by Elin Wyn
Technically, he was my bodyguard not the other way around, but I couldn’t stand the thought of not knowing what was happening.
Jalok got hurt because he was protecting me.
This was all my fault.
By the time the sun came up over the skyline, Not wanting to deal with any hassles, I went out my fire escape and walked into the base camp, leaving the Skotan soldier who was my replacement bodyguard standing outside my front door.
“Dr. Bellin.” A K’ver greeted me with a nod and a confused look.
“Sk’lar right?”
“Yes, ma’am. I lead Strike Team Three. Jalok’s team,” he explained.
“How is he?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you. He was transported to the hospital inside out offices in Nyhiem.”
My stomach dropped and twisted. If he had to be taken back to the capital, he must’ve really been hurt.
“He was in that bad of shape?”
“I’m afraid so. I haven’t heard anything since the medical team took him. But that’s a good thing,” Sk’lar added quickly. “It means he’s still alive.”
I allowed myself to take a breath.
“Do you know if the doctors are letting him see visitors?” I asked.
“I don’t. But the Doctor, Dr. Evie Parr, is one of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met. At the very least, she’ll allow you to talk to her directly about his progress.”
“What if I brought her information?” An idea struck me like a bolt.
“Such as?”
“The chemicals Dyrn threw on Jalok were created in the lab. Dyrn probably kept notes when he created them. I could bring the notes to Dr. Parr in exchange for a visitation.”
“I wouldn’t phrase it like that but I think Dr. Parr will welcome any information you can give.” Sk’lar tried to laugh but it didn’t sound right.
“I promise not to hold information hostage.”
Sk’lar and I shook hands.
“Where is your bodyguard?” he asked me all of a sudden. “I had assigned Dorek to cover for Jalok.”
“Right,” I blurted, not wanting to admit I’d dodged him at home. “I think I just saw him. I’ll go get him.”
Before Sk’lar could say anything I headed, out of the base. My lab was technically closed but the building wasn’t locked up.
I swiped in and took the stairs to my floor. Only an underpaid security guard milled about. He didn’t even ask me for ID.
I triple checked to make sure everything was locked up before going over to Dyrn’s desk. Everything was exactly how he left it.
No doubt an investigation had been launched.
Careful not to disturb anything, I logged in to his console.
Finding his notes was easy. Everything on his console was clearly labeled. It led me to believe that Dyrn didn’t plan his attack.
In one sense, that was a relief. I wasn’t working side by side with a violent radical all these years.
Unfortunately, this realization left me with more questions. If he wasn’t planning on hurting anyone, what would possess him to change so drastically in a matter of seconds?
I set the notes to my datapad and fled the lab. I didn’t want to be here anymore. As I walked past the front desk, the phone rang.
No one should be calling a closed lab. Out of curiosity, I answered it.
“Dr. Bellin.”
“Good, I caught you.” I recognized Sk’lar’s voice.
“Do you need something from the lab?” I asked.
“No. I wanted to tell you to return to the command center.” A knot tightened in my stomach.
Sk’lar got the call that Jalok died.
That’s why he needed me to come back.
Jalok, brave, funny, infuriating Jalok.
“I’ve arranged transport for you to Nyhiem with one of my best fliers.”
Oh.
I let out a shaky breath.
“Are you all right, Dr. Bellin?”
“Yes. Sorry. Thank you. I’ll be there shortly.” I hung up the phone and braced myself against the desk. My legs shook under my weight.
Why was I so shaken?
I forced the uneasiness away and walked out of the lab.
A two-person aerial unit and a Valorni pilot were waiting for me.
“You Dr. Bellin?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Hop in. Have you flown in one of these before?”
“Yes.” I climbed into the back seat without assistance.
The Valorni climbed in after me and powered up the aerial unit. We didn’t make small talk as we flew.
No joking, laughing or taunting like I did with Jalok. I leaned back in my seat and pulled out my datapad.
I killed time on the flight by going over the notes on the chemicals Dyrn developed. They were unusual and I couldn’t discern why he was making such mixtures.
Maybe he was planning something after all. That still didn’t explain his sudden and drastic personality shift.
Anger welled up inside me.
Anger wouldn’t serve me so, to quell it, I flipped to my own projects on the datapad. The Puppet Master’s data was just as obscure to me now as it was yesterday.
I didn’t even get to test his blood.
I wished I could talk to the Puppet Master now.
After a few hours, the Valorni pilot safely landed on the roof of General Rouhr’s operations building.
“Thanks!” I called over my shoulder as I ran to the door leading down to the lower floors. Finding the hospital wasn’t difficult. Hospitals look the same no matter what species they serve.
“I’m looking for Dr. Evie Parr,” I announced when I entered the medical suite.
“I’m Dr. Parr. How did you get back here?” A petite woman with blonde hair frowned.
“I have information about the chemicals used to burn Jalok.” I handed her the datapad.
“You’re the scientist he was assigned to guard,” she said with a knowing smile.
“Yes, he was injured protecting me.” My stomach clenched. My fault. “Can I see him?”
