Broken (32 page)

"She had seen you like this before?" I asked
surprised.

"I have never tried to hide it from her. She
needs to know what she is and what she might become one day."

I nodded. "Of course."

"I waited till she and William had both fallen
asleep before I left. Sarah put them in William's room."

"What a night she had," I said laughing.
"Two were-jaguars on one day.

"
Luyu
told me
everything,"
Aiyana
said. "About how she
had been locked up for days and how scared she had been. Then you showed up.
With black fur and shining blue eyes like beads, she said. And she knew that
you had come to save her. She thought I had sent you."

"Which you did," I said smiling.

"I guess I did."

Aiyana
reached over and touched my hand in the moist grass. Her skin almost shone in
the sunlight. Her eyes were still glowing. Our fingers touched gently. Then she
snuggled closer to me and leaned over and kissed me, a gentle kiss, timid yet
persistent. I kissed her back stronger, more persuasive. I grabbed her face
between my hands almost clutching it while I felt her hands on my body,
searching, and examining me. I gasped, aroused while my lips sought her ear,
neck, shoulders and finally her breasts. She moaned under my touch. Her chest
moved while she panted, gasped.

"Please," she gasped.

"I want you," I said. "I want you so
badly. All of you. I want to be with you and never leave you. I want to be
inside of you. I want to become one with you again."

I got on top of her while our desperate insistent
touches continued. When I entered her my life finally felt complete again.

We
slept in each other's
arms until Sarah woke us up with her
strident voice.

"Will you two get inside before any of the
neighbors see you!" she said, covering her eyes with her hand. "What
do you think they'll say if they see you like this? You could get
arrested."

Then she snorted a couple of times while she turned
and went back inside. Shortly after a blanket big enough to fit us both was
thrown out of the French doors. We picked it up and walked laughing inside
while holding it around each other.

Sarah snorted again with the hint of a smile on her
lips as we walked past her toward the guest bedroom.

"You think the doctor will be going to work
today?" she asked.

"Not today, Sarah," I said and opened the
door for
Aiyana
. "Today I will be taking
Aiyana
back to her own house to get her things. And then we
will be visiting her family. Her sister has been sitting by the window for days
waiting for her to come home." I looked at
Aiyana
.
She smiled. "She knew you were coming soon to see her," I said.
"She has been waiting for it."

Aiyana
looked at me gracefully. "I know," she whispered.

I closed the door then pulled the blanket off her so
she stood in front of me completely exposed. Then I laughed and threw myself at
her, tumbling with her onto the bed. I couldn't stop kissing her, but when I
felt I finally had to; I got up and looked at all of Heather's boxes in the
corner.

"In there you should be able to find something
that you can wear till we get your stuff. If you need anything you just buy it
from now on, okay? I will take good care of you and
Luyu
.
You will never need anything again."

She stroked my face. She spoke to me with her
thoughts.
You always were too good for me, Christian
.

True as it is, I answered with a smile. I am not going
to let you go this time. I am not making the same mistake twice.

"I am still married, remember?" she said out
loud.

"True. But so am I. I've heard that there is a
way to get out of that."

"Divorce?" she asked. "Don't like the
sound of it."

"I know. Me either. But sometimes it is the only
thing to do. Especially in your case. You need to get away from that man who
has hurt you so badly." I stroked her wound on her leg. It was healing but
still sore. "In my case I have to discuss it with Heather." I
continued. "She was the one who left me so I don't think she'll mind. I
think this is what she wants for us."

"Michael will mind,"
Aiyana
sighed. "He always said he would rather die than get a divorce. He will
fight till the end for me."

"But he is forgetting one thing," I said and
sat on top of her.

"And what's that?"

I leaned over and whispered in her ear. "He is
forgetting that so will I."

Aiyana
found one of Heather's dresses, which used to fit her so nicely before she lost
all the weight.
Aiyana
looked stunning in it. She was
glowing and smiling when we walked to the kitchen our hands touching teasingly
in secret. William and
Luyu
were holding hands while
they ate their cereal as we entered.
Luyu
had
insisted on having the exact same breakfast as William. They hardly noticed us
as we poured our coffees and drank.

"Ready for a new day at school?" I asked.

They both nodded.

"I was thinking that maybe I should enroll
Luyu
in William's school,"
Aiyana
said. "We can do it today. I don't want Michael to be able to find
her."

I nodded and sipped my coffee. The morning paper still
spoke about the escaped jaguar on the loose. But it was no longer front news.
Hunters were flocking to the area and especially the swamps where everybody
assumed the jaguar was hiding. Experts were discussing just how many jaguars
could be out there. If the rogue one that had been held captive in a cage and
attacked its owner, was it in fact the same one from seen ten years ago when it
attacked a young boy in the river? And then there were stories about a black
one that had been seen roaming the streets of St. Augustine acting aggressive
towards tourists. They were wondering if there were in fact more, and guessing
that there could be several and they advised tourists visiting the swamps to be
careful and take precautions.
 
Should anyone encounter one of these beasts they advised them to take cover
or shoot it immediately if possible.

