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  “Well, Chandler, are you ready to try and stand today? Let the nurse take your catheter out, and then we’ll get you unhooked from those IV’s. We’ll see if we can get some chicken soup down you before you have to take that ambulance ride.”

  I nodded as the nurse came around Banton to stand at the foot of the bed.

  “Lieutenant Gastaneau, if you would step out for a moment,” the nurse asked. Banton let go of me and nodded at her. He leaned over and watched my eyes intently as he silently asked my permission to kiss me. I nodded once, and he placed his lips gently on my forehead. My eyes filled again with tears as he pulled away.

  “I’ll be right outside.”

  I nodded again as he left the room. After the nurse removed the catheter, I felt so much better. Then she removed the IV’s and leads, and I felt free. I slowly rotated my neck around and raised my left arm. I still couldn’t raise my right, but I could move my arm a little, and move my fingers. I stretched my legs and then pulled them back up. I was sore everywhere.

  “Do you feel like standing?’ The nurse asked me as Banton swung the door open wide.

  “Please, I’ve got this.” He strode over beside the bed, and held his hands out to me.

  “Chandler, will you let me help you?” he asked, keeping his distance again until I nodded. I knew he needed to help me and I needed to let him.

  He gently placed one hand behind my shoulders as he took my hand, letting me place weight on his forearm. I stood slowly, my legs having to remember to work again. As I began to take small steps, he moved forward.

  “How far do you want her to walk, Doc?’ he asked.

  “Down the corridor and back, if possible. If she can’t make it,” he began.

  “I’ll pick her up and carry her back. I’ve got this,” Banton said as he opened the door and ushered me around it.

  “Banton, my back,” I protested. The cold air reminded me my gown opened down the back.

  “Here.” The nurse handed Banton a short bathrobe, and he helped me slide it on, being careful of my shoulders.

  “Now. All covered. Shall we stroll?” he asked grandly, taking my hand again.

  “Please,” I answered back as I gazed up at him. He smiled, flashing the dimple, and leaned down slowly to place a chaste kiss on my lips. I held steady and closed my eyes, willing myself not to flinch. Mind over matter, Chandler. Mind over matter, I repeated.

  We walked the narrow ship’s corridor, and then back again. I wouldn’t attempt it yet without his steady arms around me, but it was a start.

  When we returned to my room, the nurse was back with my lunch.

  “Just soup, crackers and juice, Chandler. Call me if you need anything,” she said cheerily, pulling the door closed.

  “Banton, go and eat something. I know you are tired,” I admonished him.

  “I ate a big breakfast next door before you woke. I’m good. Ty promised me the biggest steak we could find in N’awlins tonight if we escaped this scrape alive, and he’s paying up.”

  He helped me into the bed and pulled the sheet up over me. After I’d finished, he carried my tray out into the hallway. I could hear the babies whining next door.

  “Banton, can I see the twins?” I asked.

  “Of course. I’ll go get them.” He leaned over and kissed me quickly on top of the head. Immediately pulling back, he looked at me with an alarmed expression, his eyes wide.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart…was that okay?”

  I nodded. “Pecks on top of the head are most welcome and invited.”

  “Good. I’m committing the dos and don’ts quickly to memory.” He grinned wider and dashed out to get the babies. I giggled as I watched him. He acted like a kid. Just my smile returning had this effect on him?

  He returned in under two minutes.

  “Here’s Mommy…see, I promised y’all she’d be up,” he said as he placed them both gently down on the bed beside me.

  “Mommy,” Matty said as he put his hand out to my face. I kissed it quickly and he giggled.

  Mommy,” Elly mimicked him, wanting her kiss as well. I pulled her up against me and hugged her close, burying my nose in her hair.

  I remembered as I was waking up I heard Matty say “daddy.”

  “And who is that?’ I pointed at Banton as he smiled down at them.

  “Daddy,” Matty grunted, lunging forward toward Banton. Banton swept him up in his arms.

  “Yeah, big guy, I’m daddy. Took you long enough to say it,” he pouted as he mussed Matty’s hair up.

