Read Online Aether Spirit by Cecilia Dominic - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cecilia Dominic
Ads: Link
renewal. “I should reprimand you for that, but I don’t have any authority over the engineering corps.”
“Yes, and we tinkerers are expected to have filthy mouths. We need to express ourselves when we hit a body part with something heavy or hot.”
Chad moved aside so Patrick could see Claire. She lay on her side, her glasses on the small table beside the bed. When she’d fainted, they’d magnified the curve of her eyes and her long lashes against her cheeks.
“See?” Chad said. “She’s sleeping peacefully. Her heart and lungs sound fine, but I wish I could see into her brain, find a gentle way to bring the memories back. Obviously me saying her given name was too much.”
“You could if you would only get back to working with Eros.”
“I have no way to tell what would happen if we use it with old traumas and suppressed memories. Amelie Lafitte was a different case, mostly mood with some psychosis.”
“Then you shouldn’t have been a daft idiot. What were you thinking, using Claire’s given name?”
Chad looked at his scuffed shoes, which he’d been meaning to have polished. He heard young Claire’s voice in his head.
You can’t be a doctor with shoes like that. You need shiny shoes. They command respect.
They’d been discussing their hopes and dreams for the future, as much good as that had done.
He decided to answer the question, which was easier than facing his fears of making her worse rather than better if he tried to use the Eros Element device on her. “I was trying to get her attention and make her see her given mission, to get these boys in good enough shape to go back into combat, is not in their best interest, at least not the way she was going to do it. They need time to heal without outside interference.”
“Like the interference she had?” Patrick asked. “Now who’s making comparisons that aren’t true?”
“You might be correct.” Of course he was right. Patrick had the singular talent of making Chad see reason on the rare occasions his emotions muddled his thinking. “I’m upset because no one could help her like she truly needed, and they took her away from me before I could try.”
“Of course I’m right.”
Chad had to smile. He could project confidence, but it was a rare occasion the Irishman’s feathers got ruffled. He should’ve become more suspicious in Paris when working with the Eros Element had caused both Patrick and Professor Edward Bailey to react in strange ways. But Chad had been too busy saving the people of Paris who had been abandoned by their unsympathetic and cowardly doctors. And then he’d left because his friends and then his own country needed him.
A black worm of guilt joined and twined with the jealousy snake when he thought about how the Prussians had taken the city and then civil chaos broke out, killing more people than the Prussian shelling. Would he have been enough to make a difference? He’d never know.
“Come on,” Patrick said. “Standing here isn’t going to help her, and I hate to say it, but you’re the last person she needs to see when she wakes.”
Chad sagged against the door frame. The words made sense to Chad’s head, but not to his heart.
“Let’s get lunch,” Patrick said and tugged him away from the door. “You didn’t eat breakfast, did you?”
“No, too busy.”
* * * * *
Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, Summer 1865
Claire first became aware of the light that changed in front of her eyelids, although they didn’t want to open. It was the kind of dim glow that comes with a foggy gray morning when one would rather stay abed until the smells of breakfast lured one downstairs like a persistent friend.
Then there were the smells, definitely not breakfast. Dusty wood, wet wool, and the various odors of pomade, soap, cologne, and underneath it all, people. Many people. Men, to be exact, but a few women. A rhythmic susurrus resolved into spoken French floating upon a sea of murmuring and
“Yes, and we tinkerers are expected to have filthy mouths. We need to express ourselves when we hit a body part with something heavy or hot.”
Chad moved aside so Patrick could see Claire. She lay on her side, her glasses on the small table beside the bed. When she’d fainted, they’d magnified the curve of her eyes and her long lashes against her cheeks.
“See?” Chad said. “She’s sleeping peacefully. Her heart and lungs sound fine, but I wish I could see into her brain, find a gentle way to bring the memories back. Obviously me saying her given name was too much.”
“You could if you would only get back to working with Eros.”
“I have no way to tell what would happen if we use it with old traumas and suppressed memories. Amelie Lafitte was a different case, mostly mood with some psychosis.”
“Then you shouldn’t have been a daft idiot. What were you thinking, using Claire’s given name?”
Chad looked at his scuffed shoes, which he’d been meaning to have polished. He heard young Claire’s voice in his head.
You can’t be a doctor with shoes like that. You need shiny shoes. They command respect.
They’d been discussing their hopes and dreams for the future, as much good as that had done.
He decided to answer the question, which was easier than facing his fears of making her worse rather than better if he tried to use the Eros Element device on her. “I was trying to get her attention and make her see her given mission, to get these boys in good enough shape to go back into combat, is not in their best interest, at least not the way she was going to do it. They need time to heal without outside interference.”
“Like the interference she had?” Patrick asked. “Now who’s making comparisons that aren’t true?”
“You might be correct.” Of course he was right. Patrick had the singular talent of making Chad see reason on the rare occasions his emotions muddled his thinking. “I’m upset because no one could help her like she truly needed, and they took her away from me before I could try.”
“Of course I’m right.”
Chad had to smile. He could project confidence, but it was a rare occasion the Irishman’s feathers got ruffled. He should’ve become more suspicious in Paris when working with the Eros Element had caused both Patrick and Professor Edward Bailey to react in strange ways. But Chad had been too busy saving the people of Paris who had been abandoned by their unsympathetic and cowardly doctors. And then he’d left because his friends and then his own country needed him.
A black worm of guilt joined and twined with the jealousy snake when he thought about how the Prussians had taken the city and then civil chaos broke out, killing more people than the Prussian shelling. Would he have been enough to make a difference? He’d never know.
“Come on,” Patrick said. “Standing here isn’t going to help her, and I hate to say it, but you’re the last person she needs to see when she wakes.”
Chad sagged against the door frame. The words made sense to Chad’s head, but not to his heart.
“Let’s get lunch,” Patrick said and tugged him away from the door. “You didn’t eat breakfast, did you?”
“No, too busy.”
* * * * *
Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, Summer 1865
Claire first became aware of the light that changed in front of her eyelids, although they didn’t want to open. It was the kind of dim glow that comes with a foggy gray morning when one would rather stay abed until the smells of breakfast lured one downstairs like a persistent friend.
Then there were the smells, definitely not breakfast. Dusty wood, wet wool, and the various odors of pomade, soap, cologne, and underneath it all, people. Many people. Men, to be exact, but a few women. A rhythmic susurrus resolved into spoken French floating upon a sea of murmuring and
Similar Books
