“How’re you doing over there?” Devlin calls out.
“A okay!” I give him a thumbs-up to prove it. “Just fine.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He monitors the systems of the womb on a holographic screen he’s got pulled up in front of him. I can see all sorts of numbers running on it.
He drags his gaze from the screen back to me. “Can you tell me what you’re feeling?”
“Connected. I feel like I’m part of the womb. If there was a baby inside of it, I would know, I’m sure.”
He tears his gaze from me to where Hands is playing Igor to his Dr. Frankenstein. “Okay, Hands, are you ready to see if it’s stable?”
“What? It’s not?” I ask.
“We’ve been holding it together with magic. I’m about to release my own hold on it and see if the womb will remain intact. If it passes that test, then I’ll pull the tentacle away and see if it still holds contact with you. If it does, then we’ve achieved success.”
I exhale a breath. My nerves are ratcheted up, because this is it. If the project fails again, I don’t think Devlin will continue tinkering with it. He’ll give it up, and it will feel like he’s given upon a dream. My heart will break for him, because there’s nothing worse than giving up something you love.
He catches me staring at him, which I didn’t even realize that I was doing, and my gaze darts away faster than a cheetah on steroids.
“We’re about to sever the tie,” he tells me.
“Ready over here.”
“And…done!”
There’s a brief moment where my connection to the womb wobbles like Jell-O, but after a moment of indecision, the connection strengthens.
“How’re you doing over there?”
“Great! I still feel everything.”
“That’s good. Let’s give it a moment to stabilize…Hands! How’re things looking for you?” Hands gives two thumbs-up. He’s carefully watching the womb for any signs of instability. “Are we ready to move on to the last phase?”
“I am,” I tell him, tapping my fingers impatiently on the cushioned medical bed. Am I impatient or nervous? Nervous. I want this to work out for Devlin so badly. I want this for him in a way that I never thought that I would, and just being part of it has filled me with a feeling that I haven’t experienced in forever—a freeing sort of joy.
Don’t get me wrong—I love my job. I really do. It’s been wonderful to help customers find the book that they adore and jump into the story. But for the past few months it’s been sure drudgery. No one wants my help. I haven’t been needed or wanted.
But now, here with Devlin, I’ve gotten to experience both. He’s both needed and wanted my help in a way that I didn’t think was possible.
And Devlin, for one, hasn’t judged me in all the time that we’ve been together. We don’t even talk about my power. It’s likeit doesn’t exist. Every other guy I’ve dated, it’s felt like I’ve been like walking on eggshells.When do I tell him what I can do? How do I explain it without it seeming like I’ve conned him into liking me?
But with Devlin things are just…effortless.
“Okay, I’m about to sever your connection,” he announces, dragging me from my reverie back to the present.
“I’m here for it!”
He smiles over the holographic screen. “So am I.”
My heart flutters. It more than flutters. It does a little hokeypokey and it turns itself around. That’s what it’s all about!
“And cutting,” he says, lifting a hand.
The tether falls away, and for a second my heart races as the connection breaks. It feels like I’ve been cut off from the source of life itself and I’m falling into a bottomless pit.
