“Carsona, you have to stay with me. I can’t let you go.”
“Aaronmon…” I didn’t know what to say.
“Carsona, I need you to stay. I love you.”
The words that left Aaronmon’s lips stabbed my heart. Not now. Not when I’m about to die in his arms.
“That is the bond.”
“No, it’s not. The bond doesn’t control everything, and I know that I love you.” He stared into my eyes.
I looked away and released a sob. The pain I suffered when Kyle died—I did not want anyone to go through that. I could not let Aaronmon go through what I had.
“You can’t love me,” I told him. “Don’t love me.”
“Carsona, no Carson, please just hold on for a little bit longer.”
My empathy had been weak because of the virus, but I could feel his emotions rocking into mine like waves. His love was gentle and passionate, but the pain of losing me was dominant. He really did love me. There had to be a way of easing his pain.
“I’m sorry.” I cried and even in the memonai I could feel the weakness taking over.
“Carson?” Aaronmon yelled as I collapsed in his arms.
“I think this is it.” I placed my hand on his cheek. I could taste the blood even in the memonai now. My body must be deteriorating and now my mind was going with it.
“Carson! NO! Just stay! Just stay!” Aaronmon’s tears fell onto my face. “I love you! Just hold on!”
“I…”
“Don’t speak.” Aaronmon cradled me. My body became cooler and cooler. The memonai started to drift away.
A small touch of my empathy detected awareness and confusion coming from Aaronmon. He looked down at me, and something started to take over in him—hope.
“Just hold on!” he said again and disappeared from the memonai.
I couldn’t say anything. My body wouldn’t move.
I looked up into the sky and saw Aunt Trish waiting for me. Should I follow her now? Was I ready? Tears wet my cheeks as I ascended into the sky. My cool body started to warm as I got higher. Everything grew brighter. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to leave, but I would. The pain began to leave me. As it became too bright to see, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be taken.
CHAPTER SEVEN
My eyes fluttered open. My head rested on pillows, and a beautiful light shone through my window. Was this heaven? I felt a hand on top of mine. I searched for the owner, finding Aaronmon asleep in a chair next to me.
“Aaronmon?” I said.
Aaronmon moaned and squinted his eyes before being able to peak through them. Then he sat up quickly and leaned closer.
“How are you feeling?” He rested his hand on my head.
I sat up, feeling weak. My head did not hurt, and any form of nausea was gone. I even had an appetite. “Better,” I assured him.
“Good.” He smiled, pressing his lips to my forehead.
I breathed in his scent, allowing my bond with him to grow. Looking around my room, it was just the two of us.
“You were with me this whole time,” I said.
“And the nurses.” His thumb caressed my hand. “After we got an antidote and knew you were going to recover, they only came in to check your vitals.”
“An antidote!” I pushed myself up. “Did we get it to everyone who was sick? Is there a vaccine?”
“Don’t worry. The Krea took care of it. Everyone is being taken care of, and everyone has been vaccinated. Even me, since I was exposed to it. I would have been sick as well, given a few more days.”
When I had gotten sick, I was at the school, but now I was at the palace. I recalled Aaronmon telling me before that taeu annonun had been closed down, and people there had been sick.
“What about Chasai? How many casualties did we have?”
Aaronmon turned his gaze to the window and sighed. “There were about ten who died hours before you. Then we got the vaccine.” His eyes softened. “I really thought I was going to lose you.”
I picked up from his memory the panic he was recovering from.
“I’m alive, and that is all that matters.”
“A few more hours of you vomiting blood, and you would have been dead. We got lucky.”
“But we did get an antidote,” I pointed out. “I want to know who created it, to thank and reward them.” Aaronmon shifted uncomfortably. “Is there something wrong?” I asked.
“No, let us worry about that tomorrow. You still need to rest, plus I need to let Doctor Hemplen know you’re awake, so he can run tests. Then there is the rest of Emréiana—they need to know that their Lenai is alive.”
I put my hand on Aaronmon’s lips, quieting him. He was hiding something from me. As I was about to confront him, I noticed the dark circles around his hazel eyes. His skin was colorless, and he looked frail. Worry for me had drained him.
“You need to rest too. Appoint an official to do all of those things. You and I will rest.”
Aaronmon nodded and stood up. “I’ll go get the doctor.”
After a few hours, I was finally able to rest. Doctor Hemplen checked me from head to toe, making sure there was no damage from the Bremoir T virus. He used the bokona, a handheld X-ray and CAT scanner, to search the rest of my body. At one point he even commented that the virus hadn’t interfered with my fertility. My cheeks warmed, thinking about how the people expected Aaronmon and me to conceive after the ceremony. That was what the bonding ensured, apparently: a successful pregnancy and the best genetic make-up. On Emréiana, it was normal for a nineteen-year-old to bear children. Even on Earth, Aunt Trish never said anything about teenage mothers. But because of the society I was raised in, the idea of me having a child at this age was uncomfortable.
I sighed, pulling the pillow cuddled in my arms closer to my chest. I felt the comforting squish of the soft beads inside. Rain pattered on my balcony. I remembered that the rainy season was close. I sigh in disappointment, as I wouldn’t be able to see Earth’s star once the season began.
