The doctor was confused. “What?”
“Exactly.” Charlie laughed, then guided Gemma to the rec room, pointing her at the window. “Just hold on a little while longer. The minute he comes by, I’ll bring you to him.”
The dust was blowing today. The wind appeared to be intermittent and from the east, not unlike a day three years ago. And six years before that.Wind is the result of differences in atmospheric pressure. Solar wind. Planetary wind. Cosmic wind. Flatulence. Gone with the Wind. Wind in the Willows. Earth, Wind, and Fire.
Fire. That’s what I feel when he looks at me.
FOCUS!
Gemma fought to stay on the edge of reality, but it was borderline intolerable. Reality beat at her but she beat it back, concentrating on him. How he sounded. How he smelled. How he made her feel like they were the only two organisms in the universe.
It felt like hours. She couldn’t stand there, balancing without falling, for much longer. Charlie was engaged, playing a holo-game with two other inmates. Gemma wandered away from the window and back into the hallway.
They are in therapy. There are four therapy rooms on this floor, one in each ward. James is stationed in red ward. She glanced at the floor and the row of lines running there. Putting every ounce of her concentration on the red one, she started following it. It was painstaking work, blocking out everything but the red line.
It stalled out at the beginning of a hallway. The doorframes were outlined in red, and a few bodies, wearing the requisite color, milled up and down the corridor.Find the therapy room. There, past the nurse’s station, before the supply closet.
The door was closed, the light above the doorway on. Therapy was still in session. All she had to do was wait there and not get consumed by sensory overload.
Easier thought than done.
Gemma resolved to pinch herself and bite her tongue, trying to keep her focus on the moment at hand. What would happen when she saw him again? Would he speak to her, brush the hair back from her forehead, and promise to heal her?
It hadn’t gone quite that way last time. The staff had managed to drag her away from him.That can’t happen this time.
Gemma resolved to get him alone. Without others to interfere, she might be able to get through to him. To get through to herself, in order to get to him.
Altering her plan, Gemma moved to stand against the wall next to the door. If she remained still, made herself flat, then when the door opened, she could crouch behind it. With a little luck, she could find a way to cut him off from the rest of his group.
Using every ounce of her strength, Gemma remained focused, waiting for her chance.