  “When did he start that? I missed it,” I said sadly.

  “No, baby. You were there. You were just unconscious. We were in the helicopter, and as I was helping Ty tend to you, John and Sam were holding the twins. They kept crying for me, and when I was convinced you were alive and going to make it, I asked them to hand the babies down to me. I kept repeating, ‘Daddy’s here. Daddy’s got you,’ and then right out of the blue, Matty uttered ‘Daddy.’”

  I smiled as I watched the babies crawl around on me. “Hmm. That was a lot more dramatic than his first ‘Mommy.’”

  “Well, it was the helicopter and everything, you know. Boys are impressed with that kind of thing,” he teased rather cockily.

  Banton sat down on the bed beside me. He wrestled with Matty as he sat him back on the bed. Matty immediately crawled up to Elly, tugging at her to get her attention.

  “They’re so close already, always looking for one another if they’re separated,” he observed as Elly pulled Matty to her and leaned over as if to hug him.

  “They clung to each other while we were…they never cried out, it was almost as though they knew.” I whispered as I watched them. The memories came flooding back asking them to fade, clinging to me as I climbed the crates.

  “Andie,” Banton whispered. I glanced up at him over Elly’s head.

  “Thank you for protecting our babies. You took care of them under the most extreme circumstances possible. Noah told me how you cared for them, and hid them from Dante and Lucien.” His eyes hardened, his tone becoming deathly quiet. “Noah told me what you endured at Dante’s hands. He said you were brave.” Tears pooled in his eyes as he reached out and touched my cheek.

  I closed my eyes against the images. “Noah is sweet. I wouldn’t have made it without his help.

  Elly lay down on my chest as she sucked her thumb. As Banton reached over to stroke her hair, he noticed my breast exposed above Elly’s head. I glanced down to see what had caught his attention, and noticed the fresh bite marks. I looked back up at him and watched his gaze turn deadly.

  “How many times were you bitten, Chandler?”

  “Too many.”

  “Lucien and Dante?” he asked as he closed his eyes.

  “Yes. And Miss Astrid.”

  His eyes snapped open, horrified as he considered what I’d just said.

  “And Ben,” I whispered. He searched my eyes, waiting for me to go on.

  My voice broke. “Ben came after I woke from…the attack. He helped Noah lift me from the tub. He thought he could help me, but then he lost control. I don’t know what the Orcos had put him through, but he’d fully transformed, and he was too close.” I glanced back down at the bite above Elly’s head. When I looked back at Banton, I could see fire and pure rage in his eyes.

  “He told me when he left, he would try to help me and he wouldn’t come close to me again. When the ship started sinking, Dante ordered Ben and another Orco to come and get the babies for the sacrifice,” I whispered. “But I managed to get them to fade. The girl who was with Ben overlooked them, but I could see recognition register on Ben’s face as he searched me.” Tears streamed now as I thought about what Ben had done. “He left and never said a word. He protected the babies, Banton.”

  As I finished, he nodded, placing his hand on my cheek.

  “Did you see Ben, when you boarded the ship?”

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  “Just as
John found your location, I was running toward him and Noah. An Orco leapt out at me. He let loose with a spray of gunfire at close range. The only thing that saved me was Ben. He jumped in front of him and then pulled him over the side. He took the bullets for me,” he finished as he lay his head down beside mine on the bed. “He wanted to die. I could see it in his eyes.”

  I nodded, swallowing the bile rising in my throat. “Ben was fighting the demon. He had enough human emotions left to know he didn’t want to exist that way.”

  “We can’t tell Julia,” Banton murmured. I nodded in agreement.

  I winced as Elly moved across my breast. I was sore everywhere, but I recognized the soreness in my breasts as being pregnant. My eyes widened at the realization.

  “Chandler, you look tired. Let me take them back to Brie for a while. They will be just next door,” he assured me as he scooped them both up in his arms.

  While he was gone, I wondered about the Orcos and if they’d killed them all. When he slipped back into the room moments later, I looked up at him.

  “What is it, Chandler?” He could sense I wanted to ask him.

