Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Sixty-Five: Al, Sunday

When Al opened his eyes, he wasn't as surprised this time to see Rachel and Agnes in the same room.

"Oh, thank goodness," Agnes said. "I wanted to make sure you were awake before I felt okay enough to go."

Al blinked a few times and said, "Where's Emma?"

Rachel turned a little, and Al saw her asleep in a chair, still in her dress. They were all still dressed for the ice wine event. He imagined his tuxedo was ruined. There went his deposit. "You didn't go back to the hotel and sleep?" he asked.

"No, you jackass, we were too worried about you," Rachel said, leaning in to kiss him on the lips.

He smiled weakly, looking at his right hand, which to his surprise had a bandage around it; he must have cut it on the glass when he stabbed the guy who'd grabbed Agnes. "You didn't have to. I already knew I was fine, or that I would be, anyway."

Rachel frowned at him and said, "Forget for a minute that we might not have shared your certainty that you'd pull through. Explain how you came to that certainty."

"I saw Dad and Sam again, while I was out."

"What?" Rachel breathed, stunned to hear Sam's name again. 

"This time I wasn't in a coma, just unconscious while I was being worked on. Here's the thing, though. I found out Dad and Sam weren't just figments of my imagination."

"What?!" Rachel squawked. "What are you talking about?"

"You saw your dad and... who's Sam?" Agnes asked with brow furrowed.

"An old friend who's no longer around," Rachel said curtly. "Go on, Al."

"They told me they were my brain's way of interpreting the signals I was getting from the..." He stopped when he saw Agnes' inquiring expression, and realized she didn't know about the nanobots.

"The what?" Agnes asked.

Al looked to Rachel, who shrugged. He looked around to make sure there were no other people close by, then beckoned Agnes in. Even raising his arm made the wound in his back ache, and he could feel the stitches under his bandage. "Okay, remember how I was in a coma? One of the people involved in the murder of Jordan, a woman named Naira, although that wasn't her original name, she injected me with something while I was out. Lauren caught her in the act. Part of the whole conspiracy around Jordan's murder was the fact that the people involved were developing nanotechnology that could interact with the body and help it improve its function. It communicates with the brain through the neurons, and that was how Sam and Dad came to be. I was basically talking with the nanobots."

Rachel and Agnes looked at each other. Agnes' expression was pained. "I want to believe you, Al, but..."

"The expedited healing," Rachel said. "The radio signal interference. It really is them."

"What?" Agnes asked again, confused.

"It doesn't really matter," Rachel said. "Maybe it was just your brain playing tricks with you, Al, or maybe it was whatever Naira injected into you, but you're here, and you're awake, and that's what matters. The doctors have been in and they've said you're stabilized. Your cousins have come to visit and they've all donated blood in anticipation of your needing it."

Al didn't expect that, and he was embarrassed to feel tears in his eyes. "How thoughtful of them," he said. "And here I thought Rick would be angry I ruined his party."

Rachel's smile was stiff as she said, "Yeah, well, I think it's more like Rick has suddenly discovered what kind of family his son is marrying into. I don't know what Jared and his fiancee did after her mother and father were arrested for questioning, but things must be tense between them now."