Chapter 37

I dressed and got ready for dinner. A sick feeling was sitting in the pit of my stomach as I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked deep into my silver eyes and saw something hiding behind them. I didn’t exactly know what they were, but something didn’t feel right.

 Rylan took the day off so we spent it all in bed. He wore straight legged black slacks with a red dress shirt and black tie. I wore some tighter fitting black slacks with a silver shirt and a dark grey tie. Rylan decided that we would drive the white convertible this time. We pulled up to Jo’s parent’s hotel in style with the top down. They had reserved the large dining room used for special meetings, large dinners, or parties. Rylan and I parked the car in one of the large parking garages and started walking to where we were meeting everyone. His warm hand was laced with mine and he led me through the jungle of cars and concrete pillars.

                He looked back at me to see if I was paying attention to him. When my eyes caught his he turned back around. “I have a weird feeling about this. I don’t know what it is but I can’t shake it.”

                “I know what you mean.” We both had been feeling anxious and strange all day but I shook it off and got ready to go.

                We finally found our way through the hotel to the front desk. This hotel was one her family hadn’t moved into so I had no idea where anything was. Rylan led us to the front desk inside the large lobby. The man we asked directions from was obviously infatuated with Rylan from the second he saw him. He looked at Rylan and his practiced speech was ruined. He stumbled over words and slurred just about every other one. His green eyes stayed affixed on Rylan through all the mumbling. Rylan smiled politely like he always did and tried to decipher the man’s strange language.

                We finally gave it up and went and found the room ourselves. Rylan pushed the big double wide doors open and held them for me. The ballroom was completely empty except for a large center table displayed out largely in the middle of the room. Most everyone was planted in their seats but Jo was up hugging different people. Rylan and I walked over to the table and Jo caught our presence. “You made it!” She yelled over the table. All eyes were on us, and most of them were silver.

The Oresons sat all around the table. Each of them stiffened when they saw me come into the room. Jo, the only one who seemed to be moving, ran over to us and hugged me. “Thank you for coming.” She was a little too happy for me to be there it made me actually feel important�"which I knew I wasn’t. She caught me looking around at the table and at the people surrounding it. “Is this okay?” she asked carefully and quietly so they wouldn’t hear.

                I smiled at her. “It’s fine, just seeing who’s here.” She smiled and turned around. “Does everyone remember Collin Hanks?” There was a muttered hello some happy some not, “and this is his…” She looked at me for an answer.

                I turned my head to the table. I’d been waiting four years to say these words. “This is my husband Rylan Khorry. And it’s Collin Khorry now.” Everyone’s eyes got huge as they realized the significance between us. The last time they’d all seen me was when I was madly in love with Phoenix no one ever suspected me to move on and find someone else.

                Larsen spoke loudly, “Dr. Khorry?”

                “Yes, sir, that’s me.” Rylan stepped forward and put his hand on my back.

                Larsen looked at me and then back to Rylan. Nothing came out of his mouth to me or Rylan. I looked to his right Eileen sat with a content very happy smile on her face. Her silver eyes gleamed brightly. I walked around the table to hug her. She stood when I approached her and spoke “It’s wonderful to see you again.”

                She looked up at me. “You look so great. This guy’s done a lot more than Phoenix could’ve ever done for you.”

                I nodded. He has. I looked next to her to see the twins they had to be 19 now and hated my Hero self. I lost them their jobs that they wanted badly. The jobs they’d been waiting for Phoenix to leave for. Tex slightly waved at me and Zane said nothing. He never liked me and I was used to that. Next to them sat a pregnant Veronica. “What is this?” I pointed to her belly.

She rubbed the small round ball protruding from her stomach. “This is the second, a boy.” She stood up when she saw me walking towards her. Her beautiful legs were exposed with a small skirt. Even with being a mother, a pregnant mother at that, she didn’t lose her sexiness. Next to her, Jackson also stood. They both had so much love in them for each other. They really amazed me. No, they gave me hope.

                Jackson shook Rylan’s hand and I hugged Veronica carefully in hopes not to hurt her. She grabbed my shoulder and looked at me head to toe. “You really look wonderful.”

I shook Jackson’s hand and then moved on to Jo’s parents. I gave her mother a hug and gave her father a nice firm hand shake�"like a proper young man.

