Wintermoon Ice (2010) (28 page)

Chapter Twenty

Tessa

To the warrior, trust and rest are the same word.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish
, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Tessa listened to the drone of machines for a long time. A smell, sharp and antiseptic, helped to place her. People came and went, touching her with cool, efficient hands. Other people spoke quietly -- asked questions, gave answers. Eventually the words resolved themselves into some sort of order. A voice -- Jane's -- was blessedly familiar. Another, deep and strangely accented, was not.

"She'll be all right?"

"Yes, just a nasty bump on the head, I believe. But you should get back into bed, love."

Was that Jane saying love?
Tessa thought she must have misunderstood. She opened one eye a tiny crack, just in time to see Jakob brush Jane's hair away from her face and then kiss her forehead tenderly.

"It will be a dog sleep for me. Call us when she wakes, eh?"

Jane nodded and smiled. "Shouldn't be too much longer."

Okay. This must be a dream, because I didn't just see what I thought I did. And anyway, Jakob's voice is all wrong...

Her eyelid slipped down, and it did feel as though she must have been asleep. Some time later, she woke again. She lay in bed, drowsy, warm -- trying and trying to picture how she got there. Her last clear memory was of the sulky nurse making coffee in the kitchen, and then Jakob talking to her in the hall.

He had been upset about something.

That funny dream returned, and made Tessa suddenly nervous. Was it possible, somehow, that Jakob had turned to Jane?

She opened both her eyes, wondering what she would see. The drab ceiling did not cause any distress, but neither did it give her any useful information. Exceedingly slowly, Tessa turned her head, and forced her blurry vision to focus. Hospital room, two beds. Ugly wall color, bland pictures. White metal table, plastic jug, box of tissues.

Someone stood abruptly, and Tessa could hear the sound of a magazine hitting the floor. "Tessa? Are you awake?"

A froth of questions bubbled free. "Jane... Is that you? Where am I? What happened?"

Jane stood by the side of the bed. "Yes, it's me. And you are in St. Luke's, recovering from a concussion. How do you feel?"

"Okay, I guess. My head hurts a little. How... How did I get here?"

She smiled. "Tom brought you. The hospital is going to have to offer him a staff position at this rate. He was hurt too, but I hardly had time to do anything before he said he had to get back again. Suvi was waiting for him."

"What? When? I don't remember seeing Tom."

Jane dragged over a chair and sat down. "What
do
you remember?"

"Bringing Lut back here. You telling us he was going to be all right. A... weird dream."

"What sort of dream?"

"Um. A man kissing you on the forehead."

She watched as Jane's face turned an incriminating shade of crimson. "I thought you were still out of it. God, this is so unprofessional. I didn't want anyone to know until..."

Tessa struggled up to her elbows, absolutely furious. "Jane! I can't believe you. You stole my boyfriend while I was unconscious?"

Jane's mortified expression changed to one of surprise. "What? Tessa, calm down. It isn't what you think. That was..."

Tessa shouted over her reassurances. "How could you? I know he was angry at me, over Tristan, but honestly... That's why we had to go back to Severnessa, to try and catch up with..." She stopped, and took a deep breath. "My god. The building... It came down like a card palace. Jakob held the last beam up. He told me to leave him." She started to cry as her memory sharpened. "Jakob... He must have been crushed."

Jane handed her a tissue and then patted her back. "It's all right, Tessa. He didn't die. The roof fell in such a way that he had a little breathing space. Then when Tom got back, he and Suvi managed to get him out."

"R... Really? You aren't just saying that to cushion the blow for later?"

"Is my bedside that good?" Jane laughed. "If you don't believe me, just wait a minute." She picked up the phone by the bed and dialed. "She's conscious." There was a pause as she listened. "Okay, but give us a few moments to run some tests."

Tessa stared at Jane, wondering why she looked so happy. The only answer she could think of was very worrisome. "Why
did
Jakob kiss you then?"

Jane blushed ferociously, and the sheen of sweat on her nose made her glasses slide down. "That wasn't Jakob," she said quietly, as she pushed them back up again. "It was Lut."

* * * *

Jakob put the phone back in its cradle, and climbed stiffly from his bed. His brother lay on his side in the adjoining bed, pretending to nap. He shook his shoulder gently. "Tessa's awake." A pale blue robe lay at the bottom of the bed, and Jakob wound it round his hospital-issue pajamas and the sling that held his right arm close to his chest.

Lut sat up very slowly, wincing with pain. "Are you going to tell her what happened?"

He shook his head. "No. Not yet anyway. Not until I understand it myself."

"You sure? That beast could be dangerous."

Jakob frowned, remembering the conversation he had with the voice that had called itself Ember. "It sounded harmless to me."

"You
talked
to it?"

"Not a long conversation, but yes I did -- in Dalvolk. I said, 'Creature living in Tessa, what is your name?' And she said Ember. Then I asked if she could move Tessa quickly and she agreed."

