Ella Awakened Read Online Free

returned to the workstation.  Picking up the pestle, he lightly
ground the herbs.  He transferred his treasure to a small bowl, cleaned the
mortar and pestle, and then returned to the house.
    In the
kitchen Burke added about half of his herbal mixture to the water in a
humidifier and saved the rest to make tea for Ella when she woke up.  Breathing
the steam from the humidifier would help her sleep peacefully.  Drinking the tea
would dull the headache and settle her stomach.  He wished he could make the
headaches go away altogether, but he was lacking an ingredient.  There was
nothing he could do about that; he would have to do the best he could with what
he had.  He walked into the bedroom, plugged the humidifier in, and set it on
his bedside table pointing the mist toward Ella.  Burke stood for a minute
looking down at her.  She was so beautiful; such a beautiful mess.  In a few
days she’d be able to kill him with her bare hands.  But still, he felt this
uncontrollable urge to protect her.  He was afraid nothing could protect her. 
He reached down, smoothed a strand of her hair from her face, and then left the
room to watch the evening news.  Hopefully there wouldn’t be anything else added
to his list of concerns.
    ~~
    The evening
news was happily void of anything Burke needed to worry about.  He turned off
the television, peeked at Ella who was still sleeping, then went to the
bathroom to clean himself up.  As he showered he wished he had some things here
for Ella.  Of course he had soaps and shampoos, but if she felt up to a shower
she’d want clean clothes.  He wasn’t thrilled about the idea of leaving her, but
he supposed he could sneak into her dorm room and grab a few things.  It
wouldn’t be hard to get in there tomorrow.  He knew Sarah worked at a little
shop downtown on Saturdays.  He could run over there, get in and get out, and
be back here in less than an hour.
    Thinking of
Sarah, he remembered she’d be expecting to hear from Ella soon or she said
she’d call Rachel.  Ella wasn’t going to be in any condition to see Sarah, Rachel,
or anyone else for a few more days. 
    Thank God
text messages have taken over the world he thought, as he stepped out of the shower and dried himself
off. 
    He put on
comfortable shorts and a t-shirt and took Ella’s cell phone out of the back
pocket of his discarded jeans.  He scrolled through the contact list in Ella’s
phone until he found Sarah, then sent her a text saying: Went to the doctor,
have the flu, got drugs, should feel better in a few days .  Hopefully that
would buy him some time with Sarah.  He wasn’t sure when, or even if, Rachel
was expecting Ella to return home from school for summer break.  He’d have to
remember to ask Ella so they could text her Aunt if necessary.  Feeling like
he’d covered his bases, Burke got an extra pillow and blanket out of the linen
closet and made his way to the couch.  He got comfortable and opened the novel
he’d been reading.  All he could do now was sit and wait.
    He wasn’t
sure what time he had actually dozed off, but it was just after two o’clock in
the morning when he woke to Ella screaming.  He ran into the bedroom and sat
next to her on the bed.
    “Ella,
you’re okay!  It’s me Burke.  You’re here at my house,” he told her as he
pulled her into his arms.
    “My head
feels like it’s going to explode and my whole body aches!  What is happening to
me?  Please do something!” she desperately grabbed hold of his shirt.  “Make it
stop!”
    “Ella,
you’ve got to listen to me.  Everything is going to be okay, you’re going to be okay.  I tried to tell you yesterday; you’re changing.  You are
awakening.  Our people - your people - reach maturity at twenty years old. 
It’s like a second kind of puberty.  Your father went through exactly what
you’re going through just before his twentieth birthday.  Please honey, he was
my best friend.  I know you