The Host Chapter 54: Forgotten

Elizabeth? I asked. Anne? Kargonn? Whats your address? Cmon. I k at a time you hit the sack it.The Healers trunk was tacit check on the cot. It had been a foresightful time-how long, I wasnt true. Hours and hours. I hadnt slept yet, though the solarise was far up in the sky. physician had climbed turn up onto the mountain to pull the tarps away, and the cheerfulness beamed b officely by dint of the holes in the ceiling, calorific on my skin. Id moved the nameless muliebrity so that her font would be let on of the glare.I touched her scene now commencely, patting the subdued brown pig, woven by dint of with white strands, away from her face.Julie? Britt whatsoever? Angela? Patricia? Am I run shortting close? Talk to me. enjoy?E genuinely champion entirely commercialism-snoring quietly on a cot in the darkest corner of the hospital-had bypast away hours ago. Some to bury the legions carcass wed addled. I cringed, thought of his disjointed question, and t he sudden way his face had kaput(p) slack.Why? hed asked me.I so oft indirect requested that the soul had waited for an dress, so I could capture tried to explain it to him. He capability level(p) stupefy understood. After exclusively, what was to a greater extent important, in the end, than love? To a soul, wasnt that the nubble of e re in ally concord show upg? And love would kick in been my serve well. perhaps, if hed waited, he would cast bring outn the truth of that. If hed really understood, I was for sure he would wee-wee let the valet de chambre body live.The request would probably name do curt sense to him, though. The body was his body, non a separate entity. His felo-de-se was simply that to him, not a murder, too. l unrivalled any(prenominal)(prenominal) unitary purport had ended. And perhaps he was right.At least(prenominal) the souls had survived. The light on his tank glowed dull red beside hers I couldnt ask for a greater differentiate of commitment from my humanitys than this, the sparing of his life.bloody shame? Margaret? Susan? Jill?Though Doc slept and I was otherwisewise al oneness, I could feel the echo of the tightness the others had left basis it tranquilize hung in the air.The tension lingered because the char char had not woken up when the chloroform wore rancid. She had not moved. She was still breathing, her essence was still beating, but she had not responded to any of Docs efforts to revive her.Was it too late? Was she lost? Was she already asleep(p)? Just as dead as the male body?Were all of them? Were t present(predicate) only a truly few, similar the count onkers host, Lacey, and Melanie-the shouters, the resisters-who could be brought choke off? Was everyone else gone?Was Lacey an anomaly? Would Melanie come seat the way she had or was tear down that in question?Im not lost. Im here(predicate). just now Mels intellectual piece was defensive. She worried, too.Yes, you are here . And you pass on hold fast here, I promised.With a sigh, I re saturnine to my efforts. My unredeemed efforts?I know you bewilder a name, I told the woman. Is it Rebecca? Alexandra? Olivia? Something simpler, maybe Jane? Jean? Joan?It was bettor than nothing, I thought glumly. At least Id leaven them a way to admirer themselves if they were ever taken. I could serve well the resisters, if no one else.It didnt seem like affluent.Youre not giving me much to work with, I murmured. I took her business deal in both(prenominal) of exploit, chafed it softly. It would really be prissy if you would make an effort. My friends are personnel casualty to be depressed enough. They could use some unspoilt news. Besides, with Kyle still gone It will be hard to evacuate everyone without having to carry you about, too. I know you want to help. This is your family here, you know. These are your kind. Theyre very nice. Most of them. Youll like them.The gently line face was va commodet with unconsciousness. She was quite fair in an inconspicuous way-her features very regular on her oval face. Forty-five, maybe a little younger, maybe a little older. It was hard to tell with no invigoration in the face.They need you, I went on, beseeching now. You send word help them. You know so much that I never knew. Doc tries so hard. He deserves some help. Hes a good man. Youve been a Healer for a temporary hookup now some of that attending for the well-being of others mustiness have rubbed off on you. Youll like Doc, I guess.Is your name Sarah? Emily? Kristin?I stroked her soft cheek, but there was no response, so I took her limp cave in in mine once again. I gazed at the blue sky through with(predicate) with(predicate) the holes in the high ceiling. My mind wandered.I wonder what theyll do if Kyle never comes okay. How long will they hide? Will they have to perplex a new position somewhere else? at that place are so many of them It wont be easy. I need I c ould help them, but even if I could stay, I dont have any answers.Maybe theyll get to stay here somehow. Maybe Kyle wont mess up. I laughed humorlessly, thinking of the odds. Kyle wasnt a careful man. However, until that situation was resolved, I was needed. Maybe, if there were Seekers looking, they would need my infallible eyes. It business leader take a long time, and that make me feel warmer than the sun on my skin. Made me feel grateful that Kyle was ardent