Lut fixed him with a piercing blue eye. "Is that all?"

Jakob shrugged, a little embarrassed. "She said she loved me. But that was probably Tessa talking. I think this Ember must be a stray piece of anafireon or something." The one thing he didn't mention was the most perplexing. Ember had called him
Mariner
.

"A stray piece of Anafireon who happens to speak Dalvolk? I don't think so. You said yourself that your connection with Tessa is very strong. You'd best take care."

"Thanks for the warning, but I think I'll take my chances. There is one thing I don't understand though -- Tessa must have inherited her ability to gap shift from someone. Given her blond hair, I'd say that Tom must be her grandfather. What do you think?"

Lut turned his head and carefully poured himself a drink of water before he answered. "That is none of our affair, Jakob. It is all ancient history now. Like Ma's death."

Jakob sighed. "Lut... For what it's worth, I'm truly sorry Tristan got away again."

"Doesn't matter. I reckon we can let it go for awhile."

Jakob was surprised at this. "We... We can?"

"Aye. There will come a time when you and I go hunting for that field of yellow flowers. But not yet. I think we might just rest and mend our nets awhile, eh?"

Jakob thought about Tessa, and Suvi Markku's snug cottage, Seadrift. "Yes," he agreed softly. "I like that plan of yours." He looked towards the door, and a passing white-clad nurse. "I'm going to see her. Are you coming with me?"

Lut stood and scratched his clean-shaven chin. "Wouldn't miss a chance to visit my doctor lady, would I?" The brothers eyed one another and then broke into laughter.

Jakob placed his good arm over Lut's shoulders and tugged his braid playfully. "I think she must be the best damned doctor in the world to be able to stitch a smile on your grumpy mug."

"Aye," said Lut, thoughtfully. "No arguments there."

They waited outside the door until the neurologist had finished her business. Then Jakob crossed the room to Tessa's bed and sat down by her side. "All right?"

"Yes. I'm going to be fine. Just a bump on the head." Her eyes went wide as she noticed the sling. "But you?"

"Smashed collar bone. Takes ages to mend, apparently, even though they screwed a metal plate into it. Looks like I won't be doing any fishing for a while. Do you think maybe I could stay with you?"

She grinned wickedly. "Of course. As long as you don't talk too much. And maybe, when you are better, Joe will give you a job on the
Damsel
."

Jakob looked to his brother and smiled. "If Lut doesn't get it first. I think he might be hanging around
Cloudy
Bay
as well."

Lut and Jane sat side by side at the foot of the bed, close but not touching.

"Where shall we start?" Jane asked.

Tessa gave her a mock frown. "You first, Dr. Piper. You have some major explaining to do."

Jane spoke to her fingernail as she chewed it. "Well, remember I said I'd go and sit with Lut while you went with Jakob? He had quite a few questions, once he was awake enough to ask them. So we talked, a lot, and some time during those conversations, we found that we..."

Lut chuckled broadly and took her hand. "...Both hate other people!"

"Well, yeah. Turns out we have quite a lot of stuff in common," Jane corrected. "And Lut is going to teach me to sail." He nodded. "I'll probably be really awful." Lut nodded again, more firmly. Jane laughed and slapped his arm. "I saved your life, so you had better be nice to me."

"Ow! Gently, girl. Better me than Jakob. He will hold you upside down with your head over the stern if you don't do what you are told."

"That's what you did to me when we were ten!" Jakob roared.

Tessa could hardly take it all in. She turned to Jakob. "But... But you said he was angry at you!"

He shrugged. "We made up."

Tessa and Jane exchanged bemused glances, both sure there was quite a saga behind those three little words. "So... After Tom and Suvi got you out of the rubble, then what happened?"

"I stayed around long enough to help Tom finish demolishing Carina. He wanted to make sure the Portal stayed buried."

Tessa frowned. "Was he with Suvi? Did they..."

Jakob, who had been watching his brother, broke in quickly. "I think so. Tom said they were coming to
Cloudy
Bay
, but not our time, obviously. So I left them to it and came back here."

"How long ago was that?"

"Two days," Jane said briskly. "Ellie stayed with you practically the whole time as well. I should call and give her the good news." She smiled at Lut. "Want to get some coffee? We should give these two some time to catch up."

"Aye." He turned back to Tessa. "You did well, girl." Lut's bright blue eyes had a merry twinkle. "Keeping up with that brother of mine can't be easy."

Tessa smiled. "Thank you. I am so pleased to finally meet my ghost." She grinned at Jane. "But it seems like I'm not the one in love with him after all."

Jane looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue as they left together. Tessa stared at the open doorway, shaking her head.
Jane and Lut...

"What do you think?" she asked Jakob.

He shook his head. "I think she has her hands full. Lut isn't the easiest person to get along with."

"Unlike you," Tessa said under her breath, but he heard her anyway, and burst into delighted laughter.