Eyes of a Stranger (Aruvalia Chronicles Book 1) by Megan Cutler

Author:Megan Cutler [Cutler, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen: The Other Side of the Situation

By the time Domerin collected Clara from Bob's office, she had completely changed her opinion of the security troll. She paused in the doorway, grinned and demanded that he let her know how his son's recital turned out. Domerin couldn't help smiling as he watched the interaction. Bob could be a bit of a chatterbox, but few people gave him the opportunity to talk their ears off. Besides, it was nice to see Clara relaxing around others.

Clara didn't ask any questions, she simply loaded the bags Valia gave her into the compartment on his bike and donned her helmet. They only had time for a quick lunch, but Domerin knew where to grab a pair of burgers in a rush. On the way back to his bike, he caught Clara's shoulder before she could put her helmet on.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “I don't want you to panic, but we're going to a hospital.”

Clara tensed. He could tell she was fighting to keep fear off her face, but it was a losing battle. He worried what she might have done if she saw the building looming ahead of them without prior warning of his intentions.

Domerin squeezed her shoulder gently. “I'm not going to leave you there, but we need to look into this Sparis Gelara thing. I'll be with you the whole time and, as soon as we're finished, we'll leave, okay?”

He could tell Clara wanted to protest. Her eyes inched to the right and left, perhaps seeking an escape route. But she didn't move, not even to rock her weight from foot to foot. “Okay,” she said at last, though the word was tight and strained.

Domerin squeezed her shoulder again and stepped back while she mounted his bike. He wanted to offer her greater reassurance, but he didn't know how. It was clear her last hospital experience had left deep marks on her psyche. If there had been another way to deal with this situation, he would gladly have seized it. But he needed answers from a source he could trust, and that meant going where the equipment was.

Queen's Hospital was a large and fairly new complex not far from Queen's Division Headquarters. The trip would have taken all of ten minutes if they hadn't stopped to eat on the way. Domerin was more intimately familiar with the building's interior than he would like to admit, having woken up inside after numerous assignments and scuffles. Members of both the Queen's Division and the Royal Guard were given priority here and often transferred from other locations while they received ongoing treatment or to spend their recovery. That was how it got its name.

Clara tightened her arms around his waist as they pulled into the parking lot, squeezing tighter than the first time the vehicle jerked into motion. As before, Domerin set one hand against her arm, hoping to convey some form of reassurance. He wasn't exactly fond of hospitals either. It took dire circumstances for him to step willingly across the threshold.

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