Chapter 79 - Patient Yang
Kaden didn't know what to say. It was the first and only time he heard she had this ability.
Kaden wondered if she had it in her previous two lifetimes. He didn't remember a single moment it could be possible. Her eyes were rarely as distant and glazed over as that day in the museum and this morning.
This was not a natural ability she inherited. Kaden knew as much.
"Were you born with it?" Kaden asked.
Kaden released her collarbone to grab her hand. He gave it a soft, reassuring squeeze. She needed to know he was still on her side. He always was.
"I… I don't…" Lina struggled to speak, her brows tugging together.
Suddenly, her face became pale. It was happening again.
Kaden instantly recognized it. Her legs gave out, but he caught her. His fast reflexes always kicked in for her.
"Shhh, it's alright," Kaden soothed, lifting her to sit on the table.
Lina responded by hugging him tightly, burying her face into the side of his neck.
Kaden stiffened at the abrupt contact. He couldn't remember the last time someone hugged him like this. How many years had it been? One hundred? Two hundred?
"It hurts," Lina whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking.
"What does?" Kaden asked, despite the urge to demand the truth immediately.
Kaden needed to know where it hurt. He needed to ease the pain. He needed to cure her. He couldn't stand seeing her in agony.
"My head," Lina cried out.
Lina dug her fingers into his upper back, seeking relief.
"It'll be okay," Kaden reassured her.
Kaden tried to remain calm for her. If he panicked in front of her, she'd only panic more. Someone had to be the grown person here. Since he was the tallest, it was naturally his position.
"It's been happening whenever… whenever…" Lina struggled to speak.
Lina felt like someone was hammering her forehead. She was too consumed by the pain to realize her legs had parted.
Kaden was standing in between her thighs. She pressed her legs tight against his waist, hoping he'd give her the relief she desperately needed.
"Shh, take your time. There is no rush." Kaden pressed his lips against her hair.
His finger softly caressed her neck, whilst his hand stroked up and down her small spine.
"We have all of eternity," Kaden promised.
Lina felt her entire body prick with the pain. She was surprised she hadn't passed out yet. Her breathing was growing shallow, but her heart was slowly calming down.
Kaden's touch was soothing. His voice was gentle. Everything about him felt reassuring. So much so, she found herself detaching from the pain.
"This happens often…" Lina trailed off, snuggling her face into his neck for a more comfortable spot.
His shoulders were warm, but it smelled like him. She loved his scent. She could picture the pine trees, the rustling of branches, and the sway of the leaves; he smelled like her favorite place in the whole wide world—the center of a forest.
"It does," Kaden agreed, recalling the many times her head would hurt.
This incident happened in the museum too, when Lina suddenly ran off. She had fainted too often for it to be a normal occurrence. Kaden knew right then and there that she remembered him. How could she not? She reacted so emotionally and called him by a title no one remembered him as.
"It happens whenever you try to remember something, doesn't it?" Kaden asked.
Something was happening inside of her brain. Kaden would get to the bottom of this. No matter the cost. He swore he would.
Lina paused. "How did you know?"
Kaden's face grew dark. So his initial predictions were true.
"It's a response to trauma," Kaden said. "Something happened in your past that your brain doesn't want to remember."
Lina's brows knitted together. "At first, I thought the same, but that's impossible. I only remember up to my boarding school days in elementary and middle school."
Kaden's brows raised. It was normal for people to not remember that much of their childhood, but she was a special case.
"What about your period of homeschooling?" Kaden asked.
"Home-schooling…?" Lina repeated. "What do you mean? I wasn't home-schooled."
Kaden narrowed his eyes. Sebastian was never wrong. His research was immaculate. It was why Kaden employed Sebastian and his ancestors.
"You were," Kaden insisted. "I looked into your background."
Lina was disturbed. "You did what?"
"Don't sound so surprised, your family does that to everyone as well," Kaden stated. "It's courtesy at this point."
Lina cringed. She couldn't correct him on that. He was right, of course. Her parents loved background checks; it was their way of greeting people.
"I suppose," Lina admitted, nodding her head in agreement.
The ache had gone away and she could finally think straight now.
Upon realizing their compromising position, Lina became motionless. Her thighs were on full display, the dress hitching up.
The only thing that separated their bodies was thin clothing.
Lina tried to close her legs, but he was already in between them. Almost as if he suddenly appreciated this, Kaden softly chuckled.
"What's wrong?" Kaden hummed.
Kaden kept his hands where they wouldn't terrify her—on her neck and back. She responded by hiding her face against his shoulders, as if that would conceal her expression. He could feel his shoulders growing warm and knew it was from her blush.
"I just remembered…" Lina trailed off.
Lina scrambled through her brain for something to say. She wondered if he knew how much of her legs were revealed. She couldn't pull away—his position felt too comfortable.
Lina felt like a kid again—where her childhood wasn't destroyed by other people.
"My brother Milo once talked about summer camp…" Lina stated, blinking with the memory.
Her headache was beginning to return.
"B-but I don't remember a summer camp and I just—" Lina hissed in pain.
Lina clutched her forehead again. This time, the agony was overwhelming. She couldn't see straight and her nose felt clogged.
"...Li..."
Lina's eyes rolled to the back of her head. Strange and fuzzy images flashed before her. White walls. White floors. Everything was white. There was a bright light somewhere and a blurry grey blob in the corner.
"...na…"
Lina could hear someone calling her name in the distance.
"Patient Yang…"
Something pinched her arm and when Lina touched it, there was nothing there. Suddenly, something firm grabbed her upper arms and violently shook her.
"Lina!" Kaden called, shaking her into consciousness.
Lina was unresponsive, her eyes glazed over like her mind was elsewhere. Just then, she jumped, rapidly blinking her eyes and looking up at him, horrified by what had happened.
"I-I saw something," Lina stammered, her heart skipping with anticipation. She rapidly blinked her eyes to maintain her vision and was stunned by the obscured images.
"There was a white room, a-and grey things, I don't know what, but something had pinched my arm. I heard they called me by something," Lina managed to say, her voice shaky with disbelief.
Lina was going through too many emotions all at once. Fear. Anger. Confusion. She couldn't process everything that quickly. She was worried about what everything meant
"And what else?" Kaden asked.
Kaden cupped her face. He forced her to look at him. Her gaze was shaky and she could barely concentrate. She grabbed his hands and breathed out.
"T-that's it," Lina said.
Lina realized a piece of her was locked away. The most crucial part of her childhood. What did all of this mean? She was growing tired of her body's reaction.
"We'll figure it out," Kaden promised her.
Home-schooling. Summer camp. White rooms. Grey things. Everything was beginning to make sense to Kaden. No wonder why she had nightmares about him. She was meant to remember her past lives, but someone was preventing her too.
Kaden's aura became dark and heavy. Someone out there knew what happened to Lina. And they didn't want her to remember what.
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