August

May 26

Josh began bleeding spontaneously during Friday morning prayers, and his father, upon noticing, rushed him out of the room and straight to Dr. Step.
"What's going on?"
Step held his hands up, palms out, towards the agitated man.
"It's his courses. Just his courses."
Saul Jefferson shook his head.
"Naw, there's too much blood on my son."
Dr. Step's assistant tried to calm him.
"It looks worse than it is."
Josh began complaining that his stomach hurt, then his head. A terrible headache. And he was dizzy.
Saul wanted to transport his son to the CEC.
Let me look at him first, Dr. Step had told him. I'm the boy's physician; I know his body better than anyone.
Josh had been afraid, so incredibly afraid, but Dr. Step had told him again and again:
You are going to be fine.

~:~

"We should begin to pack tomorrow. All of us."
Henrik Angstrom looked around the breakfast table at his family. Phidias had a newspaper open and was so immersed in some article or the other that he barely heard Henrik's statement. Anders glanced up momentarily from where he was devouring a veal omelet, gave a short nod, and went back to eating. Only Caddy seemed to be listening to him. He was picking over some stewed apples and looking eagerly at Henrik.
"For Wafra?"
Henrik inclined his head.
"For Wafra."
Caddy's gaze drifted down to his plate.
"How long will we stay there?"
Henrik sipped his coffee.
"Two weeks on business. Another week for leisure. Anders will return ten days before we do."
Caddy chewed on a raw carrot stick.
"Will there be stuff to do there?"
Henrik grinned.
"There will be plenty."
Caddy brightened.
"Really? Is there a city? Can we go into town?"
Henrik frowned and set his mug down.
"Perhaps this would be a good time to discuss the protocol I'll expect from you in Wafra."
Caddy sighed.
"Nevermind. I shouldn't have asked."
Henrik tapped the table lightly to gather everyone's attention. When Phidias and Anders were both looking at him, he began.
"Wafra. We must discuss behavior. Anders, you're already aware, somewhat, of what life is like in the Emirates." Anders gave a curt nod. "That means that you can act as a guide sometimes for Phidias and Cadmus, neither of whom have ever been."
Anders nodded again, his eyes fixed on his father as he spoke. Henrik turned his gaze on Phidias first.
"You will both be asked to wear natoris, and your hair must be covered at all times. Law of the country, I'm afraid."
Caddy made a face, but Phidias simply nodded his acknowledgment.
"You'll go nowhere without an escort; either Anders, Anthony, Everett, myself, or Ghali, whom you will meet."
Caddy looked distinctly unimpressed.
"Wafra sounds worse than here."
Henrik raised an eyebrow at him, but let the remark pass.
"You'll have free reign of the house, but leaving the grounds unescorted will be strictly forbidden. Likewise, you'll have no visitors without approval. We'll take iris scans, retinal scans, vein maps, and fingerprints before we go. You'll wear identification bracelets at all times."
Henrik took a sip of his coffee again.
"We'll have a driver there, same as here, but he will also act as a bodyguard. That means that you must both obey him and be constantly mindful. Is that clear?"
Caddy glanced over at his father; Phidias' face was wrinkled in a look of worried concentration.
"Why so much security?"
Henrik smiled indulgently and reached out to smooth hair back from Phidias' face.
"Because you are so important to me, of course."
Phidias looked unconvinced.
"And we're not important here?"
Lines of tension appeared around Henrik's mouth.
"Here is not there."
"What's the difference?"
Henrik's face grew hard.
"The difference, Phidias, is that the desert is a dangerous place."

~:~

"So what have you got planned for this evening?"
Aaron Soyinka asked, stirring cinnamon into his oatmeal.
Harley glanced sharply up at James. Sheridan shrugged.
"Nothing. Might watch a movie. Could invite some of the new people over, if that's OK."
A new government program, the Community Initiative, had brought changes to the neighborhood. Single officers and small families had been moved out. Young couples and homes with carriers had been moved in, and the area had been gated. Six new families lived on their block alone.

Soyinka tilted his head.
"Can't see why not. But be careful. Only carriers, and their men must bring them to the door. I don't want anybody walking alone."
Sheridan nodded and poured juice into a glass.
"OK."
Harley frowned a little.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
This earned him a surprised but interested look from Soyinka.
"It shouldn't be dangerous. The security is strong now, and the carriers - "
"But Sheridan will be here alone; it doesn't seem safe for people to know that."
Soyinka frowned.
"James will be here, too. They'll be together. They can look after each other."
Harley's hand flexed slightly around his fork. He took a sip of his coffee.
"James, I thought you had a doctor's appointment tomorrow, babe." Harley did his best to keep the tension out of his voice, but the words came out a little too rushed to sound normal. "I thought you were getting picked up by the Centre."
James bit into a slice of bacon.
"Nope. They made me reschedule."
Harley met his eyes, briefly. James held his gaze and took another bite.
"I thought you said you could control that." Harley said, then paused. "The date of your appointments."
James shrugged nonchalantly.
"Doctor's sick." he grinned at Sheridan. "So me and Sher get the whole weekend together."
Soyinka smiled.
"See? They'll be together. It's fine."
"I'll be back Sunday morning." Harley pronounced suddenly, sharply. "And Aaron will be back Sunday night." he looked directly at James. "So we won't be gone long enough for anything to happen." he took another sip of his coffee. "So you're right, Aaron. I'm sure they'll be fine."

