Waking up after a tragedy was always very difficult for Cadence. That space between slumber and consciousness where one is just aware enough to know that something is wrong was the most unsettling sensation, and in the past, she had often avoided it by simply refusing to sleep under such circumstances. When she awoke, her emotions were juxtaposed between devastation and elation. She was immediately aware that Elliott was gone; however, the memories of the night she had spent with Aaron barred the grief just enough to let a light of hope and tranquility calm her spirit. They would find a way to move on from this together.
Except, when she rolled over, she realized he wasn't there. She wasn't completely surprised. He had a habit of leaving her when she was asleep, since he didn't require such restoration himself. Still, she couldn't help but wonder where he was. Making her way to the shower, she attempted to contact him through the IAC. He had never turned his back on, and he wasn't responding to her requests.
As she went about her routine, she checked in with her other teammates. No one had heard from him, but there was no reason to be alarmed. They were confident he would show up sooner rather than later. Cadence planned to meet Christian and Hannah in Meagan's room in a half an hour so they could decide what they needed to do next. It was 10:30. Surely, by 11:00, they would have some idea where their Leader was.
When Cadence arrived at the hospital, the staff seemed much different than they had before. Everyone was polite, but no one went out of their way to make her feel welcome. She realized pretty quickly that word had traveled regarding the breaking of the good doctor's heart. It was upsetting; Cadence didn't like to disappoint people, but she did what she needed to do.
"At least Eliza got the reception area put back together," Cadence mentally noted as she walked by the scene of last night's tantrum.
Meagan was still visibly upset, but physically, she looked like she was doing much better. Christian had his arm in a sling and said that it was healing as well. "All right, we need to figure out what we can get done today," Cadence said, sitting at the foot of Meagan's bed, Christian and Hannah in nearby chairs.
"Jamie will be here for at least a couple of more days," Hannah explained.
"And Dr. Ryan said I'd need to stay another night as well," Meagan stated, sadly.
"It's kind of ironic that the guy who could heal you is the one who's out," Christian said, a poor attempt at humor.
"I thought Cale was a Healer, too?" Cadence questioned, ignoring Christian's comment.
"He is," Hannah confirmed, "but not nearly as powerful as Jamie. He's the reason these two are doing as well as they are. But he's no miracle worker."
Cadence nodded. "Okay, well, since we have no idea where Aaron is, I think we should probably stay put for now. I would love to get Laura moved back to headquarters, just in case she decides to try something stupid, but I'm not going to authorize..."
As she was completing the sentence, Eliza pushed open the door, angrily. "What the hell is Aaron doing?" she asked, her blackened eye swollen almost completely shut. Other than that, she was dressed just as sharply as ever, with full makeup and heels.
Cadence glanced at her teammates before answering. "That's a good question," she admitted. "We're not really sure where he's at right now."
"No, of course you're not, since he has the transponder and his IAC turned off. He didn't bother to file a flight plan. That jackass thinks he can just take my equipment and do whatever the hell he wants to. I'm so sick of his shit..."
"Did you say transponder?" Cadence asked, an overwhelming feeling of uneasiness growing in her stomach. "What do you mean?"
"The jerk stole my airplane!" Eliza shrieked, as if were common knowledge.
"What? No, that's not possible. Aaron doesn't know how to fly a plane," Christian corrected her, shaking his head.
"I guess he does," Eliza insisted. "Or else he's crashed my airplane. All I know is that he showed up in the hanger where I left it last night and took it--told my pilot to get lost."
"He does know how to fly," Hannah corrected, peering at Christian who looked shocked.
"When?" Cadence asked, jumping down from the bed where she'd been sitting next to Meagan.
"Hell if I know," Eliza admitted. "I just had a message from my pilot on my phone this morning that they weren't going to be able to depart at our scheduled time because the Mooney was appropriated for other business. This is bullshit!"
"We need to find out where he was going and when he left. There's got to be some way to track that plane," Hannah said in as calm a voice as she could muster. They were all very certain now that something wasn't right. Otherwise, he wouldn't just ditch them with no explanation.
"No, we don't. We need to find out why he would fly back to headquarters this morning, visit your lab, Christian, and take off in the Citation," Cadence replied, looking at Christian expectantly.
His eyes grew wide. "How do you know all of that?"
"I've got friends in the right places. Was there anything you were working on that would cause him to leave in such a rush, so secretively?"
Before Christian could answer, Eliza said, "So my plane is in Kansas City?"
Cadence shot her a look that warned her to shut up before she took out her other eye, and continued to stare at Christian. After a long pause, he said, "Uhm, I have no idea."
Cadence continued to look at him skeptically. "Are you sure? Nothing important?"
"No," Christian shook his head. "Not really. I mean, I was working on replicating the titanium bullets, but he knew I wasn't close on that yet."
