68. Jasmine

68

JASMINE

A fter singing a few songs to Morelle, Jasmine glanced at her watch. Another half an hour had passed, and Ell-rom still wasn't back.

Any reasonable person would get worried by now, right? She wouldn't be perceived as a hovering girlfriend if she called to find out what was keeping them. Maybe they needed a lift?

What if Ell-rom was so totally exhausted that he couldn't walk?

Could Julian carry him?

Her car was somewhere in the clan's parking garage so she could go get them. Pulling out her phone, she dialed Julian's number. It rang several times before the doctor answered.

"Is everything alright, Jasmine?"

"Yes, here, everything's fine," she assured him quickly. "I just wanted to check on Ell-rom. Gertrude told me you took him for a walk outside, and I started to worry that you might have wandered too far away and needed a lift back here."

He chuckled. "If there was a need for a lift, I could have called a taxi. Ell-rom has enjoyed being outside, and we have taken frequent breaks to rest. The longer we have walked, the longer the breaks have gotten. The last one lasted nearly an hour. But he has been doing remarkably well. The fresh air and change of scenery seem to be doing him good."

Jasmine took the first deep breath in what seemed like hours. "That's wonderful. When do you think you'll be heading back?"

"It might still take a while. We are on 4th Street, and we will need to take another break soon. Why don't you come to meet us?"

Jasmine was on her feet before Julian had finished speaking. "I'm coming," she said, ending the call while heading for the door.

She paused with her hand on the handle and turned to look at the nurse over her shoulder. "I'm going to meet them on 4th Street, and we will return together."

"I'll be here," Gertrude said.

The elevator ride up to the lobby seemed to take forever, with Jasmine's foot tapping an impatient rhythm on the floor. When the doors finally opened, she strode out, waved at the guards at the reception desk, and walked out through the sliding doors.

The bright sunlight momentarily blinded her as she stepped outside, the sounds and smells of the city assaulting her senses.

It must have been overwhelming for Ell-rom to experience all of this for the first time.

Shading her eyes with her hand, Jasmine oriented herself and headed toward the intersection.

Hopefully, she was going in the right direction.

The truth was that without her scrying stick, she was really bad at navigating anywhere, even the city streets she knew pretty well.

When she reached the crosswalk, she spotted two familiar figures approaching. Ell-rom was leaning heavily on Julian, his steps slow, and he had a baseball cap on, so she couldn't see his face, but she knew him so well that she could imagine his look of determination.

As she hurried towards them, she could see the toll the excursion had taken on Ell-rom. His face was pale, and his legs seemed to tremble, but his eyes were alight with excitement.

He smiled. "Missed me?"

"Tremendously." She leaned to kiss his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Ell-rom admitted, "but also exhilarated. A few days ago, I wouldn't have lasted even one-tenth of the way."

Julian nodded. "He's done remarkably well, but he's stubborn as a mule. When he heard you were coming, he refused to sit on the bench and wait."

"I can make it to the clinic," Ell-rom said. "With your help, of course."

Ell-rom was leaning heavily on Julian, with his excitement seemingly the only thing keeping him on his feet.

"We could stop at the lobby café," she suggested. "That's another experience that you can add to your collection."

Julian shook his head. "We have to get back to the clinic and try the synthetic blood while Ell-rom is still riding this wave of accomplishment."

She shifted her gaze to Ell-rom, who didn't wince and didn't grimace. "Wish me luck. Maybe I can overcome my aversion today."

Jasmine's eyes widened in surprise.

Ell-rom looked exhausted but also determined. Perhaps getting him to this state had been Julian's plan all along.

There was something to be said for riding the wave of achievement.

Sometimes, when she hit a note she couldn't hit before, she became euphoric and sang better than ever before.

"You can do it." She fell into step beside him and took his hand.

To passersby and those sitting in the cars whizzing past, they must have looked like an odd trio, with Ell-rom leaning on Julian, who had his arm wrapped around Ell-rom's middle, and Jasmine walking beside them and holding his hand.

They probably thought that Ell-rom had too much to drink and his friends were helping him get home.