Chapter 3 #3
I settle into my unprotected form, and the change leaves me feeling strangely exposed after everything that has happened.
There is no hiding the resemblance to my father now.
It is there in the breadth of my shoulders, the shape of my build, the familiar lines that I have spent a lifetime seeing reflected in someone else.
Even my eyes betray me. Blue now, even though a different color than his, they mark me as undeniably his.
A tic later, I am back in the room.
Troza has already made what preparations she can. A thin, heated cover has been placed over Dawn, and someone has brought in a chair. She still has her back to me, completely focused on Dawn as she works carefully on the girl’s broken arm.
I barely make it three steps before the adrenaline that has carried me through the last half rotation finally gives way.
It crashes over me all at once. My knees weaken, my breath catches, and suddenly I am sitting in the chair without remembering the moment I lowered myself into it.
My hand finds Dawn’s almost instinctively, settling over the gloves the machine has placed on hers.
I hold on.
The room is still slightly too hot — or perhaps I am simply feeling the warmth more keenly now that the immediate danger has passed.
The temperature is uncomfortable, but bearable.
Instead of focusing on that small discomfort, I concentrate on the heat beneath my palm, and the steady rhythm of Dawn’s breathing.
Anything to keep my mind from returning to everything that has already happened. For now, she is here. She is alive, and that will have to be enough.
I tighten my fingers gently around her hand as exhaustion pulls at every part of my body. I have no idea how long I can maintain it, but I know I cannot afford to let go yet.
“What are these?”
“Those gloves will do what your hands were doing previously. Not only are they slowly warming her up, but they are also continuing to maneuver each finger individually to ensure the blood flows consistently. I need you to come to this side to help me.”
I am beside her in two steps, only to gasp when I see the damage and all that Troza is trying to fix.
“HaL, I need you to press one hand right here, then the other here, while holding her wrist down so that there is no way she can move. Do not let go until I tell you to. I must reset this larger bone, and her reflexes will automatically cause her to flinch.”
“Ughh, why is the machine not doing this?”
“I do not trust that our larger equipment possesses the delicacy needed to do this properly, and I am doing all I can to erase the horrors and every mark this youngling has experienced at the hands of those heathen Korgons.”
I have never been squeamish before, but Dawn’s arm being open from the elbow to the wrist, laid out in multiple layers like she is being dissected, brings bile into my throat.
All the warning Troza gives me is a nod, and the next thing I hear is a loud pop as the bone slides back together.
If Dawn moved, I do not recall, as I am fascinated watching Troza slowly mend her muscles and ligaments.
Shaken up more than I realize, my voice comes out as little more than a whisper.
“Will she be alright?”
“She is stable, HaL. Everything we are doing is increasing her chances. We will need to work on her feet next, then use the handheld healer on the worst of her bruises. I have a feeling that hip of hers may also have a chipped bone, but I cannot see the extent of all her injuries yet, as the scans are coming in slower due to the machine learning her race. You can go sit with her until I get this sewn back up. I am going to put a regenerative cast on it, and this arm should be good as new in a few risings.”
“Thank you, Troza.”
“What for?”
“For being you … I was in a panic when I walked in, but once again, you knew what to say to calm me and my beast down.”
“You have always been a good male, HaL. You just never learned how to trust easily.”
Troza pauses beside the bed, her expression softening as she looks from Dawn to me.
“You got her here in time. That matters. More than you know.”
She draws in a slow breath, glancing toward the monitors before continuing.
“I am not going to lie to you. There may be complications, especially with that rattle I hear in her lungs. We need to watch her very closely over the next few hours. Her condition is serious, and there are still a lot of things that could go wrong.”
She rests a reassuring hand against my shoulder. My gaze returns to the female lying motionless beneath the coverings.
“And I promise you this … I will not stop until I know I have done everything within my power to save her. So, whatever happens next, do not start blaming yourself. She is here. She is being treated. And as long as she fights, so will we.”
“I never dreamed there was anyone out there for me, Troza. Now that she is here, I am not sure how to proceed. Unlike our kind, hers does not feel the mate bond, and I am lost on how to move ahead.”
“The Lord of Light put her in your path for a reason, HaL. You will fumble along until you find your way. I have never seen you fail at anything you put your mind to. And it is not like you cannot receive counsel from your brothers who have experienced this as well.”
“Did you ever have a mate, Troza? It is something I have thought about many times but never asked.”
She stops just for a tic, but there is no mistaking the instant stillness that overcomes her form before she answers me. “The fates had a different path for me, one I have never regretted. One rising I will share my decision with you but not this one.”
I let it go, but for the first time in my life, I feel like she is hiding something from me.