Chapter 5 Four

While they sat in Lauren's room at the officer's barracks, Emily said, "Seriously, Lauren. You need to go out and date someone. I am tired of seeing you all by yourself. I have seen the way some of the guys around here look at you."

Lauren told her, "I'm not interested in dating anyone at the moment. Besides, what about you? I don't see you going out with some guy here on the base or outside of the base."

Putting her head down on the chair, Emily cast a hurtful glance at Lauren. "You've got me there. There are not many guys interested in a medic who can parachute out of airplanes and helicopters. The last time any man showed interest in me was quite a while ago. Not the same way they do you."

Lauren scrolled through her phone looking for movie theaters. She was not interested in watching what was being shown on the base.

"I'm not looking for someone to have a long-term relationship with. "I thought I told you that a while back."

"And you did. That doesn't stop me from bugging you about it." Emily leaned back in her chair to watch Lauren." Emily pulled her legs up in the chair and watch Lauren. "Have you found anything yet?"

Lauren sighed. "No, there is nothing of interest to do here." she said. She lowered her phone. The dream of making love with Nikau filled her mind, as did the way she pictured him and her. Before things went a little too far, she woke up covered in sweat.

"Why?" Emily asked drawing Lauren out of the heated memory.

"Why what?" Lauren didn't understand what her friend was saying.

"When it comes to getting involved with anyone, why are you so reticent?"

Lauren shook her head. "I am not," she stammered. It was a lie and she knew it. How could she explain it to the one person who was more than a friend to her?

Emily straightened in her chair. She stood and walked towards the window. "If you say so." She answered. While that evening, the sky turned darker. "I wish I could join you in your cabin in Kaitaia. It's going to be totally boring here without you."

"I agree. But the other room since it is already taken and I have no idea who took it."

"I wish I could go with you, but I'm on call because you're taking a vacation and didn't ask if I wanted to go with you," Emily said then pouted. After rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Lauren hid a smile. "Let's go to the rec-center," she suggested.

"Alright." Emily turned to the door and headed for it.

Before following her friend out the door, Lauren groaned softly. She turned and locked the door and hesitated. How would Emily react if she knew about her ability? Sometimes she didn't know what to do with what she could do? What about the dreams about Nikau? Lauren wondered quietly. She had no idea what they all meant. They could just be dreams.

"Are you coming or not?" Emily called out to her.

After taking a deep breath, Lauren feigned a smile before turning to Emily, "Coming."

~ * ~

Sun-bleached sand line the edge of the beach where Nik sat. The skies were beginning to turn pink and purple as the sun began to fade. The birds were soaring high in the sky. Throughout the day, his mind was filled with songs he wished he could write. "Damn," he said, flinging away a handful of sand. She needed to stop bothering him and he needed to concentrate on his job. In a few months, he needed a complete album done, and he only had a few songs written yet. The manager informed him the recording studio would give them an extension of a year because of the crash. The news outlets want interviews but Nik didn't want to give any and neither did the rest of the band. They just want their privacy.

Nik turned and slowly walked back to the cabin, one last look at the gentle waves of the ocean. Despite the nearby summer warming up and the chilly nights, the night air remained crisp, cool, and crisp. Watching the final dip of the sun before it slid into the ocean, he tugged the corners of his leather jacket closed.

After entering the cabin, he stopped. Thoughts of Lauren began to fill his mind and he pushed them away. This was the cabin that had been in his dreams with Lauren. His concentration needed to be on the album and not her. A deep groan escaped his lips when he settled down on the couch. His body was still sore from the plane crash. "Damn," he said through clenched teeth. Thinking he should have accepted his sister's suggestion of having a nurse be with him. But no, he thought he'll be fine. Besides, his roommate would be here soon.

He groaned as he reached over to grab the notepad he used to write his songs and drew himself up on the couch. The thought of Lauren crept back into his head as he tapped the pencil against his thigh. He picked up his guitar as the pain began to subside. A few minutes later, his mobile began to beep. It was a long text from Levi.

After recognizing the lyrics for the song Levi was writing, Nik glowed with pride. Having read the text quickly, he returned to the beginning and reread it. As soon as he heard it, he nodded in agreement and took notes word for word. Even as he was writing down the lyrics on the notepad, he was already putting together the melody. It was a fact that Nik had to admit that Levi was a talented songwriter as well. It didn't matter which members of the band wrote the songs for the albums, everybody pitched it.

Nik grinned. "This would be song number three for the album." The lyrics themselves made him think that this would be a number one hit on the charts once it had been recorded and released. Starting with the strings, he strummed the guitar to begin to compose the melody.