I walked next to them and saw the beautiful Jazz. She looked so wonderful. She wore a short black spaghetti strap dress. She was wearing long black heels that had her standing almost eye level with me. Her arms had become quite toned, and her face was even more beautiful than Veronica’s. Too bad her dad had lost all his famousness or she would be on the cover of every magazine. I’m sure at school she had guys crawling all over her. Her arms wrapped around my neck and I cradled her soft body in my arms. “You are so beautiful.” I whispered into her ear, “If I wasn’t gay…” I said sarcastically and she laughed into my ear.

“Well, look at the guy you’re with. I’m surprised you both don’t get mauled all the time.” I gave her a wink and Rylan hugged her next.

 As I walked around the table I squeezed Ryder’s shoulder then sat down between Jo and Rylan, who was sitting next to Eileen.

                As we ate the food that was so beautifully prepared we all caught up. Rylan talked about working at the hospital and I talked about staying home. Rylan didn’t want me working because it would stress me out and I didn’t want to go to school because it would stress me out. Larsen talked about the new businesses he was trying to start. Eileen talked about the money she was bringing in with signing autographs for money. I couldn’t help but smile a little when she said she kept her money because when Larsen was making his she hardly saw it. The twins were in college right now Tex was studying psychology and Zane was just partying (That’s basically what I got out of his one sentence answer “I’m undecided.”). Veronica and Jackson talked about their little girl and how the pregnancy was going. Jo’s parents talked about their newest hotels and how wonderful their finances were still going. Also how happy they were to have their daughter home. Jazz talked about high school and her most recent crush. Jo talked about school, and Ryder talked about his love for Jo.

                That’s when the mood shifted, “We actually have an announcement.” All eyes slowly went to them and Ryder stood up. “For almost five years Jo Lee and I have been together and have been sharing the best love two people could share.” Rylan’s hand squeezed around mine we both knew they couldn’t compare to what we had for each other. “And about a year ago I asked Jo to marry me.” Some eyes went wide but some knew and this wasn’t much of a surprise. I soon learned that I was not the first person she called, that kind of hurt.         

My eyes went to Rylan who looked at me with a comforting smile. I knew he knew what I was thinking. His shoulder nudged mine playfully. It would be alright, and I knew that. Jo stood up and showed off the ring. All the girls swooned over it and all the men congratulated them, “That’s not all.” Jo chirped like a bird in the early morning, “We’re actually getting married in two months.” People cheered, “I’ve already chosen my bridesmaids.”

                I think it was Jo’s mom that yelled, “Who are they?”

                Ryder and Jo sat back down quieting the whole crowd, “Well I know that this isn’t very conventional, but I’ve had one best friend since I’ve moved here and he’s always been there for me. So I’d like to ask Collin to by my maid of honor.”

                All the eyes at the table were now on me. Rylan pinched my hand under the table bringing my focus back to the conversation. I couldn’t actually believe that she would ask me. Whenever I imagined our weddings, I would be sitting in the front row of hers crying my eyes out, next to her thousand year old grandmother, not actually being a part of it. Her eyes became hopeful as she watched for my answer. “Of course I will be, sweetie.” Everyone cheered happily.

Ryder leaned over to Jo and said something. He stood up and walked out of the ballroom. No one thought anything of it, Jo kept going. “And of course I would love for my soon to be sister in laws to be my other two bridesmaids.” They cheered and immediately they started talking about dresses.

                Larsen boomed over everyone, “Who did Ryder choose.”

                Jo froze up and stared at everyone but mostly at me. “Well, Zane and Tex of course will be in the wedding party.”

                “What about his best man?” Larsen’s eyes shot to me and then back to Jo. The room became tense and awkward. There was something no one was saying. An elephant was in the room and no one seemed to notice. Jo’s eyes went from Larsen to me. I hadn’t seen Jo this awkward or tense�"ever.

                “It’s someone we got really close to while we were in Hawaii. He will be here in a second. He just got in and Ryder’s helping him find the place.” Everyone voiced how happy they were for them but I felt the earth shifting underneath me.

