“You could tell him about the part you just played in getting him released from here. He’ll be thrilled to know he’ll be going home today.” Theo offered a reassuring smile before nodding and adding, “Just be careful of his…um…feelings, okay?” The doctor stammered.
“Of course,” Meg dropped her eyes shamefully to the floor. She knew exactly what he was worried about, but she also knew she needed to get this awkward moment out of the way. Cole had been her dear friend during some of the most traumatic moments of her life. She owed him so much.
The doctor turned and walked away, headed toward the charge nurse’s desk to leave the signed discharge papers.
Meg turned to the door and rapped on it softly.
“Come in,” a raspy voice called from inside.
Meg reached down and turned the knob, steeling herself for what may happen next.
Chapter 24 Moving On
“Hey, you,” Meg spoke softly as she rounded the corner of his room, showing herself to Cole.
His green eyes brightened when he saw her.
“Hey, yourself,” he said, nervously adjusting the blanket draped over his lap. He was wearing a typical blue hospital smock, his thick, dark hair had been shaved and he was sporting some bandages around his face and neck. He tentatively offered a smile wide enough to show the dimple in his right cheek. His full lips looked dry. Meg resisted the urge to offer to put Vaseline on them. She was trying to resist a lot of urges just then.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, feeling stupid.
“Better,” Cole’s eyes darted to the chair beside his bed.
Taking the hint, Meg slowly made her way around to the moderately comfortable hospital chair and sat at the front edge of it.
“You look…” Meg swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “You look like you’ve been through hell,” she blurted, then bit her lower lip as though chastising herself for her candidness.
Cole was staring down at himself and offered only a slight nod in response.
“Listen, the plan worked. We’re getting you discharged today.” She searched his facial expression for a reaction. She was too tired from her efforts to read his emotions.
Cole didn’t move. His eyes were fixed on a spot on his dark-blue sling.
“Did you hear me, Cole? You’re coming home today!” Meg tried to say it more exuberantly, but still didn’t receive the anticipated happy response.
“Aren’t you happy about that?” She prompted.
“You tell me, Meg. You’re the one who can read emotions.” Cole’s voice was flat, so hard to interpret.
“Not now. I’m too exhausted to use my empath skills,” she sighed deeply. Cole looked up to watch her face, trying to discern whether she was telling the truth. For the first time since she walked in the room, he noticed her face seemed to have changed since he last saw her more than a week before. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked pale under that softly olive skin.
“You don’t look too well yourself, Meg.” Cole offered, a hint of compassion eking into his voice.
Meg shrugged. “I’ll be fine. I just need a few good nights’ rest. I’ve been working with the little boy we rescued from the Facility a lot since we found him. I’m starting to have a hard time bouncing back.” Meg averted her eyes. She didn’t want to tell Cole that it was Creed’s love and devotion that was fueling her life force. Were it not for him, Meg would probably be passed out half the time because there was no way she was going to stop working to ease Danny’s traumas.
Cole’s body was injured, but his levels of perception were very much intact. “What did you do to make it so I could leave without them asking a bunch of invasive questions?” he nodded toward the door to his room.
Meg sighed. She really was exhausted. She wasn’t lying.
“I just encouraged your attending physician to sign your discharge papers.”
“You ‘encouraged’ him? What does that mean?”
Meg figured this part of her development she could share without injuring his feelings. “It’s the final step in my evolution. I’m able to influence some people’s minds, but it does take a lot out of me.”
“You can make them do what you want them to do?”
“Well, only if they’re weak-minded or, like your doctor, exhausted with emotional and physical pain they were already trying to cope with.”
“So, if it weren’t for you using your gift, I could have been turned in to a lab rat?”
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Don’t say that,” Cole snapped.
“It’s true.”
An even more awkward silence echoed throughout the room.
“They’ve been sending in a shrink to talk with me over the past few days. He’s a really smart guy.”
“Oh?” Meg looked up, guilty, tired tears stinging her dark eyes.