Dying to Remember (The Station #2) (7 page)

"How
about we take a break with this conversation? Maybe take a walk, get some fresh
air?" Niles asks our visitor.

I try
desperately not to scowl at him. I know he is trying to help, but really? The
air is the same here as it is 'outside'. And the only difference in the scenery
is one water fountain and an overwhelming sense of dazzling ambiance. But I
jump on it anyway. I need a break from 'The Keeper'.

"Sounds
great." I turn on the soles of my feet, walking quickly to the door. Just
as I'm reaching out for the knob a hand touches my shoulder, making me gasp
from the electrical current.

"Before you
go, I must ask you one thing," Rush says quietly behind me. His hand still
rests on my shoulder and I feel
him
coursing through me. I'm not sure if
I like the feeling or not.

"What?"
I hiss through my clenched teeth.

"Why do
I frighten you?"

"You're joking,
right?"

"I do
not
joke
, Piper Willow. At least, not
here
." Despite my
annoyance with him, I search his eyes and see nothing but interest staring back
at me.

"Well,
Rush
,
perhaps you should work on your bedside manner."

I shrug his
hand off my shoulder, breaking the connection between us and hurry through the
door way out into the empty hall before he has another chance to stop me. I
don't turn around to look back until I'm on the other side of the fountain with
at least one hundred aimless people wandering between me and that…that…
what
is he?
He's not a man.
Obviously.

"Crap."

I sit down on
the ground with my back resting on the cool brick base of the fountain. Hoping
no one I know finds me. I'm still shaking from my conversation with Rush. Now I
really kick myself for not being a better Science student or missing out on
Philosophy in college. Not that it matters. Not really. Nothing here -
nothing
at the Station would make sense to anyone still alive.

"Crap,"
I say again.

With my knees
tucked up high and my chin resting on top of them, I'm staring straight ahead
of me, and jump a little when the Station gate opens. A woman in a long and
flowy pink nightgown passes through the gage with a clipboard in one hand. She
has a look on her face I recognize; a forced smile that attempts to say
'Everything
will be just fine,'
but fails miserably. She just told someone they were
dead. There is no way to do that with a real smile.

The
thirty-something woman that falls in behind her is Hispanic with long and dark
hair pulled back into a braid so that you can see the round shape of her face.
She looks numb and dazed, not really taking in the people around her. She
simply stares at the back of the Intake Specialist while the two of them move
slowly toward the Admission's Department.
Just another New Arrival.

After looking
at the faces of the people that are milling in and out of the buildings within
my view, I wonder if as many of them leave as often as new people arrive at the
Station. The whole set-up here flows without flaw. I wish I knew how it worked.
How this whole place works. It dawns on me then that there is an
individual
here I could ask, and probably get the answers I seek.

When I jump
up, I turn to run back to the Staff building but collide right into his chest
before moving two feet. The force of stumbling into him, combined with his
static aura sends me flying backwards and had Rush not reached out to steady
me, I would have fallen flat on my butt. He let's go of me the moment I regain
my balance, as if he knows his touch on my skin is not wanted.

Well, of
course you know.

With a tilt
of his head, he turns away from me and smiles wryly. I notice that outside he
does not glow as he did indoors. To anyone passing by, he must simply appear to
be another one of us; another Volunteer or Staff member. There is a shine to
his gaze though; a glossy sort of film that covers his eyes that anyone else
might miss. I don't. And I try desperately not to stare at his eyes or the
chiseled shape of his face while he speaks.

"I told
you I want to teach you. I did not expect to frighten you. If my approach
was…shall we say, inappropriate, I do apologize," he pauses to gauge my
reaction which is stunned silence, before he continues with a nod, "It's
just that…your hormone levels suggested you might respond better if I was to
engage in a more direct approach. I realize now, that might be due to recent
events and…because of someone else."

We stare at
each other for at least a full minute before I laugh hard enough to draw the
attention of everyone within fifty feet of us. His reaction is one I've yet to
see; a shy smile plays at the corner of his lips and he briefly casts his
ethereal eyes down to the ground.

