Cadence could feel herself slowly coming back to her body, a strange tingling sensation taking over her extremities. It was nothing at all like the last time she’d been given Transformation serum. That time it had seemed like waking up from a long sleep. This time, she had the feeling her body was reawakening, as if it had rebuilt itself while she was away, and now it was welcoming her home.
She had the idea that she’d been dreaming, though she couldn’t say what those dreams might’ve consisted of. Something about Holland, she thought, maybe about her sister. Perhaps about the moon. None of it would come back to her, try as she might to put the fragmented photographs together, so that by the time her eyelids began to flutter, she may as well not have been dreaming at all.
When Cadence’s eyes came open, she was greeted with near darkness. She realized she had a monitor hooked up to her, and it was beeping steadily. She wondered what had caused Jamie to think that was necessary. A small amount of light flittered into the operating room through the window in the door, but other than that, it was dark. She could still see, though. In fact, she could see even better than she’d been able to before the procedure, the first indication that it had worked. The bed next to her was empty, and for a moment, she thought she might be completely alone.
“Are you back?”
She didn’t have to move her head to realize it was Aaron, and then she also noticed he was holding her hand, which still tingled slightly. Turning her head around almost gave her whiplash; this new speed and strength would take some getting used to.
Even in the dark, she could make out most of the details of her fiancé’s face. He was sitting next to her, and she supposed he had been for however long she was out, which was a surprise to her, because she assumed he’d go back to work. He’d been so distant lately, she wouldn’t have thought he’d do otherwise, but the haggard look about him told her that he’d been sitting there for quite some time.
Which begged another question.
“What time is it?”
“Almost 3:00 in the morning.”
Not the answer she’d been expecting. So she’d been out for about nineteen hours. “I haven’t turned my IAC back on yet.”
“You might not want to for a while. We’ve been busy.”
“Great,” she muttered, assuming that meant she’d have a ton of messages to go through. She should’ve delegated to Aurora, but she didn’t want any of her Area Leaders to know what she was doing.
“How do you feel?” He was standing now, still holding her hand.
“Okay. A little groggy. Definitely… different.”
A nod assured her that he remembered having the same feelings, though in his case, he shouldn’t have ever woken up again. He should’ve died. He did die. “Did I… die?”
“No. Neither one of you did.”
Cadence let out a sigh, glad for it. More evidence it was the Retransformation serum that had caused that, not the Transformation serum she had given him. “How long has Elliott been gone?”
“About twelve hours,” Aaron replied, a small smirk on his lips, something she hadn’t seen for a while.
“Seriously?” She sat up a little bit. It would be Elliott to have it easy while she had to lay here for almost a full day. She shook her head and realized that was a good way to make herself dizzy.
“Yep. He woke up like Sleeping Beauty, stretched, and then sped out of here to go get something to eat. Man, if we thought he ate a lot before….”
She chuckled, so glad to see a little bit of the former Aaron back again, even if it was just for the moment. “Where’s Cass?”
“She had to go home. Curfew and all. Your parents said this wasn’t a hunt, and you were fine. They came by, too, but your mom said she didn’t want to stay. She’d just worry the whole time.”
“I hope she went to sleep, but I doubt she did. Can you text her?”
“Sure.” He pulled out his phone and did as she asked, and Cadence immediately missed having his hand on her.
“Aaron…” she began, not quite sure what she was going to say, but thinking now might be as good a time as any, while he was calm and he seemed more like his former self, to recommend, again, that he talk to someone.
Before she could finish the sentence, the door opened. “Are you awake then?” Jamie asked.
“Something like that.”
“Mind if I flip on the light?”
“Go ahead.” She figured it couldn’t hurt nearly as much as the last time she remembered seeing the Healer, but when the bright overhead beams hit her directly in the eyeballs, she had to squint. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust.
Jamie was already checking the monitors. “Everything looks good.” He took her pulse manually with his fingers, and then nodded again. “A little faster than normal, but that’s to be expected.”
“It is?” She felt normal, but she wasn’t quite sure what that meant.
“Yep. You’re probably a little anxious at the moment, and Aaron’s pulse is always a little higher than it used to be. I think you’re fine to go home.”
“Great.” Cadence looked around for a moment, not sure what she should think. It seemed to her like she’d just came in a few minutes ago, and now it was all over. She sat up—much quicker than she meant to. Jamie produced her shoes from underneath the bed, which she slipped on. “Thanks, Jame. You’re the best.”
He smiled at her, realizing her gratitude was for more than handing over her footwear. “Let me know if you need anything.” He patted her on the shoulder, and Aaron thanked him, too, as Jamie waved and walked away.
Her shoes on, Cadence checked her jeans pockets for no reason and then hopped down onto the floor. She felt mostly the same, just a little faster. It hadn’t taken her too long to get used to her new powers the first time, so she was hopeful it wouldn’t this time either.
“I’ll walk you home,” Aaron said, coming around the bed to meet her. “But then I’m probably going to need to head to the office. There’s something… odd going on.”
“Again?” She shook her head. It shouldn’t surprise her. There was always something odd going on anymore. “Do I even want to know?”
“Once I know more, I’ll fill you in. For now, I’d keep your IAC off for a little while until you’re sure you’re okay. But remember, I can’t force it on, so if you need something….”
“Right.” They were headed toward the door. She didn’t need the reminder; she knew no one could force her IAC on. Despite the fact that she seemed perfectly fine, she couldn’t blame him for worrying. If the roles were reversed she would be worried, too.
The idea reminded her that she was worried and that she’d been about to say something about it before Jamie came in. But now, the moment had passed, and as they walked down the sidewalk next to each other but not really together, Cadence didn’t feel like she could bring it up again. She didn’t need to ask if he’d actually sat beside her the entire time she was out—she knew he had. But now that she was awake, he’d be hurrying to make up for whatever he felt he hadn’t accomplished from the chair beside her bed. She could feel him slipping away again, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Inside the lobby, she stopped and turned to face him, biting back a sigh. “I know you want to get back to work. I’m fine. Why don’t you go ahead and go back to the office?” She tried to keep her voice light, but she could hear the frustration in her own tone and knew he would pick up on it, too.
“Are you sure?” She thought she saw relief in his blue eyes, like he couldn’t wait to run away from her and get back to work. Or maybe it was more like Sisyphus, knowing the rock was waiting for him, and he’d be forced to keep pushing it up the hill whether he wanted to or not.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay.” He nodded and took a step backward. Cadence reached out to him, thinking she should at least kiss him goodbye, but he tensed up the moment her hand made contact with his arm, and she let go.
“See you.” She shook her head and turned, heading for the elevators, and a few moments later, when she looked over her shoulder, he was already gone. She stepped inside, called her floor, and let that word ruminate in her head for a moment. He was gone… but to where? And would she ever find him again?
Her apartment looked exactly the same. She wasn’t sure why she expected anything to be different. She hadn’t even been gone an entire day, but she was different, so somehow, she thought perhaps the world around her would’ve shifted slightly as well.
Once she’d showered and ate something, she laid down on the bed for a few moments, thinking maybe she was still tired, but her eyes stayed open, and since she couldn’t do anything, else, she turned her IAC back on. A flood of messages hit her all at once, all about the same topic, and it took her a moment to realize what had happened. “Holy shit!” Cadence muttered. Maybe the world had shifted after all.
