Chapter 15

                                    

                                          


                          
"Gabe, I'm fine, please let's just go back to our room and get cleaned off," I begged him. I was tired and although I loved the beach, I didn't like the salt or sand on my skin which made it feel itchy and tight. Gabe beamed.
                          
"What?" I asked him.
                          
"That's the first time you've said our room, you always say 'your room'" he commented, and I giggled at his joy.
                          
His face grew serious, and he kept walking to a wing of Illumination I had never been in before. "Where are we?" This wing didn't look like part of the original school. The walls and windows were different, and everything looked newer.
                          
"We're in the medical ward," Gabe smiled at me and brushed a kiss against my lips. I leaned into the kiss and opened my mouth to deepen it. 
                          
"Don't try to distract me, Sunshine. You are getting seen by the Doctor. To answer your question, it looks different because I had it built on to the main building after I purchased the school. We needed the extra room, and the hospital needed a different setup than the other wings." 
                          
Gabe wouldn't be budged or bribed to take me back to our rooms. He placed me on a medical bed, the kind that are in emergency rooms and have those plastic handles on the sides. I hadn't been to a hospital in years, and I'd never been sick before. When I was younger and a ward of the state, we would go to the doctor's office, but never the hospital.
                          
A man in his late twenties came strolling out of an office from the back, "Hey, Gabe, what can I do for you?"
                          
"Doc Rob, this is Alina, my Fated," the pride in Gabe's voice filled the entire room. It was the first time he had introduced me that way. It felt amazingly right. 
                          
Doc Rob smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, he didn't look mean, just sad. "What can I do for you, Alina, fated of Gabe?"
                          
I flushed at his words, "I'm fine really. Gabe's just overreacting."
                          
"She fell asleep in the caves down at the beach. Tristan had to go in after her. She banged her head, hard," Gabe told the doctor and then looked at me. "Anything else?" 
                          
I shook my head no.
                          
"Alright, let's have a look. Let me just go and wash my hands." The doctor walked over to a sink to thoroughly scrub his hands. I watched him wash, and I noticed a beautiful glowing light emanating from his hands.
                          
I stared at them, awed. The doctor noticed my staring, "Everything okay, Alina?"
                          
I looked at him, afraid if I told him what I saw he might put me in a different kind of hospital, one with padded walls and special jackets. I needed to trust someone, and Gabe would never let anyone hurt me. I sought Gabe's eyes for assurance, and he smiled encouragingly. 
                          
"I think I'm having hallucinations," I told Doc Rob cautiously. 
                          
"What do you see, Alina?" The healer asked me. 
                          
"Well, at first, I saw these golden cords that connect people," the Doctor gave a slight frown but didn't say anything. "I also saw a few things on people, like wings on a girl or scales growing up Tristan's legs."
                          
"What do the cord's look like?" Gabe questioned me. 
                          
I shrugged; I didn't want to discuss this with him. They seemed private, not to mention the fact he would surely think I was crazy. 
                          
"Mama Sue and Denny have one?" Gabe prodded. He already knew that, so I didn't think it was that big of a deal to talk about theirs. I gave a slight nod of my head. 
                          
"What did theirs look like?" Gabe asked, he came over and picked up my hand. I sighed. 
                          
I thought about it, if he really wanted to, he could pull it from my mind. "Their cord is the thickest I've ever seen." I tried to think of how to explain it, "oh and It's textured like a tree trunk. It also has vines that wrap around it, just like the vines that Sue has on her arms and legs."