I picked up my abula and turned on the holographic screen above my bed. I knew the media would be talking about my collapse, and I was curious about what was being said.
The video on the screen was the view from an onmore circling the palace. A woman voice-over was saying,“The Lenai is resting, having recovered from the virus. Just three days ago, Emréiana’s Lenai Carsona fell sick with the Bremoir T virus sent by our enemies. It spread throughout the planet for almost a Hurmon moon.
“Lenai Carsona was allegedly in the final stages of the virus when an antidote was sent to the palace. The antidote was given to the Lenai and other victims, curing them. From that antidote, a vaccine was also created; everyone is lining up at emergency facilities to receive their dose.”
As I watched the people standing in lines, I grew bored and turned it off.
The press didn’t seem to know anything about who created the antidote, either. I recalled Aaronmon’s hidden feelings about the topic. Something was going on that I wasn’t being told.
I decided the person I needed to be asking was my mother, Krea Mannannala. She had not been in my room while I was sick, as no one had wanted her to fall sick as well. The planet would be in an uproar if both leaders died.
I scanned through the abula and found my mother’s contact information. I ordered the abula to call her and waited until I saw her screen turn on.
“Carsona.” My mother’s eyes grew bright as she saw me on the screen. “I’m so glad you recovered! How are you feeling?”
“Tired.” I smiled weakly. “I feel better though.”
“That’s good. I’m actually on my way to the palace right now. It should only be a few hours.” While I was sick, she was relocated to another city that was not infected by the virus.
“I want to talk to you about something when you arrive.”
“Of course.” She nodded slightly. “Just rest until then.”
“I will,” I assured her, and the projection clo
sed.
I waited patiently in my bed for my mother’s arrival. I spent the hours watching the abula and looking over defensive plans against the Bremoir. A palace maid brought me lunch: camai, a roast-beef-style meat that was wrapped up in a lettuce leaf; famonta, a crispy bread; optanu, a juice from a mixture of Emréian berries and fruits. A nurse came in to make sure I was doing okay and told me that they would be taking out the IV tomorrow, but they wanted to make sure I had plenty of fluids in me first.
Before the nurse left, I realized that my body was still sticky with sweat and vomit. She detached the bag from the needle in my arm and wrapped my arm in a plastic sleeve to protect it from the water. She reminded me to call her back later to attach the bag back to it. I walked into my cleaning quarters in a robe-like towel. I used the digital water thermostat to set the temperature of my water. It was actually interesting to get used to because the Emréians have a different system to calculate temperature.
I stepped into the shower and closed the glass door behind me. Water sprayed from all three sides of the shower’s walls and fell from the ceiling like rain. I rested in the warmth before starting my routine. The grime slid off my body. I moved to a small spot in the corner that was free from water, found the Lotian-flower-scented cleaning solution on the shelf, and squirted some into my hands. I combed the solution into my hair and massaged it into my scalp, already feeling much cleaner. I rubbed more solution onto my skin. Emréiana used natural cleaners free of harsh chemicals, safe to use on the hair and body. My skin was already used to it because Aunt Trish had made her own shampoo back on Earth. I thought she was a hippie, but really she was holding on to her heritage. After rinsing off, I pressed the shutdown button on the shower. I waited a second before stepping out and toweling off, and I examined myself in the mirror. The rings around my eyes were dark in contrast to my pasty skin. I looked like death. I diverted my eyes from the sight.
Back in my room, wrapped in my towel robe, I soon realized that I wasn’t alone. Sitting on the couch across from the balcony was my mother. She stood up quickly and came toward me with her arms out.
“My daughter!” She pulled me into a hug. “I am so glad you are okay.”
I didn’t say anything, letting her take comfort in holding me. Her face looked as tired as Aaronmon’s. When she finally released me, we both took seats on the couch.
“You look so thin,” she said, concerned.
“I’m working on gaining the weight back.” I nodded toward the empty plate on the table next to my bed.
“Good. We need to make sure you have your strength.”
“I’m glad to hear there haven’t been any more casualties since we retrieved the antidote,” I said, not wanting to approach my question directly.
“It’s a miracle we received it so soon.” Anxiety hovered around my mother.
“I would like to give the scientist who created it formal public thanks.”
My mother smiled weakly. “I’m afraid it actually wasn’t a scientist who gave us the antidote.”
“Then who did?” I asked.
“Someone who stole the antidote from the Bremoir and brought it to us. An unmarked ship approached the planet. Our fleet asked it to stand down and not approach, but a message was sent from the ship explaining he had stolen the antidote.”
Confused, I pondered her words.
“How did he do that? Why did he do that?”
“We’re still questioning him,” she said.
I took a deep breath, trying to sort out what should be my next question. “Can we bring him here? I would like to thank him anyway. I’m indebted to him.”
My mother remained on edge. There was still a secret I wasn’t being told.
“I’m afraid we have him in a cell. We want him to feel at peace since he performed an honorable act, but we don’t trust him enough to allow him freedom.”
