Spending more time than necessary to pick out her clothes in order to avoid Zane, she slipped on her favorite pair of skinny jeans, tan brown suede knee high boots, and a tight ribbed long sleeved sweater that showed off her curves awesomely. She accented her outfit with a stone pendant hanging by a leather cord and a brown leather belt with decorative buckle.
She stepped into the living area and watched Zane busily setting plates on the bar and placing her hot steaming cup of tolka to the upper left side of her plate. “I made you some toast. I did not know what you would want to eat, so I figured that would be easiest. Also, because there wasn’t much else in the cabinet we will have to go out later and pick up some food.”
She looked at him for a second and then quickly looked away. It was so damn hard to be mad at this man. Why did he have to be so perfect, so patient even? She took a moment to think about what she wanted to say. She was hoping that whatever she said to him would not make her cry. She had spent way too much time applying her make-up so she would look presentable. Very quietly she said, “I am really sorry about last night. I am ashamed of the way I talked to you. You have been nothing but nice to me and I acted like a spoiled brat.”
“It will take us some time to get used to each other. I have never lived with anyone before you, so this is an adjustment for me as well. It isn’t all that bad for me though. I can definitely get used to you being here,” he said as he hid his smile behind a quick sip of his tolka.
She smiled back at him. He had such a calming effect on her. She knew that she could easily get used to this arrangement as well and then it dawned on her to ask about the patient he took care of yesterday. “So, how did the surgery go? Were you able to save the warrior and his arm?”
Zane smiled at her, grateful that she seemed willing to let go of the recent argument and then answered her cheerfully, “He is fine. I just called the clinic to check on him a minute ago and checked on him once last night. The surgery was very complicated but I think that with a lot of physical therapy after he heals, he will have full use of his arm and hand.”
She smiled up at him with a look of admiration when just then she heard the sound of a doorbell. Zane excused himself and went to answer the door. He returned shortly after with two guests.
Zane addressed his friend and his mate, “I am glad to see that you were able to come and visit today. How are you doing Avery?”
She bit her lower lip and replied, “I am good.”
“I am happy to hear that. Please come in. I would like to introduce you to my mate.” Zane gestured with his hand in the direction of Grace, as Zeb placed his hand on the small of Avery’s back and led her into the room. Zane fell in beside his friend. Both men glanced at each other and gave each other a conniving smile.
Just a moment ago, Grace moved to sit on the sofa and placed her cup on the table in front of her. Worried that their guest would notice that she wasn’t looking as flawless as she would have liked, she turned her gaze toward the window. Grace glanced in the direction of their guests and upon recognizing the woman she stood up quickly and rushed towards her. “Avery! Oh my God, it’s you!” she shouted.
“Gracie!” Avery said as she took off as fast as she could to cover the short distance that still separated them with arms out stretched. It only took a matter of a few seconds until the women were embracing each other and crying at the same time. Gracie thought so much for the make-up. Neither woman knew how long they stood there, holding onto one another. Finally, Gracie was the first to pull back so that she could see Avery’s face.
“I thought I would never see you again. I can’t believe you are here. How have you been doing?” Gracie asked through the tears that were still running down her cheeks as she blotted them with the sleeve of her sweater. Zane saw that she needed something to wipe her face and handed her a towel.
“Oh Gracie, I missed you so much. I didn’t know who had bought you at the auction. Frankly, I have been understandably out of it lately, that even if I was told who bought you, it probably wouldn't have registered. But, I am relieved to know now that you are with Dr. Zane. He will take really good care of you.” Grace was starting to believe that she was incredibly blessed to be with a man like Zane.
“Come sit on the sofa with me.” Gracie said as she grabbed Avery’s hand and pulled her to sit down with her.
As the women made themselves comfortable, Zane interrupted and said to them, “If you two don’t mind, Zeb and I will be in my office so that you can have some privacy.” Grace and Avery watched silently as Zeb and Zane walked into the hallway. They resumed their conversation as they heard the sound of the office door slide shut.
Avery was the first to speak, “How have you really been doing?”
“To tell you the truth this hasn’t been an easy thing to adjust to. I mean, I miss my home, friends and the food here is just too weird for me to even try. I haven’t even been out of these rooms since Zane first brought me here.” She smiled again at her friend, “Maybe now that I know you are here too, I can accept our situation a bit better.”
All was quiet for a moment, then Avery said, “Well, I would think that since we are bound to Zeb and Zane forever, we should be able to have free reign of the ship. We need to speak to them about that when they come out of the office.”
“Have you been to any other part of the ship besides the bar or whatever the place was we were sold in?” Gracie asked.
“Oh yes! Zeb took me to a place in the ship that is so beautiful. He says it is basically a replica of what their home planet used to look like. Then we went to a food court, but we didn’t stay long. We got some food to bring back to our quarters.” Grace watched as Avery spoke with excitement, “We ordered something that resembled pizza. I have named it "alien pizza" and it tastes pretty good.”
