Chapter 31 #2
Arezoo laughed. "I love you. I'm going to eat my sweet croissant, shower, get dressed, and have my palm cut in front of my family. When Ruvon takes me home, I'll ask him to barbecue a couple of steaks for me."
"That's a good plan. Good luck, Arezoo."
"Thanks."
"Congratulations, my dear friend. I wish I could be there to hug you. Now that you are immortal, I don't need to be as careful."
"Right. With your insane Kra-ell strength, you can still crush me."
"I'll try to remember that." The call ended.
A few minutes later, Ruvon entered the room with a tray from the café.
"Your order is delivered, my princess." He set it down on the side table. "One coffee." He took it from its drink carrier and placed it on the table. "And one croissant." He handed her a paper bag. "Try not to leave crumbs on the bed."
"I won't," she said, pulling the flaky treat from the bag. "I'm going to eat every single crumb.”
While she drank her coffee, ate the croissant, and moaned like it was the best thing she'd ever tasted, Ruvon put the duffel bag at the foot of the bed.
"I packed clothes for you, but I did not know what you would want. Tell me if this works." He started pulling things out. "If it doesn't, I can go home and get whatever you want."
He pulled out gray cotton yoga pants and one of the long, soft T-shirts she liked to wear around the house.
He had also packed a hairbrush and her toothbrush, and the small jar of moisturizer she used at night.
He had packed two pairs of socks, one thin and one thick, because he had not known which she would prefer.
She looked at all of it, and she felt her eyes prickle.
"What?" he said. "Did I do so badly that you're crying?"
"No. You did everything perfectly. You even packed my socks."
"In case you were cold."
"You packed two pairs, and you packed my night moisturizer."
"Julian told me to. It wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise. This one was on the dresser, so I assumed that's what you used."
"I love you so much."
"I love you too, sweetheart. I didn't know that a face cream would make you so emotional."
"It's not the face cream." She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "It's how thoughtful you are. The yoga pants and the T-shirt are perfect. Can you help me get to the bathroom?"
"Of course."
He gathered the clothes and laid them on the chair, and then he came around to the side of the bed and helped her sit up.
The world tilted for a moment. She had not been upright in two days, and her body had forgotten the standard relationship between vertical and horizontal. She steadied herself with both hands on the mattress and waited for the brief spinning to settle.
"I've just noticed that all the wires and tubes are gone. When did that happen?"
"Early this morning." He helped her swing her legs over the edge of the bed. "Hildegard did it. You don't remember?"
"I don't." She maneuvered herself closer to the edge, and when her feet found the cold floor, she sat there for a long moment with her bare feet on the tile and her hands pressed to the mattress.
Then she stood.
Her legs held her, and as Ruvon's arm went around her waist, she leaned into him, and they walked together across the room to the bathroom door.
He helped her onto the toilet and then ran the shower and tested the water.
As steam began to rise above the curtain, she thought about her future.
She was going to live for a very long time, and the small, fragile body she had been inhabiting for the last nineteen years was on its way to becoming indestructible.
She was going to be stronger, faster, and so much less afraid.
Arezoo had spent the months since her rescue learning how to walk through the village without flinching at footsteps behind her, and she thought she had mostly succeeded, but she had been afraid to go into the city.
She'd gone because there had been wedding dress fittings and other obligations, but she never went alone and had never stayed longer than absolutely necessary.
The village was the only place she'd felt safe.
Now she was going to be immortal, stronger, and not as vulnerable, but immortal females were still not as strong as immortal males, and immortal males would still have the advantage of mass and reach.
She needed to learn how to fight.
As a human it would have been futile, so she hadn't bothered, but now she had a fighting chance.
"Ruvon."
He turned. "Yes?"
"I want you to teach me how to fight."
He frowned. "Why?"
"I am going to be immortal, but I am still a female, and if I want to be able to fight off a Brotherhood soldier, I need to learn how to do that."
"I can't teach you."
She blinked. "Why not?"
