Shadows of a Past Life - Part 3 (M15+, angst)
Shadows of a Past Life
Continued in Part Three
Gabby
The lake is still tonight. I can just see ripples hitting the shore beside me from far out in the water where the birds are perched on a big yellow pontoon. It’s getting colder and my leg is starting to complain.
The dull ache in my hip and calf is enough to make me wish I had started heading back to the old cottage and farm where my Grandma will be waiting with hot chocolate, scones and a warm hug, hours ago. But I just had to make it further today.
The nightly ritual of walking further and further around the lake has been a valuable part of my therapy but I know I shouldn’t push myself. I do anyway.
Why?
That’s a hard one. Maybe because I’m trying to punish myself, maybe because the pain makes me think of cornflower blue eyes, bright pink cheeks and long strands of perfect blonde hair. Yeah. I think it might be the second one.
I’m creative when it comes to my own personal, internal torture.
I’m never going to be able to walk without a limp again. My physical therapist has made that clear. If I’d stayed down and waited for someone to get me an ambulance. If I hadn’t have followed Dinah as she regained consciousness and sprinted from the Clocktower. I would be able to walk like any other person.
But this is Dinah we’re talking about. If she decided to walk off the end of the world I’d follow.
So what if I followed her half way across New Gotham with a mildly dislocated knee. So what if I’ll limp. So what if she decided that she wasn’t safe to be around. So what if she actually felt better locked up in a giant concrete block with seven hundred crazies?
This is nuts! I miss the way she smiles. I miss the way she hugged me. I miss the way she kissed me…that one time.
I’m in love with the woman who tried to kill me. Wait till Dr. Weis hears about this. He’ll never let it go.
A sharp vibration in my pocket makes me jump. I grab my cell phone and hit the answer button.
“Yeah?”
::Gabby, didn’t your mother ever teach you to answer the telephone like a lady?::
I laugh jovially and sit down on a rotting tree stump to give my leg a rest before I force it to walk all the way back to the cottage.
“Ms. Gordon! It’s great to hear your voice. How’s Dinah?”
::She’s amazing Gabby. We went in last week and she’s…well its strange really she’s just like before. She seems completely reasonable and calm. They’re letting us bring her home tomorrow.::
“What do you mean strange? Why is it strange?” I worriedly ask as I rub my knee and sigh softly at the buzzing mosquitos around my head.
::I don’t mean to scare you or anything. It’s ok. She’s going to be fine and we’re going to keep her fine. Just her miraculous recovery is a little surprising.::
“But it’s a good thing, right? Her getting better?”
::Oh certainly it is. It’s really wonderful. I shouldn’t have said anything, it doesn’t matter. Do you have any idea when you’re going to be coming back?::
“I promise I’ll be back soon. I just need a few more days to…get my head back together. Then I’m getting the next bus back. No matter what. Come hail, rain, Jehovah’s Witnesses or my parents.”
The throaty laugh over the phone line sends happy chills down my spine.
::Jehovah’s Witnesses? Do you have those there?::
“Well no,” I say shyly.
::Well I for one will be looking forward to seeing you again…ah, Helena just got home I’ll have to get my behind into gear if I want to be at my station when she wants to go on sweeps. I’ll ring you tomorrow night when she’s home.::
“Ok Oracle. Over and out,” I joke quickly.
::Goodnight Gabby.::
The phone line goes dead. I put the phone back in my pocket and suddenly realise I have a goofy grin on my face. Being let in on secrets was always one of my favourite things in elementary school, apparently it hasn’t gone away.
“I’m ready,” I whisper to myself.
I get up and my muscles twitch tiredly. For a second I consider just walking back and getting it out of the way. Nah. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone again.
Seconds later a male voice comes over the line.
“Poppy? Could you do me a favour?”
Dinah
The Clocktower smells like strawberries.
I shake my head. That can’t be right. Doctor Fisher, the psychiatrist, told me I might see things still, I might smell or hear things that weren’t really there. “It’s up to you,” she’d said. I have to know though; does the Clocktower really smell like strawberries? Or has Dinah just digressed even more, next on ‘when telepaths lose control.’
“It smells like…” I start to observe but Helena’s there beside me in seconds with my bag in her hands. “Strawberries,” she says happily and points to an air freshener hanging from each of the Delphi monitors, several from open windows and a few from the doorways.
“Guys,” I say softly, “I thought I was the one here who was supposed to be certifiable.”
Helena grins again and I notice her checking to see where Barbara is. She leans down and whispers in my ear, “Barbara got all excited that you could come home and she tried to bake a cake…seriously we had to have all the windows open last night to get all the smoke out…and there’s still a little smoke damage on the walls in the bathroom.”
I can’t help it, I giggle.
“What’s so funny?” Barbara asks from behind us where she’s wheeling out of the elevator followed close behind by Reese, Gibson and Alfred.
“Helena’s just catching me up a little,” I say with a sly wink in the brunette’s direction. She blinks quickly, her eyes wide.