Nik was almost done with the music for the lyrics when his cellphone rang. He wasn't surprised to find out the caller was Sienna. "Hey, what's up?" he greeted her.

"Nothing, just a checkup on you from the oldies; they asked how you were doing, and I replied that you are fine. They didn't want to believe it but I told them you're okay."

A chuckle escaped Nik. "I'm fine, thanks. I just spoke with them this morning. I'm currently working on a song Levi sent me."

"How is that going?"

Nik nodded his head even though she wasn't able to see it. "It's good. This may be our biggest hit yet." As a matter of fact, every song Levi wrote it became a huge hit.

"That's good," Sienna's excitement about the song didn't seem as strong as his excitement about the song.

"Is there something wrong?" There was something in her voice that made him think something was wrong with her.

She didn't respond right away. "No. Nothing is wrong. Gotta go. Bye."

Nik frowned. She ended the call a little too quickly.

The call was disconnected before he could say anything. As much as he wanted to call his parents, he had to finish the song he was working on. Taking his guitar once more, he began to strumming the strings. Soon, he was playing the guitar and singing along. He smiled, thinking it sounded good so far.

~ * ~

As soon as Emily and Adam entered the rec room, her cell phone rang. "No," she moaned. She had different ring tones for certain people, and the one that rang wasn't the one she wanted to hear. As she pulled the phone out of her handbag, she mumbled, "I want to have some fun."

Her friend looked at her with that look that Lauren recognized. It was work calling. There was an emergency somewhere. Lauren wondered why her phone didn't go off. She figured it was because she was about to go on vacation.

After answering the phone, Emily glared at Lauren. As it was, there weren't many people in the recreation room yet and it wasn't too loud.

While listening to what was being said on the other end, Emily said, "Yup," and paused. "Okay," she replied, her eyes widening. "I'll be there soon." She disconnected the call.

"There's a missing boat on the Pacific." Emily spun onto her heel and fled the building with Lauren close behind. "I'll help you find it and rescue it."

"No," Emily snapped at her. "You are now on vacation and I won't allow you to ruin it."

Lauren said with a deep sigh, "I'll take you to the tarmac." As she thought about the missing white and brown boat, a vision of the people appeared in her mind. For the moment, they were fine, but were frantic as they tried to figure out how to cross the ocean. There were two young children, six and eight year-olds, aboard the boat and they seemed scared because their parents were there. Lauren appeared to be calming their fears across the spatial plane. As she watched the children's fear ease somewhat, she smiled secretly.

"It's a small family." Emily told Lauren as they walked over to the car. "They were crossing the Pacific in a small boat. There are children on board," Emily said, breaking into a sigh.

Lauren knew they had to be saved as soon as possible. Lauren told her, "I'm sure you'll find them. And they will be safe and sound."

During the drive across the base to the airfield, Emily nodded and remained quiet. An orange and white helicopter was out and the blades were swirling, ready to take off. It would take the team to a coast guard ship to assist in the search for the missing vessel. Emily grabbed her ready-to-go bag that was always in the trunk. Before she left on her mission, Lauren embraced her for one last time.

Lauren told Emily, "Be safe," before watching Emily get into the copter. Lauren knew Emily would be fine and she would find the missing family just in time. She watched as the copter lifted off into the air then disappeared into the horizon. Tomorrow she would start her vacation or she would have gone with them.

Lauren turned and slid back into the car. The weather had been too cold for her liking for as long as she had lived in New Zealand and the seasons had been different for the time of year. It was time to get ready to leave early in the morning. She had a couple of hops she was going to take to get up north to the cabin. The trip itself was going to take all day because she had to hop a couple of times to get there. Her only hope was her vacation started off smoothly without any worries.

It seemed like it would be a long day to get there.

~ * ~

The following evening, Nik awoke suddenly when he heard a noise outside. He held his breath as he waited for another sound. Then it came. It sounded like someone was walking outside of the driveway. On bare feet, he walked over to the window and peered outside. He couldn't see anyone outside. It was too dark. He walked into the living room only to stop midway. It sounded like someone was trying to get inside the cabin. His heart was beating wildly against his chest that caused some pain because of the injuries he'd sustained from the plane crash.

As he silently crossed the living room toward the front door, he grabbed a poker from the fireplace and held it in both hands. And waited, a few seconds later, the door opened.

His eyes barely blinked as it happened so fast. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground, on his back, in pain. "As he clutched his chest and blinked at the person who walked into the house, he whimpered, "Fuck." he thought. "God damn it." Pain racked throughout his entire body from being slammed to the floor.

"Nikau?" The woman who had been invading his dreams said his name.

