Corinne (Book One of The Red Diamond Saga) (18 page)

At the hospital Corinne was treated for moderate injuries. They did not feel moderate to her. The pain was intense, and she was surprised she had not shattered any bones. Aaron had only a few scrapes that he refused to let any one touch. Daniel was recovering well, although the doctors could not figure out how he had lost so much blood from such a small wound.

The young girl they had rescued was awake, but she had broken her arm when Aaron had fallen on to the cement with her. Lisa was struggling. She was being monitored closely by doctors but she had many internal injuries.

Corinne knew that was because she had healed Daniel. She could not be more grateful, but when she saw the pain in Aaron's eyes she felt incredibly guilty. As Aaron, Daniel, and Corinne gathered around Lisa's hospital bed they knew that they could only offer their support. It was not a time to discuss the events of the past few days, or to question where little Corinne had come from. It was a time to be grateful for Lisa's sacrifice, and hope that it would not cost Lisa her life.

Daniel had gotten word from his fellow police officers that Conner had not been killed in the blast. He had been thrown from the building, and though he was injured and suffered severe burns, he survived. He had not shared that information with the others yet; he wanted to wait until after Lisa had recovered.

Daniel wished the man had succeeded at blowing himself to bits, but at least now he might have a chance to get his hands on him.

When Lisa's eyes began to flutter, the three gathered close around grew silent and hopeful. Lisa looked from one face, then to another, until she finally settled her gaze on Aaron.

“What is everyone staring at?” She managed to rasp out in a weak voice.

Aaron grinned at her words. There was the Lisa he knew. He grasped her hand loosely in his and spoke soothingly.

“You are going to be fine, Lisa.” He promised. Lisa smiled faintly in return, but her expression brightened into a full smile when her she caught sight of someone stepping through the door.

“Stanley.” She whispered as he lowered the largest bouquet of flowers Corinne had ever seen to reveal his worried expression.

“Are you okay?” He asked nervously.

Lisa nodded slightly. She was too weak to move much more than that, but Aaron allowed his hand to slip out of hers so that Stanley could grasp it. His lips twitched as if he might sneer at the man, but he contained his protective nature for the moment. All that mattered to him was that Stanley had made her smile.

Corinne gestured for Daniel and Aaron to leave the room. Aaron was reluctant, but complied when Stanley and Lisa began whispering to each other.

“Mushy.” He muttered under his breath as he stepped into the hallway. Daniel smirked as he clapped Aaron lightly on the back.

“One day it'll happen to you.”

Aaron furrowed one brow and shook his head. “I doubt that.”

Daniel's smirk widened into a grin as he leaned close to Aaron. “So did your sister.” He pointed out as he wrapped his arms around Corinne. He could not get enough of the feel of her in his arms. He had said goodbye to her when he lay on the cement with the metal shard in his side, thinking he would never open his eyes again. Now he would cherish every chance he had to see her, touch her, even arguing with her.

Corinne kissed his cheek lightly as Aaron rolled his eyes at them and leaned back against the wall. He glanced toward the hospital room where the young girl lay in bed, waiting to have her arm wrapped in a cast.

“What do we do about her?” He asked casually. She had saved all of their lives. If she had not unlocked the door of the cell, if they had waited even ten seconds longer, they would have been scattered in bits across the cement.

“Miss?” One of the nurses asked Corinne as she walked up to her with a clipboard. “We need your consent for the cast.”

Corinne arched an eye brow. “My consent?” She asked.

“You are her mother, aren't you?” The nurse asked, glancing down at the paper on her clipboard. “I just assumed, since you had the same name and-”

“She's not-” Daniel began to explain, but Corinne interrupted him before he could finish.

“Yes, of course.” Corinne said quickly as she accepted the clipboard from the nurse. She scrawled her signature across the bottom, with Daniel's watching in shock. When the nurse walked away, Daniel turned to Corinne with his light blue eyes wide.

“Why did you do that?” He questioned.

Corinne bit into her bottom lip and lowered her eyes to the floor. She knew what would happen next for the child. She knew what being raised in a foster home could be like, if she was even given that luxury rather than being place right into a girl's home. She could not allow that to happen to any child if she had the power to prevent it. Certainly she was not the young girl's mother.

“Look at her.” She murmured as she lifted her eyes to the girl in the hospital bed. Her blonde hair was mussed, and her dark green eyes were reddened from the smoke. “She might as well be my daughter.”

“Who do you think she really is?” Daniel asked as he followed Corinne's gaze. The girl did bear a striking resemblance to Corinne. What none of them had seen, was Corinne at that exact age. She did not just look like Corinne, she was identical to her.

“Maybe Conner created her too,” Aaron started, and then could not bring himself to finish his sentence.

“To replace me.” Corinne finished for him. “He must have harvested some of Bethany's eggs, and created Corinne in the same way he created me, and you.” She turned toward Aaron who was startled by her words.

“Bethany?” He asked.

Corinne nodded as she reached for his hand. “Yes, I found her.” She looked deep into his eyes. “Aaron, you and I were never abandoned. Our mother risked everything to try to protect us.” She squeezed his hand as he glanced away from her, emotion rising within him. He had spent his entire life believing, as she had, that he was not much of anything to anyone. The knowledge that his mother had cared so deeply for him was overwhelming.

“Is she alive?” He asked in a tortured voice.

“Yes.” Corinne replied, and then lowered her voice as she added. “She is not well though. Thanks to Conner, she has been held in a mental hospital since we were born. When everyone is well,” She sought out his eyes as he tentatively glanced back at her. “We'll go see her together. Maybe we can help her to understand, that she did save us.”

