The woman threw her hands up, she had eight of them, then came closer, shooing Erena back towards the bed.
"Where I am?" Erena asked, beginning to be concerned.
"Still on Diamat," the woman explained as Erena cooperated with being pushed back onto the bed, "I am Doctor Yll. Major Shang brought you to my clinic in rather bad shape."
Erena flinched, hearing that title.
"Major," she repeated, the word sour on her tongue.
"Ah, you're right, sorry," Doctor Yll laughed, tapping on the white dots on Erena's arm to bring up small holographic screens displaying Erena's stats, "I keep forgetting he's not part of the stellar police any more. He was when he met me, you see."
Erena looked away, curious despite herself.
"In my culture, females can't become doctors," Doctor Yll went on, "So I could never get licensed. I ended running an illegal clinic out of an alley. Not exactly prestigious, but I get to do what I love! And then I found Shang in a dumpster one night after he caught the wrong end of a shootout.
I patched him up, and in return he helped me legitimize my practice. I hadn't heard from him since he left the force though. I figured he was dead! Imagine my surprise when he shows up on my doorstep again, looking like I just pulled him out of the dumpster, and carrying you. I really thought he-"
"I don't really care," Erena cut her off, annoyance growing, "Can we please talk about something besides him?"
Doctor Yll looked surprised, but shrugged it off, going back to examining Erena's vitals.
"Well, from everything I can tell," she closed the holoscreen with a swipe and a hopeless smile, "You're doing great. Keep in mind I've never seen your species before.
But the laser burn is healing nicely. I got you a synth skin graft so quickly you may not even have a scar. Part of your collar bone and shoulder is a synthetic alloy now as well, since the laser basically vaporized your bones there. The good news about that is, if you ever need to bust through a door, well, your shoulder is basically a battering ram now."
"Handy," Erena hummed, looking at her bandaged shoulder in concern.
"It's been about a week since you were brought in," Doctor Yll continued, "You were in shock for a while, and then I had to keep you under for optimal recovery from the surgery. Having your bones replaced is not fun. You did not want to be awake for that."
"I can imagine," Erena agreed, though the thought of being unconscious so long worried her.
"I'd still like to keep you here a little longer for observation," the doctor went on, "In case your body rejects the alloy or something else pops up, not to mention the..."
She trailed off, glancing at Erena's stomach in a way that made Erena tense automatically.
"The what?"
"I'm guessing you weren't aware then," Doctor Yll cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable, "I'm not surprised, considering it's been less than two weeks. I believe, and I could be wrong considering my knowledge of your reproductive system, but I believe you may be... pregnant."
Erena's heart thudded in her ears so loudly she assumed she must have misheard.
"What?"
"Assuming it's normal for your species to bear live spawn," Doctor Yll smiled apologetically, "Then you are carrying a child. Or, a very weird parasite."
"But, how?" Erena babbled, "I haven't- I mean, I /couldn't/- We aren't even the same species!"
"Yeah, generally, being different species is a pretty effective contraceptive," Yll conceded, "But Shang's species is a bit unusual. Their issue is highly adaptive.
If the species they mate with is within a certain margin of similarity, they still have a pretty decent chance of conceiving. And your species is preternaturally close to his, genetically speaking. I'd almost say there was a shared ancestry, but that's not my field, so I wouldn't want to make assumptions."
"Did he know?" Erena asked, anger and fear tangling within her, making her feel almost nauseous, "Did he know he could do this to me?"
Doctor Yll shook her head quickly and Erena felt a moment of relief for that at least.
"Shang's never taken much of an interest in the biology of his own species," the doctor said, "Thinks it's pointless, since he's practically the only one left. And even if he had been aware of that quirk of his people, he couldn't have known you were within the margin of genetic compatibility. Hell of a coincidence though."
Erena slowly laid back down, staring up at the ceiling in cold shock. She was pregnant. Pregnant with Shang's baby. She ran her hands over her stomach, trying to process that thought.
