Chapter 67: Meanwhile...
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13 Days ago
Selene didn't feel like moving at all after what had happened yesterday. She still couldn't believe that she'd gone through with it, that she'd broken her bond with Ethan. It didn't seem real, but that ache in her heart was reminding her that it was very real. It had gotten stronger since yesterday, or maybe the drugs had just finished wearing off. It felt like someone had taken a meat tenderizer to her heart, and she was pretty sure it wasn't because it had been stopped and restarted.
Beside her, Thor took a deep breath and repositioned himself so he was closer to her. That
almost
made her smile, but not quite.
She didn't even open her eyes.
She could tell that it was well past sunrise by the light on her eyelids, and the couch in Jason, Hailey, and Melinda's living room was pretty comfortable. Well, comfortable enough anyway. It wasn't her hammock on the Argo, and it wasn't remotely close to Ethan's bed with his wives there, but it was comfortable enough.
She didn't know how long she laid there.
At one point, she realized that a wet spot had developed under her eye and moved slightly. Thor responded by moving closer to her and then falling back to sleep. He was purring softly, but not nearly as loudly as he usually did on the Argo.
She swallowed.
"Selene?"
She grunted in response to Hailey, not having the emotional energy for anything else.
"I'm running out for some coffee, did you want something?" Hailey asked. "I think Ruth said that you like lattΓ©s?"
Selene nearly broke down crying right that moment. She didn't and managed to hold it in, but it took most of her considerable self-control.
"Um, maybe just a black coffee, thank you." She replied after a moment, her voice sounding a little hoarse.
"Okay, back in a few." Hailey replied.
She wasn't gone long, but Selene still hadn't worked up the willpower to even open her eyes. She didn't like black coffee. She wanted a lattΓ©, but that would remind her of Ethan and...
She swallowed hard.
"Here you go." Hailey said, and the scent of coffee roused the Brazilian woman in a way that very few things could have.
Selene slowly blinked open her eyes as they adjusted to the bright, mid-morning sun. Hailey was standing over her looking at her intently with a piercing expression. There was a cup of coffee within easy reach on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Thank you." Selene said, then sat up, much to Thor's displeasure. She grabbed the coffee and took a careful sip. It was good coffee, but it was indeed black. For some reason, she liked that today. She'd never before liked the bitter aftertaste of black coffee, but somehow, it seemed pretty appropriate right now.
* * *
Hailey tipped some scrambled eggs onto Selene's plate and then sat down to eat the ones she'd served herself. She didn't usually eat scrambled eggs for lunch, but it was about the only thing that Selene had shown even a modicum of interest in.
"Bon appetite." Hailey said cheerfully.
"Thank you." Selene replied in a dull, listless tone.
Their guest had spent almost the entire morning sleeping, and she had even fallen back asleep before finishing her coffee. It was currently about two in the afternoon, which was late for lunch, but Hailey wanted to make sure that Selene was eating. Hailey herself had nearly starved herself after being separated from Jason when she was kidnapped -- not even on purpose, just because she was so listless -- and Hailey wanted to make sure that Selene didn't head that direction.
Hailey downed her food as she had to be at work in 30 minutes, but Selene merely poked at it. She took an occasional small bite and pushed the eggs around the plate, but little else.
About five minutes later, baby Ethan began crying.
Selene looked in the direction of the bedroom where the crib was set up, but it looked like her eyes were starting to droop a little.
"I got you." Melinda said tenderly from the same room, and the crying stopped a moment later. She came out holding him, and Hailey thought she might never fully get used to that sight: Melinda with a baby, Jason's baby. It didn't bother her, but Melinda had just never been very maternal before, and certainly not baby crazy. She wasn't exactly now either, but her world seemed to spin around little Ethan.
Hailey had just about finished getting ready for work when someone knocked on the door. She looked at Melinda, who shrugged.
Hailey also shrugged and then went to the door and opened it.
"Are you Hailey Oswald or Melinda Estello?" A delivery man asked. He was holding a good-sized box and one of those electronic signing devices.
"Yup, you need someone to sign for that?"
"Yes I do." He offered her the pad and she signed it.
"That looks nothing like my signature." Hailey chuckled.
"It never does." The delivery man handed over the box. "Have a great day."
"You too." Hailey replied, then closed the door as the man walked away.
"What is it?" Melinda asked.
"It's for Selene, care of you or me." Hailey replied as she read the shipping label, then walked to the table and offered the box to their guest.
Selene took it without much enthusiasm. Hailey grabbed a kitchen knife and the Brazilian woman used it to open the box. The bottom of the box was filled with clothes, and above them were a variety of carefully wrapped items. The top one was labeled 'cell phone', and it had a note taped to it as well.
"It's from Yvonne." Selene said, the corners of her mouth lifting fractionally as she read the note, and she tilted it so Hailey could read as well. "She sent some of my personal effects that she thought I'd want, and enough clothes to wear if I do laundry regularly."
"That was nice of her." Hailey said as she skimmed the short note. At the end, Yvonne mentioned that Selene's phone bill had been paid and suggested that Selene call her dad because: 'I know you two are close and I'm sure it will help'.
Hailey looked at Selene. "You might want to take her advice."
Selene nodded slowly. "Um, can I use the spare room?"
"It's your room for as long as you want to stay." Melinda said, beating Hailey to the punch.
"Thank you." Selene hit the phone's power button; it was fully charged.
"I need to get to work or I'll be late." Hailey said.
"Have fun." Melinda said ironically.
"It'll be the time of my life, I'm sure." Hailey sighed, rolled her eyes, then left. Still, she was very happy to be back on Earth with Jason and Melinda. Since getting back, work just hadn't seemed so bad compared to what she'd been through.
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