Blood Lines

11. Surprise

By the next morning, Clae felt less crappy than the previous evening, but significantly crappier than usual. She had enjoyed a fitful sleep after Lena had left her, constantly waking out of fear or concern for her friends. She had only managed to sleep for real after Jess had come in around midnight unscathed and whole.

Now she was awake at 8 am and her mind felt like a whirlwind. She didn't know what to do. All the events of last night were making her haywire. Finally she got up, dressed and headed to the greenhouse. It was the place where she felt peaceful. Her personal project for her undergraduate studies, five species of bloodworts, were lively and luscious as always, their white flowers bursting and blooming, encompassing her in a pleasant perfume. She carefully attended to each, spending over two hours measuring and examining them. Finally the greenhouse door creaked and she looked up. To her complete surprise, she saw Lena standing there, still dressed from last night and looking rather haggard. She glanced at the clock on the wall which read 11 am.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" she asked.

"I have to attend to some plants," Lena sighed, heading over to a bench in the back. She reached under it and pulled up a tray of something that Clae couldn't make out. For a few minutes, Clae tried and failed to be uninterested. But, as she had never seen Lena in the greenhouse of her own accord before, curiosity soon got the better of her and she walked over to her.

"What are you working on?" she asked, observing as Lena applied precise amounts of water to what appeared to be pots with nothing in them.

Lena looked up at her in surprise and then back down at the pots. Even sleep deprived and worn, she was stunning, especially in the late morning light filtering in through the greenhouse. Clae looked away from her quickly, frowning at the pots.

"They're well, I hope they are going to be the Sanguinas lilies," Lena mumbled.

"What?" Clae asked, staring at her.

"That day when I smashed the pots. I went back, nobody had cleaned them up. The plants were ruined but the bulbs were intact. I couldn't tell which was which, but I got them back into pots and I've been taking care of them."

Clae gaped at her. She didn't know what to say. Why hadn't she thought of that? She had been so furious at Lena that she hadn't even considered the possibility of salvaging the smashed lilies.

"You...that's...I can't believe you did that," Clae stammered, struggling to find words.

Lena remained still for a few more moments. "Look," she said, her back to Clae. "I do care, ok? I mean, I-I try. In lessons and all. What happened in class, I hadn't slept, my reactions were bad. I'm sorry."

Clae stared at her, a surprising amount of guilt welling up in her. "I shouldn't have been so hard on you," she said, and was shocked to feel that she meant this wholeheartedly. "You sure are full of surprises."

Lena gave her a sidelong glance and then yawned. "I'm going to turn in," she announced and headed for the door. Clae opened her mouth, wanting to say something more. But Lena had already disappeared.