Read Online Betrothed Episode One by Odette C. Bell - Free Book Online

my
chest.
    With a
stiff back and sweaty hands, I repositioned myself and stared out
of the tiny window beside me.
    Suddenly
the view wasn’t beautiful – it was intimidating.
    I was in
a future I didn’t understand.
    I
brought my shaking hands up and stared at them.
    People
were trying to tell me I wasn’t Annie Carter, but I knew I
was.
    How
couldn’t I?
    These
were my hands.
    That old
scar across my thumb was from where I’d trapped it in the car door
as a kid.
    I shifted back and pulled up the light white fabric of my
tunic. Sure enough, the scar from my appendix surgery was still
there. I tracked my thumb across it just to check it was
real.
    Then I
turned my hands over and stared at my knuckles. Then down at my
wrists, then up my arms.
    I slowly
and progressively stared at every inch of my body.
    It was
me, alright.
    Annie
Carter.
    And I
could remember my life just fine.
    I would never forget my family crowding around me in the
hospital, my mother sobbing as the doc told her there was no
cure for my
virus.
    I even
remembered my dad’s decision to freeze me.
    I could
still see his worry-lined face.
    Christ,
I would never ever be able to wash those memories away – they were
etched into my bones.
    I pulled
my arms around my middle and hugged myself.
    Then I
squeezed my eyes tightly closed.
    Something terrible was happening and I was so confused -
running only on instincts. .
    It was
everyone else who was confused. But with grit, logic, and a calm
mind, I’d be able to make them see sense.
    All I
had to do was get to Mark. He knew I was Annie Carter. Then he’d
help me contact the institute on Earth, and they’d be able to
confirm it too.
    My eyes
suddenly shot open.
    I
brought my hand up and clutched the implant in the side of my
neck.
    It would
be able to confirm my identity.
    ...
Except it wasn’t there.
    There
was a tiny scar instead.
    My eyes
jerked wide and my fingers froze as they groped at the point under
my left ear.
    What the
hell was happening? Why had my implant been removed?
    Just
when I’d thought I’d be able to get through this with a calm
rational mind, fear flooded back in.
    I let my hands drop to my lap as I stiffly turned to stare at
the view.
    Then I cried, unashamedly.
    ...
    When
Mark came to see me, I was curled up in a ball on my bed. I was
like a frightened animal trying to remove themselves from danger by
making themselves as small as they could.
    As soon
as I heard the door open with a strange pneumatic hiss, I curled up
tighter, sure it was the doctor ready to assure me for the
umpteenth time that I was just confused.
    “ You trying to become a tire? Because you’re not round enough.
You’ll have to chop off your feet.”
    It was
Mark.
    I
shivered and snapped up.
    He was
standing in the open door, one hand in his pocket as he leaned
against the frame.
    He
stared at me.
    For a
few seconds, his gaze had that same odd intensity he’d used on me
yesterday. The one that told me he was looking at me – really
looking at me.
    I
swallowed.
    Then he
flashed me a smile. “Is that all the hello I get?”
    “ M-Mark?”
    He
pushed off from the wall and walked into the room, his gait easy
and his glance friendly. “You’re alright now, Miranda. The doc
checked you out. Just a bit of confusion. But once it’s gone,
you’ll be as right as rain.”
    I stared
at him.
    There
was nothing else I could do.
    Miranda?
    Mark
knew me.
    He was one of the first people I saw after waking up from my
cryo-sleep. He’d always shown an interest in me, always been there
for me.
    And now
he was calling me Miranda.
    He took
another step into the room, but I pressed myself against the wall
to get away from him.
    “ Hey,” he said softly, “it’s okay. I know you’re
confused.”
    I
swallowed and found my voice, “I’m not confused. I know who I
am.”
    “ You had a tiny little stroke.” He plucked his hand from his
pocket and pressed two fingers together. “And it’s making you a bit
confused.