Finding Jess (First Wave)

by Mikayla Lane

  Her life had been a series of crudely set up camps in the middle of forests, abandoned properties and the Relian favorite was abandoned mines. The only time she’d ever learned anything about the world outside of the camps had been when they had captured another girl like her. She had always gotten them out of there before she could learn too much about things she knew she’d never see.

  She really didn’t belong here; she thought with sadness. As miserable as her life had been she at least knew what to expect and what was expected from her. She knew nothing about the planet she’d been on, and here she was even farther out of her comprehension on a space ship. She shouldn’t have come here.

  Sadness overwhelmed her as she realized she’d never be able to fit in here; she'd be as useless as a child to these people. At least in the Relian camp she’d been able to save the other girls they’d captured. She had a use there.

  “You upset her! You go! Go NOW! I help her!” Jess flinched slightly when the little panther jumped up and stood on the edge of the bed facing Amun with his teeth bared and his dangerously sharp claws digging holes into the mattress.

  The beautiful cat did not look so fierce until now. Jess had assumed the cat was a docile creature and was fascinated at how quickly he had turned into such a ferocious looking animal. It took a few seconds for her to realize he was trying to protect her! Her heart melted at the sweet gesture. The tears that had been threatening to spill over from her embarrassment, and sadness couldn’t be held back.

  “Thank you.” Was all she managed to say before she grabbed the cat into a crushing hug and began to sob so hard her body shook violently.

  Amun was at a complete loss as to what just happened. One minute he was offering Jess his hand to help her up, and the next Gibly was violent. Now she’s choking the cat and shaking so hard he was afraid she was going to damage her internal organs even more before the new ones were fully grown. What the hell just happened?

  A quick check of her body scans and he grabbed a relaxer and injected it into her arm. Gibly hissed when he’d come near her, but he wasn’t afraid of the cat at the moment since he wasn’t going anywhere.

  If he wasn’t so concerned for Jess, he’d be laughing loudly at Gibly’s predicament. Jess had both arms wrapped tightly around him; one held the lower half of his body trapped between her thighs forcing his back legs to be suspended in the air uselessly. Her other arm was around his chest holding his head awkwardly against her chest; his head turned so only one bulging eye was visible. His front legs were trapped somewhere in the blanket and the sleeping gown he had put on her after the first round of her surgeries last night. The poor cat didn’t look quite so fierce right now.

  Although every instinct in him wanted nothing more than to go and hold her until she calmed down, he knew he would only make the situation worse. Instead, he forced himself to walk to the comm and called Cari. After explaining what he could to her, he unlocked the codes for the door and stood near it waiting for her to arrive.

  He watched carefully as the relaxer began to work, and Jess slowly calmed down. As she did, her muscles relaxed and Gibly was able to breathe properly again and extricate himself from her arms, but he didn’t go far. He stood proudly in between her legs and turned to shoot a glare at Amun.

  “It alright. Stupid man didn’t mean to hurt you. I new here too. I help you. You help me.” Gibly told her as he rubbed his face against her cheek. Jess just sniffed and started stroking his back gently.

  Amun could have smacked himself. He was an idiot. She didn't know to take his hand. He almost snorted in disgust when he thought about how many times a Relian probably offered to help her up. None. He should have known, instead he’d embarrassed and hurt her.

  He was more relieved than he wanted to admit when Cari and Scaden came flying through the door. Scaden stayed back by the door with him while Cari went straight to Jess.

  “Cari?” Jess asked.

  “Oh Jess!”

  Both men watched in fascination as the two women hugged and cried and spoke in a sobbing speak they didn’t think anyone could translate and wondered how they could possibly understand each other.

  Occasionally, they would see Gibly peek out from the bodies of the two women looking like he was going to faint from lack of oxygen. Amun couldn’t be happier at his discomfort; still a little peeved that he got so violent with him.

  If he were honest with himself though, he’d admit that he was grateful that the animal had figured out what he’d done wrong. And he is the perfect companion for her right now. He was right; he was just as new to all of this as she was. They could learn together.

  “What did you screw up?” Scaden asked with a knowing smirk on his face. Amun sighed heavily.

  “I treated her as if she should have walked out of life-long captivity knowing everything about where she is and how she’s supposed to act around people and not animals.”

  “From what I can tell I’ve embarrassed her deeply, damaged her more emotionally, ruined any possible friendship with Gibly in the process and have probably damaged any potential relationship I could have with her.”

  “Wow, that’s a lot to accomplish in a few hours. No wonder you look so tired,” Scaden teased.

  “Really not in the mood for this right now, my friend.”

  “It’s the perfect time for it. You saw what Cari, and I went through to be together. Do you really think if you are meant to be with her that this is going to make a dent in it happening?” Scaden asked his friend seriously. He knew in his heart, that if the All Father had deemed them mates that it would happen. He couldn’t help but be a believer as he looked lovingly at his beautiful mate and mother of his miraculous twin daughters.