"Of course, if you don't want it," Doctor Yll spoke more gently, seeing that Erena was overwhelmed, "We can discuss termination. It's still so early that there's not even really a fetus yet, so the procedure would be relatively easy. It may even be the medically responsible choice, considering I don't know how a hybrid of your two species will develop, or whether carrying a pregnancy like that to term might be dangerous for you."
"I need time to think about it," Erena was still looking at the ceiling, her throat dry and her pulse pounding, "I should probably talk to Shang."
"It's your decision," Doctor Yll reached out to squeeze Erena's shoulder reassuringly, "I'll respect that, whatever it is. If you need more information about either decision, I'll answer any questions I can."
Erena nodded mutely and, after a moment, Doctor Yll stood, leaving Erena alone with her thoughts.
A child. It wasn't a possibility she'd ever really thought about for herself. She'd started training for the space program so young that it had never felt like an option.
Astronauts didn't have time to be pregnant or looking after newborns, not to mention the toll it would take on her body. She'd always been so careful. But now here it was out of the blue. A baby. Her baby.
What if something went wrong? A barrage of fears suddenly fell on her like weights from the sky. What if her species wasn't quite close enough to Shang's and the child was born too deformed to survive, or just enough to live in pain the rest of its life? Or what if trying to carry it killed her? Who knew what a baby like this would need in order to survive in the womb?
Thinking about it, the chances that she wouldn't miscarry seemed slim to none. She supposed the advanced medical technology here would help, but still. Could there be any hope of a happy ending for a child like this? Erena felt dizzy. She closed her eyes.
What would Shang say? Would he want to keep it? Would he be excited, disgusted? Did she want to tell him at all? Rin'rokir's words kept repeating in her head. She told herself she shouldn't believe them. The bug was definitely a liar.
She certainly didn't have the whole story. But she couldn't let it go. The look in Shang's eyes, guilty and pained, echoed in her soul, making her certain that there was at least some truth to what Rokir had said, regardless of the whole story. And that was enough to make her question her every interaction with Shang. She had just felt like she was beginning to know him...
Chapter Twelve
Later in the evening, Doctor Yll returned to her room with food, but she left Erena to eat alone, and when they light in the fake window dimmed abruptly to darkness, Erena went back to sleep, her head still whirling with anxious thoughts.
Two days passed that way, with no sign of Shang. Erena talked to Doctor Yll when the other woman had time for her, discussing the possible difficulties of the pregnancy mainly, but also anything else that came to Yll's mind.
The doctor had a talent for chatter, which Erena found a relief against the otherwise empty silence of her room. On the third day, Erena's worried finally overwhelmed her anger.
"Is he coming back?" she asked, unable to look at Yll as she did, her hands balled into fists in her sheets, "Did he leave me here?"
Yll, sitting on the edge of Erena's bed, shifted uncomfortably.
"I don't know," she confessed at last, "I believe he will. He barely even let me patch him up before he took off. He told me to look after you for him and then he was gone. But I don't think h
e'd just leave you here."
Of course he wouldn't, Erena privately agreed, I'm way too valuable for that.
"If he didn't," Erena said instead, "if he never came back for me, what would happen?"
"I suppose we'd have to get you some paperwork," Yll hummed thoughtfully, "I still have some contacts from back when I was unlicensed that could help. We could find you a place to live, maybe a job. Terminarchs get a stipend and it wouldn't be hard to claim that's what you are. You could make a life here. Even with the baby, if you wanted."
Erena looked down at the sheets, considering it. The fabric was smooth under her fingers. Similar to microfiber, but made of a plant she'd never seen or heard of, grown on some planet she'd probably never see. What a fantastic concept. She should be excited about that.
She could live on a planet like this. See things no human being had ever seen, do things no human being had ever conceived of! So why did it all seem so pointless now? All she wanted was to go home. All the curiosity seemed drained out of her.
