at how much vocalizing it to someone who she knew cared about her helped.
And now she was able to reconnect with Boone so much better. Especially given that she knew he wasn’t going to stop her down at Pyre.
Provided the doctors didn’t have a big opinion about things. Dearest Virgin Scribe . . . what if she were pregnant?
“Thank you,” she said, “for letting me get all that out.”
As he looked over at her, she drank in the handsome planes of his face . . . and wondered how they would appear on a little boy with her coloring and his body type.
“I will always make time for you.”
Putting her hand on her belly under her parka, she thought . . . well, that statement was kind of an I-love-you, wasn’t it.
The Mercedes bumped to a stop and stayed in place, the engine sounds cutting off sharply. And then the butler with the hangdog face and the California-sunshine smile opened her door.
“Mistress, we have arrived!” As if it were a miracle and a music concert and a sporting event all rolled up into one. “Welcome!”
As she got out, she smiled back at him. “Thank you so much.” He bowed deeply and then frowned as Boone scooted across the seat and unfurled his huge shoulders and towering height out of the back.
“I would have come around to your side, sire.”
“Oh, I know. Thank you, Fritz, for bringing us here.”
There was a moment of consternation as if the doggen were still stuck on the door-open fail. But then he snapped back into the happy.
“Allow me to show you in,” the butler said before walking toward a heavy steel door. “May I please get you some victuals?”
As if they would be doing him a favor to ask for something to eat.
While Boone and the butler talked, Helania glanced around. They were in some kind of underground parking area that had been built to downtown, commercial-grade standards, and the place was not empty. There was a bus with blacked-out windows parked across the way, and a couple of cars lined up, including a very fancy low-slung Audi of some description that had snow marks down its sleek sides.
Wow. She couldn’t believe anyone had taken something like that out in the wintry streets. Hardcore, indeed—
“Helania?” Boone said. “Do you want anything to eat?”
“Oh, no, sorry.” She shook herself back to attention. “I’m fine, thank you.”
As the butler held the heavy panel open with ease, she decided he was heartier than his age suggested. And as she entered the facility, she was not prepared for what she found. When Boone had said the place was top-notch, she had assumed the training center would be sizable and kitted out well. But . . . wow. A long, long corridor stretched out to the other side of the world, as far as she could tell, and radiating off it were countless doors, some of which were open. As they walked along, she saw classrooms worthy of a major university, and what looked like interrogation rooms. In the air, she caught a very faint whiff of chlorine, which suggested they had a pool somewhere close by, and as the butler stopped at the open doorway of a professional-grade medical examination room, she could hear the clinking of weights and the bouncing of basketballs off in the distance.
“I shall go summon Doctor Jane,” Fritz said with a deep bow. “And I shall await to be summoned for your return trip.”
After both she and Boone thanked the butler again, and Fritz walked off with a skip in his step, they looked into the exam room. There was a patient table in the center under the medical lights, a thin sheet of paper pulled down over its padded surface, a pair of stirrups at the ready. There was also a lamp with a crane neck off to one side.
Internal exams were so much fun.
“What are they going to do to me,” she said aloud.
“Not much today,” came a response.
Helania pivoted and instantly recognized the female who spoke. It was the doctor she’d mistaken for an angel, and she was totally relieved that that was who’d be seeing her.
“Welcome to our humble abode,” the doctor said as she came over and offered her hand. “I’m Jane. Let’s get this over with quickly so you can go back to your regularly scheduled programming.”
Helania shook that palm and took note of the short blond hair and dark green eyes. Yes, she remembered the kindness the