  “Cari wasn’t held captive by those animals her whole life! She wasn’t tortured in ways that I can’t even think of without wanting to kill something! The range of damage she’s suffered psychologically is so broad the computer is still trying to calculate a treatment plan that doesn’t include a mind wipe! Don’t stand there and tell me I can’t fuck this up with something as simple as this one mistake.” Amun whispered angrily before striding out the door.

  Scaden thought about what he said as he watched the two women together. Cari helped Jess stand and walked with her to the other side of the room to the bathroom.

  It slowly dawned on him the challenge Jess was facing now that she’d been freed, and it wasn’t just the overcoming of her physical injuries.

  He watched through the open bathroom door as Cari explained to Jess how to use the sink, toilet and shower. The play of emotions across the girl's face ranged from fear to excitement. The only thing he could compare it to was watching his own young daughters learn about the world and how things worked.

  He was shocked at his own thoughts when he wondered if they had truly done the girl any favors by saving her; and vowed to himself to help Amun and Jess anyway he could. Leaving the women to themselves, he went to go find Amun and talk to him.

  *****

  Cari had finished showing her how to use the bathroom and where she could find clean clothes after a shower, and Jess couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed and amazed. Everything was so pretty and soft and clean.

  And the clothes were the nicest thing she’d ever had in her life. Cari had discovered that Amun had already had the computer make clothes for her, and they were stored in the closet. There were even pants, which would help her hide her legs! She had blushed when Cari had told her what the panties and bra were for.

  Everything he’d had the computer make was in the prettiest light colors she’d ever seen and so soft she was almost afraid to touch them with her rough hands. Rubbing her fingers against her palms, she realized her hands didn’t catch one of the rough breaks in her skin as they normally did. She brought her hands up to look more closely at them and was shocked mute for long moments.

  “What happened to me?”

  “What do you mean honey?” Cari asked curiously, watching Jess look intently a
t her hands.

  “My hands aren’t rough anymore. They feel so soft.” Jess grabbed one of Cari’s hands in her own and rubbed her palm against hers.

  “Like yours. How is that possible?”

  “Amun. He’s been working all night to heal your injuries. I know you understand that some injuries are going to be easier and quicker for him to fix than others. Right?” Cari asked gently.

  Jess just looked blankly at Cari for a moment, rubbing her hands together, before Cari continued.

  “Jess, the injuries you suffer from are very… bad. Some will kill you if not fixed soon. Amun is working to fix everything… even your legs.” Cari let that sink into the stunned girl before trying to hit her with anything more shocking.

  With Amun out of the room, Jess seemed to be able to think more clearly now and feel a lot less emotional. She understood that there were major differences with the world she was in and the one she came from. Just learning how to work the bathroom was a huge indication of that.

  However, she was easily adaptable and a fast learner. She’d spent her whole life moving from camp to camp and learning the area well enough to cook three meals a day for them all and keep their clothes clean with almost nothing around to do it with. She could do this. Even better if her hero could fix her legs too.

  She straightened her shoulders and began pulling herself together. Julou had always said she was the strongest person he’d ever known. She needed to stop looking at everything in a childish amazement and start acting like the strong woman she was. She had to pull this off the way she and Julou had planned all those nights when they lay together while he tried to keep her warm.

  “I may not understand all the amazing things around me, but I’m not stupid. I’m a fast learner, but you’ll have to try to forgive me when it takes me a minute sometimes to comprehend that some things are possible. I could never have imagined my legs could be fixed.” Jess said with a smile, feeling more like herself.

  “Honey, no one and I mean no one, thinks you are stupid. We’re going to make a lot of mistakes trying to help you, and we’re all going to feel silly before it’s all over with. But no one will ever mean to hurt you in any way. We care about you very much and want to help you get well.”

  “Thank you. It means a lot to me to know you’re here for me.” Jess said giving Cari a tight hug.

  “Me too!” Gibly chimed in as he rubbed himself against Jess’s leg.

  “And you to my friend.” Jess agreed, ignoring the mist of tears in her eyes as, she bent at the waist to pet him.

  “Before we start fixing me and all this, I really need to talk to whoever is in command. I have information that they may need to know about.” Jess said straightening up and kicking herself for not remembering sooner.

  “You really need a chance to wake up and acclimate yourself as well. So how about you take a long shower, change into something you would like to wear and have some breakfast? After that you can meet with High Councilor Ivint Torenson and Councilor’s Lakatis and Macner. Deal?” Cari didn’t think there was anything so important that she couldn’t at least get a shower and eat something first. Besides it was still pretty early, and the Councilor’s were probably just waking up anyway.

  “If you think it can wait…” Jess said looking longingly at the shower.

  “Of course it can. I’ll leave you to shower and get some breakfast for you and meet you back in your room when you’re done.” Cari kissed her cheek and left the room with Gibly, the door shutting behind them.

  Jess looked around the incredibly clean room with wonder. Everything was so amazing. And clean. She could never keep anything clean at the camp, not even herself. No matter how much she tried. And there was hot water too; another rare thing in her life.

  She quickly set the water to a comfortable temperature and undressed. The first thing she noticed was the long scar across her abdomen where she’d been cut was nothing more than a scratch and nearly gone. Searching other areas of her body, she noticed that almost all of her scars were either in some stage of healing or completely gone.

