Survivor - By Kaye Draper Page 0,58
think that was normal.
He laughed. “I think maybe it’s because of your injury. You had to struggle so hard to move before. Maybe you became… hyper-aware of your body?’
I considered for a moment. It was possible. I had spent years having to concentrate on my every move. At times, I had even had to consciously focus on contracting some muscles while relaxing others- things that a normal person did without thinking about it. “Physically I’m fine,” I said hesitantly, “but all joking aside…my brain is still different, isn’t it?”
He reached up and grasped my branch, levering himself up to sit beside me. “I think you’ll be fine,” he said candidly. “I hate to say this, but … any sort of instability would have shown itself by now.”
I nodded. “Exactly.” When I glanced at Peter’s face in the moonlight, he looked exactly as he had in my dream, a trickle of dried blood on his forehead, and his silver eyes wide and unseeing. I smiled harder and the vision resolved to my normal, mostly living boyfriend. His green eyes were relieved as he returned my smile.
“I’m so glad,” he said, dropping a kiss on my forehead.
*****
I curled up on the couch and tucked my graceful legs under me, pulling my robe closer. Cold wouldn’t hurt me, but I could still appreciate a comfortable temperature. I hugged a throw pillow to my stomach with one arm while I held the phone to my ear with the other. “Oh, Mom,” I said in exasperation. “I can’t stand to have this conversation one more time.”
I rolled my eyes and Peter saw it. He chuckled silently as he set a cup of orange juice on the little table to my left and wandered away. “You are not going to disown me. If you were, you would have done it by now.”
I set the phone down and took a sip of juice while she finished her tirade. I could hear her perfectly fine without holding it to my ear- and my vampire hearing had nothing to do with it. Finally, she slowed down and I picked up the phone again so I could speak into it. “I’m fine Mom,” I said with a small smile. I knew she was just worried. Her and my father had been notified that my lawyer, well Peter’s lawyer actually, had been successful in getting my guardianship lifted. As far as my family knew, I had then jumped a plane to Switzerland for some extremely experimental stem cell treatment, with Peter’s rich family footing the bill. I was supposed to be recovering.
“Look, Mom, I’m sorry,” I said for the hundredth time. “If I told you before hand, you guys would have fought me, and I wanted my life back.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. They would have fought to keep me in their care, but the truth of the matter was that I didn’t have time to plan out my initiation into the world of vampires. I was winging it. It would, of course, be easier for everyone involved if I simply disappeared- faked my death or moved out of the country or something- but I was being stubborn. I refused to abandon my life, and force Peter to abandon his as well, merely for my convenience.
Peter started whistling in the kitchen and I arched an eyebrow. He was unfazed by the fact that we were lying to everyone and my family was threatening to disown me. “It’s amazing,” I told my mother, not entirely lying through my teeth. “I can’t tell you all of the medical details, but I’m already feeling better, stronger, and more coordinated. I should be home in a month or so.”
Peter’s whistling cut off abruptly and I hid a small smile. No way was I waiting as long as he wanted me to. If he had his way, I would be cooped up at his house until next year, at the very least. “Okay, Mom,” I said in response to her admonishment to take care of myself. “Tell Dad I’ll see him soon.” I paused and fought to keep from laughing while she reminded me that I didn’t have a father, or a mother, or a sister. “I don’t care, tell him anyway. I’m not letting you guys disown me. Bye.”
I pushed the end button and stared at the little phone, shaking my head. Peter crossed the room, brining me a buttery roll, all-natural and handmade. I think the vampires