In Love With An Angel (a. butler)

Thirty-Eight.

"Rosalina..?" He called out again waiting for me to answer him. I couldn't find the words within me to respond. The voices swarmed around swallowing me whole, taking me out of the moment. I began hyperventilating.

"What's wrong with her?" Tarik asked

"She's having a panic attack again" Austin said rushing over towards the truck door, he opened it and reached for my hand. My heartbeat throbbed heavily through my chest. "Hey, look at me. It's dead, you're safe."

I couldn't find an even pattern to my breathing, everything mashed together. The voices, Austin, the hound, the path, the red jewel. Part of me was here and the other half was screaming and running wild on the inside. Marina stepped through the two of them fiddling with the dragon ring on her finger.

"Rose? Give me your hand" She said softly

I stared at her wide-eyed frozen in place. Her cool touch caressed over the palm of my hand and I could feel a rush of energy flow through me like waves crashing in the ocean. There was nothing noisy about them, yet they had sound. It is more like the music of my childhood summers so long ago before everything that is now. When I was young and free. If I close my eyes I can hear Mom calling me for lunch, and Dad rustling the newspaper as he turns a fresh page. In my closed hand appears the glowing of her dragon ring, there is nothing to worry me, no fears.

My heartbeat settled and I stared at Marina taking in what just happened. She'd done to me what she'd always done for Austin. Bringing me down with a distant cherished and calm point in my life. I never realized how amazing she was until this very moment. Austin called out to me again.

"Are you alright?" He asked

"Yes, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I guess seeing the hound again triggered something." I looked to Marina again and she released my hand slowly. "Thank you" I said

She nodded slightly and stepped back.

"You had me worried for a second there" Austin whispered. He reached up to caress the side of my face with the palm of his hand.

"We should get a move on, Hawk still needs us." Marina said

"Yeah, I'll go make sure she's alright. I wouldn't want our tracks to interfere with her." Tarik said

He did a final check on the woman and Austin instructed me to scoot over in the back seat. Marina made her way over to the drivers side. She glanced back at us and sighed. Tarik had joined us again after another five minutes. It was important that we secured the area before returning.

No one wanted a hound to attack her in our absence, she informed her barriers would continue to keep guard yet it was only a matter of time. The truck engine started and we headed down the road again supplied with our latest hope to a solution for Hawk's condition. There were no more calm and collected trips with Darren still on the loose we would have to expect the unexpected each time.

---

We arrived back at the institute as quickly as we could, Austin and Marina had gotten alerts the entire way from a few others notifying them on how critical Hawkins was becoming. Tarik carried the herbs from the shack in his crossover bag. He rushed inside Hawkins' office spreading them out on the desk beside the institute nurse. Austin and Marina followed him inside trying to be as useful but neither of them knew what to do in a situation so severe as this one. My eyes followed their bodies as they quickly moved about the room. Going from shelf to shelf mixing together herbs and liquids for Hawk to drink. His cough had gotten twice as bad from earlier.

Bawls of tissue were scattered around him in his chair full of his blood. I found myself chewing on my nails again. Anxious of the unknowing, the part of me that had always been afraid. Nerves are a signal of truth of what you value, of what you need and cherish. And often of what you want so much that the idea of not getting it brings on those telltale tremors.