Eternal Love by Cerys du Lys, Jessika Fevrier Read Free Book Online

The phone rang.
    Misa twisted the
water knob, bringing a halt to her shower.  Pulling a towel from the curtain
rod, she wrapped it around her body, then stepped out from behind the curtain.
    The phone rang
again.
    Towel-clad, she
swung open the door of the bathroom, scampered down the hallway, and lifted up
the cordless phone, checking the caller's number.
    The phone rang
once more.  The caller's name showed as unavailable on the LCD.
    She pressed the
talk button.  "Hello?"
    "Hello,"
a man said.  "Is Robert Thorns available?"
    "May I ask
who's calling?"
    "Is this
Mrs. Thorns?"
    "Yes.  Who
is this?"  She worried.  The man sounded like a debt collector.  Robert
always said he paid their bills on time, but sometimes she wondered how he
could.
    "Mrs.
Thorns, I'm calling on behalf of the Cancer Research Institute.  We're
wondering if you or Mr. Thorns would like to become senescence donors.  Our
records indicate you have a transference hook-up in your home.  I could direct
you in its use over the phone.  A day could mean the difference between the
life or death of hundreds.  A week, even more.  Your time goes directly to our
lead scientists so they can continue their research."
    The hot water
from her shower had all but cooled.  The remnants, soaking through her towel
and dampening her hair, chilled her shoulders and brought shivers to her skin. 
She had the urge to hang up and return to the bathroom and dip into a warm
bath.
    "Mrs.
Thorns?  Are you there?"
    She swallowed
hard.  "Yes.  I'm here.  I don't think we'll be donating.  I'm
sorry."
    "Are you
sure?  The average person lives about seventy eight years, discounting
senescence transactions.  One week is an infinitesimal amount of time in
comparison.  Also, It's tax deductible and the good that—"
    She hung up
before he finished.  Putting the phone back on its base, she walked down the
hallway in a daze, intent on returning to her shower.  She checked a clock on
the wall as she passed.  Robert should be coming home soon.  Maybe he'd like to
take her to a restaurant for dinner, something special where they could dress
up.
    When she
returned to the bathroom, the phone rang again.  She switched on the bathtub
radio they owned, turned the volume dial until it drowned out the sound of
anything else, and twisted the water knob to resume her shower.
    ...
    The disgustingly
crisp and pure surgical smell of the hospital room pervaded her senses.  In her
drug induced state, she felt detached from the world as if she were watching
herself on video years later.  Her head pounded.  She wanted to vomit.  The
doctor kept demanding things from her.
    "Push."
    Misa pushed. 
What more did he want?  She was pushing as best she could and she pushed every
time he asked, but he kept ordering her to do it again and again.
    "Almost
there," he said.  "A little more."
    Hadn't he said
this before?  How long had she been in here?  She couldn't remember. 
    Though to be
fair, she didn't think she should be here at all.  She loved Dalton, she did,
but they were too young to be experiencing this.  She was only sixteen and in
high school; or had been until the weight of pregnancy kept her too exhausted
to continue.
    Dalton said it
would be alright, though.  He would get a job.  Another job.  He'd get lots of
jobs and everything would be fine and he'd take care of her forever and their
son(they would have a son!  That's what the ultrasounds showed) would grow up
with loving parents.
    She loved the
idea, it sounded romantic, but everyone disagreed.  It will be difficult, they
said.  She would lose opportunities.  How could she care for a child and
continue school?  High school might work, but college?  She didn't know those
answers.  She only knew she liked Dalton quite a bit, maybe she loved him a
lot, and he told her it would be alright.
    Something
between her legs cried.  The doctor hefted up a small, fleshy bundle and showed
it to her.  She loved it, she