SOUND
Chapter 18 of Senses
"Carrie took it well," Karen said.
Jim and Karen were in a familiar place; eight feet above Jim's bed. Jim was floating on his back, Karen siting on his lap with her legs dangling below Jim.
"She and A.J. are still together," Jim responded, "and it's been a week now. I'd call that a good sign."
"Me too," Karen responded. She leaned down and kissed Jim. "Do you think she'll be a help to your research?"
"If we ever start again. If we do, she'll probably need to know about you as well."
Karen nodded. "Change of subject. How's A.J. doing? I haven't heard anything other than the press conference."
"He's hanging in there. Paul tells me they'll be able to plea A.J. down to somewhere between six and nine months of jail time and some community service. I think the offer to repay double the damage he caused helped. Some of the money has even been paid already."
"That's good to hear. Change subject back. You won't be experimenting?"
"Not for a while, for reasons other than the obvious. I don't want to fuck with it and neither does A.J."
Karen smiled. "So much for unified theory."
"I told you early on that I thought A.J. was wrong on that one," Jim responded. "It doesn't bother me so much."
"You were making progress though."
"Perhaps. Like A.J. said, we're not ready for it. We don't understand the brain well enough to implement our knowledge. It's not for now."
Karen laughed. "That was profound, lover."
Jim smiled his smile. "Thank you. I tried."
"You're welcome. Anything else profound to add while we're at it?"
"Yes. I'm in love with you."
Karen sat upright, looking at Jim's face. She then closed her eyes, and thought for a moment. When she opened her eyes again she said, "You broke your promise."
"I know, and I'm sorry."
"No you're not. You've wanted to be in love all along."
Jim chuckled. "It's not exactly something you can hide from a true empath. The big question is, do you love me?"
"Yes, that is the biggie." Karen sighed.
"The answer?"
"The answer is yes."
Jim raised an eyebrow. "Then say it."
"Jim," Karen said, "it's not an easy thing to admit to after all this, but I do love you."
Karen sighed again and smiled. "It's the music, you know," she said.
"What is?"
"What gives you your abilities." As Jim smiled, she added, "Music is such a driving force to you, and you never notice it, but I do. I just feel that this is right."
"Intuition?" Jim asked.
"Trust my senses. You'll find it someday. It's not over yet."
It would be several hours later, but the next time Jim and Karen made love, they hit the ceiling.