"Can you walk?" Cadence asked again, changing the subject back to the topic at hand, fully knowing she could carry him if she needed to.
"I think so," Aaron said, leaning back so that she could get up. She helped him and wrapped her arm around his waist, his arm around her shoulders.
"Okay?" she asked as they began their decent.
"I've been better," he admitted.
"Is it just your arm?" He was cradling it against his chest now, as if it was in pain.
"I just feel...weak. And everything's getting a little... blurry," he replied.
She wasn't having to help him too much, so she took that as a good sign. At least his physical strength wasn't failing him yet. "How long ago did you take the injection?"
"About four and a half hours ago. I knew immediately, Cadence. So, I came up here. And waited."
"Waited to die?"
"No, waited for you to get here," he replied. Then added solemnly, "And then to die, I guess."
"How did you know I was on my way?" she asked, trying not to stumble over any loose rock as they made their way down. They were still able to move much faster than humans, despite his condition.
"I just knew. The same way you knew where I was," he replied.
"We tried to send some locals to intercept you, but it didn't work," she explained.
"Those renegades aren't the only ones who can persuade compliance out of our people, you know." She could hear his condition worsening in his tone. He began to sound a little off--not quite himself, the air of confidence replaced by nonchalance and giddiness.
"Is that why no one here was able to help us? Did you pay them off?" she asked, things starting to make sense now.
"Something like that," he admitted.
"But your IAC is off, and you don't have your phone."
"I don’t have that phone."
She just shook her head in disbelief. "You went to a lot of trouble not to be found."
"I didn't want anyone to try to talk me out of it. I was certain that this was what was best--for you. I didn't think I could give you everything you deserve and still be a Guardian," he said very quietly.
She didn't know how to respond, so she said nothing at all, wishing he had felt comfortable enough to discuss it with her. Surely, given the opportunity, she would have been able to change his mind. But now it didn't matter; now, all she could do was fix it.
As they neared the ground, he said, "It is nice to see Ireland again. I haven't been back since 1912, and even then, it was just a passing glance at Cobh from the deck of the Titanic."
She looked at him skeptically, wondering if he was delirious. "You're going to have to save that one for later."
They reached the place where she had parked her bike, and she realized he must have come on foot. It wasn't too horribly much further to the cottage. She wasn't sure if she could steady him on the bike and drive at the same time.
"I can make it," he assured her, starting to let go just to prove it, but she didn't let him.
"Okay," she said, leaving the motorcycle, securing her grip on his waist.
"Did you talk to Cale?" he asked, leaning over and nuzzling her ear.
As much as she would have welcomed the contact under other circumstances, she found it difficult to keep them both upright while he was doing that. "Yes," she replied, pulling away.
He stopped, momentarily, and asked, "Before or after we..."
She looked at him, shocked. "Before!"
"Just wondering," he said innocently.
"You knew that," she muttered. "You know everything."
"My IAC has been off for," math seemed hard," a while. I didn't know for sure."
"As soon as I walked away from you on the roof, I went straight to him to let him know I couldn't see him anymore," she assured him.
"Good," he smiled. "It would have been terrible for the doc to go into your hotel room to pack your stuff for you and find a condom wrapper."
She literally stopped walking for a second to look at him. "Who are you?" she asked slowly. He just smiled at her, and she shook her head again. They were almost to the room. "We didn't even use a condom," she quietly reminded him.
"Oh my God, you're right!" he exclaimed.
"Stop it! You know I've been on birth control for over five years."
"Oh, yes, the great cramping incident of 2010," he waxed. "Lizzie was beside herself, not knowing what to do.... You missed eleven days of school that year."
"We're here," she enlightened him, gesturing at the front door.
"That we are," he agreed. "Welcome to my home. Come on in," he said as she pushed the door open and helped him inside. He was fading fast now.
The cottage was only two rooms and a bathroom. The door opened into a compact living room area with a small stove and sink in the corner next to a fireplace. Cadence glimpsed what might be a bathroom in the back. The other room was a very small bedroom with a full sized bed, a straight-back wooden chair, a narrow dresser, and little else. She pulled him into the bedroom and led him to the bed. "Can you take your shoes off?" she asked as she began to remove his shirt. He complied without answering, and the distraction of his physique had to be shoved out of her mind.
She moved to unbutton his jeans, which brought him back to her for a second. "Cadence, I don't know if we have time for that right now, but I'm willing to find out."
"Shut up," she said, trying not to giggle despite the situation. "You'll be more comfortable during your very long nap if you take these off.”