"Because I would not be a good teacher for you. I am too close. I would not throw you the way you need to be thrown to learn what a real attack feels like. The clan has a self-defense class. It is run by Kri, and it is designed for female immortals."
"Kri. I know who she is. She's nice."
"We can still train together," he said. "Work on strength and conditioning in the gym."
It was a compromise, and she was going to take it.
"That sounds like fun."
He looked relieved. "I'm glad that you like my plan."
"It makes sense." She waved a hand at the steamy shower. "I think it's ready."
He came over and helped her stand and then walked her to the shower where she could sit on a special chair while washing herself.
"Do you want me to wash you?" he asked.
"No, but I want you to stay in the bathroom."
"Of course I'll stay."
"Thank you."
An hour later, Arezoo was back in the hospital bed, wearing her yoga pants and a long T-shirt, and the room was full to bursting with her family.
Her mother was on her right, holding her right hand in both of hers, and Ruvon was on her left, holding her other hand.
Yasmin and Parisa were behind Soraya, Rana stood at the foot of the bed with one hand on Arezoo's blanket-covered foot, and Azadeh was wedged against the wall beside Donya and Laleh. Donya was filming on her phone.
Several of the cousins were standing in the open doorway. Jasmine was somewhere behind Yasmin. The rest of Rana's boys had been bribed into the waiting room with promises of pastries, and Arezoo could hear them out there laughing and arguing.
A commotion at the door announced new arrivals.
Kalugal stepped into the room with Jacki.
The cousins on the far side of the bed shuffled aside, and Donya and Laleh squeezed into the wall to make room.
"I hope you don't mind my intrusion," Kalugal said. "It seems like a family-only celebration."
"You are family," Ruvon said. "Thank you for coming."
The door opened again, and Julian came in carrying a small tray.
He stopped at the threshold and surveyed the room. "This is more people than can fit in here."
"And yet we are all here," Soraya said. "We are not going anywhere."
Julian chuckled. "All right. May I have access to the patient's hand?"
"You may."
Soraya squeezed Arezoo's right hand once and reluctantly let it go.
Julian set the tray down on the wheeled table beside the bed. On the tray was a sterile pad, a small bottle of antiseptic, a tiny scalpel that looked more ceremonial than medical, a folded clean cloth, and a small digital timer.
"I need someone to hold the timer," he said.
Kalugal lifted his hand. "It will be my honor to time the healing duration."
"Excellent." Julian handed him the device.
The doctor turned back to Arezoo, picked up the antiseptic and a swab, and cleaned a small area in the center of her right palm. The antiseptic was cold, and the smell reminded her of things she would rather not think about today.
She closed her nose and breathed through her mouth.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Watch your hand closely."
She nodded again.
He picked up the scalpel, pressed the tip to the center of her palm, and made a small, quick stroke.
It stung.
A bright bead of red welled up in the line he'd made.
"Now," he said.
Kalugal started the timer.
The bead of red did not get any bigger, and the red did not run. It hung there, a small bright line in her skin. It stopped welling almost as soon as it began.
Julian dabbed gently with the gauze to clean the blood away. The cut was visible underneath, a thin red line about a centimeter long, and then it was less visible, and then the red began to fade to pink, and then the pink began to fade to white, and then the white began to fade to nothing.
A small rim of new pale skin pulled the edges together.
The new skin smoothed.
"Stop," Julian said.
Kalugal stopped the timer and looked at the display. "Thirty-nine seconds."
The room exploded in cheers and applause.
Soraya pushed Ruvon aside, not gently, and gathered Arezoo up against her chest.
"My girl," she said into Arezoo's hair. "My girl. My beautiful girl."
"Maman."
"You are immortal now."
"Almost. Not quite yet."
"You are mostly immortal. Close enough. Mostly immortal."
"Yes, Maman."
Arezoo could feel her mother's whole body shaking, and it went on for a while. Arezoo held on to her mother and listened to her mumbling in her hair, sometimes in Farsi and sometimes in English.
When she finally let go, Julian stepped forward and waited for the room to quiet down.
He looked at Arezoo and smiled. "Now it's official. Welcome to immortality, Arezoo."