Breathe by Nhys Glover

Author:Nhys Glover [Glover, Nhys]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Belisama Press
Published: 2023-01-27T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

RICO

The following afternoon Rico found himself standing once more amidst the sea of young life, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the woman who might or might not be his Key. The excitement zinging through his veins was heady and electric, and though he’d had another sleepless night and was therefore exhausted, he still felt wired by the very thought of seeing her lovely face again.

Daisy and Mark Sutton saw him waiting and waved at him. Smiling, he waved back. It was an odd feeling to have any kind of contact with children after so long. Sure, he’d seen them from a distance over the last few years, but nothing like this. Nothing like this close contact with overwhelming vitality and life. It infected him, adding to his excitement.

The yellow buses filled with children and lumbered off to complete their task of returning those young lives to their loved ones. The other children, who rode bikes, got lifts with parents or walked home alone or with older siblings, all wandered away. Finally, there was only him and the teacher who had supervised the bus line. That woman looked his way and frowned.

“Are you Meg’s young man?” the middle-aged woman asked him, her tone strident.

Even though he hadn’t been a young man in several centuries, Rico nodded.

“Meg might be a while. She got called up to the headmistress’ office,” the woman said worriedly.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked, picking up on her worry and doubling it in his own mind.

“Probably not. But she asked me to let you know where she was. She said you don’t have to wait.”

Rico shook his head to clear it. “Of course I’ll wait. Can I go inside?”

“Sure. The children have all gone now. I’ll take you to the office, if you like, and you can wait outside on the naughty bench.” There was a note of humor in the woman’s voice this time, and Rico relaxed just a little.

He held out his hand. “I’m Rico Roma.”

The older woman smiled and accepted the hand. “I’m May Robson, the first grade teacher here. Meg is my friend.”

“Oh, yes, Meg has mentioned you. You help her out when her breathing is a problem and Daisy can’t keep the children in line.”

May let out a heavy sigh. “I try to do what I can, but she worries me. Meg is the best teacher I’ve ever seen, but her energy is low. Sometimes she can barely carry a pile of books. She claims her pills are keeping her condition under control, but I think she’s lying to herself.”

Rico nodded. “She wheezes a lot.”

“More and more as the cold weather settles in,” May turned back to the front door of the elementary school. “Come on. She’ll be happy to see a friendly face after she finishes with her interview.”

His sense of disquiet was building. It was clear her condition was far worse than he’d imagined. How had she managed to keep teaching all these months if breathing was so difficult?

May led him down one corridor and then along another.

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