Chapter 15
?rim
The late evening sunlight dimmed as the brighter sun set, and the whooshing rhythm of the ventilator was interrupted by heavy footfalls as someone entered the clinic.
“Eleri? I am here.” S’samph called out to his mate, without paying any mind to anything else happening. He marched through the clinic, tracking a distinctive trail of dust behind him as he moved through the space with alarming speed.
“S’samph.” Eleri emerged from a room off the clinic’s main atrium. Her face was red and swollen, and ?rim watched warily as S’samph’s frill rose into a defensive position.
“Eleri. You are covered in salt. What has happened, my mate?” His tongue flicked out along the swollen skin under her eyes.
Eleri took a single rattling breath, glanced over toward Cassie’s prone form, and then burst once again into the same gasping sobs.
S’samph gathered her into his arms in a single, practiced motion, and the node at ?rim’s chest ached.
He wanted to provide comfort like that for Cassie.
Now he’d be lucky if she even acknowledged him after what he’d done to her.
When S’samph had finished tending to his mate, he turned his attention to ?rim.
Whatever ire he might have faced from Eleri, ?rim was much more concerned about her mate’s reaction.
?rim wasn’t a large male. He was average for a teosian, but S’samph was large for a latil’e, and the size difference was even more apparent the closer he got.
?rim rose from his seat, trying to at least meet the latil’e face to face.
“I will keep this brief because we are in a sick bay, and disturbing Cassie’s peace is the last thing I wish to do.” S’samph’s frill was at full mast, tail thrashing violently behind him. “First, you will apologize for upsetting my mate, which somehow, is the least of your transgressions."
"I did not mean..."
S’samph cut him off with a single hiss. “I do not care what you meant.”
?rim stilled, clutching his wrist nodes tightly. “I apologize for upsetting Eleri.”
“Next, and you will think very carefully about your answer, you will explain to me why a female under my care is faced with uncertain terms of survival.”
?rim quavered under the weight of S’samph’s fury. “It was an accident.”
“It was not. Lie to yourself if you must, but do not lie to me.”
?rim’s electrical core stuttered as he tried to find adequate words to express the catastrophe he had wrought. “I failed. I didn’t pay attention to Cassie when I was trying to access her voicelock.”
“You ignored my warnings. This tiny, damaged human female might not survive the night. If she lives, you will stay away from her. She is not for you. If you so much as look in the wrong direction, I will have you exiled from my town. Let the IA decide what to do with you for nearly killing one of their special refugees. If she dies, I will throw you in a cell and wait for the peacekeepers to drag you back to Abwele. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.” ?rim felt his electrical core steady as S’samph backed away two paces. Without another word, he gathered his things and left, even though he would know no peace until he got word of Cassie’s status.