Aaron nodded as tears jeweled his eyes.

Daniel was still shell shocked by Corinne's acceptance of the young girl in the hospital bed as her own. He knew there would be red tape to address, but if she was determined he would not stop her. Perhaps giving little Corinne a home would finally help heal some of the emotional wounds within Corinne.

He shook his head as Corinne turned back to him.

“Wow.” He said as he met her eyes. “We are going to have to move up the wedding date.”

Corinne offered him a confused smile. “Why?” She asked curiously.

“Because,” He said as he stretched his hands out in front of him. “I am going to be a father!”

Corinne laughed at that, and Aaron soon joined in. Daniel winced as his laughter aggravated the wound that had been bandaged on his side. It was nice to hear Corinne laughing again, and see the glimmer of hope in her eyes, for what the future would hold.

Conner stared at the ceiling of his hospital room. The pain from his burns was incredible, but he barely noticed it. The inner pain he felt was ten thousand times worse. His whole life, every choice he had made, every hope he had, had been destroyed by an explosion he set himself. He had tried to kill himself, and had not even managed to do that right. He was handcuffed to the bed, but it was not as if he would be able to run even if he was not. He could barely move without crying out in pain. He could hear voices in the hall, talking about him.

“Yes, well, we would like to take care of this quietly.” One voice said. “If we can find a facility where he could be housed.”

The other voice belonged to the doctor who was treating Conner. “Of course. If you do not intend to press charges.”

The first voice replied. “No, there will be no charges.”

Conner gazed up at the cracks in the dingy white ceiling as the knowledge of what he was overhearing sank in. He was going to be erased. They were not even going to bother to kill him. They would label him criminally insane and sweep the crime under the rug. He would be committed for the rest of his life.

His mind wandered to the memory of Bethany. She had started it all with her rebellion. She had been the beginning of his end, and even after he had destroyed her, she had managed to destroy him in return.

Silent tears slid from the corners of his eyes as he struggled to swallow. Once he had been a genius. Once he had been so powerful.

Mrs. Reynolds tilted back in her husband's chair. She tapped her manicured fingernails against the surface of the desk with irritation.

“Conner managed to screw things up again.” She muttered with disgust. She brushed her raven hair back behind her shoulders and settled her painted crimson lips into a thin straight line. “Well there is still a mess to clean up.” She sighed and glanced at one of the men standing before her.

“What is the status on the assassin?” She asked hopefully.

“He is at the hospital with them, but if we take them all out at once, it will look very suspicious.” He said respectfully.

She frowned and tapped her fingertip against her bottom lip. “And the police and their investigation into the bombing?”

The other man standing before her cleared his throat in anticipation of her displeasure. “Not all of the information in the building was destroyed.” He lowered his voice as he continued. “So far nothing has come up about your connection, but we are monitoring the situation very closely. We will alert you immediately if anything changes.”

Mrs. Reynolds crossed one leg over the other and curled her lips into a sneer. She was not happy. Not happy at all. She would not be happy, until everyone connected with Conner and his research was destroyed once and for all.

“I want them all.” She said flatly. “If you do not bring me their bodies, I swear to you, I will have yours instead.” She insisted.

Just then the large wooden doors swung open. A man, his shoulders broad, his blonde hair curling to the back of his neck, and his sharp blue eyes fixated to the woman behind his desk, strode arrogantly into the room.

“Someone has been sitting in my chair.” He chastised her. Mrs. Reynolds jumped up quickly when he walked into the office. She smiled sweetly.

“I did not want to trouble you with the details.” She said lovingly. “You know Conner, has made a terrible mess.”

The man nodded as he took his position behind his desk and turned his attention on the two men before him.

“Call off the assassin, for now.” He rested his chin on steepled fingers as he offered a mild smile of anticipation. “I did not invest a fortune in these creations to exterminate them.”

Mrs. Reynolds was shocked. “Do you realize what could happen?” She asked as she leaned close to her husband to be sure that he was serious. “If they connect you to them, the scandal it will cause?”

He chuckled deeply as he glanced with little concern at his wife. “My dear, you are good at what you do, but I am fantastic at what I do. If these people can do half of what Conner claimed they could, it will not matter what scandal I will face. I paid for them, they belong to me, and people all over the world will know that I am the first to do this.”

He shivered slightly at the surge of ecstasy that flooded him at the idea of possessing such immense power and respect. No court would be able to try him. No country would ever question his authority. He would have Conner's creations, no matter what it took.

Once everyone was home from the hospital, Corinne had to admit that her apartment was too full. She frowned as she stared at the pile of bills that still rested on her table. She could not afford a bigger place. She could not afford the one bedroom apartment she had.

“What am I going to do?” She muttered to herself. Daniel smirked as he leaned close to her and whispered in her ear.

“After your involvement with the kidnapping case, the chief approached me. Apparently many of the chiefs have begun using psychic investigators to assist in solving crimes.”

Corinne grimaced at his words. She did not consider herself psychic, and yet she did not know how else to define it. “What are you saying she asked?”

Daniel shrugged mildly. “He would pay you as a consultant, it would at least be an income, and you Aaron and Lisa could work together.” A hint of excitement entered his tone as he thought of how many people could be helped by their abilities. “What do you think?”

Corinne did not have to think about it. The bills staring up at her were plenty of motivation, not to mention, the opportunity to help those in need.

“I think it sounds great.” She said with a smile of gratitude.

Daniel reached across the table. He swept the bills off its surface and on to the floor. He took her hands in his and gazed lovingly into her eyes.

“Now about that wedding date.”

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