Nirvana Effect

45



Callista Knowles left the house shortly before dawn, unable to sleep. She’d been living alone in the house for three years. For the first time in all those days and nights, the place felt empty. It gave her a creepy worry and led her mind to dark thoughts that she did not wish to contemplate.

Dr. Knowles did not scare easily, but Cali did not want to see Edward go. It had been too long.

I have him back. She contemplated that. Her doubts ate at the thought, but she refused to release it. She sat on her couch and smiled at the ceiling. I have him back.

She had actually gotten interested in her work, here. She had almost forgotten Edward. She really had. She enjoyed her work. She was actually making an impact. She had developed a couple vaccines that had put quite a dint in local illnesses. She was really happy with that part. And it was nothing like England. Her parents could send her a letter once every couple months and that was about the extent of their influence: the postal service did their bidding if they affixed the correct number of stamps. No one else cared in the least who her parents were or what they did.

Her work, her accomplishments, the entire life she had built in Lisbaad all disappeared into the backdrop the moment she saw Edward in her exam room. Looking back on it, she saw that was why she had reacted so strongly when she first saw him again. She had nothing to meet him with. She had felt naked. She was just a little girl with a crush on a boy for those moments. It was a giddy sorrow that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Focus. She had to focus. She needed to follow Edward’s instructions. And Edward needed to come back in one piece.

She wished those pills would just disappear.

That look in his eyes had told her though that she wouldn’t be able to argue him out of it.

She hoped he wasn’t addicted to them. That would be unlike Edward.

The dark sky just beginning to catch the sun’s reflection. It wasn’t yet morning but it was close enough. Callista grabbed her purse and walked across the street to Doctor James Seacrest’s front door. She gave it three sharp raps. She hadn’t seen the Corvette, but perhaps he’d parked on the street behind. She hoped he was home. She didn’t want to have to wait for Edward any more without company.

Callista heard footsteps inside the house. It sounded as though there might be several people inside, but no one responded to her knocking. She tried again, but still no answer. Curious, she walked along the porch so that she could check out the driveway. As she passed a window, the curtains inside abruptly parted, revealing a face of a nationality she had only seen once in all her time in Lisbaad.

Dark, dark skin, half Indian, half Chinese in feature. He was almost invisible in the shadow, his face only lit by the porch light. His wide, surprised eyes peered out at her. She restrained herself from sprinting back to her house. He regained his composure as well.

She waved, friendly, as though just calling on a friend.

“Not home,” said the Onge in Tamil. Odd, maybe I’m wrong. The Onge only speak Onge…He waved his hand in a side to side motion. Maybe he’s not Onge.

She nodded. “Thank you,” she said, also in Tamil. She turned and walked away down the porch. She had to measure every step, carefully planting one foot after the other to resist the urge to flee. She gave one quick glance back to the house. The dark eyes were still watching her.

She walked around her house to her back yard. As soon as she was out of sight, she leaned against the wall and breathed deeply.

Focus. She had to collect her thoughts. She couldn’t just run. She had to somehow leave Edward a trail.

Callista bolted inside and grabbed a pen. She had to force her hand to stop shaking as she wrote him the note and hid it in her bedroom. She kept checking out the window for the door to Seacrest’s house to open and half a dozen Onge to come after her.

Had they been there the whole time, staking us out? she asked herself. It didn’t seem so. There would have been much more of a reaction to her knocking on the door. Are they on Edward’s side? Probably not.

She didn’t know. Only what she didn’t know could hurt her.

She started running through the jungle behind her house. There was a neighbor, seven houses down, who was always home. Her husband owned the only ship supply company on the island. She stayed with her two children. She would let Dr. Knowles borrow her car.

Callista knocked on the lady’s back door. She quickly answered with a four-year-old on her hip. She looked slightly bewildered to be greeting Callista at her back door, but still friendly. “Hello, Dr. Knowles,” she said. “Can I help you?”

“Hello, Lindsay…Ms. Webb. Maybe you can. I’m sorry I’m knocking on your back door like this. Just…in a hurry, you know. I got a call from the clinic, it’s an emergency, and my car’s on the fritz again. You know, I’m a doctor, not a mechanic. Not in my job description.” Callista forced the joke, forced the chuckle. All she could think about was that dark face in Seacrest’s window. She hoped Seacrest hadn’t come to harm.

Lindsay laughed overmuch. She seemed starved for adult conversation.

