Page 128 of After 5

“We’re back,” I said. A bead of sweat formed on my upper lip as my heart raced from anxious to full on panic mode.

When Jake didn’t speak right away, Gertie clasped me tighter and I prepared myself for the bad news.

He glanced down at me and grimaced. “Jen, why didn’t you tell me Eli had a key?”

I exhaled, and my mood changed from panic to irritated. Before I could say anything, Gertie stepped in.

“Can’t you see she’s worried sick about Caiyan, and she’s got her leg hurt. You have some nerve scolding her about a key.” Gertie unlatched herself from me and pointed a finger in Jake’s face. “Shame on you!”

The suit stepped forward. Jake shook his head and held up a hand.

“McGregor’s in medical. The doctors tell me he’ll recover, but his injuries are serious. He lost too much blood; he would have died if Ace hadn’t brought Eli to base.”

I released a long, slow breath. “I’m sorry. I promised Eli I wouldn’t drag him into this world, but something told me Caiyan wouldn’t make it if I didn’t.”

“Don’t apologize to him.” Gertie crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

“I love you, Gertie.” Jake broke into a grin. He slung an arm around her shoulders. “C’mon, momma hen, let’s go see the troops while Jen has a short visit with McGregor and pays a visit to the infirmary. Everyone’s been waiting to hear about the Battle of Gettysburg.”

I followed them from the landing zone and detoured left toward the infirmary. The WTF kept medical staff on base. They worked with the prison in the four-story hospital attached to our unit via a secret passage through the basement. I still wore the Sonny Bono suit, but the wig didn’t make the trip home. It seemed like a lifetime since the wedding I attended with Ace.

A matronly nurse with ample curves and short kinky hair led me into Caiyan’s room. Monitors bleeped a steady, pulsating, thank god he’s alive, beep. Bags of fluids and medicines pumped through plastic tubing into his arms, and lines connected him to the monitors and the machines.

The nurse checked the readings on the screens while I moved next to his bed. A bristly stubble roughened his jaw, and those menacing green eyes hid from me behind pale, closed lids. I watched him sleep for a few minutes while the nurse did her thing.

“Still keeping secrets from me, huh?” I reached over and tucked one of his dark curls cast loose across his forehead back into place. His monitor did a blip instead of a beep and I looked anxiously at the nurse.

“It’s OK, just a flutter in the heartbeat, but he’s not out of the woods, yet. He’s sedated so he comes in and out of consciousness.” She smiled at me and placed a gentle hand on my arm. “I’m sorry but you can only stay a few minutes.”

I nodded.

She picked up her electronic notepad, tapped a few times on the screen, and turned to leave. She paused on her way out. “I’ve had him in here many times before, but he sure did some damage this time.”

“He didn’t do the damage, I did,” I whispered as she left the room.

I leaned against the railing on his hospital bed and wondered what kind of father he would be. Would Victory stay with the Mafusos or seek him out? The Caiyan she knew was younger, a rebel. This Caiyan, still the rebel, but owned a company, ran a business, had worked for what Victory referred to as the enemy. Would Caiyan still love her? Did he still love me?

I sat down in the chair next to his bed and pulled the puzzle box from my jacket pocket. It hummed in my hands.

“I know you’re in there.” I tapped the box lightly with my nail. Flipping the box around, its contents shifted. The hand-carved wood reminded me of my uncle Durr’s envious collection of wooden games. His favorite hobby was woodworking, and he had made me a jewelry box out of similar wood for my sixteenth birthday.

Examining the end of the intricately carved piece, it wouldn’t be easy to cut through, and the owner risked damaging the contents. The box had letters that slid around Kryptex style until they formed a word across the center of the box. If the letters were placed in the correct order the box would open. Victory had the box for three years and couldn’t figure it out. Maybe Al would know how to open it.

I slid the letters around. Caiyan told Aint Elma to stop with all the puzzles. If Aint Elma made the puzzle, what would she want Victory to learn? Loyalty. The box stayed shut.

I slid the letters around again. They moved easily in the wooden grooves. I thought about my feisty old aunt and how Gertie had more of her spunk than I did. What was most important to my great aunt?

I moved the letters in place. The box clicked open at the end. A wide smile spread across my face. I tilted the box and slid its glittery contents into my hand. The key was smaller than the key I wore. Raindrops splashed across the surface of the moonstone in the form of blue diamonds.

“You opened the box.”

His scratchy voice made me jump. Caiyan stared at me from his bed, his green eyes soulful and sad.

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“What was the word?”

“Family.”

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