Page 70 of Never Leave Me
“This is where I want to be. With my husband. And now my babe.” She peered down at Ellie swaddled and sated.
Dad dropped his gaze to the baby, and his eyes widened. “God in heaven. What have I done?”
“I wanted to stay. With Will, my husband. Because I love him.”
Dad shook his head in disbelief or despair or perhaps both. Then he turned to Ellen. “And you? Are you dead in the present too? How long have you been here? Do you have a husband and child too?”
Ellen smiled. “No. I’ve only been here for a few days. And as far as I know, my body is still comatose in the present.”
He didn’t return the smile but instead grabbed on to the bedside chair and sank into it as though he couldn’t bear his weight a moment longer. He looked from Ellen to Marian and back. “I never intended to drag you two into the past. Never.”
“It’s all right, Dad.” Ellen reached for his hand, marveling that she was doing so, especially since she’d been the one to close his coffin. Of course, Harrison had been there for her, helping her with each step of the funeral preparations, and holding her up through her grief.
“I’m being held captive by Dr. Lionel,” she blurted. “And he’s threatened to harm many people, including Harrison, if I don’t deliver a supply of holy water to him.”
Her dad’s mouth dropped open, and his hand tightened around hers. So much had happened. How could she expect him to understand unless she started at the beginning?
“It’s a long story.” She sat on the bed and tugged Marian down beside her. “Let’s start at the beginning.”
Although Ellen hadn’t wanted to divulge the news to their dad about his death, there was no other way to explain what had ledMarian into the past. They had to be honest with him about everything, even if the news wasn’t pleasant.
By the time they’d each explained the sequence of events that had led first Marian and then Ellen to the past, Dad was wiping tears from his eyes. Was he disturbed to know he’d died in the present and could possibly still die in the past? At least now that he was aware of the danger, he could be more careful, and they could all work together to keep him safe.
He sat forward in the chair and held his head in his hands. “I’ve made such a mess of things, haven’t I?”
“Things might be a mess, but this isn’t your fault.” Marian reclined against her pillows again. “We all made our own choices, and now we have to live with the consequences.”
“I agree.” Ellen rubbed his arm.
Her dad sighed loudly. “What good did the cure do you, now that you’re Dr. Lionel’s prisoner? He’ll have no regard for your life or the damaging experiments he’s performing on your body.”
“During my overlap with Harrison last night, he said he was close to rescuing me from the lab where Dr. Lionel is keeping me.”
“I pray the rescue attempt is successful, although against Dr. Lionel, it won’t be easy,” Dad said. “Lionel and Mercer have been in competition for decades. From what I’ve heard, his family has always been corrupt, even having ties with the Nazis as far back as World War II. They’re as brutal and unethical now as they were then.”
Ellen wasn’t surprised by the news. But it certainly made Dr. Lionel’s threats more dangerous.
“From the very first time Dr. Lionel realized I had started searching for the ultimate cure years ago, he’s been racing against me to find it. But only because he cares about himself and the profit he stands to gain. He has black market ties with radical terroristgroups and will auction the holy water to the highest bidders, likely making billions in the process.”
If that was true, then all the more reason not to give Dr. Lionel the holy water. “He told me he was planning to continue studying the water to attempt to replicate it.”
“Oh, he’ll do that too,” Dad said. “He won’t ever give up trying to create it for himself.”
Marian nodded gravely. “After the efforts you undertook to hide your research, I realized you didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands. Even so, I didn’t know the extent of the danger.”
“The danger is immense.” Her dad combed his fingers through his hair, making it stick up on end. “In fact, I considered abandoning the search for the ultimate cure altogether. But every time I looked at your mother’s picture, I knew I couldn’t stop. Not when so many people—like Ellen—needed help.”
Marian brushed a hand over her baby’s head, earning a soft, sweet baby noise in response. “Then you believe the benefit is greater than the risk?”
“I was holding out hope that was so. My plan was to locate the source of the water, the original wellspring on St. Sepulchre, so that Mercer could drill for it. At the very least, I hoped to provide Marian and Harrison with a steady supply for as long as I could, a supply we could eventually add to the current trial medicine for VHL.”
“So you’d planned to use it only in the drug for VHL?” Marian asked, her brow rising with surprise.
“We would never have enough holy water for every illness of every kind. And if very ill people started experiencing miraculous healings, that would draw too much notice, as well as unwanted attention from the worst kinds of criminals who would stop at nothing to steal whatever supply we have, just like Lionel is doing now.”
Was that also happening with Ickham and the wellspring? Causing coveting and conflict? What would happen if Josie and the other Serenity House children were miraculously healed? Ellen could only imagine the terrible fighting—possibly even wars—people would wage to gain control over the holy water.
Her dad’s plan to pair the holy water with a specific drug would still create a sensation, but perhaps doing so would be more plausible and lead to less strife.
