Shattered Bonds (continued)

She started after the cart and then stopped herself. Being presence would raise too many questions—none of which she felt like answering right then. She had separated herself from Sean besides.

Then does it hurt so damned much to see him like that? What if he . . . ?

She stopped the thought there. The idea that he might not survive made her want to throw up.

What the hell . . . ?

She sagged against the side of a building, breathing slowly, and waited for the nausea to pass. It did, quickly, but it still left her feeling slightly vertiginous. Her mind felt detached from her body, floating free above it.

“Lorie?”

Lorelei started at the voice, even as quiet as it was. She turned her head slowly, needing a moment to focus on and recognize the face. It belonged to Kelly Asago. A year or two younger than Lorelei, she had dark hair that hung in long curling waves that spoke of a Western European heritage on Earth. Her eyes and face, though, carried the signs that a recent ancestor had come from somewhere in the eastern part of Asia.

“Yeah?” Lorelei answered weakly, not certain that she had spoken at all.

“Are you all right? You look . . . funny.”

Lorelei stared at Kelly as if she did not understand the girl’s question. She had, of course, but her mind was having difficulty processing it enough to form a suitable answer.

“Yeah,” Lorelei repeated. Then, more urgently, she added, “Did you see what happened? Was there some kind of a fight?”

It was Kelly’s turn now to stare at Lorelei. Her bewildered expression plainly revealed that she was mystified by Lorelei questions.

“What fight?” she finally asked aloud. “What are you talking about?”

Lorelei stared at the path that the ambulance cart had traveled and then at Kelly.

“You didn’t see him?” Lorelei insisted, her voice rising. At the girl’s blank look, she amended, “Sean.”

Kelly’s face blossomed into an expression of alarm. “What happened to him?”

Lorelei sagged slightly, realizing that she would get no answers here. “I don’t know,” she answered in a voice that was almost a whisper.

Kelly studied Lorelei and then looked around the immediate area, clearly confused.