Chapter 13

Pavlina’s senses came back. “Take her to lab room #1 and get her seated.” Then she bolted into the operating room where the doctor had the crash cart out, charging up for the first defib attempt. She grabbed the hand without an IV in it.

“You can’t do that! You have to let go!” the doctor yelled at her.

“I will.”

She held on to his hand pushing thoughts of love and survival in every way she knew how. As the doctor placed the paddles on Aeden’s chest she let go. His body jumped on the table but got no rhythm. Pavlina grabbed his hand again and held it up to her forehead, pushing all of her pent-up emotions, and then she felt a disorienting sensation rush through her body into his.

Aeden’s heart returned to a normal sinus rhythm seconds before the doctor placed the paddles on his chest. The trauma team stood there in suspense waiting to see if it would hold and it did. The doctor looked at Pavlina.

“We need blood, stat! I can’t believe he’s lasted this long without a transfusion.”

She ran out of the operating room to the room where Veronika took Marketa and was relieved to see her father performing the CAT scan.

“Veronika dragged me out of my office,” he said looking at his daughter.

“You should’ve been here to begin with!” she scolded her father.

He tried to respond, but she cut him off.

“Veronika, we need blood and you’re the only one who can donate. Come with me.”

Pavlina stood next to Veronika putting an IV into her left arm as blood flowed out of her right arm into a collection bag.

“The most we can safely take from you is two units, but we have to make sure you are well hydrated which is why I’m putting this IV in. Normal humans could not give that much at one time, but we can.”

Veronika felt her chest tighten with anxiety as she heard that. She wasn’t used to thinking of herself as anything other than a normal human. While she accepted everything Pavlina told her at face value, it would take some time for it to sink in.

Niklaus stuck his head in the doorway. “Marketa has a minor brain bleed so I’ve called in a favor from a neurosurgeon and he’s on his way. It’s worse than a concussion, but it’s not an immediate threat so we wait to see what happens.”

Pavlina looked at Veronika and broke down crying. “You saved my sister. I should’ve listened, heck you shouldn’t have had to say anything in the first place! It’s like the gym all over when I didn’t stop to render aid immediately. I feel like a terrible person!”

Veronika tenderly rubbed Pavlina’s head. “It’s OK little sis.”

Pavlina’s head jerked up and Veronika chuckled. “I’ve always wanted to say that to someone.”

Pavlina smiled and sniffled before wiping her nose.

“We’re family now, one way or another. If, God forbid, Aeden dies and you two don’t get married, we’re still family. I’ll still kick your butt on the court, but we’ll still be family afterwards.”

Pavlina laughed. “You wish. Your brother taught us some defense the other day. When we get it figured out and Marketa moves up, you guys are toast! You can’t block us both!”

Both girls laughed and exchanged a hug. Pavlina felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. ‘No wonder Aeden loves her so much, that girl is such a ray of sunshine,’ she thought to herself.

Pavlina woke up in the waiting room and saw it was a little past four A.M. Veronika was sleeping next to her and stirred when she felt the movement. A familiar face was in the doorway.

She got up and ran to hug him knowing it didn’t really matter to him, but it made her feel better. “How are you doing? Is there anything me or my family can do for you?”

Veronika walked over and gave him a polite hug. Even though the man standing in front of her was informally her uncle, he was still a stranger. ‘The brother of my uncle is my uncle. As long as he’s not my father.’ she thought.

He looked at both of them and asked them to sit down. “When I first found my brother’s body, I was sure Rgal or one of his minions had killed him, but I found out that wasn’t true.”

Pavlina gasped and looked over at Veronika who had no expression. “You look like you’re not surprised” she said to Veronika.

Veronika turned to Dodek, “Go on.”

“When I was cleaning up the mess that was left, a young girl came up to me and told me a very interesting story. I think it would be best if you heard it directly from her.”

He motioned to someone unseen outside the doorway and a young blonde teenager walked into the room causing Veronika to tense up immediately. Pavlina felt the tension and grabbed her hand. The young blonde spoke with a slight Russian accent.

“Nice to see you again Veronika.”

Pavlina looked at Veronika with questioning eyes.

Without taking her eyes off Anya, Veronika responded to Pavlina’s look. “We met earlier tonight at the park while you were working on Aeden.”

Anya was visibly nervous and she struggled with some of her words. “I am the one who killed Extor.”

Saug threw his glass across the room and it smashed into tiny fragments as he received the latest news. “What is it about you people that makes you so incompetent? How hard is it to capture one person?”

He sat there seething for a moment trying to collect his wits. Losing your temper in front of underlings was OK to a point since you want to instill a little fear, but losing control is not the sign of a strong leader. Every Alnilamian he had sent to Earth had been killed except for the bozo he was talking to at the moment. Every one! But ... could it be possible she was still around?

Saug turned back to the camera. “I’m sending another team to Earth and while they transit, I have someone I need you to locate. And Kosti? ... You best not fail me like the others.”

Pavlina shot backwards in her chair and gasped while Veronika started tapping her foot nervously. Anya retold them the story she told Dodek when he stepped forward.

“What she says checks out. My brother would not have let someone unknown pass by him. Forgiveness is not a part of my culture, but I have acknowledged to her and now to you that I recognize the circumstances of his death as an unfortunate casualty of war. Therefore, I will not categorize her as an enemy as it pertains to me.”

Anya mildly flinched as she heard him unsheathe a knife and hold it up. “Since it is my duty to follow orders and protect the royal family, I am prepared to strike her down if you deem her an enemy.”

Pavlina was shocked at Dodek’s behavior. He had become a little more independent and vocal in the last week and she wondered where it would end. Veronika looked at Anya and then at Dodek, was she sensing something Pavlina couldn’t?

Veronika spoke, “Anya, come here and give me your hands.”

The two girls joined hands.

“What do you want from us? Why did you go through so much effort to track my brother down?”

Veronika was hoping Anya would not be able to lie if they were in physical contact. She listened to the teenager speak.

“I was locked up and treated like property my entire life and yet something inside me yearned for something worthwile. Killing my captors was satisfying to a small degree, but it did not fill the hole I had. I had no one and nowhere to go. They told me I was different my whole life, but I had no idea in what way. I overheard many stories about other worlds, but I wasn’t sure they were true. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered my origins were probably not of this world. I’m sure you know how that feels.”

“How did you find out about us?”

“I heard yours and Aeden’s names a few times until recently when it was the focus of all topics. They wanted you two and wanted you bad. I had no idea why, but that meant there was something special about you two.”

“Why did you seek us out?”

“It was a hunch. Like me, you had ties to both Earth and another world which gave us something in common. I didn’t know where else to turn. When I saw Aeden for the first time, my heart skipped a beat. I know it sounds like teenage schoolgirl stuff, but it was if I’d met my destiny. I NEEDED to be with him.”

Pavlina looked at Veronika and then started to speak, but Veronika put a hand on her leg to stop her. Reaching her hand back to Anya, she continued her questioning.

“What do you mean by needed to be with him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t understand it. When I stood next to you at the park, I felt so content. It was as if you were filling me up with your presence, like you are now. All my life I’ve seen people do horrible things to others for no reason, but you people do more for others than yourselves. Then there’s Aeden who threw his body in front of that blonde girl to save her.”