45. Jasmine

45

JASMINE

" W hy did no one call me when Ell-rom woke up?" Jasmine accused.

It was possible that Julian had forgotten to tell his mother, but Jasmine doubted that. The guy wasn't forgetful.

"Ell-rom didn't want me to call you," Bridget said. "He wanted you to enjoy your time with your friends, and I agreed with him."

Ell-rom was all alone in the bathroom, without anyone to stand by the door in case he needed help.

"What if he falls down and hurts himself?"

Bridget smiled. "We would know and go help him. Stop worrying." She opened the clinic door for Gertrude, who walked in with two trays.

"Dinner time." Bridget took one of the trays from the nurse and turned to Jasmine. "Can you please get the door?"

"Yes, of course." She opened the door to Ell-rom's room and held it open for Bridget and Gertrude to go in.

If Bridget was okay with Ell-rom being alone in the bathroom, then there was no reason for him to remain in the clinic.

After the doctor and nurse placed the trays on the side table, Jasmine followed Bridget to her office. "When do you think Ell-rom will be ready to move out of the clinic? I don't think he should be here anymore. He can stay with me in the penthouse, and we can come down here every day for the rehabilitation."

For a long moment, Bridget seemed to be mulling it over. "What happens the next time you want to go to the café and there is no one in the penthouse to keep an eye on your prince?"

That was a good point. "I'll take him with me."

Jasmine expected Bridget to laugh at the ludicrous suggestion, but the doctor seemed to take it seriously. "Give him one more night here, and tomorrow he can move to the penthouse."

"Thank you." Jasmine felt like hugging Bridget, but the doctor didn't seem to be the type who enjoyed that sort of thing. "I owe you and Julian and Gertrude so much. You have all basically put your lives on hold to care for Ell-rom and Morelle."

Surprisingly, that was the part that got a chuckle out of Bridget. "Thank you. We like being appreciated, but we are not doing this for you."

"I know. But still, I need to express my gratitude."

Bridget nodded. "You are welcome. Now, go eat dinner with your prince before it gets cold."

"Yes. I will." She rushed back into the room.

Ell-rom should have been out by now. Was he showering again?

She was about to ask if he was okay in there, but when the door opened, a transformed prince came out of the bathroom.

"Wow, Ell-rom." Jasmine put a hand over her heart, and tears misted her eyes. "You look so handsome, so dignified."

"Thank you." He smiled shyly. "I wanted to look more presentable for my sister's visit."

Jasmine lost the war with the tears, and they spilled out of her eyes in a gush.

Ell-rom's expression turned horrified. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She waved a hand. "These are happy tears. I'm just overwhelmed with joy."

She was overreacting, and she blamed the actor in her. Jasmine had been trained not to stifle her feelings. She was taught to embrace and amplify them so she could reenact them, but it didn't work with every emotion. She didn't do that with negative emotions because she knew instinctively that it was dangerous to let those feelings loose. But happy ones, well, they could get as wild as they wanted to go.

Ell-rom walked toward her as fast as the walker allowed, and when he reached her, he cupped her cheek and leaned over to take her lips in a gentle kiss. "I'm glad you are so happy about me wearing the things you got for me."

Jasmine shook her head. "It's not about that. It's just that seeing you dressed like this indicates how much you have improved in such a short time. It's silly, but I feel as if it's in part my achievement."

"It is certainly your achievement." He kissed her softly. "I would not be here without your help."

Jasmine took a long, shuddering breath. "Let's eat before the Clan Mother gets here. We need to be done with dinner and clear the space."

As they sat down, she unfolded the big paper napkin and draped it over her lap, then looked at him pointedly, hinting that he should do the same.

"Is this part of the dining etiquette?" he asked as he followed her example. "Or is it just prudent to protect my nice clothing?"

She was glad that Ell-rom wasn't shy about asking. There was still so much he had to learn, and the best way to do that was by asking a lot of questions.

"Right now, it's just practical." She started removing the lids from the various dishes. "It's part of the etiquette when you dine with cloth napkins and real utensils."

Ell-rom removed the lids from the dishes on his tray and frowned at the scoops of hummus in three different colors. "What is this?"

It was nearly impossible to explain, assuming that none of the ingredients grew on Anumati. "It's a paste made from a kind of bean and mixed with different flavors. The green one is spicy, and the red one is probably spicy as well. The purple and the yellow are fine." She took one of the pita chips that came with it, dipped it in the wasabi-flavored hummus, and put it in her mouth.

It delivered a nice punch but wasn't too spicy.

"Is that how people usually eat this dish?" Ell-rom picked up one of the pita chips.

"There are many ways to eat it, but I like scooping it up with the chips."

For several moments, they focused on sampling all the dishes, with Ell-rom asking what was what, and Jasmine explaining as best she could.

"How is Frankie?" Ell-rom asked when they were half done with dinner.

"I got to meet Frankie's cousin, Angelica. She's a beauty technician and quite the character. But the really interesting part was that Edgar showed up, and the two of them unexpectedly clicked. There was definitely chemistry there."

Ell-rom frowned. "Edgar is the pilot, right? The one who helped search for our pod?"

"That's the one."

She still hadn't told Ell-rom about her fling with Edgar, but it never seemed like the right time.

"If he's immortal, I assume that he is a member of Annani's clan?"

"He is."

"Then how come he has never met Angelica before? Is the clan so big that not everyone knows everyone else?"

"Angelica is human, and so was Frankie until not too long ago. I'm not sure if she's a Dormant, though. If Frankie and Angelica's mothers are sisters, then she definitely is. Otherwise, she probably isn't."

Ell-rom tilted his head. "What determines if someone is a Dormant?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely clear on all the details," Jasmine admitted. "The Clan Mother would be able to explain it much better than I can, so save that question for her."