Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“Thank goodness you came when you did. He…he was…” Torri shook her head, her throat closing. She still hadn’t fully processed what had almost happened to her just now. It made her feel sick to even think about it.
“I told you I wouldn’t let him hurt you. I’m just so sorry it took me so long to get to you!” He finished unbuckling the last strap and let it fall to the floor. Leaning down, he cupped Torri’s hurt cheek gently in one hand. “Are you all right, Torri? Can you walk? We must get free of this place tonight.”
“You…you want to leave? To run away?”
Somehow the idea had never occurred to her. She had only thought about getting out through normal channels—being declared well and mentally competent so she could be discharged. But now, remembering what O’Toole had said about Dr. Burrows, she realized she would never have gotten out that way.
The only way out of St. Elizabeth’s was flight. But how were they going to get out when the nurse’s station and a guard at the front desk stood between them and freedom?
“I want to go,” she told Vic. “But I don’t see how we can make it! The nurses will see us if we try to leave. And even if we do manage to sneak past them, there’s still a guard at the front desk and the doors are kept locked at night.”
“Let me worry about all that. Will you come with me? We have to go and warn the Kindred of the Mother Ship that the Scourge are on their way to Earth.”
“The…the Mother Ship?”
It belatedly hit her that Vic was talking to her the same way he did in her dreams. All about his positronic brain and the Mother Ship and the Kindred. But those were just dreams, weren’t they? They couldn’t be real—could they?
“Am I dreaming?” she asked, looking around herself.
But this was nothing like the dreams she’d been having for the past week. Where was Nana’s cabin and the field of daisies and buttercups? If this was a dream, it was a nightmare. Her cheek and lip still throbbed and she could still see O’Toole’s twisted body slumped by the side of her bed, his head twisted all the way around, like some kind of horrible owl.
“You’re not dreaming,” Vic said firmly. “And we must leave now, before someone comes to check on you and finds your attacker’s body.” He looked at her anxiously. “He didn’t manage to…to hurt you, did he? I prayed I would get here in time.”
“You did,” Torri assured him quickly. “But you’re right—once they find him, they’ll put us both in the Violent Offenders wing. We need to get out of here, but I don’t see how we can do it unless you can turn us both invisible.”
A small smile lifted the corners of Vic’s sensual mouth.
“Come with me and don’t worry. Now that my positronic net is back online, we should have no trouble at all.”
Twenty-Three
Torri felt like she was in a dream again—an extremely strange one—as they left her room. Vic held her hand and they walked quietly but quickly down the hall, just as though they had every right to be out of their rooms at night.
They made it past the nurse’s station, mainly because no one was at the window, but just as they turned down another hallway, Torri heard the sound she’d been fearing—the soft squeak of rubber-soled shoes on the floor. One of the nurses or caretakers was coming and there was nowhere to hide!
“Vic! Someone’s coming—what are we going to do?” she whispered, as softly as she could.
Vic didn’t seem upset at all.
“Stand against the wall and let me shield you,” he instructed. “Make yourself as small as possible.”
Torri didn’t know how she was supposed to do that but she put her back to the pale pink wall with her arms at her sides. Vic put his back to her, covering her body as much as possible with his own.
“What—are we just going to stand here?” Torri whispered.
“Be very quiet and stand very still,” he instructed.
And then something strange began to happen—he began to change colors. The boring beige scrubs were suddenly the same pale pink color as the wall. But it wasn’t just his clothing that changed—as Torri watched, his tan skin and black hair also turned pale pink—the exact right color to blend into the wall.
At that moment, one of the caretakers turned the corner and walked towards them. She passed by and went on about her routine, passing Vic and Torri, who was still sheltering behind him, without a second glance.
“Whew!” Torri let out a relieved breath as the caretaker disappeared around another corner and they were alone again. “How did you do that?”
Vic smiled at her as the pale pink drained away, leaving him looking just as he had before.