Kiera's Soulmates

Day 2

I wake up and focus on my surroundings. Not recognizing where I am, until I remember that I am in my dorm room. I wonder what woke me up, then hear a knock at my door. "Time for breakfast." I hear Teresa say on the other side. Shaking my head I walk into my bathroom and relieve myself. Man, that dream was weird. I am glad Kiera is ok. The doctor came by after he got back and told me what happened. I glance at the clock. 6am. I only got 3 hours of sleep. The doctor seems like someone I can confide in. He said he was going to go back over there at around 11. Maybe I can sneak over to the clinic and see him afterwards. Shaking the dream out of my head, I get dressed for the day and head to the cafe. Today starts classes as well. I think we are learning about drywall this week. I guess we will see.

***Kiera***

I wake up and glance at the clock. It is 8am. I want so badly to roll over and go back to sleep, but my bladder is nudging me awake. I hear Dan and Stella in the kitchen talking and something smells good. Trying to sit up, I yell out in pain. Brutus jumps up and runs towards the hall right as I hear things drop in the kitchen. A few seconds later Dan is at the door. "Are you ok?" Sweat is beading on my forehead and breathing hurts. I motion to my ribs and to the bathroom. In a split second I am lifted off the bed and carried to the toilet. "You could have just called for me." "I thought I could handle it" "Normally, you can. But, normally you don't have a seizure either." "Touché" I finish while he is running me a bath. I wonder what Ashley is doing right now and that reminds me of the dream I had. "You look deep in thought. Care to share?" I smile at Daniel, "It's just that you are so handsome right now." He chuckles at my statement. "I doubt that is what has you deep in thought, but I won't argue with your observation cuz I do look pretty good in my skull sleep pants." He causes me to laugh as he strikes several poses like he is a movie star on the red carpet. "That's more like it. Now your bath awaits Mrs. Andrews." he picks me up and gently places me in the tub. I can never get used to how well he takes care of me. Leaning down at the edge he lets my hair loose. Grabbing the hair brush he knocks the tangles out, before using a cup to soak my hair. "I do have something I want to talk to you about, but I'm not sure how you will take it." He stops squirting shampoo and looks at me. "Oh?" He asks. "Yeah, I know we have been pretty monogamous, but how would you feel about opening up our marriage?" "What do you mean?" "Well, I've noticed the looks you and Stella give each other, and I know you want the chance to see where things would go with her." I am starting to get nervous and can't look at him. what if I read the whole situation wrong? Still, I started the conversation so I may as well finish it. "A friend told me about something called polyamory, and I think maybe we could try it. it means more than one love. it is ethical non-..." I didn't get a chance to finish. He grabbed my face and turned me to look at him. I see wonder in his eyes. "Your not mad?" "Babygirl, I have been trying to figure out how to talk to you about this subject myself. You have amazed me." "Really?" Why does my voice sound so small right now? "Yes, really. Are you sure?" "I don't know. I am still learning about it and I know we have a lot to talk about. I know jealousy will probably come in at some point." he finishes washing me and lifts me out of the tub. "You're right it probably will. IF we do this, you know I would want you to date as well right?" "I had a dream last night." "Oh?" "Yeah." he places me on our bed just as Stella walks in with breakfast. I hand him my notebook and start eating. He opens it to the last entry having previously read all of the other ones.

****Daniel****

I read the entry, my mind going over the previous conversation. I can't believe my wife. She has amazed me so much this morning. I look back and forth between the entry and her. I can't believe the dream she had. She is scarfing down her pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I knew she would be hungry after last night. "Hey guys, if y'all are ok, I'm gonna get out of here for a bit. Need to go do the grocery shopping and I have a late lunch with my parents." "Ok Stella. hey, how are your parents and sister? Kiera told me. I'm sorry I didn't realize." "It's ok. They are fine. I was going to talk to you actually but my sister and her husband are wanting one of your teams to remodel their house... AFTER your big project is done. No rush on it, and I'll catch you up on them later." My head starts turning over. I know her sister is blind. Turned out it was a tumor that had killed her vision all those years ago. She regained light, but legally she is blind. "Sounds good." I tell her automatically. I finish reading the entry and put down the notebook. Noticing Kiera is done with breakfast I pick the tray up and take it into the kitchen. Leaning on the counter my mind is racing over the last hour. So many emotions are going through my head. Fear, excitement, wonder, amazement, shock. I give myself a few minutes before walking into the bedroom with Kiera's new script. I had run out and filled it before she woke up. She took her meds and looked at me. "So?" "It's definitely a mystery, and I'm not sure what it means." "I don't either. I was going to contact Walker later." "He might know something." Walker is her shaman friend. his native American name is Walks The Wind. It is said that he can literally walk on the wind. I wouldn't mind meeting him myself, but he lives with his tribe in North Carolina. Kiera had met him while they were in college. I need to take us on vacation. Maybe we can go this fall. She might like to see the leaves change again. Settling on the bed with her I turn on the TV and put one of her favorite movies on to play. My thoughts on her dream and Ashley.