“I know what you mean. I’m not a mechanic, either, Dr. Knowles!” she said, laughing again. It wasn’t funny at all but Callista laughed with her. “Whenever my car breaks, I have to nag Mr. Webb ‘til it gets fixed or I get a new one…so I guess you could call me a mechanic.”

“I’m only a body mechanic,” said Callista. She was hoping Lindsay would offer. If not, she would ask. If Lindsay said no, and if Callista’s pulse kept rising, she would probably take it anyway.

Lindsay’s face suddenly took a look of concern. She frowned. “Is it a bad emergency?” she asked.

“Just an average, run-of-the-mill emergency…” Callista looked at the four-year-old. He was playing with his mother’s hair. She could see a staircase behind Lindsay to the second floor of the house. “Just a child, couldn’t be more than five years old, one of the merchant’s kids, had an awful spill down a flight of stairs. They think he broke his neck. They got him to my clinic, but I wasn’t in. I don’t want to have to move him to another clinic and risk disabling him permanently just because I need a new mechanic.”

“Oh, God!” shouted Lindsay. She covered her face. There were tears welling up in her eyes. She looked at her own, impressive staircase. “I just keep telling Donald how we need to get an elevator. It’s just not safe for the kids, and so wearisome for me, doing the laundry, up and down, up and down. Oh, God!”

Jesus Christ, lady. I need this car. At this rate, I may as well have just hunkered down on Seacrest’s porch.

“Yes, would be a terrible shame…” Knowles said.

Lindsay’s eyes darted around. “Listen, promise me you won’t tell Donald, he has no compassion for children, but I could lend you my car. It’s a mess inside. I hope you don’t mind.”

Callista smiled warmly. “I won’t mind. You’re sure it won’t be any trouble?”

“Just don’t tell Donald. He’ll have a cow. He’s out of town on business, but he’ll be back next week. You won’t need it for that long, will you?”

Callista shook her head. “No, just for today. I just need to get to the clinic.”

“Yes, that’s fine. Oh, I’m sorry, I’m such a terrible host. Would you like to come in, have some tea?” She motioned warmly. The kid just stared at Dr. Knowles from her hip.

“No, no, I need to get to the clinic to help the child.” Geez, this woman is off her rocker.

“Oh, right. Let me go get my keys.”

“I’ll get them, mom,” said the little boy. He jumped off her hip and ran down the hall.

Callista checked behind her. She wondered how much time she had. She wanted to grab the keys herself and leap into the car, but she had to restrain herself. She made wise use of the time.

“Have you seen Doctor Seacrest?” she asked.

“No, no,” said Lindsay. “I haven’t seen him in several days. As a matter of fact, I always see his Corvette pull in, he always comes in at three and I’m just waking up from my afternoon nap, but I haven’t even seen him pull by in the next couple days. Is he on vacation?”

“I guess so,” said Callista. “I guess so.”

“He’s got such a fine car, don’t you think? I’ve been trying to get Donald to get one. It’s so fine. Doctor Seacrest is a fine man, too, don’t you think? And single. If I weren’t married to Donald ‘the fish’ Webb--”

“Here you go, mom!” The kid ran up and handed her the keys. Lindsay passed them to Callista. Callista grabbed them. Lindsay kept them gripped in her hand.

“You’ll come by some time, and have tea?” she asked, eyes like lasers into Callista’s skull as though searching out some deep, embedded truth.

“Yes, of course. What are neighbors for?” chuckled Callista. Lindsay let go of the keys. “Thank you. You just saved a child’s life today. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Wonderful. I’ll see what they’re making in the kitchen and have them add a plate!”

Callista had already started walking to the car. It was a black 2007 Lincoln Towncar. It was immaculate except for a couple children’s toys on the seats. Very messy. “Actually, I might be late with this surgery.”

“Oh, we’ll wait. You’re a guest of the house.”

“I wish you wouldn’t. I might be all night with this case.”

“Another time, then.”

Callista got into the car. “Absolutely!” she called out before closing the door and starting the engine. She pulled out of the driveway, waving. When she got to the road, she saw three men sprint from Seacrest’s house across the lawn to her own. Two were dressed casually, one in a business suit, all natives with the same build and skin tone as the man in the window. She pulled away, watching them in the rear view mirror as she left the neighborhood. Two went around back. The man in the suit peered into the front windows. She accelerated. Seacrest’s clinic would be no refuge for her. She had to think and stay safe.