There was a crash suddenly, beyond the door to Erena's room.
"I'll be right back," Yll promised, and hurried to check on the noise, leaving the door cracked behind her.
She heard shouting, another crash. Erena hadn't left this room since she'd woken up here. Maybe there was still a little curiosity left in her. She stood up and her shoulder barely twinged anymore as she crossed the room to the slightly open door.
The office beyond Erena's door was drabber than the clean, soothing room she'd been staying in, with gray carpets and pale blue walls and furniture that almost certainly wasn't the kind of DIY pressboard you could order from catalogs back on earth, but it certainly resembled it.
There was a tidy little waiting room and an empty front desk and a hall of doors like Erena's. A table from the waiting area had been knocked over, strewing metal tablets that Erena was willing to bet would display old magazines if she picked them up. There was blood splashed across them, trailing down the hall. Erena followed it.
"-can't believe you did this to yourself. Why didn't you come back earlier?"
Yll's voice, shrill and accusatory, grew louder as Erena approached an exam room at the end of the hall.
"I couldn't risk them following me here. I had to make sure I'd lost them."
Erena's heart skipped a beat as she recognized Shang's voice. He'd come back.
"These are the worst stitches I've ever seen," Yll was still complaining, "It might have been better to just leave the wound open. Hold still, I'm going to need to cut them out so I can reseal this properly."
Erena jumped as she heard Shang shout in pain. He swore loudly and creatively.
"Couldn't you have used the anesthetic first?"
"Maybe next time you'll remember to go to the doctor when you're hurt, rather than waiting three days and piling more injuries on first!"
As Erena reached the open door of the exam room, she saw Shang sitting on a table, gripping the edge and cursing under his breath as Yll's eight hands worked in mesmerizing tandem to repair a deep, ugly looking gash over his ribs. His pointed ears twitched, hearing her footsteps, and he looked up at her.
Erena stood in the doorway, clutching the frame. She'd underestimated how much it would affect her, seeing him again. Those eyes seemed to go right through her, leaving an aching hole. Why was she so affected by him? Was it just because of the baby?
No, if she was honest, she'd been feeling this long before she'd learned she was pregnant. There was just something about him that drew her in. Even now she just wanted to hold him. Instead she stood firm in the door way.
"You came back," she observed.
Yll paused, looking back at Erena.
"I wouldn't leave you," Shang spoke softly, his voice almost yearning. Was he feeling the same thing she was right now? Was this weird pull between them mutual?
"You shouldn't be out of your room," Yll warned, still working on Shang's stitches, "There could be all kinds of germs floating around here and I don't know your immunities yet!"
"I know you wouldn't," Erena ignored Yll, staring holes in Shang, "I'm too valuable, right?"
He looked away, guilty. Yll looked deeply uncomfortable.
"It's fine," Erena continued, "You don't have to explain it to me. I've already made my decision. You're going to take me back to earth like you promised."
He looked up at her in surprise, frowning.
"I'm not the only human out here, remember?" Erena tightened her jaw as she spoke, trying to control the tempest of conflicted emotions raging in her chest, "The rest of my team was taken too. Which means there are other creeps out there like you looking to take advantage.
The earth is in danger no matter what happens to me. At least if I get there first, I can warn them. So, we'll make it a gamble. You bet on being able to find earth before any of the others. I'll bet on being able to kill you before you can sell the information. Deal?"
"Wait a second," Yll looked between then, wide eyed, "It's not like that- is it? Shang?"
"Deal," Shang agreed, still unable to meet her eye. Erena felt the knot in her chest tighten further, wishing he had fought her about it. Wishing, he had at least tried. She turned and hurried back to her room in silence.
Chapter Thirteen
Yll came and found her a few hours later.
"Shang says he can't stay," Yll explained reluctantly, removing the white dots from Erena's arm with a small hand held device like a reverse pricing gun, "If you're going with him you need to leave soon."