“I guess that doesn’t sound too bad. I wonder what else there is to do on this ship. From what Zane told me about it, it’s probably around the size of Rhode Island and houses an extremely large population of Therons among the other races of traders.”
“Zeb really hasn’t told me anything like that about the ship, but at the same time, I haven’t bothered to ask. I haven’t exactly been the most pleasant person to be around.” Grace saw Avery turn away as if she was embarrassed.
“What do you mean?” Gracie drew in her eyebrows, confused.
“Well…I have kind of freaked out on Zeb twice now. The first night aboard the ship I was so freaked out that Zane had to sedate me. Last night, after coming back from our outing I was having a hard time again. Though between the two nights, the first night was the worst. I was really bad. I was so pissed I started to throw things at him.”
Gracie’s eyes opened wide and her mouth hung open, “Oh My God! What happened?”
“Like I said, the first night Zeb had to call for Zane to come and sedate me and last night he threatened to call him again. But, I didn’t want to be sedated again, so I was able to calm down. I just get so mad about what has happened to us that I start to lose control.” Avery was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt while she looked at the floor.
Gracie moved to embrace her new friend, “Girl, I am so sorry. Hopefully things will get better. I guess we are just going to have to make the best of things. Maybe these guys aren’t so bad after all.”
“Maybe,” Avery answered back. Both of the women pulled away from each other with tears in their eyes that were threatening to spill over. They both turned in the direction of the sound of a door opening in the hallway and they quickly tried to dab away the tears welling in their eyes so that the men would not see them.
Zeb and Zane made their way over to where their mates were sitting. Zane was the first to speak to them, “Did you two have a nice talk?”
Avery and Gracie both looked at each other and said at the exact same time, “Yes" with smiles on their faces.
“I am glad to hear that.” He turned his attention to Avery and said, “Avery, I need you to come down to the infirmary u
nit so that I can implant the permanent translation chips into your ears. Gracie can come along with us if she wants to. I implanted hers yesterday.” Zane looked at Gracie to see if she would be interested in coming along and then Zeb to make sure that they had the time.
"It didn't hurt at all." Gracie reassured Avery. Avery looked a bit scared at the prospect of anyone touching her ears. Just wait until she saw what he used to implant them Zane thought.
Zeb answered for Avery, “We can go now, why not?” He looked at Avery, “You need to have it done anyway so might as well get it over with.” Zeb took Avery’s hand and pulled her up out of the sofa.
Gracie let Zane guide her to the door. This would be her first venture outside of their rooms since the auction and she was ready to get out. “It won’t take very long for the procedure Avery. I just can’t do it here.” He had only brought enough chips to do Gracie’s last night. They all stepped out of into the cool corridor and made their way to the transportation tubes.
“What is this thing?” Gracie looked to Zane. She looked a little terrified at the prospect of getting into a tube that was barely larger than a towering Theron warrior.
“It’s a transport tube. It brings you to other parts of the ship very quickly. The first time I was in it, it did give me a bit of a scare but the second time wasn’t so bad because I knew what to expect. Just hold on to Zane and you will be just fine.” Avery reassured Gracie with a wink, pushing her back to Zane who was waiting in the tube for her to join him.
“We will be right behind you.” Zeb said.
Zane offered his hand to Grace and she took it a bit reluctantly. First of all, the tube was intimidating and secondly, she had not been this close to Zane since she had her first meltdown. She positioned herself as close to Zane as she could, wrapped her arms around his waist, and then closed her eyes. A moment later the tube shot off silently into the maze of tubes that twisted and turned throughout the ship. The entire ride took about ten seconds as the transport tube slowly came to a stop and the door opened letting them out across the hall from the clinic.
Gracie had never experienced anything like it in her life. Bungee jumping off the Grand Canyon didn’t even hold a candle to this. Standing there waiting for Avery, Gracie couldn’t wait to tell her about her ride. “That was awesome! I thought I was going to be terrified, but it gave me such a rush of adrenaline! That doesn’t compare to anything back on earth! Do we get to ride it back?” She looked at Zane expectantly, a big smile on her face.
Zane noticed that with each sentence her voice got higher and louder as she explained her experience in the tube and this made him very happy. He watched her with his dark aqua colored eyes and a huge grin plastered across his face. Maybe, Avery's visit did everything he had hoped it would. Maybe, she would be willing to give up her past and look forward to a beginning her future with him.
As they arrived at the infirmary wing of the ship, Grace noticed that the décor of this area of the ship was different. Along with the sterile white walls of the clinic, there were swirls and shapes painted on the walls that were whimsical and comforting as well as aesthetically pleasing. They proceeded until they reached a blue door that slid open to reveal what Grace recognized immediately as the first place she visited on the ship.
