__________________
“Amanda?” It was
Juan, calling from the parlor entrance. “Amanda? Are you all right?”
Amanda did not turn
at the sound of her name, but she involuntarily stiffened. “Define ‘all right,’”
she whispered to the glass.
Juan cleared his
throat. “Are you all right here with Helena? Can I get you anything?”
Amanda picked at the
windowsill where a scrap of paint had chipped away, leaving a crescent of bare
wood. She sniffed out a bitter chuckle. “Why would you want to do anything for
me, Juan?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m the reason you’re all fucked up right
now.”
Juan made a noise
deep in his throat, somewhere between a choked laugh and a grunt. “Maelstrom is
the reason I’m like this. I should have known just how far he’d penetrated us,
before I put all of you in harm’s way.”
Amanda’s eye
widened. “Are you blaming yourself for me being a traitor?” she asked as she leaned
a fist against the cold glass, wondering suddenly how much force it would take
to punch through. “That’s too kind, even for you.”
“I never stopped
being your friend, Amanda,” Juan replied softly.
“Then if you’re my
friend, you’ll do one thing for me. Just one thing, Juan. And I won’t be
refused.”
“If I can,” Juan
replied, surprised. “Tell me.”
Amanda turned on her
heel to face him. “I can only assume you’re leaving soon to help Norris. Tell
me I’m right.”
Juan nodded. “You’re
right. Why?”
“Because I want to
come with you.”
The leader of Verite
regarded her evenly, his face a mask. “Why?” he asked. “You’re under no
obligation to go.”
Amanda studied the
man, aware for the first time this evening how pale he looked. The drugs and
maltreatment inflicted on him by Maelstrom had certainly taken their toll. Any
doctor in her right mind would have told him one thing: go back to bed. Yet he
would not go back to bed, she was sure. Juan had to be at the front of things, always on the cutting edge. Even
if he was cut by that same edge. “Obligation?” she retorted. “None of us is
under any obligation. Especially you in your condition.”
Juan detached
himself from Helena and rubbed his face with his hands. “Fair enough,” he
conceded. “I apologize.”
“I’m the best doctor
you have,” Amanda continued, approaching Juan as she spoke. “Your soldiers are
going to war for you. They are going to get shot up. Also, if you’re not going
to get proper bedrest after what you’ve been through, then you ought to be
monitored. And last but not least, if Daniel ever finds Anna, she’s going to be
having a baby soon. Hell, I’m surprised that her stress hasn’t gotten that baby
out by now.” Her eyes flashed. “Put me to work, Juan. Give me something to do
so I don’t have to think about the past few days. I’m so tired of thinking. I
want to do.”
