Lion's Gift

Chapter 20

Me, Belle, and Caspian all jumped back into the Jeep, me driving, Belle in the passenger's seat, and Caspian behind me. Without much conversation I drive us to a lunch place in the outskirts of the nearest city, Laura's Diner. The owner, Laura DeVito, is a middle-aged woman who my mother helped out for a few years when money was a little scarce, so now she treats my family like, well, family. We all walk in, a little flustered, and we see Laura has a full house, with mostly families with little children taking up nearly every good table on the first floor. Laura looks up from behind the counter at the sound of the bells and a grin lights up her face when she recognizes me, which is fairly quicker than anyone else today has recognized me.

She makes her way towards us after telling her older daughter to take care of the register and I take a moment to scan the scene. No one we know explicitly sits at the tables, Belle and Caspian stand together behind me, examining the scenery, and multiple people are working in the kitchen, more employees than I have ever seen here in forever.

The restaurant has warm yellow lights and cozy furniture of a descent size. The color scheme is all warm and neutral tones and the air is cooler than outside, smelling like Laura's famous chocolate chip cookies and melting vanilla ice cream.

"Hi, Vee, how have you been?" She asks in Italian as I put forward a hand for her to shake.

"Pretty good," I reply, in Italian, and she grabs my hand, pulling me into a hug instead of a handshake. I saw it coming, obviously, from her body language, but I let her since I know she won't hurt me. I still tense up for a moment, until I let the warmth from her hug register with my body and I relax. She pulls away like she just noticed Belle and Caspian.

"Oh, and you've brought these two angels! How are you, Belle, Caspian? How's Mrs. Luxor?" She talks to them in English, thank goodness, as Belle has only taken a semester of French and Caspian two full semesters of Spanish.

"We're all good," Belle tells her, speaking for everyone.

"Do you have a table available on the top floor today?" I quickly interrupt the conversation in Italian before they can start filling the small silence with idle chatter. Laura gives me a look and I smile back sheepishly before she grins mischievously and waves us upstairs. As we walk up the worn wooden stairs, an overbearing tiredness washes over me, a bone-deep weariness. Just taking a breath feels like using too much energy.

We reach the entryway for the top floor, Caspian in front, Belle behind him, and me in the rear. I hold my breath since breathing takes more work than not breathing. Black spots cover my vision and my head starts pounding.

I feel my legs give way and I lose feeling in all of my body. Due to my strong training, I keep my mind alert for a few moments longer and tug Belle's sleeve before collapsing. I hear her surprised scream before everything goes dark and I fall into a dreamless sleep.

I wake up slowly, confused for a moment. I can hardly open my eyes, so I reach out with my other senses. The air still smells like Laura's cookies, so I guess that I am still in the diner, but I also smell mint mixed with a heady aroma that makes my head heavy. I then finally notice the arm underneath my knees and another under my shoulders, signaling someone is carrying me bridal style. I hear a lot of people talking at once, worsening my headache. I finally open my eyes to see Caspian carrying me and Belle, Laura, and her three daughters leading us to a back room.

I lightly tug on Caspian's shirt sleeve and he looks down at me, worry and concern evident in his eyes and the downturn of his lips. Everyone stops talking and I finally relax, my arms going limp and my eyelids too heavy to open. I feel Caspian set me gently down onto a soft mattress and Laura feel my forehead.