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I go crazy as the man I’ve come to care for sinks down to his knees with a crash. His body sways back and forth as if he can barely keep himself upright, and I fear he won’t be able to much longer.
A muffled groan of pain erupts from between his tightly pressed together lips, and I quickly dash forward. Wrapping my arms around him, I try to support his heavy frame to keep him upright, but it’s no use. His eyes roll back into his head, and he passes out cold onto the stone floor, nearly taking me with him.
“You asshole! What did you do to him?!?” I shout at the tall alien in front of me.
Draggar called this man – this Vrenner guy – his cousin, but there is only a surface level resemblance between them. Other than the fact that they’re both well over six feet tall with more muscles than I’ve ever seen on one person and the same metallic teal skin.
But where Draggar is a brawny, fierce warrior who looks like he just stepped out of a fantasy movie or something with a crooked smile and a twinkle in his eyes, his cousin is much more serious and almost slovenly in appearance.
Unlike Draggar, his silver hair has teal highlights and it’s a wild tangle around his head. Vrenner wears a loincloth just like his cousin’s, but he also has on a vest with all sorts of pockets and small instruments attached to it. The brilliant blue leather of the vest is marred by a crusty brown stain that I suspect is food. And while his muscles are impressive, when compared to humans, he has a slight ranginess that is absent from Draggar.
Vrenner tilts his head at me as if in confusion, and says, “My ass does indeed have a hole, but I have never seen it.” I sputter at his words and feel like screaming, but before I can, he strolls over from where he was perched against the large table, much too slowly and nonchalantly for my liking, to stand over Draggar. With a huff, he bends over and rolls his cousin over to his back.
Draggar is so still that it scares me. His face is pinched with pain and I swear his beautiful teal skin has grown paler with a gray tint that makes me wring my hands in worry. His muscles are rigid with tension and a muscle ticks in his jaw.
Vrenner makes a precursory check on the unconscious man on the floor by lifting his eyelids. From my spot kneeling beside Draggar, I can see his unfocused eyes moving rapidly back and forth.
That can’t be good, right? My heart sinks as I study him.
I have lost so many people that I care about, and I don’t want to lose anymore. First, my mom, then, my dad. And now this.
I didn’t realize until now exactly how much I’ve grown to care about Draggar, but I have. I can’t lose him. He can’t die on me. Not now. Not after we’ve just met. The thought of never seeing his cheesy, crooked grin or hearing his deep rumbling voice as he teaches me something about this overwhelming and amazing world he calls home.
Or never feeling his strong arms wrapped around me or that sense of safety that follows him around like a second skin. Never getting to tell him how much he means to me. Never getting to see what this powerful connection that constantly arcs between us will become. Because I can feel the potential – it’s like the heavy calm before a storm. When you know something big, something momentous is about to happen.
Like now. Even though Draggar is unconscious, I can almost feel a part of him inside me. There’s a weak flutter of pain and agitation deep within my chest, and I’m positive it’s coming from Draggar. It’s such a strange sensation, and if I had heard anyone else say it before this, there’s no way I’d believe them. But it’s true.
I wait as patiently as I can, holding onto s hand like it’s a lifeline. The seconds tick by so slowly that they seem like hours, as Vrenner completes his check on the unconscious man. Finally, the other alien looks up, his eyes the same silver as his cousin’s but weirdly, they don’t contain the same warmth that I see every time I look into Draggar’s eyes.
“He will be fine. It is the translator chip completing the connection to his neural network.”
“Translator? What?” I squeak out. Wait. . . Is he talking about the same thing the Zyfeliks implanted in me? I suddenly recall a hazy memory of blinding pain streaking through me, then blessed darkness.
“He asked me to repair a translator chip for him.” Vrenner studies me with one brow ridge quirked, his eyes seeming to ask a question. “Now, I know why. He wanted to communicate with you.”
My heart thuds at the thought that being able to understand me meant that much to him. It makes sense now why he was so insistent that we come back to his village and why he seemed to be so determined to make it here as soon as possible.
A warm glow of happiness starts in my chest and spreads all through me, and a silly grin stretches across my face before I shake it away.
There are far more pressing concerns right now. Like the still unconscious man lying on the floor in front of me. My gut clenches with worry. What if the chip did something to him and he doesn’t wake up?
“Will he be all right? Shouldn’t we get a doctor or something?” I ask, my hand still clutching tightly to Draggar’s hand.
“The medic is away gathering herbs, and he will not return until later today.” Vrenner’s voice softens at my frown of concern. “But my cousin will recover completely. He should awake once the connection between the chip and his brain is complete.” He leans down and starts to hoist up Draggar with a grunt. “I will move him to my bed so that he is more comfortable.”
I leap up and try to assist as much as I can by helping to support Draggar on one side, but it’s not easy. He is not a small man by any means. Thankfully, his cousin is stronger than I thought, and he bears most of the weight.
Between us, we manage to drag Draggar out to the main room and to a wooden framed bed that sits low to the ground. Lightweight furred blankets are piled in a bundle on top of the bed, and I try to straighten them out the best I can with one hand before we lay Draggar on the bed. He releases a heavy sigh as soon his head touches the pillow.
The feeling of pain and agitation that was flowing through me is gone now, and it has been replaced with a sense of peace as if he’s just sleeping. My tense shoulders sag with relief and I let out a big gust of air that I didn’t realize I had been holding.
Then, as I’m smoothing a blanket up over Draggar’s chest, a thought occurs to me and I look up in shock.
“Wait. . . I don’t understand. How can you understand me, but Draggar couldn’t?” Vrenner was in the process of returning to his workshop to one of the many projects I saw scattered about in there, but at my question, he turns to face me.
Vrenner reaches up and tugs on one of his ears in a move that almost looks self-conscious. “I. . . I have had a translator chip since I became the tech for the Anuriix tribe. It’s tradition for the chief and the tech of the tribe to be implanted with one. I never thought I would get a chance to actually use it.” He looks at me with a shy, bemused smile before disappearing back into his workshop with a mumbled request to call for him should I need anything.
I sit on the side of the bed next to Draggar’s hip and gaze around at my surroundings. It’s the first time I’ve really gotten to study the hut we’re in other than my initial cursory view of it when we arrived. It looks like a stereotypical bachelor pad. There’s a distinct odor that smells like something has gone bad and I think it’s coming from what looks like a little kitchen area tucked into one corner.