“Yes and no.” Dr. Parr looked at me with sorrow in her blue eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve stabilized him but we had to put him in a coma to do so.”
“What?” I yelped. My legs started to tremble again. Dr. Parr’s face blurred as little pricks of light clouded my vision.
“You need to sit down.” Dr. Parr grabbed my arm and lead me to what I assumed was a chair. I wasn’t paying attention to what my body did.
“A coma?” I sputtered.
“Drink this.”
A straw prodded at my lips. I took a sip and struggled to swallow.
“The chemicals mixed into a toxin that seeped right into his bloodstream. They made their way into his brain. We had to subdue him,” Dr. Parr explained.
“Is he going to be okay?”
“He’s responding positively to the treatment.” Dr. Parr’s words were meant to be encouraging but I knew it was just an optimistic version of ‘I don’t know’.
“Can I see him?”
“Of course. I’ll walk you in.” Dr. Parr linked her arm through mine and walked me through the medical suite.
We stopped at the last bed in the row. Dr. Parr pulled back the privacy curtain. At the sight of Jalok, I covered my mouth and looked away.
Most of his upper body was covered in bandages. Only his right arm was left exposed. It was covered in oozing, blistering wounds.
“Those are too severe to wrap at the moment,” Dr. Parr explained when she noticed me staring. “He’s going to have scars for life on that arm.”
“He might like that,” I laughed awkwardly.
Dr. Parr chuckled.
“You’re right. These soldiers love their battle scars.”
Jalok was hooked up to a machine that looked like it was simultaneously pumping blood into him and harvesting it from him.
“What’s that?”
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“It’s a blood detox, essentially. We’re removing his blood, flushing it of toxins and putting it back. It’s our best bet at the moment. Operating directly on his brain is far too dangerous right now.”
“But that’s a possibility?”
“One we’re hoping we won’t have to face. Strong, healthy blood should target lingering toxins.”
“Right.” I gave a jerky nod.
“Go ahead and sit with him for a while. He might like it if you talk to him.”
“Can he hear me?”
“I like to think so.” Dr. Parr waited for me to settle myself into the chair beside Jalok’s bed before closing the privacy curtain.
“I don’t think sorry covers it,” I laughed weakly. “I’m sorry for laughing, too. I can’t help it. If I don’t laugh, I’m going to start crying. I don’t like to cry in front of strangers. They start asking questions and trying to help. But they can’t help. Not unless they can fix you and wake you up.”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. I blinked them back with little success.
“Why did you have to be a hero?” I asked him.
My gaze wandered over Jalok’s various injuries and all of the machines he was hooked up to.
I wanted to grab his hand to let him know I was there in case he couldn’t hear me but his hand looked too damaged.
I didn’t want to hurt him further.
“You need to wake up soon. I need to yell at you for causing me so much emotional distress.”
I was already imagining all of the retorts Jalok would launch at me if that conversation ever took place. I really hoped it would take place soon.
Exhaustion settled over me. Aside from the brief periods of restless sleep I got last night, I’d been wide awake since Dyrn attacked.
I scooted my chair closer and rested my head on the edge of Jalok’s bed.
Of course, I was upset that something so horrible happened to my friend.
But when I looked at Jalok, lying there and hooked up to all those machines, my feelings weren’t the feelings that someone had for their friend.
I felt a deep sense of loss that made me feel hopeless. Every time I looked at his scarred, bandaged face I thought about our kiss.
The notion that I might never get to do that again filled me with sorrow I didn’t understand it at all.
I was still thinking about his lips and his laugh when I drifted off to sleep on the edge of his hospital bed.
Jalok
“Dottie!” Sitting up straight on the bed, I reached for a gun that wasn’t there and quickly scanned the room, expecting to see a dozen Xathi crawling toward me. There were no Xathi in the room, of course.
There was also no sign of Dottie.
“Whoa, calm down,” Rokul said, laying a hand on my shoulder. I grimaced as pain radiated from the place where his fingers met my skin, and he withdrew his hand quickly. He threw me a concerned glance and lowered his voice. “Sorry. I forgot.”
“That’s fine,” I groaned, sucking in a deep breath.
I was in a cramped hospital room, and Rokul and Sk’lar were sitting beside me in tiny plastic chairs.
I could see Sk’lar’s chair perfectly, but I only assumed Rokul was sitting in one. He was so massive that I couldn’t even see what was underneath him.
He had been one of the biggest guys aboard the Vengeance, and he looked like a giant whenever he stood beside a human. “Where’s Dottie? Is she alright?”
“Dottie’s fine, yes,” Sk’lar said. “You don’t need to worry about her. You saved her, remember?”
“I did, didn’t I?” I muttered. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried to reach for the cloudy memories hiding in my mind’s fog.
I remembered Dyrn’s mental breakdown, his voice growing angrier all out of a sudden, but I didn’t remember much beyond it. Nothing but pain. “What happened to the—”
“Dyrn? The crazy scientist?” Rokul jumped in. “He’s dead.”
“Dead?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “At least he was the last time I checked.”
“Did I kill him?”