I attempt to
stifle a laugh behind my hand. "Are you telling me…that was your version
of flirting?" Rush's eyes sparkle slightly as he gives me a curt nod and a
snicker escapes around my fingers before I have a chance to lower my hand.

"It
seems you aren't the only one in need of a little teaching around here,"
he says. "Perhaps we should just start over?" He sticks his hand out
between us and I glance down at his long and slender fingers. "Hi, my name
is Andurush and I'm very pleased to meet you, Piper."

I'm no longer
suspended from Volunteering. Niles informs me of this after he finds me hiding
out in the Ones building. Rush wandered off after our talk at the fountain and
thankfully it was in the opposite direction. I have no idea where he went and I
tell myself I don't care. Working seems to be distracting me a little, enough
at least to pretend I never met Rush. Since returning back to my job, I've
assisted two children down the last Station hallway they will walk. One, an
eleven year old girl who refused to speak to me, and the second a nine year old
boy who wouldn't
stop
talking.

When Niles
shows up again, I'm tired and weary and not at all interested in another
meeting of the minds. So it's a nice surprise when he tells me I can go back to
being a Volunteer, but there is a catch.

"Experiment?
Did they actually use that word?"

"Yes,
they did. I found it surprising myself but in fairness it wasn't really our
decision," Niles says.

"Ah, I
see. It's
his
doing. Rush?"

Niles looks
and sounds just as flustered as I feel. "I know it might not make sense
but if you think about it, there is a bit of sensibility to what he suggests.
How else will we know?"

"How
about trusting me to do my job, as I've been trained?"

"It's
not about the training, you know that Piper."

"But
they…
he
…wants to use me as a guinea pig, you said so yourself! I'm an
experiment now, nothing more." I cross my arms over my chest indignantly.

"Piper,
aren't you even the least bit curious to see why things are different for you
than, say, Kerry-Anne or Mallory, or the rest of us here?"

Niles has a
point, but I'm too stubborn to admit it out-loud. Instead, I grumble my way
back into the Ones' playroom and hug each child goodbye with my most confidant
smile. With groups of them running around the room chasing one another, it
takes a lot longer than expected. Laney hugs me as well and tells me to come
back whenever I want. I'm not sure she'll miss me, other than for my interest
in being 'It' during endless games of tag, and my ability to hold the tears
when I see each child off to what lies beyond. She's friendly, but you need a
hard exterior to work with the children. I understand that now. Their comings
and goings take a lot out of you emotionally.

After we are
back inside the Consignment Department, Niles waits for me to sign up for my
next case. It seems like it's been forever since I was on assignment. And my
last with Abby was such a success.
Until I destroyed her Assignment Card
.
Even though I still feel badly about it, there's nothing that can be done. It's
gone and I can't undo what happened. But I do wish I had not shattered it into
a million pieces. To be fair, that wasn't entirely my fault and it was amazing
I didn't fall to the ground shattering myself into a million pieces, after
seeing Sloan in the Station.

"Here
you go," says a short, thin man with stiff and wiry hair.

My next case
is being sorted now. Feelings of apprehension twist around in my gut but I
smile confidently at the nervous looking staff member and say my goodbyes with
a nod and a wave. The glass pendant cools the palm of my hand while I stare
down at the necklace. Carefully, I drape it around my neck and meet a smiling
Niles by the volunteer board.

Names flash
across the wall; hundreds, thousands…more than I could count even if I stood
there indefinitely, because the names shift and change as volunteers arrive and
depart the Station. Niles is talking to another Intake Specialist as I dawdle
at the board, completely lost in my thoughts when a familiar name flashes in
front of me: SLOAN NASH, AWAITING ASSIGNMENT.
What…already?!

I spin around
to look for him and spot him walking across the room, a worried expression on
his handsome face. When he sees me, his features change and he greets me with a
dazzling smile.

"Hi."

