AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I do not believe so. I was a little stunned when I fell from Kolt. But I don’t think anything is broken.”
“Good. So it’s just your leg, then.” I considered calling Magnolia on my data tab for advice, then decided against it. It would take too long, and it was already obvious to me that the most important thing right now was stopping the blood loss.
I frowned, though, when I saw that the blood was already slowing. The wounds – three black, ragged slices into his thigh – were deep. They should not have been stopping bleeding already. Unless…
Unless he’d already lost so much blood that it was too late.
Blanching, I wrenched my gaze up to Fallon’s face. He seemed alert enough, though his jaw was tense with pain.
“Your bleeding is slowing,” I told him.
“Zabrian blood clots more quickly than human blood. It’s happening faster now that I’m no longer moving. Did I not tell you that once before?”
I blinked, then gave a shattered sigh.
“You did. Jesus. That scared the ever-loving shit out of me. OK. With that in mind, do you think that you need sutures?” I dug around in the medical box, pulling out a small bottle. One quick sniff after opening it told me it was the natural antiseptic he’d used on my knee.
I dumped the whole thing upside down.
Fallon’s leg spasmed, his abdominal muscles contracting with his whistling breath.
“Sorry. I only did that because I love you,” I said, already turning my attention back to the box, rummaging around until I found fresh bandages and what looked to be a suture kit of some sort. Not that I knew the first thing about suturing, or even sewing. We had tech back on Terratribe II for that, and it was never something my mother had focused on drilling into me.
“So, what do you think. Sutures, yeah?” I asked, turning my face up to Fallon’s.
His expression made me falter. He was staring at me, his eyes as big and white as my mother’s best dinner plates.
“What?” I said, anxious all over again. “Is something else starting to hurt?”
“You love me.”
“What?”
“You just said, ‘Sorry. I only did that because I love you.’”
“Oh.” I hadn’t even realized it. Well, there was no going back now.
I didn’t want to go back.
“Yeah. Well. I wasn’t planning to tell you like this, but…” I swallowed, then linked my gaze with his. “I love you, Fallon. I love you more than I’ve ever loved another person. Ever. And I’m so sorry for everything. For what I didn’t tell you about my past. And for my mom coming. If she hadn’t come, we wouldn’t have been outside tonight.”
I was too worn-down to let anger fully take hold of me again. I needed to focus on Fallon.
“I was worried,” Fallon said quietly, “when you said that you never wanted to be married. That you never wanted to be a wife. I worried that I was now contributing to your unhappiness. That it would be kinder of me to-” his voice broke “to let you go.”
“Oh, God, no. Please, don’t say that, Fallon,” I choked out. Tears filled my eyes, and for the first time in almost fifteen years, I let them fall freely.
“You are crying!” Fallon said, dismay etching his features. “I read about this.” His hands came to hold my face, his thumbs halting the salty progress of my tears.
“You don’t make me unhappy,” I said between sniffs. “I don’t think I’d even recognize happiness without you at this point.”
“You know that is all I care about,” he said fiercely. “Keeping you happy. You did not want to be married? To be a wife? Well, maybe you do not have to be my wife, then. You could just be mine.”
I laughed through my tears. It hurt so fucking good.
“But that’s just the thing, Fallon,” I told him, blinking my soaked lashes. “I already am. Yours. Your wife, your love. Whatever you want me to be, I’m yours. Now,” I added with another shaky laugh. “Would you please show me what the hell to do with this suture kit? Because I did not throw myself in front of a genka and then drag my husband, whom I love dearly, all the way back here just for his wounds not to heal.”
Fallon promised to do so. But not before he bent his head and kissed me.
