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Catherine Asaro - The Veiled Web
now, those soulless machines that turned Rashid's life into traces on a screen. Lucia
waited for the alarm that would tell them his heart had stopped. Every moment that
passed in silence felt like a gift, yet it hurt as well, because she knew what waited at the
end.
She thought of the first time she had seen him, surrounded by elegance in the East
Room of the White House, devastatingly handsome in his tuxedo, his golden skin
flushed with health. Or the first time she had seen him in the courtyard in his house,
walking toward her through the deep, pooling shadows. So much promise, so much
strength, so much life and beauty and brilliance. How could it all be gone now?
Perhaps these past two weeks had been a delirium. Maybe she and Rashid had just
escaped from Oujda. If only she would awake in Rashid's suite to find him watching
her, or reading in the corner, sitting on the carpet, his hair tousled as he absently ran his
hand through it. If only.
Lucia brushed her fingertips across his brow. Bending down, she pressed her lips
against his forehead. Then she straightened back up and just looked at him, trying to
imprint his features on her memory.
With growing apprehension, she realized something had changed. At first her mind
refused to accept it. When she finally absorbed what she saw, she almost cried out. But
the sound froze in her throat.
Rashid had stopped breathing.
It couldn't have happened. It couldn't be over already. Unable to speak, she tightened
her hold on his hand.
With a rush of almost giddy relief, she saw his chest rise in a shallow breath. Then he
breathed again. A tear ran down her face. A few more moments. They had him for a few
more moments.
Her hand trembled as she stroked his hair off his forehead. His lashes lay long on his
cheeks, a dark contrast to the pallor of his skin.
Again his breath stopped.
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Catherine Asaro - The Veiled Web
Lucia went utterly still.
Slowly, so very slowly, he drew in a deep breath, long and shuddering, as if he were
inhaling life. Again. And again.
Then his lashes lifted and he looked straight up into her face.
"Rashid?" she asked, afraid to believe this miraculous gift.
In an almost inaudible voice he whispered, "Hello, my light of the sea."
The overcast dawn cast pearly-gray light on the Coral Sea, giving the ship's deck an
otherworldly quality. Large and gray, the size of two football fields, the deck felt damp
in the misty dawn but warm under Lucia's feet, with a rough, gravelly texture. The
amphib rumbled with aircraft as they took off or landed, and the tang of fuel and helo
exhaust accented the air.
Rashid stood with Lucia, apart from the group waiting for them: the ship's captain and
his executive officer; Abdullah and Ahmed, who were talking with the captain; and
Major Farlow, who had finally agreed to let Rashid travel. The group discreetly placed
themselves out of earshot, near the helicopter that would soon fly Rashid, his father, and
his brother back to Morocco.
In the early-morning chill, Lucia's breath turned into feathers of condensation. With her
hands scrunched in the pockets of her borrowed jacket, she looked up at Rashid. He had
lost a great deal of weight. His face was almost as pale now as on that morning in the
medical bay when he had opened his eyes into the dawn and life.
The results of the spinal tap confirmed the miracle: Although some swelling within his
cranium had occurred, it came from the second trauma to the head, not the first, which
meant it had less time to build up pressure. Nor was the damage as severe as they had
feared; his head injury had primarily been a concussion. He responded well to
treatment, and Farlow predicted he would suffer no permanent brain damage. Rashid
recalled almost nothing of what happened after they destroyed his lab, though. His
injured arm hung in a sling, and bandages under his clothes protected the still-healing
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Catherine Asaro - The Veiled Web
wounds in his torso and arm. But he stood on his own, tall in the gray morning, favoring
his injured leg but otherwise steady.
"Are you sure?" he asked her.
She made herself nod. "I have to go home. I& I'm sorry."
He brushed his knuckles along her cheek. "I too. But I also must return to my home."
Lucia started to pull her hands out of her pockets, to hug him good-bye. But he dropped
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