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Tohr sat in that parking lot for God only kne long Had to be at least a night and a day and then ht or two? He didn&039;t know, and didn&039;t really care

It was rather like being back in the womb, he supposed Except his ass was numb and his nose ran froer faded and his ehts becah sections of his life, wandering around the landscapes of different eras, doubling back for the reexa trip And he was tired at the end of it, even though his body hadn&039;t ly, the two placesand Autumn&039;s Those events, and their respective aftermaths, were the mountainsin an alternating sequence of co a pastiche of actions and reactions, his and theirs

After all the ru to, again and again

He was going to have to apologize to Autumn, of course Christ, that was the second ti way back nearly a year ago at the pool: In both cases, his teotten the best of him because of the stress load he was under, but that was no excuse

The second was that he was going to have to find that angel and do another set of I&039;

And the third well, the third was actually thehe had to do before the others

He had toa deep breath, he closed his eyes and willed some relaxation into his muscles Then, with more desperation than hope, he coes, e that had kept hirets and the mistakes and the pain

Eventually the order was co down until all that Lewis-and-Clark cognition shit ceased

Ioal, he let hi state until

Wellsie ca and frigid wind and boulders She was so far away now that the scope of his vision allowed hi rock formations up close -

Except it was not, in fact, made of stone

None of theures of others suffering as she did, their bodies and bones gradually collapsing in on themselves until they were but mounds to be worn away by the wind

"Wellsie?" he called out

As her name drifted off into the limitless horizon, she did not look at hinize his presence

The only thing that moved was the cold wind that abruptly see across the flat gray plain, blowing across hiht her hair, wisps formed around her -

No, not wisps Her hair was ashes now, ashes that scattered on the invisible current and ca him as dust that made his eyes water

Eventually that would be all of her And then none of her

"Wellsie! Wellsie, I&039;et her attention, to tell her he was finally ready, but no matter how much he yelled, or how much he waved his arms, she did not focus on him She did not look up She did not move and neither did his son

Yet still the wind blew, taking infinitesi the fear, he turned hi all around, screa his arms, but, as if the rules of exertion applied even in this other world, eventually he lost his energy and fell down onto the dusty groung in a heap

They were sitting in the same pose, he realized

And that hen the paradoxical truth came to him

The ansas at once all about what had happened with Autu to do with her It was about everything Lassiter had tried to help him with - and yet none of that It wasn&039;t even about Wellsie, really

It was him All him

In his dreath ca to do with the seat of his soul and the fact that the pathway out of his suffering - and hers - had just been illuminated by the hand of his Maker

Finally, after all this tiony, he knehat to do

Nohen he spoke, he did not yell "Wellsie, I know you can hear er from you - I&039;"

He tarried for only aall his love in her direction as if it ht keep what re himself free with a herculean burst of will that had his body jerking out of its position on the concrete floor -

Throwing out a hand, he kept hiot to his feet

As soon as he stood, he realized that if he didn&039;t take a piss i to explode and take no prisoners with it

Striding down the ramp, he punched into the clinic and hit the first bathrooed, he didn&039;t stop to check in with anyone, even though he could hear voices elsewhere in the training center

Up at the main house, he found Fritz in the kitchen "Hey, my man, I need your help"

The butler ju "Sire! You are alive! Oh, blessed Virgin Scribe, all and sundry have sought out - "

Shit He&039;d forgotten there were irid

"Yeah, sorry I&039;ll text everyone" Assu he could find his phone? Probably down in the clinic, and he wasn&039;t going to waste ti back there "Listen, what I really need is for you to come with me"

"Oh, sire, it would be o unto the king first - all have been so worried - "

"Tell you what You can drive and I&039;ll borrow your phone" When there was a hesitation, he dropped his voice "We&039;ve got to go now, Fritz I need you"

The call to service was precisely the motivator the butler needed With a lo, he said, "As you wish, sire And mayhap I shall pack you up some refreshments?"

"Good idea I need five minutes"

When the butler nodded and disappeared into the pantry, Tohr rounded the base of the stairs and took the red-carpeted steps two at a tiot to John Matthew&039;s door

His knock was answered i open the ith a jerk As the kid&039;s face registered surprise, Tohr put his hands out in self-defense, because he kneas going to get hollered at for disappearing again

"I&039;et a chance to finish John threw his arms around Tohr and held hiht there with returning the favor And as he held the only son he had, he spoke in a low, clear voice

"John, I want you to get off rotation tonight and come with me I need you to co to take all night - ainst his shoulder, he took a steadying breath "Good, son That&039;s good There&039;s no way I would do this without you"

"How you doing?"

Layla opened her heavy eyes and looked up Qhuinn&039;s body to his face Standing next to her side of the bed in his rooh not unkind

She kne he felt With the intense fire of the needing having passed, those hours of straining and pounding and claere done and dusted, a strange footnote that appeared to be already fading in her ripped in the fist of the experience, it had see would ever be the saed and transformed by the volcanic eruptions

But now the quiet return of nor the slate clean

"I think I&039;ood about feeding her fro her food, and she had stayed on bed rest for at least twenty-fours afterward, as was the tradition up in the Sanctuary after the Priet , however

"You can stay here, you know" He went over to his closet and began to arht "Rest soh of that

Pushing herself up on her arht-headed, and was relieved when she didn&039;t If anything, she felt strong

There was no other way to put it Her body just felt strong

Shifting her legs off the side of the ht on her bare soles and slowly rose up Qhuinn came instantly to her side, but she didn&039;t need the help