Chapter 12
Lois thrashed and screamed. Dana, gassed to placidity, sat in a chair seeing nothing of Lois’ struggles. Clara couldn’t look away from that pained and awful writhing. She whispered, “Help her. Please.”
Marik nodded. He knelt beside Lois and used a syringe to administer the dosage. Dana’s other daughter was nowhere in sight, and Clara hoped she did not return anytime soon either. This was enough of a nightmare.
Lois died in a matter of a second. Clara’s hands dug at her clothing then she pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, grinding them against the bones of her eye sockets. Even that was not enough to keep the tears from falling.
Renall’s arms went around her. She let him hold her. Jeval said, “We have to talk to her now while she is under and may be able to answer.”
Renall’s hands came up and smoothed Clara’s hair away from her face. She sobbed against his chest, not caring that her tough façade had cracked, not caring that she was in the arms of the being who just kept taking her heart and breaking it. She hurt so much in so many ways that all she could do was lean against him and let the tears flow and the sobs come and sound out.
His body rocked hers gently. His arms held her within his embrace, and his scent filled her nostrils. She knew she should back away, let go and keep on letting go of him until she was really done with him. He was the worst thing she could do to herself. He held way too many cards. She couldn’t win his love, and he didn’t want hers. But no matter how true those thoughts were, her hands held on; and he held onto her in return.
Her sobs began to taper off. Marik and Talon carefully and gently lifted Lois’ limp body and left with it. Clara didn’t have to be told she would be taken to the rejuvenator fields to be turned into fertilizer for the planet’s greenbelts. She didn’t need to be told, and she did not want to know either.
Jeval knelt down in front of Dana. He spoke softly. “I need you to speak with me.”
“All right.” Dana’s wide and unseeing eyes stared past Jeval at nothing.
Jeval asked, “What is your name?”
“Dana.”
“How many daughters have you?”
“Two Sanara and Lois. Lois is dead though.”
Clara jumped. A cry broke from her mouth. She had thought that Dana, deeply gassed, would not be able to see that, and knowing she had cut like a blade. Then Dana spoke again.
Dana said, “It was the fever. I asked her father, my husband, to take a debt for us. To get her into a medi-center and medicine. He said he would, but instead he took on a hunger debt.”
“Lois is dead?” Jeval pressed on.
Dana nodded. “The fever took her. But…” Her eyes blinked, slow and steady. “They brought her back.”
Jeval asked, “Who brought her back?”
“The…”Dana frowned again. Her tongue touched her lip. “Her. Jessica. She brought her back. Said she was Lois.”
Jessica? Clara’s eyes widened. Renall caught his breath. But the most startling reaction came from Talon. He paled and sucked in air. Jeval shot all of them a warning look then asked, “Dana, was it Lois she brought back?”
Dana nodded happily. “Yes. Lois is my daughter. She was sick. Now she is not.”
Renall said, to Talon, “Get Jessica in here now.”
Talon said, “Renall, I warn you. Don’t harm her.”
Electric tension hit the air. Clara looked form Talon to Renall. Something was going on, but she was too weary and sickened by the sudden death to try to understand what it was. Renall spoke softly. “I do not intend to harm her. None of us do.”
Talon went. Jeval asked Dana, “You said Jessica?”
Dana nodded. “But not Jessica. She was…” A vague look filled Dana’s face. She didn’t go on.
Renall released Clara. The heat of his body stayed on her skin, and she clung to that phantom warmth. She felt adrift and lost now, alone in a way she could not even explain.
Talon came back. Jessica stopped and gawked at them all. “What is it?”
Jeval placed two fingers below Dana’s nostrils. He said, “The gas is wearing off. She’s breathing more normally.”
