Hi There,
I am still waiting for my intrepid proof-reader to get through Full Circle and I have developed another infection so am hoping to feel better soon enough to work on the cover flats (which are the covers for the paperbacks.) That way, Full Circle should be ready for a December release… how does that sound?
Big Smiles,
Jody
My thoughts: This scene mentions some very tough topics with Frei and Jessie but handled in a way that I hoped gave positivity to a subject that affects so many and scars so many more. When I began writing the series, I became aware how the subjects Aeron battled were foes that a lot of people have to fight each day; when I told Frei’s past story, my focus was on how she overcame what had happened in a sensitive and, I hope, kind way.
As I meditated on each book and, I hope, let faith guide me, being able to act like Aeron, through prose, has been one of the best gifts I’ve been given because, whether I or my readers possess the ability to right wrongs, overcome foes or free those chained around them, in Aeron’s series we can do so together.
Full Circle exclusive.
Copyright © 2018 Jody Klaire.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any means, electronic or mechanical without permission in writing from the author and publisher.
Please note: all scenes are the intellectual property of the author and that online exclusive scenes may differ from the published version.
Chapter 18
Renee stood in a tub of water next to Frei, her feet had pruned an hour ago and if they got any more static shocks, she might static shock the crazy doctor right back. This was what happened when you worked with children and the insane, animals didn’t get as many clever ideas.
“Ready?” Jessie said, head in the computer monitor.
“Ready.” Susan hit the power button. Renee grabbed Frei’s hand and focused on picturing Aeron. A static shock cracked through the water, jolted her feet, and they both grunted.
“Any better?” Renee muttered it through gritted teeth. She still had to try and figure out how to get the next segment of her dad’s account of the breadcrumbs and being electrocuted was not helping.
“Fifty five joules,” Susan said with a sigh.
“That’s twenty more than before.” Jessie was always positive.
Frei’s lips twitched like she’d tried to smile for their sake but her eyes were icier than usual.
“Electric shock therapy not working for you?” Renee whispered for something to do other than tense for the next jolt.
“You know I hate water,” Frei mumbled back. “Being stood in water and electrocuted is unpleasant.”
“Ready?” Jessie chimed.
“Ready.” Susan hit the button again.
Renee focused on sending love and reassurance to Frei. “I’ve got you.”
Jolt.
“A hundred joules!” Susan grinned at the screen.
Frei smiled at Renee. “I felt that.”
“A hundred joules will do that to a girl.” Renee turned back to Jessie. “Anything different?”
“Yes the wave form changed. It became more focused. The pads delivered the exact same voltage to both sides although it halved by the time it reached the melon.” Jessie flattened her fly away hair. “I need Miroslav to do some tests.”
The pen had been replaced with a trifle with dough over the top and a melon in the middle—Susan’s idea, of course.
“Maybe the melon skin isn’t helping,” Frei said with a forced pleasant expression on her face but her grip on Renee’s hand was tightening.
“The skin represents the pericardia.” Susan looked up and beamed at Frei like she knew how scared Frei was of water and loved her more for braving it. “Not to mention that Aeron’s pectoral muscles will be rather dense.”
Renee smiled. They were mighty fine indeed.
Susan exchanged a glance with Jessie and hit the button.
Jolt.
“Five hundred joules,” Susan said with a chuckle.
Frei stared at her.
“Don’t give me that look, you want me to point out Susan’s finer qualities?” Renee raised her eyebrows.
Jolt.
“Five hundred joules again.” Susan winked at Frei then schooled her features as Jessie scowled. “Anything?”
“What kind of example is that, Mom?” Jessie tutted at Frei then smirked at her screen. “The center of the melon registered eighty joules both times.”
“So technically we need three times that,” Frei rubbed her free hand over her face.
Renee pulled her mouth to the side. “Maybe it’s the intensity of the emotion?”
“How so?” Susan picked up two cups from the side and brought them over. “Hopefully you like it the same way Ursula does.”
Renee smiled and took the cup. “I do.”
Frei was a coffee genius and nodded to agree.
“Reassurance is a calm emotion,’ Renee said and sipped at her hard earned coffee¬—Cappuccino in fact. ‘It’s a gentle current which is meant to dampen over-agitation. Desire is a powerful emotion but it’s not really enough because there’s a negative side to it.”
“There is?” Susan went back to her desk. Was she listening or wasn’t she?
“Yes, socially, even though we know Urs feels that with you, Jessie’s reaction offsets it.” Renee needed her Llys hat on, she was sure of it. “You see desire, because it can be inappropriate or overly-addictive and it can exist without the needed ‘acceptable’ love, it’s feared.” She cocked her head at her own thought. “And fear is in opposition to love.”
Maybe the electrocution did help? That sounded like it made sense.
“She’s my mom,” Jessie mumbled.
“And she is painfully aware of that and the fact everyone knows she can deliver five hundred joules by thinking about someone she really, really loves.” Renee held Jessie’s gaze. “You get that desire is okay then?”
Jessie shrugged. “I guess where I grew up, the only side I saw of it made sure kids like me were around.”
Frei lowered her coffee. “That’s incorrect.”
“That was about power,” Renee squeezed Frei’s shoulder.
Susan headed to Jessie who sniffed. “And if I find myself anywhere near him, I’ll electrocute him.”
Renee met Frei’s eyes. “You need to not be you right now.”
Frei cleared her throat. “What do you want me to say? She’s echoing my own scars.” She sank her coffee. “Jessie, he’s a chump who needs pickle juice.”
Jessie nodded, cuddling into Susan.
“You’re the best gift I’ve ever been given and the best feat I’ve ever managed.” Frei motioned to herself. “It doesn’t make what happened okay or remove it, but I have you. When I look at you, I don’t see how you got here, I see my girl.”
Susan leaned over and hit the button.
Crack.
Water jumped out of the tub, both their coffee cups smashed, and Renee’s body zinged with the force of the jolt.
“Off the scale.” Susan nodded to Jessie.
“You blew the melon, the trifle, and the holder,” Jessie said mid-sniffle. “That’s not helpful.”
“Wasn’t meant to be,” Susan said with a shrug. “Her love for you is more potent, more focused, pure, and forceful than anything in opposition to it.” She smiled at Jessie who dissolved into tears. “Mom love.”
Renee grabbed Frei, still holding her cup handle and hugged her.
Frei shrugged.
Jessie looked to Susan and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, just don’t expect flowers.”