~

"Whoa! Hey." Sheridan stepped out of his evening shower and almost tripped over James, who was kneeling over the toilet. Sher pulled his towel tighter around his hips and knelt down beside his friend.
"Hey. Are you OK?"
James nodded, not looking at Sheridan.
"Yeah. Yeah. Just don't feel great."
Sheridan rubbed his friend's back.
"I'm sorry. Can you get up? Come on. I'll put you in bed."
James hesitated, but went along with it when Sheridan pulled him to his feet and led him by his arm through the door that adjoined he and Harley's bedroom to the bath.
"Here we go."
Sheridan pulled back the sheets and blanket and encouraged James into the bed. When he was settled, Sheridan sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his shoulder through the blanket.
"I can bring you something to settle your stomach, if you want."
James shook his head.
"No. It's - I'm fine."
Sheridan furrowed his brow.
"It's just normal sickness?"
James nodded, then stopped and shook his head. Tears began to spill out of his eyes.
"I don't - I don't know. Harley hit me."
Sheridan tensed, but didn't stop his soothing touch to James' arm.
"Where?"
James captured a trembling lip between his teeth.
"In the stomach."
Sheridan sucked in a breath.
"Shit. Why?"
James looked away and bit his lip.
"He was angry. He thinks I'm - " James took a slow breath in. "He thinks I'm cheating on him, but I'm not. I'm not, Sher, you know I'm not!"
Sheridan frowned and nodded.
"I know, Jamie. I know."
"He thinks it's with you." James added quietly. Sheridan exhaled sharply, understanding.
"He saw you kiss me."
James nodded miserably, tears flowing freely now.
"I'm sorry, Sher. I'm so sorry."
Sheridan shook his head and patted James to try to calm him.
"It's OK. It's OK. It was just a little mistake. It's fine. It's fine now. Hush, OK? Do you want to call the doctor?"
James shook his head.
"He'll say I'm fine. He'll say I'm just overreacting." James scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, then looked hopefully up at Sheridan.
"I'm sorry about the kiss, Sheridan. You forgive me?"
Sheridan gave James an exasperated look.
"Of course I forgive you. You're my James. I love you."
James half-smiled.
"Will you always forgive me?"
Sheridan nodded, resolutely.
"I will always forgive you."
James pulled one hand out from underneath the blanket and squeezed Sheridan's wrist.
"Thank you. I needed to know that."
Touched, Sheridan smiled.

~:~

"It ain't right." Saul Jefferson turned from the window to face William Mackenzie. "It ain't right, Will. I jus know it."
There was a moment of awkwardness; the situation was one which had to be dealt with delicately. Will Mackenzie stepped forward.
"I know you're in a lot of pain right now, Saul. Pain that I can't even imagine. But Dr. Step did all he could; he - "
"No." Saul Jefferson's voice had a slip of anger in it now. "No." he whipped around suddenly, came rushing across the room to stand in front of Will. His shoulders heaved with the effort of breathing. "I never said he didn't. I never said that. I know in my head that Doc did everything he could. But I know my son is gone, and I know in my heart it ain't right. I know that, too, Will."
Saul tapped his chest with one trembling hand.
"I know it ain't right."

~

Will Mackenzie returned just before midnight to a dark house. He let himself in through the kitchen; movement signaled a presence, and his wife's form revealed itself in the dark.
Will stopped; stood there, exhausted from arguing, in the dark and waited. Ren spoke.
"Is Saul going to call them?"
Will Mackenzie's voice was thick, and low.
"I think so."
Ren squeezed his mug of tea between his hands. A too-long silence passed.
"So what are we going to do?"
Will shoved his hands in his pockets, turned halfway so that his profile was illuminated by the light filtering in from the back windows.
"If they come...one body is better than two."
In the dark, Ren felt fear, but also relief. Then function, as always, took over. The twelfth law. Ren looked up at his husband.
"What do we need to hide?"
Will Mackenzie considered the impossibility of this, of the undertaking that lay before them.
"Everything."

~:~