Read Online Blind the Stars (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 3) by Ily Maguire - Free Book Online

plastic skin, the sheath that adheres to what was left of
my arm.
    “Wait!
Stop!” Ezekiel pushes Pike aside and pulls my hand away from tearing at my arm.
“It’s regrowing. Rose, stop!”
    “Oh.
My. God.” Dory covers her mouth, a smile spreading across it. I stare at Ezekiel
wide-eyed, frozen in place.
    “Your
arm is regenerating. You never felt that much pain before, did you?” Ezekiel
asks. I shake my head. I want to see it. I want to see what’s there. “You have
to leave it alone, though. Let it regrow as it needs to. When it’s done, we’ll
take this off.” He rubs the upper part of my bionic arm. I can feel it loud and
clear.
    “How
will I know?” I open and close my fist, anxious for a real hand. Real fingers. The
need to see inside the machine is strong enough for me to want to take it off.
Instead, I rub the cool, non-living material.
    “You
should feel it. Something more than this.” Ezekiel taps my arm lightly enough
that I don’t feel anything. I understand what he’s saying. I need more time.
    “I’m
sorry, Dory, that Dad gave you up instead of me. And I’m sorry that I was a
terrible, needy, clueless sister. I should’ve known what was going on and I
should’ve done something to make everything right. I understand now and I hope
you forgive me.” I stop rubbing my arm and hold out both hands for my sister to
take. She reaches out for me and then in one swift movement, she wraps her
scrawny arms around mine and hugs. Tight.
    “And
I’m sorry that I didn’t inform you. You should’ve had some control over your
fate.” Dory looks at me and smiles. She then becomes serious, her smile turning
straight again. “Dad was angry when you were taken. The trial was still set to
take place, this time with Evie. She was supposed to be regenerative, too. Dr.
Rush was going to take one of her organs and give it to me, but during the
operation something went wrong. Mom and Dad moved me down to the quarantine
room where I stayed for, I don’t know. I don’t know how long. They took off. I
don’t know to where. They’ve been gone ever since.”
    “And
Evie. She was never here,” I state.
    “No.
Dr. Rush ended up replacing her organs with artificial ones. Her lungs,
stomach, heart. Mom and Dad were gone and I got to the hospital to see her. The
thing is, she doesn’t heal like you do, Rose. She isn’t regenerative. She’s
been in the hospital ever since.”
    “Ever
since I disappeared,” I reiterate just to be clear.
    “But
she’s fine. She’s being taken care of. She’ll get better.” Dory’s voice starts
to sound the way it did when I first saw her. For a moment she sounded normal. She
shakes her head from side to side.
    “How
long ago was that, Dory?” I ask. I wonder if she really knows.
    “About
a month. Since you left.” Her math is wrong. Confusion has returned. She walks
over to Ezekiel. His outstretched arms welcome her. “It was last month, wasn’t
it?”
    “No,
Dory.” I walk over to her. Pike stares at the monitors. I ignore whatever it is
he’s looking at.
    “It’s
been over a year. You left her in the hospital over a year ago.” Ezekiel pulls
Dory in as her face changes from a blank stare to the realization that much
more time has passed. Her body goes from a slight tremble to a full on shake.
He wraps his arms around her and sways. It seems to work. He continues, “After
her operation, Hara was checking in on her. When we went back for her, your
sister wasn’t there. We assumed you came to take her home. I hadn’t heard from
you otherwise.”
    Dory
shakes her head. “No no no no no.”
    Ezekiel
walks her over to the couch and sits her down. She keeps shaking her head.
“Here, lie down.” He puts a pillow on the arm of the couch and guides Dory to
it. She is exhausted. She stops shaking her head, but tremors still travel
throughout her body.
    “We
need to find my sister,” I state. Pike is still in the kitchen with me.
    “We
should start by