Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(87)
But today would not be that day. He knew that Caitlyn would be here, waiting to see his rival. Garrett was by all accounts a good man from his previous dealings with him; but the knowledge that his father was the head of the Cine Tofa made him very uneasy, more so was the three years Garrett spent under his father’s tutelage. When he came to his father with this information, frustratingly he found out that the Tribunal had always known this. Garrett had given them full disclosure, and had been more than stellar in this role as an Inquisitor, with words of praise falling from the Tribunal’s lips at the things Garrett had uncovered.
Unfortunately for Garrett, Lionel may have been privy to this information, which could have caused Lionel’s ire towards Garrett in the first place. They would not know for certain until Garrett awoke. Upon the Council’s insistence, they still wanted the information about Garrett’s true identity kept quiet. They insisted that Garrett was not a threat to the Trust, and to make his identity known would only cause problems. Declan was not pleased with this and certainly did not agree, but he would accept the determination of the Council as he always had. The Council had put a gag order on Caitlyn, Caleb, and himself regarding this matter. However, while he agreed to keep his identity a secret, it would be irresponsible of him not to ferret out as much information on him as possible. Where Garrett was otherwise incapacitated, he needed to go to Caitlyn to see if Garrett had perhaps unknowingly provided her some information.
He walked into the Healer’s Center on the other side of the campus. He never liked this building, they kept it stark white and it seemed so cold and unfeeling; the exact opposite of what the Healer’s really were. He passed room after room before reaching the white desk at the end of the hall.
A young healer looked up from her paperwork, smiling at him. “Is there something I can help you with? Declan, isn’t it?”
He hated being so well known within the organization. It always seemed to make his job so much harder. Yet, Garrett, who is the son of Nathaniel, enjoyed the perks of anonymity. He by all accounts should be more famous than Declan, and yet, people just thought him Garrett Stevens, son of Mary, not Garrett Livingston. He turned his thoughts back to the young woman. “Yes, Declan McPherson. Is Garrett Stevens awake?”
The girl pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, I can’t disclose any person information about a person who may or may not be in here. Only immediate family may get updates on the status of a patient.”
Declan expected that response. Caitlyn must be going out of her mind at this point if she was not allowed to see Garrett. “I understand. Do you know if Caitlyn Young is around? She would have been here to see Mr. Stevens and I am sure she is very upset. They are… very close.”
The girl nodded, and pointed her hand down the hall on the right. He passed through a set of double doors and saw Caitlyn sitting on a bench. Her face was buried in her hands, and he could tell she had been crying. Declan sat down next to her, wrapping his left arm around her in comfort. “I heard they are not letting anyone see Garrett. Are you okay?” He thought to her.
She responded by burying her face now in his shoulder. Sobs racked her tiny frame and her arms clung to Declan in desperation. “They won’t even tell me if he is here, never mind if he is alright. They are stating… for security reasons. I would have been better off taking him to a regular hospital!”
“They would have just transported him back here. Trust me when I say that he is in much better hands here. These are the strongest healers in the entire Trust. I think that sometimes the policy they have in place is stupid, but in his case, he is better off. He has some people that are most likely after him. To be honest, Caitlyn, they probably have Garrett at an undisclosed location for his treatment. They do that for their high profile members, and as you and I both know now, he is very high profile.”
Caitlyn’s tears began to subside. Rubbing her eyes, she lifted her head to look at him. “I know. You know, I am not even sure what to make of all of this. I never thought Garrett would hide anything from me, and yet, this information…”
Declan pressed his lips together, gently caressing her hair to soothe her. “Caitlyn, I need to talk to you about all of that and what you know. In private. After my research on my own, I was just made privy to information by the Council and in order to do my job, I need to know as much information as possible about him. Would you be okay with this?”
“Yes.”
Declan thought for a moment on where to take her to talk. He would have suggested the forest clearing, but after yesterday, that would be too emotional for both him and her. The last thing he needed was for her to feel guilt ridden on top of all the uncertainty that she was already saddled with. It would be best if they went somewhere neutral. He thought that one of his apartments he had been setting up over the years would be a good location. He knew that several of them would be compromised; but there were a couple that he knew the Trust and Lionel were not aware of. At this point, he needed some place that was completely safe for the two of them. If Lionel was still alive, he doubted Lionel had time to recover and regroup, but it was better to be safe than sorry. “I want to take some precautions and go to a secure location. I have an apartment in London that should be safe to go to.”