Storm

Chapter Sixty

The next morning I found out that Asten and Ava had been sentenced to death.

Even though I knew for a fact that neither Asten nor Ava had been in the room.

It left me conflicted because I didn't know if I believed it. I hadn't seen Asten. It legitimately hadn't been him. How could they kill someone who wasn't who they said it was?

Still, I was wary about letting anyone die, especially an innocent person who was taking Asten's place. And I felt guilty for even being relieved that Asten hadn't been in that courtroom.

But if he wasn't in the courtroom...where was he?

Was he already gone?

And how was I going to save anyone when I couldn't even leave Noah's apartment safely?

I was totally and utterly trapped. I'd dug myself into a hole and the nearest ledge was far too high for me to reach. I was stuck in the Equator, my friends were probably dead, and I couldn't even walk.

Last night hadn't been fun. I'd driven myself into an endless thought cycle, just realizing more and more how much I'd screwed up. How screwed I was. I cried. For a while.

In a weird way, it'd left me feeling a little less burdened in the morning. My eyes itched, and my leg hurt, per usual, but I felt like a bit of weight had lifted off my chest.

I spent the day watching recorded TV shows on Noah's television. For the most part, I was alone in Noah's apartment. Noah apparently had work, as did Emma. Chance was the only one who I really saw. He was also working - he'd managed to get a couple days working on the inside of the Equator rather than at the wall. This gave him a bit more freedom to roam around and make sure I wasn't doing anything reckless while Noah was away.

I didn't say much to Chance. I still felt like he was a bit angry with me, especially after he learned that I'd attacked the wall. I could understand that anger. We were technically enemies. And I doubted that attack had been without casualties. I wondered why he didn't immediately turn me in.

I guess love was a funny thing.

Noah got back from work just as the sky was starting to darken. "Hey, get ready," he said as he walked past me towards the kitchen. He shoved a bag of groceries onto the table and begin unloading them into his fridge and cabinets as I stared on in confusion.

"Um...ready for what?" I asked.

He finished putting things away, and I moved my leg off the couch, about to stand.

He finally turned to face me. "You and me need to have a talk. We're going to get a drink."

With that, he threw a second bag I hadn't seen him carrying at me. I barely caught it. Inside was a sparkly black dress.

Ten minutes later, I was at Noah's side, wearing the dress he'd given me, walking, or more like hobbling, down the cobbled street towards a bar.

The dress was barely long enough to conceal the bandages over my thigh. It was Emma's and was a bit small on me. It also showed a little more of my arms and chest than I usually would have.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd worn something like this.

I still had a mask on, but one that didn't cover so much of my face. Noah had thought that it'd seem too suspicious. I wouldn't have changed at all if it wouldn't have looked really weird for me to walk into a bar wearing what I had been.

Changing in itself had been a bit of a task, but I'd managed. Thankfully, I hadn't needed Noah's help.

The bar was pretty full, making it a lot easier to blend in. Noah led me to one of the bar stools and we sat beside each other as a live band played on the opposite end of the room.

Noah ordered two drinks as I shimmied onto the bar stool, leaning my crutches up against the bar. I really hoped doing so wouldn't be an inconvenience.

"So...," Noah began.

I leaned my elbows on the bar counter, feeling a little self-conscious in the dress I was wearing. "So."

"There's a lot going on," he commented. He wasn't wrong.

"Yeah...," I agreed, waiting for him to continue. He'd brought me out here for a reason.

The bartender came over with our drinks. I took a small sip of mine and winced. It was a lot stronger than I'd expected.

"And we have a couple problems." He took a large sip of his drink, which was identical to mine. He didn't seem to mind it at all. "For one, your leg is going to be an issue."

I'd already considered that. "I know. I can't go out anywhere where there will be guards or anything."

"Yeah, and even being outside is a risk." Even being in this bar was a risk. I just hoped we'd be fine since we were so close to Noah's apartment.

"I mean...I guess I could stay inside or...," I muttered. I didn't really know how great of a plan that would be. What was I supposed to do, stay inside forever?

Noah just nodded. "Unfortunately, it's not a good idea for you to be walking around in public until that's fixed. I don't even think we can take small risks like what we did yesterday. And that leads to our second problem..."

I took another sip of the drink. I had a feeling whatever he'd say I wouldn't like.

"You don't have...," he stated, and then tapped his neck to show what he was talking about. Probably wouldn't be the best idea to go around shouting that I wasn't really a citizen.

I frowned at him. "Okay...I know that."

I had a bad feeling about where he was going with this.

"And...I really think you need to get one," he finished.

I stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "Excuse me?"

"You need to get an implant."

"No."

He hadn't been expecting that answer. "Okay, what the hell. Why not?" He leaned on the bar, facing me. His curly brown hair was messy and bounced around his face.

"Do I need a reason? I can't," I replied. I guess it sounded a little suspicious. But I couldn't do that. I would never do that. I would never let anyone do such a thing to me.

"You realize you can't survive here if you don't get one. And if you got one, you could just switch bodies. You could leave your old one and move on," he said, finishing off his drink. He waited for the bartender to come over and got a second.

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay. But I could also just stay in your apartment and wait until my leg is healed, right? Then, I'll be able to walk around. And I'll just be careful. I mean, how often do they tell people to get down so they can make sure they have an implant?" I was genuinely curious, as I wasn't sure what Equator protocol looked like. Maybe they really did do constant checks.

I waited for Noah to respond, but he just took another sip of his drink. Finally, he turned back to me. He looked...a bit like he pitied me.

What didn't I know?

"What is it?" I asked. I couldn't stand him sitting there and holding things back from me any longer.

He ran his fingers through his hair and made a face. It took him another second before he started speaking, refusing to meet my gaze. "I don't know if that'll actually happen."

"You don't know if what will happen." I felt fear climb up my throat.

"I don't know if...if you'll actually heal," he said, looking down.

His words froze me to my seat. I hadn't considered that possibility.

"I'm sorry to bring this up now...but your wound is pretty bad. Over exerting it like you did made it worse. But it was already pretty bad to begin with. It's just...I've seen people who've had similar injuries...and they never really recovered. I mean, they did. It stopped bleeding and all but..." He stumbled through his explanation as if trying to make it easier for me to understand.

"But you're saying you think I'll have a limp. That I still won't be able to walk," I clarified.

"Yes...I can check it out later tonight, but...," Noah replied. "But I fear the only way you'll ever be able to walk normally again, is if you switch bodies. I'm sorry."