My Familiar Stranger by Victoria Danann Read Free Book Online Page A

socks, furry brown house shoes with moose faces and antlers, cross trainers and black, low heeled, Ferragamo riding boots. She bought fine weave yoga pants in a cotton/silk blend and camis with built-in support to use as sleepwear, under garments, and a thick, plaid robe for warmth and comfort. She bought a skirt just on the off chance she might need it sometime, a lime green backpack suitable to hold a laptop and other valuables and, last, Danskins for when she was able to start working out again.
    It might take other people longer to outfit themselves via cyberspace, but she was accustomed to shopping by internet. For a member of the royal house, actual shopping was too much of a production. Permission for such outings was rarely granted because of the expense of needing two guards to protect her from rumor rag reporters and paparazzi.
    Undoubtedly the piece de resistance of the internet shopping spree was the iSongs account, a pink iNote player that would hold several gig of songs, and a pair of good headphones. She couldn’t wait to find out if her favorite music existed in this world. She wanted to start downloading to her music library, but she was still getting tired easily and would go to sleep mouse in hand if she didn’t shut down and lie back.
     
    A couple of days later the nursing staff began delivering boxes as they arrived. No one was trying to hide the fact that the packages had been opened and contents inspected first. The jeans were an optimism purchase since her body was still too swollen for her regular size. Tight pants would aggravate bruises anyway. At the moment she required nonbinding, elastic waist, loose fitting clothes. Thin knit sweats and hoodies would have to suffice.
    When Storm arrived to a room crowded with shipping boxes and packing paper, he said something under his breath that sounded like, “Woden Almighty,” but proceeded to help organize by ordering a rolling rack and hangers since they hadn’t thought to build a closet. They also bought four stacking crates with front closures for things to be folded or rolled.
    She felt so much better in real clothes and it seemed to show in the speed of her progress. She was getting out of bed without assistance and walking up and down the hallway without leaning on Storm - which he missed, but couldn’t begrudge. In two weeks the snail’s pace had increased to a walk almost as fast as Storm’s normal, long legged gait for half an hour at a time. In a couple of days she added talking and laughing at the same time.
    Sometimes they played chess in the infirmary break room with a guard posing as an orderly nearby. It was the only room that had a window. Elora loved to sit where she could see gardens and trees. Storm noticed that she would lapse into melancholy if he took too long to move. One day he sat back and asked tentatively if she was ready to talk about who she was, where she came from, and how she got here. She looked away and didn’t answer which was an answer of sorts.
    Elora had grown accustomed to seeing the same faces every day. She knew everyone who worked in the infirmary, how many children they have, what kind of music they liked, what they like to do for recreation, what had attracted them to their line of work and on and on. It was a win-win. She was curious and people love to talk about themselves.
    Designed on the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ principle, the infirmary is located at a dead end, out of the way corner of the Jefferson Unit ground floor. It's a destination facility meaning you don’t go there unless you need to. Active duty knights endure enough uncertainty without in-your-face reminders of mortality and the fragile nature of human bodies. Well away from typical traffic patterns, they are not likely to casually wander by and be forced to confront the fact that The Order maintains a fully functioning hospital on the premises.
    One morning Storm and Elora were playing chess in the infirmary break room while