Ricks road, p.9
Rick's Road, page 9
“I told you that I saw two go in,” Merk repeated.
“Yeah, I heard you,” Terk confirmed. “What I need to know is if more are in there or not.”
“Got it, and how will you do that?” Merk asked, with half a smile.
At that, Terk grinned. “Just watch and see, watch and see.” He turned to Rick. “Ready?”
Rick took a deep breath. “Sure, let’s do this.”
And Rick closed his eyes, searched out Cal’s energy, as Rick set up a grounding station for Cal. Almost immediately, Rick felt Cal surging his energy up and around Rick. It felt good. It felt normal. It felt whole. Rick smiled to see that he had almost no side effects to being back in this old position again. He almost reveled in it.
There was such a sense of power all around him. He couldn’t do a whole lot while he was charging the energy, but, as long as he could charge, he was doing his job. When the energy was cut off a few minutes later, he opened his eyes and looked over at Terk. “Did he get what he needed?” he asked.
“He did, and he didn’t,” Terk replied.
Just then Terk’s phone rang. Cal was put on Speaker. “Hey, Rick. What happened?”
“What do you mean, what happened?”
“That’s what I want to know. Everything was great, and then, all of a sudden, it just stopped.”
At that, Terk’s lips twitched. “I have an idea about what happened, but I don’t know for sure. Rick, it wasn’t you, was it?”
“No, not me,” he stated, “and you’re right. It felt normal, great actually. I felt like I could get in there and just do what I needed to do.”
Cal said, “Shit. I’m pissed that happened. Can we try it again? Maybe we’ll have better results.”
“You can,” Terk said. “Give us a minute though. I’ll send you a text when we’re ready.”
“Good enough,” Cal replied.
Terk hung up, and Rick looked over at his boss and friend. “What the hell is going on?”
“I’m pretty sure that somebody put a governor on your energy.”
Rick stared at him in shock. “What? Like a governor on a car or something?”
“Or something,” Terk repeated, with a smirk.
At that comment, Rick stared. “Cara can’t do that, can she?”
Terk’s lips twitched again. “Maybe you should assess your own energy and let me know.”
At that, Rick closed his eyes and checked out his energy. “Good Lord, how can she be that strong?”
“She wouldn’t think anything of it, but, in her mind, she would say that you hit a dangerous point in your healing, and she just shut it off.”
Merk looked at Rick, then Terk, and asked, “She?”
Terk explained, “Remember how I brought Cara in to help Rick?”
“I do remember that. She’s got that kind of ability?” Merk asked in awe.
Terk nodded. “Yes, it’s one of the reasons Rick’s still alive because she’s making sure that he is. She’s guarding his energy and keeping him safe.”
“Well, she can’t just keep doing that,” Rick snapped. “I needed that power.”
“She just didn’t understand what you were doing with it,” Terk noted. “You haven’t talked to her about any of this, have you?”
“Some, but not this part,” he admitted. “Everything has always been top secret, you know? That we don’t discuss with anyone but each other.”
“I get that,” Terk agreed, “but I think, before you try again, we must have a talk with her and let her know that this is normal stuff and that this is what you do.”
Rick was still stunned, when he realized that Terk was actually serious. “You really think she stopped me?”
“I’m pretty damn sure she did,” Terk stated. “Close your eyes and power up again and see what you get.”
Immediately he shut his eyes and worked to power up some of that same energy, using Terk’s to come back online, but nothing was there. Finally, in frustration, he opened his eyes, stared at Terk, and nodded. “I think you’re right. I think she shut me down.” He stared at Merk, who was now laughing uproariously. “It’s hardly funny,” Rick snapped.
“The hell it’s not,” Merk argued. “It’s beyond funny. Here you guys are the pros in all this, doing your best to save the world, and a single woman comes in, and, just like that, she shuts off your source of power. Jesus.” Merk’s face was red from his chortling. “I haven’t seen something so funny in quite a while.” And, with that, he went off belly-laughing again.
Terk looked over at the furious Rick, gave him half a smile. “You can hardly blame her.”
“Why the hell not?” he snapped. “This is beyond anything I’ve ever seen before.”
“Sure, but so is she,” Terk added. “Why do you think I tried to recruit her?”
“Well, at least then she would understand where her role starts and stops.”
“Sure, but remember. You also allowed her to do that.”
He stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“Remember the first law of energy? You have allowed her to do this.”
“Like hell I did,” Rick retorted hotly.
“Before, she was saving you, when you needed that help,” Terk explained. “And you probably weren’t in any condition to fight it, but now you’re stronger, and you’re the one who needs to put some boundaries in place. But, like I said, you must do it in the proper way. Otherwise you’ll just piss her off.”
“Are you thinking she’d stop me or be a danger to me somehow?” Rick asked. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“No,” Terk stated. “It’s something infinitely more valuable, but you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.” And, with that, Terk sighed. “Now, experiment completed. Better let Cal know we’re done. We’ll do these errands, then head home.”