"Sloan,
hey. I just saw your name come up on the board."

"Really?
That was fast," he says as he leans closer to the board, searching for his
name. I point it out to him, interestingly displayed just a few names over from
mine.

"This
will be your first, then?" I ask.

"Yeah. I
won't lie, I'm nervous as hell."

I bump his
arm playfully with my elbow and say with a little laugh, "Ahh, come on.
You'll do great."

"Let's
hope so."

He smiles
down at me and I realize we are standing only inches from each other, our arms
almost touching, with my hand dangling just centimeters from his own. Resisting
the urge to reach out and touch him, I run my hand through my hair instead,
tossing it over my shoulder. After I do, I realize he's watching me carefully,
studying my movements, staring at my hair as it falls back against my neck.

I lick my
lips, not to be seductive, but because my mouth is suddenly as dry as the
Sahara desert and when I do, Sloan bites down on his lower lip before looking
from my mouth to my eyes.

"Piper,
I…" he starts, but is interrupted by Niles and his friendly introduction.

"Mr.
Nash, what a pleasure," he says, leaning around me to shake Sloan's hand.

"Hello,
again. Mr. Abbott, right?"

"Yes,
but you can call me Niles, son."

"Nice to
see you again, Mr. uh, I mean, Niles."

"I see
you have your first case," Niles says with a hint of surprise in his
voice.

"Yeah, I
guess Piper and I will be going out around the same time."

I shift on my
feet nervously as I look between the men as they talk. One is the equivalent of
my after-life father figure and the other is the man of my dreams. Or at least,
he
was
from my dreams but now he's here. Actually standing in front of
me and I have no idea what to do about it.

"Since
you just signed up for your first case, I imagine Carlson should be around here
someplace, yes?" Niles asks.

"Oh, he
was. But he said he had paperwork and he'd be back to show me the Depot
room," Sloan answers Niles, but as he does, he looks down at me.

An idea
occurs to me and I jump on it before Niles has a chance to mess up my plan.
"Why don't I show you? I mean, if you know where it is ahead of time,
maybe it will help?"

Niles smiles
at me knowingly and I swear he's barely able to contain a wink before we part
ways and he shuffles off to another part of the Consignment Department. I'm
left standing in my pajamas next to the hottest guy in the room.
Now what?

"Shall
we?" I gesture for him to follow me into the main hall and guide him down
to the Depot room door. Right before we reach it, Sloan stops and places a
heavy hand on my shoulder.

After I turn
around slowly, I find him directly behind me. "Just…can I have a
second?" he asks.

"Sure,
take all the time you need," I answer, "I remember how nervous I was
my first time. In fact, it felt pretty much the same way as it does now,"
I laugh.

"No, no,
that's not…I meant, can I have a second with you…
alone
?"

Oh. Take all
the seconds you want.
My mouth has forgotten how to work again, so I simply
nod my head and watch him as he watches me.

"Piper,
there's something I want to ask you," he starts, but a group of loud women
come bursting out of a nearby room, forcing us to move apart as the ladies walk
between us.

"Excuse
me," a woman with frizzy brown hair says as she wiggles by Sloan with a
shy smile. I roll my eyes. It will be never-ending; the unabashed attention he
gets from women.

Once they are
out of ear-shot, Sloan reaches down and grips my hand, guiding me next to him
and over to the Depot door once again. He opens it and glances around quickly
before pulling me inside. Baffled at the fact that he is still holding my hand,
I don't hear him close the door behind me, but I see that we are alone in the
Depot room. With a gentle tug, Sloan pulls me into his chest.

My knees go
soft and threaten to buckle as he softly whispers next to my cheek, "
I've
been wanting to do this for a really long time.
"

His mouth
comes down onto mine with enough force to part my lips, but his kiss turns
gentle and warm almost immediately. A delicious shiver runs through me while my
body submits to his completely, molding into his lean form as we eagerly press
into each other. I can feel the button from his jeans pushing into my stomach.
Is
this really happening?