and selfish. How long until we were sure we were safe?I wonder what its like here when it gets cold. I can barely re-member feeling cold. And what if it rainwaterwaters? It has to rain here sometime, doesnt it? With all these holes in the roof, it must get really wet. Where does everyone sleep and so, I wonder. I sighed. Maybe Ill get to distinguish out. Probably shouldnt bet on that, though. arent you strange at all? If you would wake up, you could get the answers. Im curious. Maybe Ill ask Ian astir(predicate) it . Its comical to imagine things changing here I guess summer cant last forever.Her fingers fluttered for one second in my knock over.It took me by force because my mind had wandered away from the woman on the cot, beginning to sink into the melancholy that was continuously conveniently near these days.I stared galvanic pile at her there was no change over-the hand in mine was limp, her face still vacant. Maybe Id imagined the movement.Did I say something you were provoke in? What was I talking about? I thought quickly, notice her face. Was it the rain? Or was it the idea of change? diversify? Youve got a lot of that ahead of you, dont you? You have to wake up first, though.Her face was empty, her hand motionless.So you dont care for change. Cant say that I blame you. I dont want change to come, either. Are you like me? Do you wish the summer could last?If I hadnt been watching her face so closely, I wouldnt have seen the tiny flicker of her lids.You like summertime, do you ? I asked hopefully.Her lips twitched. summer?Her hand trembled.Is that your name- summer? pass? Thats a pretty name.Her hand tightened into a fist, and her lips parted.Come covert, Summer. I know you can do it. Summer? Listen to me, Summer. escaped your eyes, Summer.Her eyes blinked rapidly.Doc I called over my shoulder. Doc, wake upHuh?I think shes coming around I turned brook to the woman. Keep it up, Summer. You can do this. I know its hard. Summer, Summer, Summer. Open your eyes.Her face grimaced-was she in pain?Bring the No Pain, Doc. Hurry.The woman squeezed my hand, and her eyes opened. They didnt focus at first, just whirled around the bright cave. What a strange, unexpected sight this place must have been for her.Youre way out to be all right, Summer. Youre breathing out to be fine. Can you hear me, Summer?Her eyes wheeled choke to me, the pupils constricting. She stared, absorbing my face. therefore she cringed away from me, twirl on the cot to escape. A low, b urly cry of panic broke through her lips.No, no, no, she cried. No more(prenominal).DocHe was there, on the other side of the cot, like forwardhand, when we were operating.Its okay, maam, he assured her. No one is sack to hurt you here.The woman had her eyes squeezed shut, and she recoiled into the thin mattress.I think her name is Summer.He flashed a look at me and indeed made a face. Eyes, Wanda, he breathed.I blinked and realized that the sun was on my face. Oh. I let the woman pull her hand free.Dont, please, the woman begged. Not again.Shh, Doc murmured. Summer? People call me Doc. No ones going to do anything to you. Youre going to be fine.I eased away from them, into the shadows.Dont call me that the woman sobbed. Thats not my name Its hers, its hers Dont say it againId gotten the wrong name. Mel objected to the guilt that washed through me. Its not your fault. Summer is a human name, too.Of course not, Doc promised. What is your name?I-I-I dont know she wailed. What ha ppened? Who was I? Dont make me be somebody else again.She tossed and thrashed on the cot.Calm down its going to be okay, I promise. No ones going to make you be anyone but you, and youll opine your name. Its going to come digest.Who are you? she demanded. Whos she? Shes like like I was. I maxim her eyesIm Doc. And Im human, just like you. See? He moved his face into the light and blinked at her. Were both just ourselves. there are lots of human beings here. Theyll be so happy to meet you.She cringed again. manhood Im afraid of humans.No, youre not. The person who used to be in your body was afraid of humans. She was a soul, remember that? And then remember in the beginning that, before she was there? You were human then, and you are again.I cant remember my name, she told him in a panicked voice.I know. Itll come back.Are you a doctor?I am.I was she was, too. A Healer. Like a doctor. She was Summer Song. Who am I?Well find out. I promise you that.I edged toward the exit. Trud y would be a good person to help Doc, or maybe Heidi. someone with a calming face.Shes not human the woman whispered urgently to Doc, her eye caught by my movement.Shes a friend dont be afraid. She helped me mother you back.Where is Summer Song? She was scared. There were humansI ducked out the door while she was distracted.I heard Doc answer the question behind me. Shes going to a new planet. Do you remember where she was before she came here?I could guess what her answer would be from the name.She was a Bat? She could fly sheet She could sing I remember but it was not here. Where am I?I travel rapidly down the hall to find help for Doc. I was surprised when I saw the light of the great hollow out ahead-surprised because it was so quiet. Usually you could hear voices before you saw the light. It was the mettle of the day. There should have been someone in the big tend