Before I can think of some fun comment to throw at her, like old times, Alfred is rushing at me and wrapping me in deceptively strong arms. “Miss Dinah it’s absolutely wonderful to have you back and feeling better.”
“Thanks Alfred,” I say as he pulls away from me and stands straight in front of me. “It’s good to be back. Even if this place does smell like a giant strawberry bomb has exploded.” I wink at Barbara, who blushes spectacularly.
“I’ll be in the kitchen if anyone needs anything,” Alfred says as he turns away. I notice that he looks at me one more time before disappearing into the kitchen and starts to pull out pots to make lunch.
“So,” I say as I clap my hands together and address the others standing in front of me. Gibson smiles shyly and takes a tentative step forward. “Can I hug you?” he asks.
He sounds scared and I want to know why.
“Of course Gibson, why would you think you couldn’t?” I laugh lightly, trying to put him at ease.
He steps forward again and wraps his arms around me lightly and quickly I can hear him almost sigh with relief as he steps back.
“Honestly!” I huff as I drop into a seat, “you’re all acting as though I might jump up at any second and attack you!”
Oh.
Apparently that wasn’t the right thing to say.
Helena
“Could they have been any more obvious,” I say to Barbara as she gets ready for bed. “Why didn’t they all just go to the other side of the Clocktower and shout to her to put her hands on the table and not to move!”
I drop into our bed and sprawl my arms across it. “We’re trying to make her homecoming as fun and carefree as possible and Jesse and Gibson are practically holding guns to her head waiting for her to start screaming or something.”
“Well Hel,” Barbara’s reasonable tone comes through the door, “she did…you know.”
“I know but…”
“We’re just going to have to be patient with her…with all of them. Now get your pants off I want to check your leg.”
“Ah! I’ve been waiting to hear you say that all night,” I grin and waggle my eyebrows as she rolls her eyes at me and slides onto the bed.
“Pants!” she commands. I salute and rip them off my legs.
She crawls down the bed and takes my ankle in her hands. Her fingers run along the scar wrapping around my pale skin and she stretches my entire leg out. I wince at the stiffness of my toes and the ankle joint.
“Is it feeling better?”
I nod and wince again as she pulls on the joint then massages it softly.
“You won’t have to wear the brace anymore. It’s almost completely healed,” she tells me softly then leans down and kisses my toes.
“More physical therapy?” I ask stupidly, already knowing the answer.
“Few more months Hel, it was a big injury. Even your meta abilities couldn’t heal from something like this super fast.”
“Super fast?” I ask with a giant grin.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just think it’s cute when you get all geeky on me. Super fast. That’s so rad.”
“Hey! I don’t say rad!”
“Sure you do,” I tease as she pulls her body over me. “But it’s cute…really.”
“I thought you said I was sexy?”
“Yeah, yeah, that to,” I assure her as I grab the back of her head and pull her lips towards mine.
Barbara
I leave Helena asleep, sprawled gracefully across the bed, taking up most of the room. She looks so beautiful and peaceful when she sleeps.
I smile to myself as I head towards the Delphi and log it out of standby. A little mindless organization would help me sleep.
“Nothing’s changed that much I see,” came the soft chuckle from behind me. I spin around.
“Dinah you scared the jeepers out of me. I’ve got to get use to you being around here again!” I say as my hand rests over my fast beating heart.
“Sorry.” She walks across the room and settles herself on the table next to me and swings her legs. “Is there something you wanted to talk about Dinah?” I end up asking as I pull up the summary of a search through one of many databases.
“Nah, not really. I was just trying to sleep but I couldn’t then I heard you out here and I thought ‘hey, if I’m gonna be up I might as well be up in good company’.”
I smile.
“I was just thinking about school and stuff. I’ve missed the first three months of senior year. How am I going to catch up?”
I type as I talk, “its ok. I’m going to help you catch up while you’re getting well enough to go to school. Then if we work through the holidays and maybe you go to summer school…things should be alright before it’s time for college.”
Dinah nods and smiles at me. “Good. I can’t wait to see Gabby.”
“Ah,” I say softly and turn from the computers; I have no idea how I’m going to explain this one without giving any details. “Gabby isn’t in New Gotham at the moment. Her parents took her to her grandparents’ house a few months ago…” I see the abject fear on the young girls face and I quickly add, “I’ve been assured that she’ll be back and she can’t wait to see you well again.”
“She knows?”
I look up into cornflower blue eyes, “We didn’t…I mean after…uh, that is…” I can’t see a way around this one. “Dinah,” I whisper, “In a way Gabby was…involved.”
“I don’t rem…”
“I know Sweetheart but you will and when you do we’ll be here for you.”
“I’m scared Barbara.”
“I know sweetie.” I drop my glasses to the keyboard and lean upwards so that I can wrap the blonde in a hug. She’s so skinny I can feel her bones even through the layers of jumper.
“I know.”
TBC