Your One & Only(33)

Jack had no idea what it meant, but someone wanted to destroy the labs, and possibly kill him, and they’d very nearly succeeded.

“You should both head to the clinic, get yourselves looked at,” Sam said.

“I told you I’m fine,” Jack said, grateful Sam had distracted Althea from her questions.

Sam gave him a sideways glance, frowning. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s nothing.” He was being stubborn, but it’d been a long night.

The fire still blazed. A hose had been hauled all the way from the river. Shouts came from those fighting the fire, and pockets of clones stood in clusters of the nine models. They touched each other’s shoulders and backs in nervous, unconscious movements as they gazed unblinking at the destruction. When they weren’t watching the fire, their eyes veered toward Jack, and they huddled closer to their sisters or brothers.

“You don’t seem to understand, Jack,” Sam said. “You’ll take the blame for this. Go to the clinic. Take Althea-310 and go.”





Chapter Eleven


ALTHEA


The clinic was cold, and Althea pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and watched as the Samuels adjusted the machines Nyla-313 had been hooked up to. She hadn’t woken yet, but the constant beeps from the monitors told Althea the Samuels had done all they could, and now they simply had to wait.

“Will she be okay?” Althea asked.

One of them nodded. “I think she’ll wake up soon.”

Nyla’s sisters were outside the door, insisting that they had to get into the triage room. They needed to see Nyla, touch her, assure themselves she’d be okay. Althea knew how they must feel. It was like that with her sisters, too. They experienced the anxiety or pain of another sister like something lodged in their bones. But with Nyla still asleep, they wouldn’t be able to comfort her in the way they were used to.

Althea wanted to ask Jack again how the disaster at the labs had happened. He slouched tiredly next to her in one of the clinic’s stiff-backed chairs. He’d refused the blanket Samuel-299 had offered. His clothes, still damp and stained with ash, smelled bitterly of smoke, and a bandage wrapped his arm.

Nyla-313 had been locked in Jack’s room, and it must have been Jack who locked her in. What was she doing there? Growing up, she and Nyla had told each other everything, or at least she thought they had, but something was going on that Althea knew nothing about. She folded her arms in frustration. Jack obviously didn’t want to talk about it. She’d seen him last night. He’d been distraught. She was sure something had happened between him and Nyla.

She briefly considered whether he’d had something to do with Nyla being in danger, but she’d seen the way he raced away into the building. Jack had saved her, and he’d done it without thinking, ignoring the danger, almost dying himself. He couldn’t have tried to harm Nyla.

Althea knew she should go back to the dorms and be with her sisters, but she wanted to make sure Nyla was okay. And Jack couldn’t leave. He’d stood earlier as if he wanted to, and Samuel-299 had almost imperceptibly shaken his head, causing Jack to sit back down, resigned.

“Do they think you started the fire?” Althea asked finally.

Jack shrugged. “Probably.”

He acted like he didn’t care, but she could tell he did by the way he sank farther into his seat. A clock on the wall ticked steadily, punctuating the beeps from the monitors. Althea was warm now, but Jack’s shirt clung clammily against his chest. She unwrapped herself from the blanket and offered it to him. He accepted it this time, shrugging it over his shoulders.

“I don’t know what happened with Nyla, but I was at the cottage with you last night. I’ll tell them.”

Jack shifted in his seat. “Thanks,” he said.

“She’s waking up,” a Samuel said, and Althea jumped from her chair.

Nyla moaned and twisted her head away from Samuel-299’s penlight as he pried her eyelids open.

“Nyla,” Samuel-299 said. “How are you feeling?”

She brushed his hand away and squinted her eyes, seeing Samuel-299, Althea, and the other Samuels in the room.

“Hey,” Althea said. “Are you okay?”

Nyla smiled at Althea, reached for her hand. “My head hurts.”

When they touched, Althea felt her friend’s confusion more strongly.

“There was a fire. Do you know what happened?”

Nyla’s smile dropped slightly as she sorted through her memory.

The sound of a chair scraping the floor made Althea turn her head to see Jack making his way to the door. He’d been concerned all morning about Nyla, as anxious as she was to be sure she was okay. Now that Nyla was awake, he didn’t want to be in the room with her.

Samuel-299 nodded to another Samuel, indicating that he should follow Jack out.

“Jack?” Althea said. After everything he’d done to save Nyla, she didn’t understand why he wanted to leave now.

Then Nyla saw Jack, and her clasp tightened on Althea’s hand. Nyla’s fear seeped into Althea like a current. Nyla sat up in the bed and Samuel-299 eased her back down.

“What’s he doing here?” Nyla said, her voice shaking. “He tried to kill me!”

Jack’s eyes widened. Althea saw the surprise there, but she couldn’t help from stepping protectively between him and Nyla. Jack saw her shield Nyla from him, and his shoulders tensed.