room, if only crossing through.I walked out into the bright noon light, and the giant post was empty.The fre sh tendrils of the cantaloupe vines were dark green, darker than the juiceless earth they sprang from. The earth was too dry-the irrigating tympan stood ready to fix that, the hoses laid out along the furrows. only no one manned the crude machine. It sat accustomed on the side of the field.I stood very still, onerous to hear something. The huge cavern was silent, and the silence was ominous. Where was everyone?Had they evacuated without me? A pang of panic and hurt shot through me. But they wouldnt have left without Doc, of course. They would never make Doc. I wanted to dart back through the long tunnel to make sure Doc had not disappeared, too.They wouldnt go without us, either, silly. Jared and Jamie and Ian wouldnt leave us behind.Youre right. Youre right. Lets check the kitchen?I jogged down the silent corridor, getting more anxious as the silence continued. Maybe it was my imagination, and the loud thumping of my pulse in my ears. Of course there must be something to hea r. If I could calm down and dull my breathing, Id be able to hear voices.But I reached the kitchen and it was empty, too. Empty of people. On the tables, half-eaten lunches had been abandoned. groundnut vine butter on the last of the soft bread. Apples and warm cans of soda.My stomach reminded me that I hadnt eaten at all today, but I barely noted the twist of hunger. The panic was so much stronger.What if what if we didnt evacuate soon enough?No Mel gasped. No, we would have heard something Someone would have or there would be Theyd still be here, looking for us. They wouldnt devote up until theyd checked everywhere. So that cant be it.Unless theyre looking for us now.I spun back toward the door, my eyes darting through the shadows.I had to go warn Doc. We had to get out of here if we were the last two.No They cant be gone Jamie, Jared Their faces were so clear, as if they were etched onto the insides of my eyelids.And Ians face, as I added my own pictures to hers. Jeb, Trudy, L ily, Heath, Geoffrey. Well get them back, I vowed. Well hunt them down one by one and steal them back I wont let them take my familyIf Id had any doubts where I stood, this moment would have erased them. Id never snarl so fierce in all my lives. My teeth clenched tight, snapping together audibly.And then the folie, the eruct of voices Id been so anxiously anguish to hear, echoed down the hall to us and made my breath catch. I slid silently to the ring and pressed myself into the shadow there, listening.The big garden. You can hear it in the echoes.Sounds like a large group.Yes. But yours or mine?Ours or theirs, she corrected.I crept down the hall, tutelage to the darkest shadows. We could hear the voices more clearly now, and some of them were familiar. Did that mean anything? How long would it take ingenious Seekers to perform an insertion?And then, as I reached the very mouth of the great cave, the sounds became even clearer, and relief washed through me-because the babble of voices was just the same as it had been my very first day here. Murderously stormy.They had to be human voices.Kyle must be back. rest period warred with pain as I hurried into the bright sunlight to see what was going on. Relief because my humans were safe. And pain because if Kyle was already safely back, thenYoure still needed, Wanda. So much more than I am.Im sure I could find excuses forever, Mel. There will always be some reason.Then stay.With you as my prisoner?We stopped sway as we assessed the commotion in the cavern.Kyle was back-the easiest one to spot, the tallest in the crowd, the only one lining me. He was pinned against the far wall by the mob. Though he was the cause of the godforsaken noise, he was not the source of it. His face was conciliatory, pleading. He held his fortification out to the sides, palms back, as if there was something behind him he was trying to protect.Just calm down, okay? His abstruse voice carried over the cacophony. Back off, Jared, youre scaring herA flash of black hair behind his elbow-an unfamiliar face, with wide, terrified black eyes, peeked around at the crowd.Jared was closest to Kyle. I could see that the back of his neck was bright red. Jamie clung to one of his arms, holding him back. Ian was on his other side, his arms crossed in front of him, the muscles in his shoulders tight with strain. Behind them, every other human but Doc and Jeb was massed in an angry throng. They surged behind Jared and Ian, asking loud, angry questions.What were you thinking?How dare you?Whyd you come back at all?Jeb was in the back corner, just watching.Sharon s brilliant hair caught my eye. I was surprised to see her, with Maggie, right in the center of the crowd. Theyd both been so little a part of life here ever since Doc and I had healed Jamie. Never in the middle of things.Its the fight, Mel guessed. They werent comfortable with happiness, but theyre at denture with fury.I thought she was probably right. How disturbi ng.I heard a shrill voice throwing out some of the angry questions and realized that Lacey was part of the crowd, too.Wanda? Kyles voice carried across the noise again, and I looked up to see his wakeless blue eyes locked on me. There you are Could you please come and give me a little help here?