After a few more tests and several walks up and down the hospital corridor, Alexandria was released the next morning. Jameason had taken the night watch in order to allow Alex’s parents to go home and rest. Two security gentlemen were posted outside her room, and others were inconspicuously scattered around the hospital grounds. Even the MI-5 agents had to begrudgingly admit that her father had indeed hired a firm who took their clients’ safety seriously.
The lead guard, Mr. Jackson Campbell, was young but he was the point man on the assignment. He was one of the two who stood vigil outside her room throughout the night, and all others, both at the hospital and the Manor, reported to him. After a quick shower, Alex dressed in the soft sweats that Jameason had brought with him and prepared to leave. Jackson came in the room when Dr. Holbrook returned with final instructions, and John reminded Alex that he would see her within the next day or so at home to check in on her.
If Jackson thought this odd, he did not let on. He just stood quietly in the corner of the room taking it all in. Jameason also had no comment, as he was used to people showing great kindness and consideration to the Groabans. She heard Jackson speaking quietly into a small communication device that she could not see, but one that he obviously had in his ear, preparing everyone for their imminent departure. But before they could leave the room, Wallace and Conner entered, looking relieved to see her standing and walking unassisted.
“What are you two doing here? I thought you’d been banned from this hospital?” laughed Alex, shaking her head.
“I’d like to see them try to keep me out of this place,” said Wallace. He walked forward and gave her a gentle hug. “How are you, sis?”
“I’m doing alright, I think.” Alex kept her right arm around Wallace and extended her left hand to Conner, who stepped forward and clasped it.
“Thank you, both, for getting me out of that room. Mother told me that you came in and found me.” Alex shook her head sadly. “I wish you’d not seen me like that, but thank goodness you came.”
Conner stroked her hair, and he shushed her. “No dear, we’re sorry that he had enough time to hurt you. But you can rest assured that we won’t let anyone come within a kilometer of you again. We just need to get you home now.”
Wallace smiled at her, but Alex could tell it was a little forced.
“You ready to get out of this smelly place?” he asked.
“Absolutely!” Alex nodded.
They left by a rear exit, the security team monitoring their every step. They were flanked by six guards, three in front and three in back as they walked. Alex was further cushioned by Jameason at her side and her brothers behind her. Even though she knew that an ordinary human would have trouble breaking through the wall of testosterone, Alex did not doubt for a moment that if Bertrand were still alive, he would be able to quickly subdue all those around her and reach her with little or no effort.
That thought was sobering. Alex did not want anyone there or at home to get hurt if someone or something came for her again. But how could she give her family and the new security team the slip, Alexandria wondered. In her heart, she knew she could not do that to them at present. Her family seemed so fragile right now because, in a way, they felt the effects of the attack as well.
Alex also knew that if anyone told her that Wallace or Conner had been savagely beaten, how sick and furious she would feel. Alex wondered if her family would ever let her out of their sight again. At some point, she would have to return to work and life as it was before, and that, she decided, would be her best opportunity to meet with John and the others he had mentioned.
Her brothers and Jameason climbed into their Land Rover, and Jackson took the wheel. The rest of the team climbed into two other SUVs and put one in front and one behind the Rover. Alex smiled at Jameason because she knew he hated for anyone else to drive him anywhere. But he was not given the option, and he did not raise the issue at all. He sat quietly up front with Jackson and surveyed the road ahead.
The drive home was, thankfully, uneventful. They turned off of the main road onto the long, winding drive that led to the Manor. Alex noticed several additional security men scattered throughout the trees and hills and wondered how many were on the property. There were just too many guards to call Ganymede to her side for answers, she thought.
Then Alex thought back to that night so long ago in Egypt when he had taken her mind somewhere else while leaving her body in her bedroom. Perhaps she could ask Ganymede to do that again, she pondered. Then, her family would never suspect her leaving the grounds.
This was what Alexandria did not want. The more she thought about all of the security she saw, the more trapped she felt. She never liked it when her father had hired security personnel before, but some of the locations the family traveled to in the past had warranted extra protection. Alex knew that she would have to deal with this for now because her family needed it more than she did.
She looked up and caught Jackson watching her in the rearview mirror. Their eyes locked for a brief moment before they each looked away. Uncanny, Alex thought, that he would look back when she was planning ways to handle his presence.
Once they pulled up to the front of the house, Jackson stepped out while a man from the rear SUV came forward and climbed into the driver’s seat. Her brothers opened the rear doors on either side of her, and Alex slid out on Conner’s side because it was closest to the Manor’s front door. Their parents came out and enveloped Alex in tender hugs.
Her mother and Jameason began to walk her inside. Alex looked briefly back over her shoulder and saw her brothers and father in deep discussion with Jackson and another older guard. All three SUVs drove off towards the garage, while the men continued talking and planning. Planning, Alex thought, of how to keep her there and safe.
The rest of that afternoon and the next two days were spent napping, reading, and watching movies indoors. Her parents had a nice collection of classic films, and Cary Grant seemed to dominate the screen. After one too many black and white films, Wallace finally had all he could stand and purchased, “Something with explosions,” as he put it. Both Wallace and Conner frequently stepped out to take calls on their mobiles, trying to stay in touch with those whom they worked with. Both were expected back on their jobs within the next two weeks, and Alex was both relieved and deeply worried.
Wallace had recently been promoted to the position of director for the World Diamond Council, and he was regularly needed in London and Africa in the organization’s campaign to stop conflict diamonds from making their way to the global black market. Conner’s team would be reassembling shortly at the dig site on the Isle of Wight after the holidays, and as the leader of the project, he could not be tardy.
Alex lay back in her cushy chair as the sounds of aliens and bombs detonating filled the room around her. She twirled the remote between her fingers as she wondered how she could get John Holbrook to the house, sooner rather than later. John spoke of others, so surely those others could help look after her brothers too. Was that too much to ask, she wondered. Alex just did not know, because she really did not know John or the others.
A loud crash sounded on the screen, and an alien bounded over a large vehicle to pin an actress to the ground. He turned his head in an all too familiar motion. It moved exactly as Bertrand had when he inspected her while she was trapped beneath his body. Alex felt chilled to the bone as she saw Bertrand’s face flash before her eyes, lowering towards hers. “Fighting like a human!” His words echoed viciously in her mind again. She was startled out of the memory when the remote clattered to the hardwood floor.
“You okay, Alex?” asked Conner from a chair off to her left.
“Yep! Just gonna go to the bathroom for a moment,” she covered and quickly made her way out of the room. Conner gave her a concerned look as she passed by, but Alex evaded any questions he might have had.
After visiting th
e restroom in her bedroom upstairs, Alex did not want to go back to the movie. It was just too surreal, and she felt raw inside. For the last two days, she had been quite efficiently handed from one family member to another so that they could keep perpetual watch over her. She was never alone, and Alex was beginning to feel like she was rapidly approaching a breaking point if she were not allowed some space. Even when she was able to evade her brothers, Jackson showed up and would silently stand guard. It was just too much.
She grabbed a coat and made her way down a back staircase and headed outside. Just before she opened the door, Alex paused and silently asked Ganymede to be with her. She had not talked to him since returning home. Instead, she had used the past few days to heal, rest, and reassure her family that she was okay. She opened the door to find three expectant labs wagging their tails and ready for a walk.
Alexandria smirked. “Well, guys. Ready to try it again?” She followed the dogs out into the crisp, winter air, drawing in deep cleansing breaths into her lungs.
Chapter 7