Chapter 6
Cara opened her eyes, startled at a weird sensation going on in her brain. She immediately sat up, walked around her room, frowning. When her phone rang, she looked at her screen. It was Rick. She answered it. “Hello?”
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” he began, his tone very careful, “but you do understand that I need energy, right?”
She frowned at the phone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied caustically, “and if you’re accusing me of something, I suggest you just back off right there. All I’m trying to do is get home. I don’t know what your problem is.”
“Yeah, see? I’m not so sure,” he said, “if you’re doing this on purpose or if you’re doing it subconsciously.”
She stared at the phone in surprise, but a moment of awareness clicked in the back of her head. “You want to explain what you’re talking about?”
“Or you could,” he suggested carefully. “We’re at a site, and we were trying to test my abilities.”
“Look. I don’t know what you’re implying,” she stated stiffly, “but I don’t appreciate that note of accusation in your voice.” She heard him take a slow breath, as if reaching for control.
“I get that, in your world, you have been working to keep me safe,” he murmured. “But, right now, I also need to stretch a bit and see what I’m capable of doing.”
“And?” she asked in a stiff voice.
He sighed. “Maybe you’re not even doing it consciously. I don’t know, but it appears to me that you’ve put, for lack of a better word, a governor of sorts on my abilities.”
She stopped for a moment, then smiled. “I see.”
“Does that make sense?”
“If you’re asking whether I have been limiting your ability to do things on an energy level, then yes,” she admitted. “I have been.”
“Well, could you please stop it?” he growled.
At that, she realized just how much it was affecting him to know that she could do it to begin with and that now he was in the position of having to ask her to stop.
“Yes, I think I could do that.” She kept her voice as stiff as his was because it was hardly a topic of discussion she wanted to have over the phone. “It is there for your protection, however.”
“I understand and appreciate that. Yet I’m no longer unconscious and don’t need that level of protection,” he argued carefully.
She sniffed. “Says you.” And, with that, she hung up.
She glared down at the phone but realized that it would have happened at some point in time anyway. Normally she took that level of control off much earlier, but things had happened so fast with their change of venue that she hadn’t really had a chance to assess where his levels were at. She sat down on the bed and mentally removed several of the blocks around his energy.
When she received a smile through her mind, she realized it was Terk. She sent him back a blank response. She wasn’t ready to talk to him either. He’s the one who had gotten her into this mess, and, although she’d come willingly, she was in a situation right now that she certainly wasn’t comfortable with—obviously neither was Rick, but that was his own fault.
He’s the one who was in this scenario, and all she was trying to do was keep him safe. Obviously she should have pulled that governor back off a little bit earlier, but how was she supposed to know what he was doing out there? It’s not like he’d told her, and, then again, she’d never told him that she had his energy in check either. Maybe it would be good for him to find out firsthand that he wasn’t doing as well as he thought he was. She pondered that for a moment and then nodded and removed all the energy blocks and energy lines to his system and let him go free.
“Take that,” she muttered. “Maybe you’re fine, and maybe you’re not. At least this will help you determine where you’re at.”
And, with that, she walked back out to the main room, still a little on the disgruntled side, and made herself a cup of tea. As it was, most of the others were gone. She found Mariana with Little Calum at the dining table, having popcorn. Cara looked at the popcorn and smiled. “Talk about something that makes you feel like a touch of home.”
“Would you like some?” Mariana asked.
She shook her head. “No thanks, I’m fine,” she murmured. “I hadn’t realized the guys were out on a job.”
“I’m not sure what they’re doing,” Mariana admitted. “Cal’s still here, but he’s involved somehow, holed up in one of Terk’s rooms. I think, around here, the team doesn’t always communicate well with the others.”
“Well, I think they’d all benefit from more communication,” Cara stated.
“I agree. I’m just not sure that they’re used to explaining themselves.”
She laughed at that. “No, I don’t think they are, and I won’t be here long enough for it to become an issue. At least I hope not.”
At that, Mariana looked over at her. “Are you sure?” she asked in a gentle voice.
Cara frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It’s obvious that you’re very connected to Rick in some way.”
“Sure.” Cara nodded. “It’s part of the healing process, but I’m working on disconnecting that energy now.”
There must have been something in her voice that showed some of her disgruntlement. At that, Mariana looked at her intently. “Is something wrong?”
“No, not necessarily.” Cara shrugged. “It’s always hard when you let go of a patient you’ve been working with and trying to keep safe, especially when you don’t know if he’s quite ready or safe to be on his own.”
“Well, with these guys, I think they’re, … I don’t want to say, superhuman,” she added, “because obviously that’s incorrect, since they are very much normal human beings in that they can get hurt, just as much as the rest of us.” She raised one eyebrow and gave a tilt of her head. “But I think it’s fascinating to note that they do have the ability to heal quite quickly.”
“They do, but it also takes effort on the part of the others to make it happen,” Cara argued. “In Rick’s case, he’s not healed, and he was pushing the envelope already, and—of course, right now—he’s pushing it even further.”