“Don’t think,” he shrugged. “The body is being autopsied as we speak, but I won’t be terribly surprised if the cause of death turns out to be Angry Skotan Syndrome. But never mind that right now. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” I groaned, carefully laying back on the mattress. My body was sore, and I was feeling so itchy it was a struggle not to rip the bandages off my body.
Each movement I made sent pain up my spine, and I had such a bad headache that my eyes felt like they would pop out of their sockets any time now. “What do the doctors say?”
“We’re here for the funeral, actually,” Sk’lar said, but he shut up really quickly after Rokul elbowed him.
That made me smile and, even though something as stupid as a simple smile hurt like a gut wound, it still made me feel better about the whole thing. “They say you’ll be fine. Your arm is going to be scarred, though. They couldn't do much about it.”
“Whatever,” I grunted.
Scars weren’t a bad thing. They were the mark of a warrior. Humans didn’t really appreciate it but, the way I saw it, the more the better. “How long have I been out for?”
“A couple of days,” Sk’lar continued. “They had to put you into a coma. You were pretty screwed up. The chemicals blended together and slipped into your bloodstream. You were lucky Cazak was there.”
“Cazak?”
“Yeah. You had to have a blood transfusion so that your blood could clear up.”
“I don’t remember any of that,” I muttered, my eyes closed as I tried to ignore the stubborn throbbing on the back of my head.
“Figures,” Rokul said in that deep tone of his. “You were pretty out of it. Hallucinations, the doctors said. You were saying some pretty wild stuff.”
“Like what?”
“You kept on begging for a weapon,” he shrugged. “And vowed to kill every single Xathi in the universe. You know, your regular Monday morning mood.”
“You’re hilarious, Rokul.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I felt all those hallucinations and nightmares bubbling up to the surface.
There was a stab of pain in my heart as I remembered both my father and grandfather, the disappointment they had shown during my hallucinations suddenly feeling very real.
Even Dottie’s family had shown up in my nightmares, all of them accusing me of being a failure at my job.
The only thing in my dreams that hadn’t brought me any pain had been Dottie.
Memories of her smile helped me cling to whatever sanity still resided inside me. Even though I couldn’t exactly prove it, I knew she was the reason I was now conscious.
I sighed, feeling like a hollow version of my old self.
I forced my eyes open and ran one hand through my hair. Groaning, I reached for the glass of water resting on the bed stand and took a small sip.
The water felt like the most amazing thing I had ever tasted as it went down my dry throat, and I suddenly realized I was ravenous.
“I need to eat something,” I said, but Sk’lar and Rokul immediately exchanged a knowing glance.
“Sorry, man, you’ll have to take it easy for a day or two,” Rokul said. “They’ve been feeding you through an IV drip, and it’ll take some time before your stomach adjusts to some real food.”
“Just perfect.”
“Cheer up,” Sk’lar chuckled. “You’ll be up and running in no time. I mean, the doctors told us it could take up to two weeks before you regained your consciousness...and here you are now, already bitching about your situation after only a couple of days.”
“I’m not—”
“Of course not,” he laughed. Slowly, he stood up from his chair and gave me a nod. “I’ll come around later today, alright? I have a meeting in about fifteen minutes. You comin’, Rokul?”
“I’m right behind you,” Rokul replied. “I just want to discuss
something with Jalok first.”
“Got it.” Clicking his heels together, Sk’lar stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
The constant chatter of a busy hospital corridor slipped into the room during the brief moment the door remained open, but it vanished the moment the latch fell into place again.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, worried that they hadn’t been telling me the whole truth about what had happened. “Is this about Dottie? Is she alright?”
“She’s fine,” he nodded, but the barely noticeable smile on his face was enough to make me relax. “We found her brother, Adam Bellin.”
“You did? Where is he?” I sat up on the bed so fast that my brain waltzed inside my skull.
Grimacing, I tried to keep my waning focus on Rokul. I hadn’t really expected for Adam to be found alive, and so these were great news.
“He’s in a refugee camp outside Duvest.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“I think so,” he nodded. “But there’s something you have to know about him.”
“Oh, please don’t tell me he’s one of those anti-alien assholes?” My headache seemed to become a dozen times worse. If Dottie’s brother turned out to be some xenophobic creep, that would be an annoying turn of events.
“Not exactly. He hasn’t joined any anti-alien movement...but he isn’t exactly a fan of what we do.”
“That’s not so bad,” I whispered.
I didn’t care much about those unwilling to pick sides, but I could make an exception for Dottie’s brother.
Truth be told, his political affiliations didn’t even really matter. What mattered was that I had found her lost brother, and that was sure to make her happy.
And that...well, that mattered. “Have you reached out to him?”
“Not yet,” Rokul replied. “But we have eyes on him. Just say the word and we’ll make a reunion happen.”
“Good,” I nodded. “Do it.”
Dottie
I sat at my desk back in Kaster staring blandly at the scrolls of data on my console screen, seeing nothing. All I could think about was Jalok.
Unfortunately, I had to work today. I planned on leaving early to return to Nyhiem by nightfall but the experiments I was running were taking longer to process than I’d anticipated.