Chapter 48
Forty-Eight
Meri
Sylis gripped my shoulder a little too hard when we went up the steps, and he moved slowly, proving his wound had to hurt, but when we made it inside, he didn't slow down.
His head turned, taking in the Dragon version of a home, yet the man made no move to resist my directions through it, down the hall, and into the empty bedroom.
Somehow, I got him into the bed while Drozel, Lessa, and Omden were still outside, but removing his filthy clothing wasn't as easy. He had no problem with his boots being removed, but his shirt? That made him blush, stammer, and mumble about how improper it would be.
Eventually, I heard someone come in. I waited a bit, but there was some movement in the living room, yet none of it headed this way at first. I was about to yell for Drozel to come threaten this man when a soft tap finally sounded at the door.
"Meri?" The voice belonged to Lessa.
"Come!" I told her. "He refuses to remove his clothing."
She stepped in with a devious grin taking over. "Hello, Mole." Then she closed the door behind her. "I'm Lessa. You know Meri. Did those men introduce themselves?"
"Drozel and Omden," he said.
She nodded. "Good." Then she looked at me. "Also, someone just dropped off medication, bandages, a few medical supplies, and this." Then she thrust out a paper. "You know the Python?"
"He was one of the doctors who helped during the last attack," I explained, taking the paper and scanning it quickly.
It was medical instructions for how to care for Sylis. Python had sent them - and it seemed he was the doctor in charge of Sylis's care now. The letter also contained instructions on what the doctor wanted me to do.
"Okay, so he needs a daily bath, but the wound cannot be submerged. This says there's medicine?" And I looked up, waiting to hear where that was.
"Omden put them in the kitchen," Lessa assured me.
I nodded, then read again. Sylis was to take two pills every day for a 'Dragon week' - and the doctor had called it exactly that.
Then, he'd continue to take the green pill, but should be out of the white ones.
The green was an antibiotic, the white was for pain, and if I required more bandage material, I could request it from the hospital.
After that were some medical notes about the wound depth, the previous treatment, and the expected time for it all to heal.
"He needs a bath first," I said. "That means he's going to need clothes and assistance."
"Which is why you and I are here," Lessa assured me.
"Clothes," I said again. "I'd also like to give him the pills before we make him move around, because it does take a bit to kick in."
"On it," Lessa said, leaving the room again.
"I don't know what's happening," Sylis said softly.
"It's okay," I assured him, heading over to sit by his side. "We're taking care of you, but in the Dragon way. No, they don't eat people - "
"I know," he promised. "Tobias told me that. I guess Ayla wrote a letter to Callah, and she told him." He offered me a weak smile. "And she was so happy to hear you'd survived and made it here. I heard the Dragons say you don't have the baby?"
"I don't," I said. "I made sure he has a mother who wants him."
He nodded, accepting that. "I was supposed to marry Felicity. A widow. I didn't want to, but I had to so we could get out, and now..."
"Callah will figure it out," I told him. "You worry about this first. Between all the new things and the healing, it will be harder than you think. And in a day or so, we'll start teaching you how to understand their language. It's called Vestrian, and it's really pretty easy to learn."
His eyes closed and he let out a heavy sigh. "Good. I was worried I'd be confused forever."
"Nope. After Ayla got here, they realized how she speaks English, and more people have been figuring it out. They have to learn how to read it in school, but reading things isn't the same as saying them."
He nodded again, almost like it was his nervous response. "Meri?" He pulled in a breath. "I'm scared."
"And you're safe now," I said.
"But I'm not. If I don't tell those..."
"Men," I supplied when his words trailed off. "They have tails and scales, but they are men. Lessa is a woman. They are people, just like us. They look a little different, but everyone up here does. You will too."
"But my mother wasn't in quarantine," he said.
"Nor mine." I shrugged. "But sunlight and food change many things. Sylis, are you hungry?"
"Too nervous to be hungry. They made me eat on the way here, but it isn't easy."
"Okay," I said. "Well, you need to bathe, and it looks like you can't bend easily. You also can't soak, so we're going to need to use a cloth. When I had surgery - "
"Like mine?" he asked.
I giggled. "No, you have a wound. I had surgery.
It's like..." I grunted, realizing there was an easy way to explain, so I drew a line across my scar, but over my clothes.
"I had a cut that long, which went all the way in so they could get the baby.
It took time to heal all the way, but I'm doing well now.
You will be up and moving in a few weeks. "
"It's a gut wound," he reminded me.
"Mine too."
"But..."
"Medicine," I said. "Not just healing, but actual medicine, Sylis. It's everything we hoped - " The door cracked open, proving Lessa was back. "- for," I finished.
"I have clothes and medicine," Lessa said. "Sylis? That's your name?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Lessa," she corrected. "Those terms you Moles use are only in fairy tales and feel weird." But she waved that off. "We're going to the bathroom. You can walk or someone can carry you. I'll even let you pick who. Your options are me, Drozel, or Omden."
"I can walk," he hurried to say, pushing himself to his feet.
She held her arm out to steady him, but her eyes were on me. "Droz has the water heater going. If you'd like to start the tub?"
"Be nice," I told her, then hurried down the hall to the bathroom while she gave him his pills and got him here.
A flick of the faucet made the water come out warm. The stopper allowed it to fill the tub, but not too much. Sylis couldn't submerge his wound, which would make this hard, but Omden had done this with me. This time, I'd be able to do the same for Sylis.