She sat next to Avery and found it rather comical that Avery was so scared of the procedure that she found completely painless. It showed her a side of Avery that she did not expect to see when compared to the woman she met in the holding room that was so brave and strong. Zeb stood next to Avery offering her his hand and while Grace looked around the room she noticed a couple of paintings on the far right wall that sat above a work station. She wondered if Zane painted them. They looked like they could be his because they were similar to the ones in their quarters. She looked over at Avery and noticed she was also taking in the sights of the room as well before Zane implanted the chips.
“Are you ready Avery?” Zane approached Avery with a probe just like the one he used on her.
“Holy crap, what the hell is that for?” Avery jumped at the sound of Zane’s voice. Then her eyes had focused on the implantation device. Grace watched as she pushed herself backwards on the bed to try and move away from it. She was going to reassure Avery that she would not feel a thing but was cut off when Zeb started to laugh at his mate and Avery looked at him with an expression of anger. She glared at him and said through clenched teeth, “You think it’s funny? Why don’t you let him stick that thing in your ear and see how it feels before I have to?”
Zane laughed with Zeb, “Actually Avery, he has already had this done to him. I promise that it will not be that bad. Our medical capabilities are far more advanced than that of your planet. If you feel anything at all, I assure you that it will be quite minimal. I am going to place the chip into your eardrums. I promise that you will not feel much.”
As Avery slid back towards the Zane as she warned him, “This better not hurt!” Now, this was the Avery she was expecting to see. She watched as Avery turned her head, tilting her right ear towards Zane while squeezing her eyes shut. After Zane was through fitting the first chip, Avery looked surprised and said, “That’s it?”
“I told you it wasn’t going to hurt.” Zane gave her a smug look of satisfaction. He proceeded to turn her head the opposite way to repeat the process. Just like the previous night he checked to see if the device was working and said in his own language, “Can you understand me?”
Avery’s eyes lit up. “I sure can. Is that all that I have to do?”
Zane looked at an astonished Avery in the eyes and said, “Next time, maybe you will believe me when I say it will not hurt.”
“Sorry for not being a good patient.” She saw that Avery looked embarrassed and her face began to turn red.
“Don’t worry little earthling. It is understandable that you would be frightened about anything you were not familiar with.” Zane said a bit amused at her reaction today.
With that all said and done, Zeb and Avery excused themselves. As they walked out of the clinic, Zane asked Zeb, “Any word about that council meeting?”
Zeb stopped in the doorway and turned to Zane and said, “The meeting is at noon, tomorrow in conference room 2. I will meet you there.” Looking to Grace he added, “Good Luck!”
Now, it was just Grace and Zane. It was a bit awkward being alone with him, especially with the events of last night weighing heavy on her. It seemed like he was willing to let it go so she decided she would do so as well. It never made anything easier when one would dwell in the past. It was better to just look to the future, something she was completely willing to do.
Zane looked at her and asked, “Where would you like to go? We will see Brylon tomorrow so we can ask him about charging your electric batteries then. Gods willing, I am all yours for the day after I go and check on my patient which should take only a few moments.” Zane prayed that the Gods would keep anyone from getting hurt today. He really wanted to be able to stay with his new mate for the whole day take her to see as much of the ship as possible.
“Avery said something about a park on the ship and she also mentioned some kind of food that they got from the food court she called an alien pizza. Do you think we could do that?” Grace said with a shy smile.
Zane was happy to see her like this. She already looked happier than she did this morning. “That sounds like a plan. While we are out, we can also prepare for the council meeting. Now, let me go and check my patient and we can be on our way.” She stayed glued to her spot while he left the room to check on his patient. He was gone for about 5 minutes and just as promised he returned.
“What did you want to do first? Did you want to go to the park or try to find the alien pizza?” Zane chuckled as he said that last bit. “By the way, do you think you could describe what a pizza looks like? That way I might be able to figure out what Avery was talking about. If I can’t, I might have to call Zeb and ask what they ordered last night.”
&nbs
p; As they walked out the clinic Grace did something that she was even surprised about. She reached for his hand weaving her fingers through his. She just wanted to see how it would feel to hold his hand like couples did. He looked down at her with sincere approval not expecting this from her. When Grace noticed he was looking at her, she just looked into his eyes and smiled back, not saying a word. They continued to walk down the hall until they reached the transportation tubes. “Are we going to have to use the tubes to get to the park?” She asked trying to contain her excitement.
“Yes, we will.” He entered the tube first and pulled Grace in front of him. “Starlight Gardens” he announced and they were off. Grace kept her eyes wide open and watched as the clear tube darted this way and that. She held on to him to keep herself from losing orientation. It would be easy to succumb to vertigo in something that moved like this. About 5 seconds later she noticed that their speed was slowing. When the tube came to a stop, they lingered there for a moment, her not willing to let him go so quickly. He resumed holding her hand as he led her out of the tube and towards an archway.
Theron's Hope (Brides of Theron) Page 11