  She rubbed at the healing scar on her stomach as the tears misted her eyes again at the miracle of never having to be reminded of that part of her life by the scars. It was really wonderful of Amun to be so thorough in trying to heal her. And she’d scared him away with her tears. She vowed to apologize to him the next time she saw him.

  Jess knew she had taken a really long time in the shower; she’d washed her hair and body three times, and tried to dress quickly to make up some time. She grabbed a pair of pants and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had wide legs that would easily conceal her ugly legs and be comfortable. She quickly put on a soft, long-sleeved white shirt and brushed the few tangles out of her long hair.

  Her hair had been a mess when she had been saved, whoever had untangled that mess had to have had a lot of patience, she thought putting the brush back in the drawer. She would find out who had taken such care of her and thank them later.

  Straightening her shoulders she went out of the door, keeping her steps small in order not to lose her balance and fall. Cari and Amun were waiting for her by a table near the door with two chairs around it.

  “You look so beautiful! Come have breakfast with me.” Cari said with a beaming smile.

  Glancing at Amun, Jess could see that he looked tired, but the smile that broke his face when he saw her made him look beautiful to her. He looked like he’d also showered and changed his clothes, and Jess wondered if he smelled as nice as the stuff she used in her shower, or if he used something stronger and manly.

  His eyes never left her as he walked towards her and gently put his arm around her back and leaned into her just enough to take some of her weight from her legs, so she could walk easier.

  “Thank you Amun... for everything you’ve done for me. There are no words to express how thankful I am to you.” Jess said smiling up into his face.

  “I will do everything I can to make you happy and ease your suffering; I promise. I am truly sorry if my thoughtless actions earlier hurt you in any way. Please forgive me.” Amun had stopped and stood in front of her as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes.

  The smell of her drove his body insane, his mind fighting to retain control of himself. She looked incredible in the light-blue pants and white shirt he had had made for her.

  “There is nothing to forgive. I have so much to learn, and I should have handled that much better than I did. I am sorry.” Jess breathed deeply of him while he stood so close to her, the musky scent of him filling her nose and teasing her senses. He smelled so good that she wanted to lean in closer to him.

  “Never apologize to me for something that was not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for, Amalaya.” Amun said gently brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear. His gentle touch sent a shiver down her spine.

  “Need food. Time to eat.” Gibly said, interrupting before Jess could reply.

  “Yes, you need to eat. For a few days, I need to keep you on a blander than normal diet as your body heals. I would like you to eat as much as you can every time; but not so much that you get sick. Your body needs the nutrients to help speed up your natural healing abilities.” Amun led her the rest of the way to the table where Cari was already seated and waiting. He held out her chair and helped her sit down before scooting her closer to the table. He treated her so kindly and gently that Jess felt like one of those princesses in the stories her mother used to tell her about when she was a child.

  Removing the cover over the dish, her mouth watered at the smell of the food on the plate. There were sliced potatoes, fresh eggs, not the powdered kind she was used to eating; a bowl of oatmeal and cut up pieces of fruit. There was so much food and to choose from that she didn’t know where to begin.

  Looking up she saw that Cari had the same thing on a plate in front of her and watched as she scooped some eggs onto her fork and took a bite. Thinking that was a good a place as
any to start, she did the same. She barely stopped the moan at the taste of the eggs. They were so fluffy and warm. Since she had only been allowed to eat whatever was left over from feeding everyone else, she couldn’t ever remember eating anything warm.

  Before she knew it, she had eaten all the eggs and had tried a bite of everything on the tray before her stomach became too full, and she sat back with a contented sigh.

  “Are you sure you can’t eat any more, Amalaya?” Amun asked, the concern evident in his voice.

  “Oh, no way. I’m so full I would definitely get sick if I had one more bite. But I promise I’ll finish it later if you leave it here.” Jess said quickly, not sure if they would take it away from her for not finishing it. Everything had been so good that she wouldn’t mind eating any of it cold.

  “I want you to eat different things for lunch and dinner to make sure you get enough nutrients. I’ll leave the fruit and other snacks in here for you in case you get hungry though.” Amun said removing the tray and putting it into an opening in the wall that hadn’t been there before.

  “Thank you.” Jess said suddenly feeling a little shy and overwhelmed at the thought of having different things to eat more than once a day. How many different foods were there?

  “We have an hour before you meet the council, would you like Amun to explain some of your treatments to you?” Cari asked putting her own tray into the disposal chute.

  “I honestly don’t think I could wrap my mind around it yet. What I mean is that I don’t think I know enough to be able to grasp the most basic part of it. But when I do understand things better, I would love to learn about how you were able to heal me. You have no idea how much it meant to me, not to see some of those scars again.” Jess felt like she’d said too much and lowered her head to hide the blush she knew was staining her heated cheeks.

  “We have more than enough time to discuss some of that later. Why don’t you tell me how you feel this morning?” Amun leaned down in front of her and began scanning her body while he waited for her to answer.