09-26-2016, 12:35 PM
Two weeks passed in a deceptively quick flurry.
Laurene had insisted on proper rest, and for once Natalie had listened. No one questioned her presence at the heart of the foyer fire except Ekene, who'd been entirely unforgiving about her disappearance and broken promise but just as fiercely glad to see her back. Rumours circled around the cause of the flames, but puffed away beneath more immediate concerns. Every eye was turned towards the future, not the past.
She'd made a brief visit to Masiaka to lay ghosts to rest, and had sutured grief's wound with steel promises. Ayo had already been reunited with her family, who'd been among the flood of refugees seeking comfort in Freetown walls, but the search for Ekene's relatives was an ongoing endeavour. For now he remained in the Cross's care, and seemed content to shadow the legionnaires when he was able: Jared Vanders in particular. It seemed to give him purpose.
Natalie's time split a dozen duties besides the ones she was given, which merited the lash of Laurene's tongue whenever the two crossed paths. Most of those involved in the horrors of the refinery massacre were being sent home to recover. Fresh bodies flew in daily, and Jacques Danjou's appeal attracted more. She urged Natalie to go home, and Natalie suspected her mother's hand in the care the woman took to drill the point home. She shrugged it off. Olabisi had said much the same thing, but it only dug her heels harder into Africa's soil.
Today word had filtered that Danjou wished to see her. Truth told, she was reluctant to answer the summons, having at least vague suspicions what they might be about. But she went anyway, willing to at least hear him out.
The comfort of snug jeans replaced the patchwork clothing she'd borrowed from the hospital. No indication of injury remained, and in fact she looked well. Her hair swept up off her neck, a few loose tendrils escaped from the knot at the back of her head. Pale eyes absorbed the room, lingering a few moments when they set on Jay. She gave her name to the desk clerk without preamble, and swallowed the faint surprise at finding the two american legionnaires already present. A friendly nod acknowledged Jared, but formality seeped away from the smirk she offered Jay. The stiffness with which he stood itched a desire to tease a response. At least until she noticed the faint sheen of sweat across his brow.
"Promotion doesn't agree with you?"
She tsk'd playfully. "Or perhaps it's just too many late nights."
She knew he'd been punished for abandoning post but it didn't stop her jabbing at the soft spot that had carried her to the hospital. The concern was very real. Disease control was at the forefront of the Cross's concerns right now.
Laurene had insisted on proper rest, and for once Natalie had listened. No one questioned her presence at the heart of the foyer fire except Ekene, who'd been entirely unforgiving about her disappearance and broken promise but just as fiercely glad to see her back. Rumours circled around the cause of the flames, but puffed away beneath more immediate concerns. Every eye was turned towards the future, not the past.
She'd made a brief visit to Masiaka to lay ghosts to rest, and had sutured grief's wound with steel promises. Ayo had already been reunited with her family, who'd been among the flood of refugees seeking comfort in Freetown walls, but the search for Ekene's relatives was an ongoing endeavour. For now he remained in the Cross's care, and seemed content to shadow the legionnaires when he was able: Jared Vanders in particular. It seemed to give him purpose.
Natalie's time split a dozen duties besides the ones she was given, which merited the lash of Laurene's tongue whenever the two crossed paths. Most of those involved in the horrors of the refinery massacre were being sent home to recover. Fresh bodies flew in daily, and Jacques Danjou's appeal attracted more. She urged Natalie to go home, and Natalie suspected her mother's hand in the care the woman took to drill the point home. She shrugged it off. Olabisi had said much the same thing, but it only dug her heels harder into Africa's soil.
Today word had filtered that Danjou wished to see her. Truth told, she was reluctant to answer the summons, having at least vague suspicions what they might be about. But she went anyway, willing to at least hear him out.
The comfort of snug jeans replaced the patchwork clothing she'd borrowed from the hospital. No indication of injury remained, and in fact she looked well. Her hair swept up off her neck, a few loose tendrils escaped from the knot at the back of her head. Pale eyes absorbed the room, lingering a few moments when they set on Jay. She gave her name to the desk clerk without preamble, and swallowed the faint surprise at finding the two american legionnaires already present. A friendly nod acknowledged Jared, but formality seeped away from the smirk she offered Jay. The stiffness with which he stood itched a desire to tease a response. At least until she noticed the faint sheen of sweat across his brow.
"Promotion doesn't agree with you?"
She tsk'd playfully. "Or perhaps it's just too many late nights."
She knew he'd been punished for abandoning post but it didn't stop her jabbing at the soft spot that had carried her to the hospital. The concern was very real. Disease control was at the forefront of the Cross's concerns right now.