  “Did you get them all?”

  Banton pushed the chair away and sat down carefully on the side of the bed. He reached out slowly to my arm, waiting until I nodded before he touched me. As he caressed my arm softly, he spoke.

  “Most of them are dead.”

  “What about Dante?” I whispered, hating to even whisper his name.

  “John, Ty and I took care of him. He’s dead, baby. He won’t ever hurt you or the babies again.”

  I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I tried to put the evil to rest.

  “And Lucien?”

  Banton sighed as he raised his hand to my head, stroking my hair softly.

  “One of the Orcos told us Lucien bailed before we got there. We think he got away,” he said, his voice low.

  “Banton, where is Everett? Did he come with you?”

  He paused, and it was if a shadow crossed his face. He nodded once, and then answered.

  “Yes, Chandler. He was wounded pretty badly in the fight. He’s mending. He’ll be all right. He wants to see you, but it will be a few days.

  “How was he wounded?” I was alarmed Everett would still be down after all this time.

  “Doctor Delsant had to re-attach his arm, and an Orco broke his neck. They almost got him, Chandler. He had us worried, but he’s an Aldon. He’s going to make a full recovery.”

  I tried to push up and winced.

  “Baby, you can see him later, after we move both of you. I promise,” he assured me, leaning over to try to ease me back down on the bed.

  I shuddered at his touch as he startled me.

  He pulled back slowly. I could see the hurt in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Banton. I didn’t mean to do that. It isn’t you,” I choked out as he placed his fingers against my lips.

  “I know, Sweetheart. Don’t worry about me. I can’t even imagine what you must have…please. Just tell me what you need. I’ll do anything for you. I’ll do anything to make this go away.”

  He gazed at me, his eyes so full of love. He was so desperate to fix everything.

  “It will just take time. Just you and time. Just hold me, and love me until I’m me again. You are all I need,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady. “I love you so much.”

  He cupped my cheek with his hand as he gazed at me.

  “Chandler, your eyes are glowing again. I didn’t think your eyes could be any more beautiful, but I was wrong. The flecks of turquoise, the intensity…” he murmured as he continued to stroke my cheek.

  “I want to see,” I said. I hadn’t seen them since they’d changed. I realized at that moment, my blurry vision the last two days of captivity must have been my vision changing. I could see clearly, everything was so vivid and bright.

  Banton hesitated as I saw his eyes cloud with doubt.

  “I don’t know if we have a mirror around here,” he murmured as he looked around.

  “Go and ask Brie. I’ll bet she has one,” I urged him. He turned back to me, and shook his head.

  “Andie, I don’t think that is such a good idea,” he argued. I cocked an eyebrow at him.

  “Banton, what is it? Why don’t you want me to see?”

  He sighed, and left the room. A few moments later, he came back with a hand mirror.

  “Just remember you are still swollen and bruised,” he cautioned as I took the mirror from him.

  My glowing eyes widened as I stared at the girl in the mirror. I didn’t recognize the image looking back at me. My face was covered in bruises and swollen knots, two or three different shades of purple and blue that turned my flesh into a hideous mask.

  I covered my mouth with my hand as a sob escaped. I looked as dirty and damaged on the outside as I felt inside.

  “Baby, no…you are going to be okay,” he whispered. Everything will heal and you will be back to normal in no time.”

  I placed the mirror down on my abdomen and covered my face with my hands.

  “I don’t know how you can even stand to look at me. I could barely stomach the thought before I looked in the mirror,” I whispered. He grabbed my hands.

  “Chandler Ann Gastaneau, stop it. You are just shocked, that’s all. It’s just bruises and swelling. It will go away, I promise. Please, can I hold you?” he whispered as I continued to hold my face in my hands. When I didn’t immediately answer him, he slid his hands under me and raised my upper body against his, enveloping me in his arms.

  “No,” I whispered in protest.

