Separian - Book 1

Chapter 23

Simon had been in recovery two weeks now and was finally allowed to come home after a solid morning of tests and no abnormalities. To rest. I remember, because when the doctor called to check to see if Simon was home yet, he'd made sure that John knew and John made sure that I knew he was to get bed rest. Bed rest. Not slow-driving-car rest, or outdoor-soaking-in-the-sunshine rest, or even laying-on-a-picnic-blanket-doing-absolutely-nothing-but-resting rest. And he'd done not just one, but all three before the sun had reached its peak in the sky. John and I were forced to give up trying to reason with the women and children halfway through the ride here.

Simon, in all his drugged up "sanity" had sided with the women. I wasn't surprised when he'd made up his mind after hearing what I wanted to have happen. What did surprise me was the deliberate decision he'd made not to sit in the back with his younger siblings but to ride in the middle row of seats, between Amy and myself. His arm had bumped into mine, more than once, and I'd moved more than him to give him optimal space to move without having to touch me. It couldn't have all been the drugs. I'd also seen him smile slightly as I shifted after one of our 'encounters'. No one, not even Amy could have predicted where he'd sat, at least not correctly.

So now, there was nothing left to be said. Simon no longer hated me. Amy hadn't asked him about it, neither had Becky or Clark from what I'd heard, so far. It was now an unspoken truth. However, I wasn't planning on throwing him in a headlock of brotherly-love anytime soon. I would still let him make the first moves. Becky and Clark didn't require such luxuries.

So far, since arriving here, the most I'd seen him do was take a pill and skull a glass to make sure the little white dot went all the way down before the powder coat could dampen and stick to his mouth. I'd made the mistake once, of not making sure it washed all the way down. Long story short, the pill wasn't the only thing that came back out that night.

"Will you miss this?" Simon was asleep to my right, his head on Myra's lap. She'd begun running her fingers through his hair and he'd knocked out already. Amy, John and the little ones were all half a field's distance away playing monkey in the middle with a large red ball. The little ones, even without the handicap, looked like they might still be winning. John could hardly keep up with Clark's tiny legs and Amy's height made it just as easy for a three foot Becky to slip by.

"You'll allow me to come back, won't you?" I'd meant it as a joke. My heart fluttered as the words left me, realizing how seriously I'd actually meant it.

"You know I would in a heartbeat. But will you miss it when you're out and saving the world someday?" she wasn't looking at me, but I wouldn't have been able to tell if she were serious or teasing, either way. Her eyes were on Amy. I didn't have to follow them directly to know where her heart was. "Will you miss her?"

"It's not that I want to leave. You know that, right?"

"Of course," she turned from her daughter and narrowed on me a few inches to the right of her view. "Noah, this is the happiest I've seen her since she left for college. I doubt that happiness can exist one-sidedly." I must have been smiling. "I would find myself surprised if you were making this decision because you wanted to."

"What do you see for me, after I leave here?" I wanted her to elaborate on her "saving the world" comment a little more. She'd never mentioned it before now.

"Truthfully?" I nodded. "I see you going back home to your real family. I see you fixing whatever it is you think you may have been broken within you and growing into a fine young man. I see you now. And, yes, truth be told, I can see you saving the world someday." She returned to her family. "But don't think to ask me how."

"I thought you were all-knowing?" I laughed and Simon shifted on her lap. My eyes veered right until I too saw Amy. "What do you see for her?"

"I see her growing into a fine woman and marrying a fine young man." I turned immediately from Amy and to Myra, my eyes wide and inquisitive. She'd chosen her words deliberately. She always did. "I'm not saying anything more." Right. Now you decide you don't want to voice your opinion.