present then the fear was a sense that she had become more alive, more awake somehow. The center of her forehead felt like there was a gaping hole in it, almost as if something were being pulled out of her brain. Was she more aware or was she really having a psychotic episode? She was determined to find out.

"Yes, thank you," she finally answered. "And I mean for everything! But I do have some questions, I need some answers immediately," she demanded as the need to assert some control over her spun life rose from her gut.

"I'll do my best," he said.

"Where is my sister?"

"Outside the Mayacamas Mountains, on sacred native land, once inhabited by the Yukian Wappo Tribe. We are on our way there now. It's very tranquil. There are hot springs that soothe the body and relax the mind. It keeps her calm."

Calm?

"Has she been there all these years? How did she get there? How do you know her and what did you do with your hand to the nurse's station back at Gateway?" She rapidly fired, barely taking a breath between questions.

"I'll let your sister answer your questions for her but I will tell you about what I did at Gateway. However, first I'd like to ask you a question if I may?"

Asante nodded in response.

"What did you do during the Seagar operation at St. Mary's Presbyterian?"

"What, what does that have to do with anything?" She asked in disbelief.

"Everything. Please answer the question."

"I did a triple bypass. My resident thought there was a complication, that she had damaged some of the arteries accidentally, but..." she stopped speaking. She thought back to Brennan questioning her in his office a couple of days after the surgery. He was keenly interested in what she had done as well. Brennan, damn, Asante thought. Their relationship over the past ten years had been her only constant. She remembered struggling against Brennan and the others at The Fairchild Estate and felt sick to her stomach. Is this another trap? She looked at him for some modicum of evidence.

"But what?" He asked.

"But she was mistaken," she replied

"How do you know?"

"Because the bypass was a success. If the arteries were damaged, like my resident suspected, he would have died pretty quickly after we took him off the bypass machine. And as far as I know Mr. Seager is living his best life. Is there something you want to tell me? And how do you know about Seagar, anyway?"

"We hacked Brennan's computer to look at the footage."

"What footage?"

"Were you unaware that you worked in a teaching hospital?"