A brief cough escaped Nik's lips. "Bugger it," he said again.

The woman rushed over and turned on a lamp He heard her rushing over to him as the room filled with light.

"Damn it," she said, kneeling beside him. "I hope you didn't rupture any stitches you might still have." She began placing her hands on him and he stilled at her touch. He closed his eyes as he breathed in and out heavily. "What were you thinking?" Lauren asked when she noticed the poker. When she entered the room, she sensed some one but she didn't know it was him.

"You're the other renter? I thought you were someone trying to break in." He paused then continued, "You're the other renter?"

As she checked him over, she paused. Taking a step back, she looked at him with her eyes wide open. "Yes. You must be the other one, right?"

Nik nodded his head in agreement. Although his eyes were still closed, the pain was beginning to subside. "Are you going to be all right?"

"I'll be fine, I hope," he said, opening his eyes to look at her. No, she's not a dream. I am not having a dream. She's right here. Right now. Shit.

She stood and reached out a hand to him. She said, "Come on, I'll help you up."

As he gazed at her, he clasped her hand. His feet were on the ground again after a hard yank. The pain in his stomach persisted, so he placed a hand across it.

"Let me give you something to ease your pain. "I'm sorry about that." Lauren looked through her bag and found the Ibuprofen. A bottle was thrown to him, and he caught it with his free hand.

"Which room am I taking?" she asked. Lauren guessed he was taking the master bedroom.

As he opened the bottle and downed two of the white pills, he told her, "The one on the right."

Grabbing her bags and walking away from him, she nodded.

Nik stared after her as she entered the room and closed the door. Nearly collapsing, he breathed deeply. To avoid kneeling over, he placed a hand on the white wall and whispered, "Fuck; damn it, man" he whispered and he placed a hand on the white wall to keep from kneeling over. After briefly closing his eyes, he stared at the door through which she had disappeared.

"What the hell am I going to do to keep from going deep shit crazy? How in the hell am I going to work on my album with her being here distracting me?" Even before she appeared in the flesh, it was bad enough that she kept distracting him with her dreams. The struggle of having her around him and wanting her so deeply was going to be hard enough.

Lauren closed the door behind her and leaned her head back and her eyes closed. "Shit," she muttered. There was no way she can escape him now. Her fingers were still tingling from touching him earlier.

"No Matter how far you run. No matter how hard you try to hide. No matter where you are, it will find you." Her grandmother's voice whispered through her mind.

Tired, she sat down. The drive from Auckland took eight hours. Surely, it was for that reason that the voice of her grandmother came to her. She opened her eyes and scanned the room. It was nice. The walls were painted with a nice beige color. There was a slight difference in the color of the carpet and the walls. There was a nice collection of pictures of flowers and beaches with various houses on the walls.

The mahogany wooden bed in the middle of the room was king-size. She had no words to describe its wooden frame. As if it had been carved by hand, it had small images she couldn't identify. It was amazing. Her mind conjured up a brief image. The image of what she wanted to happen with Nikau filled her mind, but she quickly brushed it aside. Even though she couldn't hear her mother, she felt that she could almost hear the voice of her mother.

Nevertheless, Emily's voice urged her on.

In a grunt, Lauren pulled her hair out of the French braid and pushed against the wall. She was too tired to think about anything. At least she wasn't in her uniform and all she wanted to do was get some sleep.

She had a hard time falling asleep. She was still reeling from the trip she had just endured. She took several helicopter rides before reaching her rental car in Auckland. When the young airman stood waiting for her arrival with the keys to the car, she almost felt sorry for him. For the work he did for her, she did pay him. Having to wait at times for a ride to another location didn't help at all. In contrast to the eight-hour drive she would have had to make, she should just have driven eight hours so as to reach here.

Her gaze was fixed on the ceiling. The exhaustion she felt in her body didn't allow her to fall asleep. Having closed her eyes, Lauren sought Emily on the spatial plane and was able to find her within seconds. Emily was wide awake. Her friend worried about the family aboard the missing boat, and Lauren could tell this from her tone of voice.

Lauren focused on finding them. They were still on the boat. Despite still being safe on board, there was not enough food or water on board. There was a great deal of distress among the parents. It was impossible to repair the engine, the ship was drifting, and a storm was coming. It was imperative that they were found quickly. Her aim was to determine how far away the coast guard ship was from the boat as she zoomed over it. She gathered the coordinates as they were two days away from the missing boat. Suddenly, Lauren drifted back towards Emily. Lauren gently whispered where they could be found into Emily's mind then flew away.

After a few more minutes of being wide awake, Lauren finally drifted to sleep.