I was going to protest, but then I paused. Someone just walked in with an antidote from the Bremoir? It did sound strange. And I couldn’t shake the vibes I kept receiving from everyone. What weren’t they telling me?
After my mother left my room, I paced the floor. Something was definitely off. Even the nurses who checked in on me seemed secretive. The more I thought about it, the more I needed to see this man.
I sat on the bed and devised a plan. First, I would need to know what cell he was in. I thought hard as it seemed that neither my mother nor Aaronmon would tell me his cell. Of course there were only four cells that were made up to be comfortable: two in the west wing, two in the east wing. I needed to choose which wing to go to carefully, as I didn’t want my mother to find out I was snooping around. Then I thought about dinner—they would be sure to bring him food.
I waited a few hours until the food would start to be distributed to guests who were staying in their chambers. Everyone else started to head toward the dining hall. I left my room quietly. As I turned, I ran into one of the palace maids.
She tilted her head in a slight bow. “Are you eating with Krea Mannannala this evening, Lenai Carsona?”
“Yes, I am feeling a lot better and would like to dine with my mother,” I said. She smiled quickly and departed.
I waited outside the kitchen, hoping to catch the server, but as bad luck would have it, there were several leaving the kitchen all at once. I hadn’t thought about which one I would need to follow. I overheard one server ask another stout, bald one, “You have the prisoner, right?”
“Yeah. I made sure the cook made him something nice. After all, he did save our Lenai.”
I waited for the server to separate from the others before I started to tail him. I walked quietly behind him. He crossed all the way over to the west wing before stopping at one of the cell rooms. A guard stood at the door. He conversed with the server for a second and then the guard punched in a code. The door opened to a small room that the server would enter. Then the door would close behind him. The guard would have to put the code in again for the second door to open to the main room. I needed to get in there. Before the server could enter the first room, I made my presence known.
“I will take his dinner to him,” I said, my back straight.
“Lenai Carsona,” they greeted me in unison.
“Krea Mannannala did not want me to let you in until she knew it was safe,” the guard said.
“I know what my mother ordered, but I need to see him.” I kept my tone level. “He saved me. I would like to thank him.” I could feel his resolve weaken. “Besides,” I pointed out, “I’m a Gemini. My empathy will detect any deceit.”
My reasoning was logical enough for him. He lowered his head and said, “As you wish, Lenai. But I ask you to please save me from dismissal if the Krea finds out.”
I smiled and nodded, then took the cart of food from the server and went into the safe room. The door shut behind me, and I used my abula to enter my code. The cell door in front of me swooshed upward, allowing me to enter the room. The room looked like any other guest room in the palace, except for the lack of windows.
No one was there.
Was I in the right room? I put my back against the wall to keep anyone from sneaking up on me—a self-defense habit.
I heard a noise in the washing chambers. I knew I would be meeting my savior face to face now. I stood straight and took a deep breath.
A figure stepped out of the wash room. We both froze as our eyes met, and I could not tear mine away. Those golden honey eyes. It couldn’t be. I looked down at his face and body. It was him. He was just how I left him, only everything looked harder and stern.
Finally I forced myself to speak. “Kyle?” I couldn’t even believe it. But there he was in front of me—alive.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I sat on the bed sorting through hundreds of questions, staring blankly at the man leaning against the wall. I replayed his death again and again in my mind. It didn’t make sense to me. It probably had been five minutes, but it seemed I had been looking at him forever. Kyle unfo
lded his arms and moved away from the wall.
“So, uh, have you had your moment to think things through?” Kyle asked in English. Even that threw me off. I had been speaking Emréian for the past year; English sounded foreign to me.
“I’m still in shock.” I recalled how to speak. “I saw you dead. You died in my arms! I went to your funeral! How are you here?” I said, touching on only a small portion of my thoughts.
Kyle stepped closer to me, and I froze. What if it really wasn’t him? What if he was some sort of shape-shifting alien playing with my mind?
“You don’t have to be afraid of me, Carson. I’ve known you since we were kids.”
“How do I know that?” I asked. “How do I know you are really Kyle?”
“We met on the elementary school playground. We were punished together. We became friends. When you were thirteen, you dated a boy named Derick, and he broke your heart, and you cried on my shoulder. I confessed my feelings for you during sophomore year in the playhouse in the woods, and that is where we shared our first kiss… and would have shared our first night together.”
I held up my hand, stopping him. My empathy told me he was truthful. I rubbed my temples. It still didn’t make sense.
“Then… your death?” I asked.
“I’m actually a Morgon,” he admitted.
It took a minute for this to sink in. “You mean you’re not human?”
He shook his head. “I wanted to tell you, but I needed to keep you safe. I didn’t really die. Morgons’ bodies go dormant when extremely injured, so we can heal. Since I had some life left when I went into a regenerative state, I was able to heal my body.”
I thought back to his funeral. His parents’ lack of emotions should have been my first tip.
“I’m still having a hard time understanding everything,” I said to the floor.
Kyle sat next to me on the bed. “It’s a long story, and you have enough to deal with at the moment.”
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