The blackness was reluctant to release its prey, and howled angrily in protest.
"You can't have her!" he screamed. "Hear me? I won't let you have her!" Complete darkness and silence fell like a curtain, and he knew no more.
Ebony slowly changed to shades of gray, and the stark silence
turned into the hum of fluorescent lights in an otherwise quiet room.
Peter attempted to open his eyes, but his lids, like every other muscle
in his body, refused to cooperate with his brain's signals to move.
The antiseptic smell of a hospital room assailed his nostrils, and the
flat pillow under his head confirmed his suspicions. {Oh, God. Not
another hospital room.}
Someone held up his head and he felt the rim of a cup pressed against his lips.
"Open your mouth and swallow this, young Caine."
Peter allowed the liquid to be dribbled into his mouth, and he swallowed weakly. After a few more seconds passed, he found himself more able to drink, and soon was gulping thirstily until the cup was empty. He heard Lo Si softly cursing in Chinese, and his eyes fluttered open to see the Ancient staring down at him sternly.
"That was a very foolish thing to do, Peter."
"What?" His voice little more than a croak, Peter cleared his throat and tried again. "What did I do?"
"You were pulled into the dark side, and you nearly joined your sister in crossing the river to the other side of the soul."
Peter's face crumpled and he felt the sting of tears behind his eyelids. "She-she's dead?"
Lo Si's face split into a triumphant grin. "She is not. But you should have waited for backup, Peter."
"Backup? What?"
"Your father and I barely reached you in time before the darkness absorbed you."
"My father? When? What?" He closed his eyes and rubbed his throbbing temples with the heels of his hands. "I don't even know what happened. I-I was talking to Carolyn, telling her she had to fight, and suddenly I wasn't in the room anymore. I was..."
"Save your strength, Peter. You have always talked too much."
Peter grinned weakly. "I like to talk." Opening his eyes again, he asked, "Where's my father? Is he still with Carolyn? What's happening with her? And-and Paul. How is he? He-he said some things --"
"He said some things he is thoroughly ashamed of."
Peter slowly turned his head, briefly glancing up at Paul before looking away again. "I know you were worried about Carolyn. You don't have to -- "
"Yes, I do." Paul approached the bed almost timidly, throat muscles working as he sought to control his emotions.
Lo Si bowed in greeting and retreated to a corner of the room.
Peter struggled to sit up, and Paul put a restraining hand on his chest. "Lie back down, Peter. You still look like hell."
"What do you mean 'still'?"
Eyes bright with unshed tears, Paul awkwardly brushed a stray lock of hair back from Peter's forehead. "When your father and Lo Si brought you out of Carolyn's room, I thought we were going to lose you, too. Your lips were blue, and you weren't breathing. Between their herbs and a big dose of oxygen, you started to come around. Then your father went in to help Carolyn." He blinked, and slow tears trickled down his weathered cheeks.
"Is she all right? What's happening with her? Where's Pop?" Peter ignored the throbbing that threatened to make his head explode, squinting against the pain.
"She..." Paul brushed a hand across his eyes. "She started responding to treatment while you were holding her hand. The bleeding slowed down and her vital signs got stronger. When-when your father and Lo Si came bursting onto the scene, they drug you out of Carolyn's room and out in the hallway where you could be taken care of. Caine has been with her and Dr. Albin while Lo Si has been taking care of you. It's nothing short of a miracle, Son, and I-I just don't have the words..." His throat constricted and further speech became impossible.
"The words will come, Dad. They'll come."
He dug through the pockets of his jeans for change, then remembered he didn't have any. Taking out his wallet, he withdrew his calling card and a carefully folded piece of paper with a telephone number on it. He quickly punched in the numbers, then waited impatiently for the call to ring through. "Is Kacie -- Katherine there? This is Peter."
There was a brief pause, and then he heard the familiar sweet voice. Involuntary tears sprang to his eyes. "Honey? It's me. I-I didn't wake you from a nap or anything, did I? What's wrong? Nothing...I just wanted to hear your voice...Why wasn't I home this morning? I've been at the hospital...No, no, no, Hon. I'm OK. I'm OK...Carolyn had her baby this morning...A boy...No, they haven't named him yet...He's fine -- six pounds, ten ounces, and nineteen inches long...Lots of blond hair...Carolyn? Carolyn had a harder time this time, but she's resting now."
"Honey?" His voice cracked. "When are you coming home? I-I miss you. Listen, I need to get back to work. You call me the minute you know when you're coming home." He laughed as his eyes misted over. "That's right. It'll give me time to hire somebody to have the place clean for when you get back. Honey? I love you and I miss you. Hurry home, Sweetheart."
He slowly replaced the receiver and gripped the top of the box for support as he leaned his head against the wall.
"My son, you should be resting. You have not fully recovered from your efforts."
"She could die, Pop. I never really thought about it until today, but Kacie could die having my baby. I'd never forgive myself if that happened. Never."
Caine laid a hand on Peter's shoulder and turned his son around to face him. Identical hazel eyes met, one pair tired and frightened, the other pair calm and reassuring. "Peter, what happened to your sister is a very rare thing."
"But there are other complications," Peter argued. "I-I've been looking through a couple of Kacie's pregnancy books, and what I've read there, along with what happened to Carolyn, has me scared to death."
"Are you forcing her to have this child?"
"Of course not!"
"Is Kacie unhappy about having this child?"
"No! She loves the baby already. She talks to him all the time; she sings to him; she --" Peter's eyes narrowed. "You're going to teach me a lesson here, right?"
Caine smiled, his face glowing with pleasure as he nodded. "You are learning already, my son." His smile faded and his expression grew serious. "Peter, when Kacie told you about the loss of your first child, what did she tell you?"
"She-she said she'd wanted to have my baby ever since we'd been married. Thought we'd been married," he corrected himself.
"Do you not suppose she was aware of all the risks a pregnancy involved, even at that time?"
"Well, of course she was. She's a nurse, Pop. She knows even better than me what could happen." A dawning light of understanding lit up his face. "And she chose to go ahead and have my baby anyway. She was willing to take those risks in spite of what she knew."
"Your mother once told me, before she became pregnant with you, that she thought bearing a child was the second most meaningful experience a woman could have."
"What did she say was the first?"
"Being loved by a man who would want the child as much as she." Caine reached out his hand and cupped Peter's cheek in his large palm.
Closing his eyes and resting his face in the caress, Peter whispered, "I guess my mother was very wise, wasn't she?"
"Yes. And she would be very happy knowing she was going to have a grandchild."
"Would she?"
"She would be even happier than I."
"That would be pretty happy, wouldn't it, Pop?"
"Yes."