“Of course,” Mariana agreed. “Can you tell if he’ll go down? You know, like with a power outage?”
“I don’t even know how to say it either.” Cara laughed. “I mean, I get that all kinds of issues surround the team. I’m just trying to figure it out.”
“But are you connected enough that you can tell when Rick’s in trouble?”
“Not any longer, … at least I don’t think so.” She frowned. “I was connected, and he just called me and basically told me to terminate it.”
At that, Mariana looked at her and then started to chuckle. “Well, that explains the look on your face.”
Cara shrugged. “It’s weird. I mean, up until just a few hours ago, I was looking after him, and apparently now he’s looking after himself.” She shook her head. “Of course that’s what we want, to have everybody back on their feet and functioning in this way. It’s just a weird, very quick shift that I’m not accustomed to.”
“These guys do move very quickly, and when you least expect it,” Mariana noted. “So I wouldn’t take it personally.”
“It’s hard after being connected to him for all this time.”
Mariana nodded solemnly. “And that’s a good point. Your healing ability is something we haven’t all had the advantage of, you know?”
Cara shrugged. “I don’t even know how much of a healing ability it was, but he’s on his own now.”
“Maybe that’s what he needs, so he can figure out whether he’s strong enough to go or not?”
“That’s what I figured,” Cara replied, “so I cut him loose. We’ll see how he does.”
It wasn’t too long before they heard the sounds of someone returning. Cara felt herself stiffen. “You know what? I really don’t want to deal with them tonight.” She smiled at Mariana. “So I’ll be in my room.” And, with that, she got up to leave.
“Don’t run away though,” Mariana warned.
Cara stopped and stared at her. “Is that what I’m doing?”
“Of course it is, and I get it. Believe me. I do. I’ve had plenty of issues of my own with Cal,” she murmured. “And, until we were kidnapped, he was trying to keep me at a distance too.”
“Is that what Rick’s doing?” she asked, intently staring at her. “I’m not really good at leaving a patient at the end. I tend to get quite cranky. Honestly, when I go from full control to zero control,” she added, “it’s an adjustment that I don’t make very well.”
Mariana smiled. “And maybe, in this case, it’s someone who you’ve also given your heart to. So, when you and your skills are no longer needed, it feels like a rejection.”
She thought about it and nodded. “Maybe so, but I’ve dealt with a lot of patients. It shouldn’t be affecting me like this.”
“Did you do anything different in this case?”
She frowned and then winced. “Maybe. I have done it a few other times, but mostly when it’s already been too late, and I’ve lost the patient.”
“So this time you did something that you’ve done before, but this time it worked?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“So, that’s created a very strong bond.”
“Yeah, maybe so, and that’ll cause me more problems than I’m really looking for,” she murmured. She shook her head. “I knew at the time it was a possibility. I just didn’t realize how bad it would be.”
“I’m sorry,” Mariana said. “That is a problem.”
“It is, indeed, but whatever.” Cara looked up, as she heard more sounds of the men coming back in. “It’s definitely them, so I’ll leave you on your own.”
She turned and quickly headed back to her room. She had just closed the door when the men walked into the inner sanctum. She heard Rick ask where she was. She couldn’t hear the answer that Mariana gave but figured she’d probably say that Cara had just left. She immediately walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower water, so she wouldn’t have to deal with him knocking on her door.
If there was ever anything she didn’t want to deal with right now, it was him. She had her own chaotic emotions to get control of. He was right. If he was strong enough, then she had no business putting any control over his energy. But how was she supposed to have known that he was strong enough or that he would be out testing it?
Hell, he didn’t even know if he was strong enough here, so why would he be going off-site to test it? And it’s not like he even told her. She went ahead and took a quick shower and dressed in her pajamas, thankful that Merk had at least gotten her bags from her apartment, grateful to have something with her now, so she wasn’t so completely dependent on these guys.
It was time that she started to make some plans, in her head at least. She didn’t know how long it would take to get out of here, but it was even more important now for her to leave. Her heart was way too involved, and it would take her time and a lot of pain to separate, and that was something she did not want to do when Rick was around.
It would hurt enough as it was, and the last thing she wanted to do was to have the whole group watching her pain of separation. She’d always been a private person, and that hadn’t changed. The work she did was usually one on one, and that made it a little bit easier when it came to this stage. Most of the time she could rejoice in a family reclaiming a child who had been badly injured, and Cara could leave happy.
In this case, it was a whole different story, and she didn’t like it; she didn’t like it at all. When she finally left the bathroom to return to her bedroom, she stopped. Rick stood there, waiting for her. She raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter? You don’t knock?”
“I did knock,” he stated, unperturbed at her tone.
She glared at him. “Well, if you’re here to give me more shit, forget it. I’m not in the mood.”
“Look. I didn’t mean to be harsh,” he began and then stopped.
“Sure you did,” she snapped. “You wanted something. You got it. Now you can leave.”
“No, I’m not planning on leaving. Not until we sort this out.”