***Ashley***

It's been 8 hours and I am starving. All day we hammered in drywall on practice boards. tomorrow we get to plaster them and the next day sand and paint them. We each got paired up and got our own three sided room. It was pretty cool, but I didn't know how much work went into it. The rooms are 30'x30'. Thursday we get to demo them. I can wait. That's the fun part. Friday we have to clean up and reset for Monday. apparently all of our classes will be in the same huge room. I think that is cool as can be, but I'm not looking forward to clean up if we have to keep resetting the rooms though. Next week we are going to learn how to plumb lines for water and sewage. The following week will be electrical. And then we have two weeks to design and complete our areas. From electrical and cable lines, plumbing and sewage, drywall and paint. This program is pretty cool. I am still having doubts about it though. Eventually they are going to figure out that I am just a fake. Someone who in actuality doesn't deserve to be here. I shake my head and go to the cafe. Breakfast and lunch weren't too bad and had some decent choices. It was served buffet style. I was told whatever food doesn't get eaten then gets packed up and frozen before being shipped to Orlando's homeless shelters. I over hear some people mention Kiera's name and my ears pick up. It is two people talking. "Hey, John, did you hear about Kiera?" the guy named John looks over at the other person. "Yeah I heard she had a seizure last night. I hope she is ok, but it explains why Daniel wasn't leading the first day of class." "Who lead it?" "Jeremy did. Is she ok?" "Doc said she was, but was sore and tired. He ran to check on her before my appointment" "How is your concussion anyhow?" I tuned out the rest of the conversation as my chosen partner comes up behind me and starts talking to me. "So what did you get probation for?" "Theft" I tell him as I move up the line. Something smells real good and my stomach rumbles. "Oh. I got it for vandalism. tagged the I-4, I-95 intersection." This guy isn't taking the hint that I don't want to talk. I see what smells good. It is steak and looks like pulled pork is next to it. I grab a bun and some potatoes. Man I am in the mood for both. Moving up to the meat table I grab some pulled pork and a steak. The steak looks juicy. Further down I see they have given the option of different steak sauces and BBQ sauces for the pork. I briefly wonder if Daniel is a billionaire being able to afford this campus and all it's luxuries. Then I remember that we get a little taken out of our checks each month for food and housing. I can't remember how much exactly, but it has to be enough to cover all of this. Going to the furthest table in the room I sit down, only for my partner to sit down next to me. Inwardly I sigh and wish I could take my food to my dorm to eat. I noticed John and his friend sitting nearby with contemplative looks on their faces and I wonder what they are talking about. I keep my head down and finish my food as fast as I can. I want to go to the commissary. I need a drawing pad and pencils/pens/markers if I am going to survive this. Finishing my food I head out and bump into the doctor. "Whoa. where you headed in such a hurry?" My shoulder starts aching from the long day of hanging drywall. Absentmindedly I start to rub it and roll it around. "Nowhere." I tell him. He is looking at my shoulder with a look on his face. I stop what I am doing. "Shoulder bothering you huh?" "Old injury." "Well, I was gonna ask u to come in on Saturday. I got your medical records and seen you were in a wreck not that long ago. I'd like to check you out if that is ok. See what our options are for pain management." "I'm good." "I know you are. Look, you don't have to have the tough guy act with me. I am here to help you and keep this place going. No injury will get you removed from the program short of death. We know accidents happen. If something were to happen, you will be given things to do around here. Like your current instructor. I am sure as much as you noticed things, you saw him limping and favoring his left leg. He was in a vehicle accident 2 months ago and is healing from a broken ankle." Before I realized it, we were in front of the doctor's office. "The choice is yours on if you want to walk in." He says while holding the door open. I may as well see what he can give me cuz the pain in my shoulder is intense. "Don't worry, I know about your addictions as well. We can setup a med schedule where you come in to get your medicine, and while you are in the field your team leader can have it. Or I can give you a temporary supply and send the prescription information to your Probation officer. the choice is yours." He snaps an x-ray and has it on the screen before he finishes talking. "Hm. Looks like your going to need some repair work done. I'm gonna send this to an orthopedic and schedule the surgery. did u make up your mind as to which route you want to make with the medicine?" Lord, this guy has my head rolling and focusing is hard. "Surgery? I can't afford that." "Did you not read the contract you signed?" I shake my head no and say, "I glimpsed through it but looked like a lot of legal mumbo jumbo." he chuckles and hands me a piece of paper. "I had to undo the mumbo jumbo a long time ago because alot of people come in here having not read it for that reason. It hindered my job as the campus doctor." I look down at the paper and in big bold print it says:

ANY AND ALL MEDICAL COSTS WHILE IN THE PROGRAM AND UP TO ONE YEAR- OR UNTIL EMPLOYMENT HEALTH BENEFITS KICK IN- AFTER PROGRAM COMPLETION ARE COVERED. UPON REMOVAL OF PROGRAM (EITHER VOLUNTARY OR FORCIBLY) BEFORE PROGRAM COMPLETION TERMINATES RIGHTS TO OUR HEALTH BENEFITS. HEALTH BENEFITS INCLUDE PHYSICAL HEALTH, DENTAL, VISION, AND MENTAL. ALL HEALTH CONDITIONS PREVIOUS TO ENTRY TO THE PROGRAM ARE COVERED AS WELL. INCLUDING CHRONIC DISABILITIES AND MENTAL CONDITIONS.

"Wow. ok. so if I agreed to the surgery." My voice trails off. "It's covered." the doctor finishes. "In the meantime, I want to put you on some antiinflammatories. But I want to know what you want to do as far as that goes." "I'll pick them up here." "Well, that choice opened up alot of possibilities. Wait here for a few minutes and I will get you your first dose and your schedule. By the way, how have you been sleeping?" "Not great." "Ok. I need to call your team leader down and inform her of everything. She will be giving Daniel an update tomorrow. While your here, she will be your emergency contact with us as she has your actual emergency contacts on file. Cuts down the paperwork." "That's fine. I don't have anyone, anyhow, that cares enough to know anything." "I doubt that is true, but we can argue that another time. I'll be back in a minute." I hop off the exam table I was sitting on and look around the room. My shoulder is REALLY hurting me now. The pain is making me want to double over. I hope the doc comes back soon. As soon as I have that thought a knock comes on the door. "Yeah?" It opens and in walks Teresa right as a knife stab comes through my shoulder and radiates out, making me lose my balance and focus, and falling towards the floor. She quickly grabs me, before calling for the doctor. He rushes in and sees what's going on, helps me back onto the table, grabs a shot and sticks it in my shoulder. After a few minutes the pain eases. "What did you give me?" "Cortisone." "Thanks." "No problem. I am just glad Teresa was here to catch you. That shot should last for a week. Here is something for you to sleep." He hands it to Teresa. "Take it one hour before bedtime. It is trazadone. If it doesn't help, let me know when I see you next Monday for your next shot." "Thanks doc. Hey, how is Kiera?" He chuckles. "Teresa, can you give us a minute?" Teresa says, "sure" and walks out the door. "You like her, don't you? She is fine. Don't let this get out cuz she will kill me. She has a few cracked ribs and some bruising. Since her accident she has gotten seizures. She had gotten a really bad concussion during it. Her brain is still healing from it. May be for a while. I wouldn't be telling you all of this if you hadn't called a million times the other night and the fact that she signed a release of information to you. Not sure what is going on between you two, but it's none of my business." "Nothing is going on. I just met her three days ago, but she was nice and I was concerned." The doctor looks at me like he doesn't believe me. "Well, your free to go. I'll see you in a week." I hop down and head out the door to my room. I need sleep. Teresa stays next to me catching me each time I stumble. She doesn't talk and neither do I. When we get to the dorms, she walks with me to my room, hands me the pill doc gave her and watches while I take it. She leaves and I collapse in my bed exhausted from the day.

***Daniel***

It is 9pm and all is quiet. I am currently in the studio going over the final prints. We spent the day watching movies and napping. Doc came over and checked Kiera out. She is ok. I am still wondering why she signed a release of information for Ashley, but, given the dream she had, I'm not really surprised. I stretch and realize just how tired I am feeling. I know I am not going to do anything good with these blueprints tonight, so I head off to join my wife in bed. Noticing Stella in the kitchen I stop and tell her "good night." "Good night Dan. sleep well tonight." "Thanks." I walk down the wall and hear my wife whimpering. Time for another dose of her pain meds. I reach her bedside, wake her up, and give her the meds and water that were sitting there. Taking each container and placing them back on her night stand. Going to my side of the bed I strip down to my boxers and gather her close, knowing she sleeps best while laying on a chest. My eyes droop just as I start wondering if I can share her with another male.