Erena hummed in understanding, taking the clothes Yll offered her and changing quickly.
"Have you made a decision about the baby?" Yll asked, concerned, "This is probably your last chance. You know it's alright if you're not ready for a pregnancy, especially with the situation you're in."
"I know," Erena nodded, pulling on the shirt she'd been given, "And thank you, for giving me the option. But I'm keeping it, for now at least. I don't think I could handle that. Choosing to end it. If I miscarry, at least it won't have been my decision."
Yll looked troubled, but she nodded.
"It's your choice," she agreed, "Just be safe."
Erena, on an impulse, turned and hugged the doctor gratefully. Yll hugged her back with all eight arms, which felt strange, but somehow reassuring.
A moment later Erena pulled away and hurried out. Shang was waiting for her in the lobby. He said a few parting words to Yll, murmured too quietly to hear, and they left in silence.
The clinic was in a dense downtown area of the crystal city and Shang led her through the narrow streets quickly to an empty lot where he'd parked his ship.
"How did you manage to get it away from the bug?" Erena asked, unable to help her curiosity.
"Not easily," Shang muttered. He was still very banged up. The cut on his ribs was the worst, but the left side of his face was heavily bruised and he was favoring his right leg. He looked like he'd been hit by a car.
She strapped in and he taxied out of the empty lot into the wide main road before taking off.
"You're sure we won't be followed?" she looked down at the city as they left it behind, worry picking at her nerves.
"I'm sure," he replied, and they left the atmosphere behind them.
Silence reigned for a few hours. Erena stewed in her own tangled feelings. Shang seemed quietly resigned to his guilt.
Erena wondered whether she should tell him about the baby. Would it be better or worse for him to know now? She was still almost certain to lose it. It would probably be less harmful to him if he never knew. It wasn't like he had any emotional attachment to her after all.
Even if the baby survived, she didn't want anything to do with him, and he was planning to sell her planet to the highest bidder. He wouldn't want to know his kid was on the planet he was betraying.
"So when did you decide?" Erena said at last, unable to keep her silence any longer, "To sell my planet, I mean. Was it the plan all along? Or did you only fi
gure it out later?"
"You really do ask too many questions," Shang sighed, looking away.
"Apparently not the right ones," she sat back in her chair, hurt and annoyance making her restless, "I actually thought you were a decent person. I thought you wanted to help me."
"Must not have been very sure," Shang countered, "It only took two sentences from a guy who tried to eat you to change your mind."
Erena flinched like he'd hit her.
"Well then explain it to me," she demanded, "I saw the look on your face when he said that. It wasn't all lies. So make it make sense to me. That's all I want."
He bit the inside of his cheek and for a moment seemed to be searching for the words. Then he shook his head, looking away.
"Maybe it's better if I don't."
Disappointment felt like a weight around Erena's neck as he all but confirmed her fears. She leaned away from him, shaking with anger and unhappiness.
"I really liked you," her voice broke as she spoke, unable to look at him, "I really did. I just don't understand."
He didn't answer, and they flew on in silence.
Later, exhausted and dozing off in her seat, Erena felt him nudge her arm.
"Go lay down in the bunk," he said, "You're still recovering. I can sleep out here."
She was too tired to argue about it, so she did as she was told, opening the hatch and falling down into his bunk. She fell asleep looking up at the strange wind chime again, wondering where he had got it.
Was it something from his people, she wondered as she fell asleep, her hands on her stomach, the life growing within it still too small to be noticeable. If this child lived, she wouldn't be able to tell them anything about where they came from.
Chapter Fourteen
A crash woke her, shaking the entire ship and making her shriek in surprise. She sat up, pushing open the hatch above her.
"What's going on?" she called out, frightened.
"Someone's attacking us!" Shang called back as something hit the ship again, shaking her through to her bones, "They dropped out of FTL right next to us and just started firing!"
Alien Romance: The Alien's Pregnant Mate: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 2) Page 8