Getting him into the bathroom was easy. Convincing him to take off most of his clothes was not. Lessa allowed him to keep his underwear, saying it would keep both him and me from being embarrassed, but it only helped so much. The moment Sylis removed his shirt, my cheeks started burning.
I'd seen men's chests before. After all, I'd been married. Plus, most of the Dragons went without a shirt every chance they could get. Drozel was the worst by far! But it was different with Sylis.
His skin was either blindingly pale or nearly blistered from the sun.
The line between the two was impressive, and I hadn't expected that, but his body?
He was thin. No, it was more than that, but I wasn't sure if skinny was enough either.
I could count every one of his ribs, and while he had defined muscles in his arms, belly, and legs, they weren't like the men around here.
"Oh, little man," Lessa soothed as she helped him sit in the hip-high water. "We're going to need to give you a few good meals. What sort of food do you like?"
"No," I groaned. "He doesn't know such things. Meat, tubers, fungus, and vegetables. That's it."
"I won't eat meat," Sylis said. "I know what it is, and eating Dragons is disgusting, but our own hunters?"
"Not our meat," I hurried to explain. "We have pigs, deer, birds, rabbits, and more. There are types of plants too. The food here is strange but good, and with more flavors than I ever knew could exist." Then I looked at Lessa. "He won't know if he'll like it, but he should still try it."
"We do have the venison," she pointed out. "We'll cook that tonight. It should be enough for all..." Her eyes darted to the wall, and she laughed once. "Five of us."
"We can do that while the men bathe," I agreed.
"They're using my house," she said.
Sylis's brow creased. "Your..."
"Next door," I said, pointing in the proper direction, even though it didn't help. "Lessa has her own place. She's our friend, so she spends a lot of time here. Mostly to help me while the men were gone."
"Your men?" he asked.
Making a face, I shook my head and reached for the soap.
"My friends. Sylis, everything is different.
The things you thought of as right and wrong?
Forget them. They're lies. Instead, try to be good, kind, and understanding.
Dragons are all the people here - with or without tails - and their rules are not about 'proper' and 'allowed. ' They're about right and wrong."
"Drozel and Omden told me some," he admitted. "But I don't know what to believe. I know they don't trust me, and I don't know that I trust them, but I want to. I don't want to go back. I don't want to marry a woman and do that with her. I - "
"Want to kiss a man?" Lessa asked.
He flinched hard.
She simply smoothed down his hair like she would with a child.
"We have words for the options. And there are options.
People are supposed to fall in love, Sylis, not be forced to have children!
Many couples can't have their own babies, and others have babies they didn't plan for.
Dragons realized the solution is easy. Those who want children raise them, even if they didn't produce them - or if they did.
And relationships?" She turned to smile at me.
"Those are only to make us happy. Not because someone else says we have to be in one. "
"I kiss women," I said, deciding I was going to be proud of that. "I was married to a man, and I think some men are handsome, but I have kissed a woman too. No one cares. Not the people here, or Ayla, or anyone else above ground."
Sylis let his eyes slip closed, leaned forward, and then he did the last thing I'd expected.
The man hiccupped out a sob, shoving both hands over his face as he hugged his knees.
He tried to stop. He did his best to pull in a breath and hold it, but he simply couldn't. The next sob demanded to be let out, and then more followed.
"It's okay," I said, climbing over the edge of the tub to kneel before him. "Sylis, it's all going to be okay now." And I pulled him close, hugging him as hard as I could.
"We're going to make sure you're okay," Lessa whispered as she shifted to sit on the edge and rub his shoulder. "No more hiding. No more lying. No more being wrong."
He nodded, showing he'd heard, but he couldn't quite stop the sobs. Instead, he clung to me. His fingers were weak. I knew he had to be cold, and my dress was quickly getting wet, but none of that mattered because this man needed me.
I knew that fear. I understood the confusion. I'd been there, and Ayla had done this for me. She'd been my rock, and I'd thought she was so strong at the time. I'd been convinced I would never be able to be like her, and yet here I was.
So I told him, "It's confusing at first, but I'm going to help you, okay?"
He nodded, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and looked up at me with perfectly blue eyes. "Okay, but why?"
"Because we're going to be friends," I said.
"And we're going to trade. You'll tell me everything you know about Callah.
See, the way people up here define it, she's my sister - and that means something.
Not just a bloodline to worry about when you get married.
Here, it means family. Someone you would fight for, die for, and even live for. "
"Live," he repeated, huffing out a weak laugh. "You make that sound hard."
"Isn't it?" I asked. "I think we both know giving up and accepting death is sometimes a lot easier than deciding to actually live."
Behind him, Lessa had gone still. I noticed, but my eyes were on Sylis. Slowly, he began to rock his head in agreement. "Yeah. I thought I'd figured out how to do something right. I was going to save Tobias. He's the only friend I've ever had, and he's going to change things. I'm just in the way."
"Not anymore," Lessa said softly. "As of today, Sylis, you're going to become someone. I don't know who, but you'll figure it out." Then she grabbed her washcloth again. "And we'll help you every step of the way, okay?"
"As long as I help you first?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. That's what those men will say, but they don't mean it. They brought you here, to their home, because they're actually nice guys. They are helping because you need it. They'd like you to help because our friends..." And she tipped her head at me. "...need it."
"I just want to make the elders stop," Sylis said. "I want them to suffer like everyone else, and we can't do that on our own. We need you Dragons to help."
"Then it seems we're all on the same side," Lessa told him.
I chaffed his arm. "Up here, they call that friends."