Annani kept on talking, repeating the same wishes over and over again in her sing-song voice so it would sound like chanting to anyone listening in.
She meant every word, and perhaps the Fates were listening, but in the meantime, her blood was doing the work, strengthening David from the inside and helping him survive his transition.
She had repaid her debt, giving him a life for the one she had taken.
43
Sari
Sari had forced a few bites down her throat, she had smiled and nodded to the well-wishers who stopped by, but under the table her foot was swinging up and down like a mad pendulum, and the phone was clutched tightly in her hand.
Kian had promised to text her as soon as Annani was done, and the device would vibrate to alert her.
“Stop fidgeting,” Alena whispered in her ear.
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. The whole table is shaking.”
Sari forced her foot to remain on the floor. “I need to go.”
“Wait for Kian’s text.”
“I can’t.” Sari pushed to her feet and smiled at her people. “Wish David good luck, everyone.”
As cheers and applause ensued, she made her way out of the dining room in a measured pace, but she started running as soon as she was out in the corridor.
In the clinic, she found Kian leaning against David’s door.
“Are you guarding their privacy?”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
Sari glanced at her watch. “How long has she been in there?”
“Not long. About fifteen minutes.” Kian made no move to step aside. “Take a seat. She should be out soon.”
“Why is Mother so secretive about her blessings?”
“Didn’t Alena explain it to you already?”
“She did, but I want to hear it from you.”
Kian was a terrible liar. If he knew what was really going on and was lying about it, Sari would know.
“I have nothing to add.”
Liar.
He knew something, but he wasn’t going to tell her anything. She knew how stubborn he was.
As the door to David’s room opened, Kian stepped aside and let their mother through.
“My part is done,” Annani chimed happily. “Now it is your turn, Sari.”
Her mother’s upbeat demeanor filled Sari with renewed hope. “Is David okay?”
Annani chuckled. “He was probably utterly bored with my chanting in the old language, and he could use more stimulating company.”
“I mean his vitals. Was there any change?”
“None.” Steven walked out of his office. “When is the blessing supposed to start working?”
The doctor no longer seemed as intimidated by her mother as he had been before.
Both Kian and Annani looked at him suspiciously, which reinforced Sari’s conviction that her mother’s blessing wasn’t only about chanting prayers in the old language.
Annani cast the doctor an indulgent smile. “Blessings and prayers help shore up the soul, but they do not do the work themselves. It is like a subconscious encouragement.”
“Interesting.” Steven rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “When David wakes up, I would love to discuss it with him.”
In all the commotion, Sari had forgotten that David was a trained doctor himself. It would be indeed interesting to hear his opinion on subconscious encouragement.
“We should head out to the dining room, Mother.” Kian opened the clinic’s front door.
“Yes, we should.” Annani stopped in front of Sari and put her arms around her. “Everything is going to be alright, my daughter. You and David are going to enjoy many happy years together.”
She hoped so. “Thank you.”
Annani’s sincere well-wishing indicated that she didn’t harbor any ill feelings toward David, aka Gudbrand, so perhaps Sari should let go of the uneasiness that had been plaguing her ever since she’d heard the full story. If her mother believed that David was a new man, and that he had not retained his prior self's murderous proclivities, then Sari should believe it as well.
When Steven was done reactivating the camera, it occurred to her that her conversation with Annani had been recorded.
Had Steven been listening in?
“I have a question.” She followed the doctor out of the room. “What happens to the camera recordings? Where are they stored?”
“There is a card inside the camera, and it can hold a full month’s worth of recordings. When it’s full, it starts recording over the previous days.”
“Is it possible to replace it with another card?
“Of course.”
“Can you do that for me? I would like to keep this card as a keepsake.”
“I can do that. Would you like to wait until David wakes up? That way, you’ll have his entire stay in the clinic.”
If she asked him to replace it right away, Steven would become suspicious. On the other hand, he probably already was. Using the application, he could go over the recordings anytime he wanted. She needed him to take out the card immediately.
Smiling, Sari put her hand on his arm. “To tell you the truth, I want the card replaced now. I forgot about the camera, and some of the things I said to David were of an intimate nature. It makes me uncomfortable to think that someone might listen to the recordings.”
Steven’s cheeks reddened. “I understand. I’ll do it right away.”
“Thank you. I would also appreciate your discretion on the matter.”
After the doctor replaced the card and gave her the old one, Sari entered David’s room and sat on the chair next to his bed.
Taking his hand, she leaned over it and kissed it. He was so warm, and if she closed her eyes, she could pretend that he was sleeping, and that his chest was rising and falling on its own without the help of the ventilator.
Except, the illusion was disturbed by the quiet hum of the monitoring equipment and the wires extending from David’s hand.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, or if you heard the story that my mother told me about her encounter with one of your previous selves. I’m still trying to reconcile my feelings about you and Annani being lovers in any capacity and that you tried to kill her. I know that it wasn’t really you, but it’s difficult to get past it, to forget it, or to pretend that it never happened. If it were anyone other than my mother, even one of my sisters, it would be easier to accept. But even that is not a deal-breaker. I love you, and I will always love you, no matter what. We were destined to be together, and we will find a way to overcome any difficulty that the Fates throw at us. What cannot break us will only make us stronger.”
44
David
David wanted to shout that he had never been Annani’s lover, and that it had been his brother, not him. But his body was unresponsive. He didn’t feel any physical sensations. He wasn’t cold or warm, thirsty or hungry, but he could hear, and when Jonah was there, he could also see.
Except, what he saw was not real, he knew that, so maybe what he heard wasn’t either?
The only time he had seen himself and the doctors taking care of him was when his spirit had left his body. The moment he’d returned, he’d lost sight.