  “Baby, please. Don’t do this to yourself. I love you, Chandler. Let me hold you. I have to hold you,” he whispered into my hair as he stroked it. I willed myself to relax in his arms. I got it, in my mind, I was safe and the ordeal was over. But I couldn’t separate the feel of Dante and Lucien’s hands on me. I couldn’t seem to let it go, and I knew it tortured Banton.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Lieutenant Gastaneau, we’re in port now. The ambulance will be ready momentarily,” the doctor said as Banton gently placed me back on the pillows.

  Before I had time to process, the crew could be heard in the hallway, pulling a gurney into the room.

  We’ll be moving her now, Lieutenant,” one of the attendants told Banton. I shivered uncontrollably as they both touched me, lifting me from the bed and transferring me to the gurney to move me to the ambulance. Banton watched, a look of helplessness crossing his face.

  “I’m riding with her,” he demanded as both attendants nodded at him.

  “Banton, what about the babies?” I asked, my voice rising.

  “Brie and John have them ready. They will bring them to Dr. Renault’s,” he assured me.

  As they wheeled me out of the ship and into the sunlight, I shrank into the stretcher, the sun blinding me, seeming to scorch my skin. It seemed like weeks since I’d seen sunlight. The wind was blowing, and the chill in the air made me shudder, causing every bone and muscle in my body to ache. I cried out, the pain almost unbearable.

  “Hold on, Mrs. Gastaneau, we’re almost there,” one of the attendants assured me. Once they’d lifted me into the ambulance, Banton crawled in behind, and draped another blanket over me, tucking the edges in.

  “I’m so sorry, Andie. I didn’t realize how chilly it would be out here,” he said, fussing over my stretcher. As the attendants shut the doors and loaded in front, I panicked.

  “Dr. Delsant,” I protested.

  “Shh. Chandler, he’ll be right behind us. He won’t leave you until he knows you’re okay with it. He’s going with us,” he assured me as he leaned over me.

  My heart raced. I was going to Renault’s, and I knew it meant telling him everything, reliving the attack, explaining about the baby. Thinking for the first time about the tests they were about to run, I began to panic. I felt sick, dreading confirmation that the baby could be a result of the attack and not Banton�
�s. I heaved, throwing up over the side of the cot.

  Banton held my shoulders as he pulled my hair back. My stomach continued to convulse, but nothing came up from the violent empty spasms.

  “Shhh. Calm down, Chandler. You’re okay,” Banton tried to soothe me as the attendant handed a cold rag to him. He bathed my face, urging me in soft whispers to lie back on the cot. He fought to maintain a calming demeanor as the ambulance bounced and swayed back and forth as we navigated the rush hour traffic.

  When we finally arrived at Renault’s clinic, I was in a full state of panic, my heart racing as my nausea reached a fever-pitch.

  I could hear Dr. Renault in the hallway as we entered.

  “Bring her in to exam one,” he instructed the attendants. “Dr. Delsant, if you will come with us.”

  Banton held my hand as we crossed through the double doors.

  Both doctors moved around the room as the nurse helped the attendants move me onto a bed. As the attendants left, Dr. Renault turned to Banton.

  “Son, it sure is good to see you two alive. The Aldon owe you our eternal gratitude. You have dealt with our greatest problem in years, having taken care of the Somali problem and this Dante,” he whispered as he glanced down at me. He shook Banton’s hand. Banton pulled away first, turning back to me.

  “Banton, we’ll need for you to step out so I can examine Chandler for myself. Dr. Delsant will stay with her,” he urged as Banton shook his head.

  “No, Doc. I’m not leaving her now. I know about the attack, I’m not leaving her alone.

  I began to shake uncontrollably, knowing they would have to do a vaginal examination and what that would involve. Banton couldn’t be here.

  “Banton,” I began. I didn’t even recognize the sound of my own voice, it shook so. “Please, go. I need for you to go, you have to,” I pleaded with him as a shadow crossed his face. He leaned over and kissed my forehead.

  “I’ll be right outside, Andie.”

  As soon as the doors closed behind him, Dr. Renault pulled a chair up beside me.

  “Chandler, Dr. Delsant has already filled me in on your condition. We need to examine you, and we need to do an ultrasound,” he began.