                The large doors of the ballroom opened again and in stepped my worst nightmare. Two pairs of silver eyes went straight to me. Phoenix stood next to Ryder in the door way. Everything happened so quickly I couldn’t even stop to think. Phoenix’s eyes went straight into mine and it was soon followed by a lurching pain in my stomach. A pain I drank away about five years ago. A pain that I hadn’t felt until that second he left. My body doubled over so fast my head smashed into the table cracking the front of my forehead. A scream churned in my throat and it was only seconds it escaped through my clenched teeth. Rylan dropped my hand from his and stood up as fast as he could. His chair fell over onto the wood floor with a loud bang. By now the whole ballroom was silent. The chair falling reverberated off the bare walls. Rylan’s shoulders squared and he stood in front of me with his chest heaved out and a low growl hissed through his teeth. My powers pulled at the back of mind. They wanted to break out and protect me from the pain. Perhaps they could fix them, but I knew they couldn’t.

Ryder walked closer with Phoenix and the pain became even more immense. I tried to stand and knocked the chair out from under me. I doubled over onto the ground pushing Rylan’s focus all on me.  He stopped his protection and dropped down next to me. Jo also stood up and came to my side. The pain was so intense that tears were swelling and rolling down my cheeks. I couldn’t get control of the anything around me. I’ve almost died from being crushed by tons and tons of pounds, but nothing seemed to be as bad as this pain in my torso. My hands punched at the floor and my legs kicked furiously below me. My lungs painfully gasped for air, but it never seemed to get in.        

                Rylan flipped me onto my back and straddled me. His hands went to the sides of my face and he pulled me up so that I was staring straight into his eyes, “You can do this.” He said over and over and over again. Slowly as I searched into his eyes I found him. The pain soothed and I was again in his arms. “That’s my boy.”

                He wrapped my body in his arms and I felt completely weak. I sunk into his arms and he pulled me into his chest. There was still pain in my chest but not nearly as bad as it was. Now I was grateful that Rylan took me for those three days. I couldn’t imagine dealing with all of that pain on my own.  He stood up with my limp body cradled in his arms. My head rested on his chest and I shut my eyes trying to make everything just go away. My hand reached up and touched his chin lightly to know that he was still there. Jo stood up and looked at us with a big gasp. Her eyes went huge and her hand went to her mouth. There was recognition in her eyes as she looked at this familiar scene. “It’s you.” She hissed and we both realized what happened. Phoenix stepped closer to the situation folding out before him. Larsen seemed to be enjoying himself as my pain spilled out onto the floor around us. The world that I somehow created around me was now falling apart… again.

Luckily right at that moment a loud crash was heard outside. I closed my eyes and my powers flooded my body giving me the much needed strength. I kept my eyes closed as Rylan silently carried me out of the room. When we were away from people he said, “What do you see?”

                “A few blocks away someone’s been shot which caused a car accident. The police are on the way.” When the doors closed behind us he dropped me to my feet.

                He looked at me in the eye. “Are you alright?”

                I came close to him and put my hands on his flexed Pecs, “For now. Don’t let me feel like that again.”

                He smiled and chose his words carefully. “I won’t.”

                We both ran out of the lobby as fast as we could. When we got to a spot where no one could see us our clothes were changed. It only took about two seconds, but in those seconds someone could recognize us. We ran out to the street only to find Ryder and Jo standing in front of us. I stopped as fast as I could but slid on some gravel. Rylan caught me by my shoulders inches from the ground. My hand pushed me up to face Jo. Her arms crossed over her chest. Her breathing was heavy and she stared straight at me.

                “Can I help you ma’am? Is there a problem or something?” I said in a completely different voice.

                “Collin.”

                “Shiloh,” I answered correcting her.

                She looked straight into my eye and she already knew. Ryder looked over Rylan a little bit harder. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Rylan stepped forward and turned his back on Ryder. He was trying to protect me from the life I didn’t want to return to. “We have to go Shiloh.” He hissed through his teeth.  I looked at Ryder who now had his eyes illuminated. My eyes searched for an answer, anything. They had figured it out and now the whole world would know. We would be exposed and my life wouldn’t be the same.

                “We won’t tell anyone,” Ryder spoke softly and looked at both of us even though Rylan still had his back turned to Ryder. My eyes went to him and I pleaded to help me out. I didn’t know what to do. Sirens got closer and closer and our window of escape was getting smaller. My eyes begged with Rylan who finally turned around.

                “Come over tonight, we’ll talk it over with coffee. Sorry to ruin your evening.”

                “No,” Ryder was the only one speaking now. “We should’ve warned you about Phoenix.” I had forgotten. The pain shot through me again. My hand clenched Rylan’s elbow.

                “Let’s go.” He said and we ran off.