Keepers of the Flame

With a final scan and a blink, Elizabeth crossed her arms. Bri held out hers again, and they hugged, stepped back, but kept their hands linked.

“All right,” Elizabeth said. “That sounds so you, but I never would have imagined it. Never.”

“Your turn,” Bri said. “You pretty much acted like I’d expect if this was all my dream. Prove you’re you.”

Elizabeth’s jaw clenched. She dropped Bri’s hand, looked away, blushed a fiery red, and Bri heard her answer telepathically. Cassidy was—is—into light bondage. And I liked it, too.

Bri’s mouth fell open. She stared. Elizabeth’s arms were crossed again and she still wasn’t looking at Bri.

“You’re right. That’s something I’d never think of.” Her turn to study her twin. “But you were both wound too damn tight. I can see…no, I don’t think I want to see. Just let me ask. One or both of you, um…”

“We took turns.” Elizabeth’s voice was stifled. She finally met Bri’s eyes and said, “And you reacted just like I’d expect you to.”

They stared at each other, then cracked up, falling together again. When they’d finished with the bout of hysterical laughter, Bri took a tissue, wiped her eyes, then blew her nose.

“For the record,” Elizabeth said in a serious tone. “Sexual preferences aren’t necessarily determined by stress or how ‘tightly’ a person is wound.”

“Huh. I heard that sometimes high-powered professional women such as yourself—”

“So, tell me, Ms. Free Spirit. Haven’t you ever done it?”

Again heat rose in Bri. “I’ll take the fifth, but I will say it never became a standard sexual practice.”

Elizabeth smiled wickedly. “We aren’t identical.”

“One last thing, what’s your favorite number?”

Bri waited a beat, then said, “Forty-two,” at the same time Elizabeth did. “I think I have to sit down.”

“The beds—”

“Definitely not the bed,” Bri said. “If I hit a bed, I’m gone, and we need to talk. You got any chocolate in your purse?”

Going to the chest, Elizabeth took her black healthy back bag and clutched it. “Maybe.”

“Me, too. I’ve got a feeling that we’ll have to be careful of it or those others will pinch it or expect us to share. Let’s see how much.” With slow steps, Bri reached the chest, then hefted her backpack with the solar panels on it. “Boy, am I glad I invested in this.” She carefully spilled the contents. Her music pod, PDA, digital camera, cell, and everything else she needed for a three-day hike.

Elizabeth pulled items from every pouch of her bag and lined the objects in little rows, glanced at Bri’s heap. “That’s it?” she gasped. “Two small candy bars. That is the extent of your chocolate cache!”

Bri winced. “I was hungry on the plane. I ate some.”

Elizabeth took Bri’s pack, shook it. Rustling came. She rolled her eyes. “You just dumped the bag, didn’t check the compartments.” Nimble fingers delved and found the unopened bag of the miniature bars Bri had purchased as well as two credit card holders and a lucky koala bear key chain.

“Oh, thank God!” Bri snatched the chocolate bag. Tears welled in her eyes. “You are a wonderful woman, twin.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized that Elizabeth’s chocolate stash was about twice the size of her own. Elizabeth still had the unopened bag of her dark chocolate treats, too.

“I wonder whether the others prefer milk or dark,” Elizabeth said.

Putting down her bag, Bri sorted her stuff. Electronics, pens and paper, food, water bottle, wallet and coin purse and loose change, keys, instant coffee, herbal tea bags…. “I bet it won’t matter. Chocolate is chocolate after all. We don’t let them know we have it.”

“You don’t think they have chocolate here?”

“I don’t want to take the chance.”

Elizabeth was packing her purse up again, sliding things in their proper pockets. “You’re right, and my chocolate is mine and yours is yours.”

Bri sent her a wounded look. “Would I take your chocolate?” “Yes.”

Sniffing, Bri said, “You’re right. Better hide it.”

“When I get home—” Elizabeth stopped, choked, dropped her bag, put her hands over her face and folded onto the love seat.

“Oh, honey.” Bri grabbed her own packet of tissues and sat next to her sister. “I know you’re scared. I am, too. But we’re in this together.”

“I don’t want to be in anything. Even if you are here.”

Bri rested her head on Elizabeth’s. She didn’t dare let go of her control or she’d be asleep in two seconds. “I’m sorry.” She blinked and blinked again to keep her eyes open.

Elizabeth’s muscles tensed as she gathered her own control. It wasn’t often Elizabeth broke down, and Bri could only imagine the emotional roller coaster her twin had been on lately. Not surprising this hit her hard. It might be hitting Bri equally hard if her mind wasn’t so fuzzy.

“I love you, sis, but I don’t know what to say,” she said. “I don’t know how to help you.”

After wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, Elizabeth threw away their tissues in a wastebasket, then said brusquely, “Just weariness. Now let’s get serious. What sort of meds do we have?” Once again she opened her bag and brought out a small gold-toned pill box that Bri had given her on their last birthday. She flipped it open and showed a few over-the-counter analgesics.

Bri winced. “That’s it?”

“You know I don’t carry any sort of drugs on my person, and make sure everyone in the hospital knows that.”

“Yeah, yeah, good idea.” Bri fumbled through her stuff, withdrew a generic mega-bottle of American aspirin. “I used local remedies in Sweden.”

“That’s good.”

Bri separated a few baggies with a mixture of pills. “Herbs and vitamins.”

“What kind of herbs?”

“Um, Rhodiola Rosea.”

“Excellent,” Elizabeth said.

The only thing that looked remotely mainstream medical was a series of tin-foil–wrapped packets with little bumps of pills in them.

“What are those?” Elizabeth asked.

“Swedish cat antibiotics. I was taking care of a friend’s cat. It got better after one week instead of two.”

“What are the ingredients?”

“I don’t know.”