Waiting by Erin Dennington ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 71 Davis' mind was blank. Quite literally, too. He knew that thought was almost an impossibility at its best, but it was a true fact, all the less. He would've gladly let Stella lead the way, but she was not from this area, and had no idea how to get to the scientific research labs. So he led the way, concentrating solely on his steps, trying not to think about what tasks lay ahead of him. The only time his mind was returned to the present was when Stella slipped her hand onto his arm and asked how he was feeling. It was only when he thought about it that he realized he hadn't been feeling any pain the last couple of hours. "I'm ok," he said. "I feel a lot better right now." The absence of her touch was a physical shock to his system, which had felt her hand as a warm and soothing touch. "I guess you're like medicine," he said. "When you touched me earlier, you took away all of the pain I was feeling. That's an amazing gift you have there." She softly laughed. "Would you be surprised to know that I have never been anything but a normal teenager before today?" "Really?" he asked. "Yeah," she said. "I don't know why things are happening to me now or how I am doing these things." "You're handling it pretty well, then." "Yeah, I know. And it's weird, because I never thought I was very good at dealing with change, either," she said. They didn't say anything for half a block more and then he said, "I never thanked you earlier for what you did for me. And I am not just referring to the touch you gave me. You also gave me the courage to tell my wife about the cancer I have. I didn't think I could deal with it if she knew. I didn't want to worry her or scare her. But when I saw you at the accident scene, well, I knew I had to tell her. She means everything to me and I hate how I kept it all from her. She didn't deserve that. She deserves only the best." "You, Davis, are the best she can have," Stella said. "You have a very kind and thoughtful heart and you should be happy that you have each other, even if it's only for a short time." She paused, as if searching for the correct way to say something. Finally she spoke again. "Don't worry about your wife, she understands why you didn't tell her. She isn't upset with you at all. She loves you too much to be upset. All she wants is for you to come home to her tonight and talk to her. She loves you, Davis. Please trust me when I say that she is not upset with you." Startled that she had read his deepest regret, he looked over to his right and found himself staring into her eyes. There were tears in her eyes. It hurt him to see that she was on the verge of crying. And it also made him realize that she was right. A lump formed in his throat at the pain he must have caused Bethany the past few weeks and he resolved that he would make it all up to her as soon as he could. He didn't know how but he knew that, as soon as he saw her, he would do it. And he would never keep anything from her ever again. Davis felt like a great weight had been lifted from his heart and he smiled at Stella, at this pretty teenager who had stepped into his life and helped him live again. "Stella," he said, wonderingly, "you really are a star. You shine and light up the universe. You're our Stella the star!" Blushing a little at the compliment, Stella gave his arm one last squeeze and then dropped back to Bill, who held her hand the rest of the way to the building. Davis' heart warmed to see the attraction and affection that was evident between the two and he hoped that they got to spend a lot more time together. It was obvious that they had fallen for each other. Glancing up at the building numbers, he abruptly stopped and checked the slip of paper in his pocket again. "This is it," he said, and they all looked at the building. Coldly and darkly imposing in its simplistic architecture, it looked like a scene out of a science fiction novel. The sculpture out front was so modernistic that Davis found himself at a loss as to how to describe it. Looking at each other, they gathered their courage and then walked across the snow, following a set of footprints that led to the door and then disappeared. 23:06 - 11.23.02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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