I turned and smiled at
Aiyana
.
"We'll take care of it right away," I said and closed the paper so
they didn't see the article. I didn't want her or the kids worrying. Nor did I
want them to see the reward of thirty-five thousand dollars for someone who
shoots a jaguar.

William and
Luyu
were both
laughing and chatting all the way out of the front door. I pulled William aside
as soon as
Luyu
was in the car. He looked at me with
surprise.

I kneeled in front of him and looked into his young
eyes. "What happened yesterday is our secret, you know that don't you? You
can never tell anyone about what you saw."

William smiled widely. "You mean you being a
black jaguar?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he said like it was the most natural
thing in the world.

"But the two of us can talk about it if you'd
like. You can ask me anything you want to about it, alright?"

"Sure. Is
Luyu's
mom
one too? She says that she is. But she is not black like you, far. She is
spotted. That's what
Luyu
says."

I nodded. "She is right. We both are jaguars. But
only at nighttime. We transform at sunset and then we go hunting."

"Cool."

"But there are many people who want to hurt us
because they think we're dangerous. They don't know that it's really just us
and that we would never harm them. That's why you have to keep it a secret. You
can't tell any of your friends or your teacher. You can't discuss it with
Luyu
at school. You may talk about it at home and with
Sarah as well, but never at school. That is very important. Can you do that for
me?"

He nodded eagerly. "Sure."

I smiled and messed up his blond curly hair with my
hand. "Now get in the car before we’re late."

But William didn't get in the car. Instead he threw
his arms around my throat. I hugged him back sensing that something urgent had
come over him. He paused. He wanted to say something but had to find the
courage. Then he asked: "Do you think you could save Mommy the way you
saved
Luyu
?" He whispered in my ear. "I
don't want her to die."

My heart felt heavy. I sighed. I was surprised that he
knew that Heather's illness was fatal. "William. With Mommy it is very
different. It's much more complicated. It's nothing like
Luyu
.
I can't just go out and find her and bring her home. Mommy is very sick,
remember?"

"Will she die?" His voice cracked as he
spoke the words.

I swallowed hard to not cry. "I don't know,
buddy. But it is serious and it's a disease that people die from."

"But you're a hero, far. You save people. I saw
it last night. There must be something you can do to make her feel better?
You're a doctor too, remember? You can get her well. I need to see her, Far.
She doesn't even know how big I’ve gotten." William's voice was shrill.

I exhaled deeply. "Let's talk about it
later," I said. "We need to go now."

William let go and jumped in the car.
Boyz
II Men were singing
In the Still
of the Night
on the radio as we drove off.

Chapter 39

The
next morning I
drove off to the clinic. The day before
had been quite eventful for
Aiyana
so she needed to
rest. Her entire family was due to arrive at our house later that same day to
be with her and bring her herbs and happiness to help strengthen her. We had
spent some time the day before in their house eating, talking, even crying -
before we went on to singing and dancing. It had only lasted a couple of hours
though until
Aiyana
had been too worn out and I
helped her get back to the house.
Wyanet
had been so
thrilled to finally be able to spend time with her granddaughter; she kept
thanking me for bringing her family back together. But happiest of all had been
Halona
. She had been so excited that there wasn't a
chair in the house to sit on since they were spinning under the roof along with
books and flowers. It was quite a spectacular view. William fit in perfectly
and to my great surprise even picked up a guitar at one point and started
playing it.

It was a joy to have all of them in my life again and
I was whistling in the car by the very thought of having the house filled with
these wonderful spiritual people - as I drove past Flagler Hospital.

Completely on a whim I decided to get off US1 and
drove right into the parking lot belonging to the hospital. I sat for a few
moments in the car staring at the giant white building in front of me. Then I
got out.

Without hesitation or even thinking I walked to the
reception area and asked for him, where he was - on what floor, in what room.
Admittedly I used my status as doctor so the receptionist wouldn't ask any
questions. Then I walked into the elevator and pushed the button leading me to
his floor.

He was
sitting in his bed
eating breakfast when I entered his
room. Tasteless scrambled eggs and toast. He froze when he saw me. Then he
dropped his fork. Bits of scrambled egg stayed in his beard stubble. The mere
sight of him made my body shiver. I had to restrain myself.

"What the hell ...?" he exclaimed. He still
had several bruises in his face from
Aiyana's
attack.
His arm was bandaged. I could tell it hurt when he moved.

"I'll call security," he said. "Or the
police if you come near me."

I walked closer, biting my lip in restraint. He was
cowering in the bed, fear in his eyes. "Don't you dare come any
closer," he yelled angrily. "Or I'll call for the nurse and she'll
have you thrown out of here."

"Do you really think she'll throw out a doctor
who has come here to see you?” I scoffed. “Do you really think anyone here
cares about you? You, the animal abuser, you, the wife beater, or maybe I
should just tell her how you kept your own daughter locked up an a small
storage room on a boat left to die without any food or drink in almost ninety
degrees? Maybe both she and the police would like to hear that story?"