Page 31 of Salvation
Chapter Ten
Fuck.Nick pushed through the front door before it had opened completely and stomped through the common area toward the lab. Just when it seemed impossible for things to get any worse, they had.
He opened the lab door and slammed it behind him with enough force to shake the wall. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
Sakura startled on her lab stool, emitting a small squeak. “Nick!” She pressed her hands on the counter in front of her, stabilizing the wavering images disturbed by his violent entry. “What happened?”
“Storo is ill.” Nick rounded the lab table and pulled the Hello Kitty duffle from its cabinet and placed it on a stool. “One moment we were walking and talking, the next—bam.” He mimicked a firework explosion with one hand. “On the ground, writhing. Fuck.” Some things were worth repeating. He unzipped the bag and rummaged through its contents. Not that it was necessary to make sure everything was there; he and Sakura were sticklers about restocking it every time they came home. The action did give him the illusion of being in control of something.
Sakura shuffled through images on his data device until Storo’s medical record appeared. “He receivedatolcethe day before we arrived. Was he doing anything that might have trigged it?”
“I doubt walking and talking would be a trigger.”
“Maybe, or maybe not.” She tapped the keyboard image. “What time did he become ill?”
“How the hell should I know?”
“You were there,” she pointed out.
He froze mid-rummage, set his jaw and gave her a fierce frown. “I didn’t want this. I never asked for it.”
“Asked for what?” Genuine confusion clouded her eyes.
“The damn healingGift.” It was a disgusting word, and worthy of being venomously spat when speaking. He turned away from the bag to pace the room.
“Nick, you understand there is a reason we have the ability to heal, yes?”
How could she be so calm when everything was falling apart around them? He gave her a narrow-eyed glare. “If I didn’t have it, Sakura, my sister and her husband would bedead. I know there’s a reason for everything, and I wouldn’t exchange either of them for being normal again, but Ineverwanted it. I still don’t, particularly at this moment. What’s the point when we’ve already lost six Anferthians since we arrived, and we have at least one new case every other day? Wecan’tsave them.” Ninety-nine lives lost already. Would number one hundred be Storo?
For a long moment they stared at each other, then she softly said, “Kokoro heiwa no moto.”
“What, is that some kind of Japanese voodoo spell?”
Her mouth twitched as if she was trying to come up with some sort of zinger to throw back at him, then she sighed. “Nick, I ask for your trust. There is something very important you need to see, and I can show you. But only if you allow me.”
Therewassomething he’d like for her to show him…. Shit. Where’d that inappropriate thought come from? Never in a million years would that happen. She rarely even allowed him to touch her. In fact, she didn’t seem to let any man touch her. What had happened to bring on that phobia?
Sakura walked around the lab table, her hand extended palm upward in invitation. What was this? She was actually initiating contact? He raised one eyebrow at her.
“Take my hand, Nick. You need to see this.”
Something like excitement—or was it joy? Hope?—bloomed to life in his chest. Take her hand. The one thing he’d never expected her to say to him, and the one thing he’d apparently wanted to hear. Very slowly, he reached out until his palm brushed hers and her fingers curled around his hand. A gentle tug from her urged him to follow her. She led him out of the lab and across the common room to the couch.
“Sit.” She patted the cushion next to her. “Right here.”
To say his curiosity was piqued would be an understatement. He lowered himself until he perched on the edge of the couch.
“Now, put your head in my lap.”
“Excuse me?” This adorable stranger looked an awful lot like Sakura Yamata, but was saying things to him she’d never say. “Are you serious?”
“Serious, yes. Thrilled, no. Do not read too much into this.”
He swallowed back a laugh. It’d probably be inappropriate to ask “face first?” She’d slug him for sure, then leave him sitting on this couch without showing him whatever it was she thought was so all-fired important.
“All right.” Nick moved slowly as he stretched his body the full-length of the couch, in case she changed her mind.
Once his head rested on her lap, he met her gaze. Her eyes were such a deep brown they appeared almost black. Studying her face, he saw things he’d never noticed before. The arc of her eyebrows, the sweep of her lashes, the heart-shaped bow of her pink lips. If this turned out to be a dream, he wanted to explore it, explore her.
