Deviate by Tracy Clark

Author:Tracy Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2014-11-21T05:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Five

Cora

My mother and her attendant stopped in front of a door just as Mari and the lady leading her stopped in front of another. “It looks like you’re right next door to Mari,” I said reassuringly, despite my own misgivings about being separated. I kissed my mom on the cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She nodded and the door closed between us.

I was led around another corner and mentally mapped that we had gone two right angles turning left both times, like a square. My heart fluttered with every step away from the others. Being alone felt strange now. Trust in Giovanni’s judgment was the only thing that kept me from resisting the arrangement.

Serenity was a concept I thought I knew until I walked into that room. Candles glowed in wall sconces, casting yellow circles onto the walls. A delicate pink bonsai tree stood on a pedestal that looked to be part of a tree trunk. I traced a finger over the spirals of age lines in the wood. Low to the ground and covered in downy white blankets was a platform bed. The woman slid a rice-paper door aside. “Your toilet,” she announced, but it was more than that. It was heaven. A circular soaking tub sat in the corner, surrounded by small lanterns. Someone had already filled it with water. Jasmine steam rose lazily into the air.

The woman bowed at the doorway. When closed, the door beeped and a red light flashed on the pad. I heard a metallic click of the lock. I instantly reached for the handle and yanked the door open. I exhaled.

The woman turned to see why I’d emerged. “Need something, miss?”

“I—I wanted to say thank you,” I said and shut the door again.

A white silk robe hung on a wooden peg next to the soaking tub. My beaded dress fell to the floor. I stepped up the teak steps and stared into the still water, round like a pupil, reflecting my face back at me. Sliding slowly into the soothing water, I let it ease the tension from my legs, my shoulders, neck, and jaw—which I hadn’t even realized had been clenched.

Relaxation was a gift, and I silently thanked Dr. M for it. His intensity and passion for his work reminded me of my father. Longing fisted my insides. I had to add Dad to the list of people I was doing this for. One of the last things he said to me before he was killed was that he believed I was the key to the energetic imbalance in the world. Crazy. But if he believed it, and his idea showed promise with blood tests, then maybe I should try to believe it, too.

What a responsibility belief was.

Reluctantly, I got out of the tub when the water had grown too cool and wrapped myself in the robe. I padded with wet feet on the smooth wooden floor toward the bed. Blackberries filled a white bowl on the side table. I ate the entire bowlful and fell onto the bed with the memory of a warm summer day on my tongue.

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