Page 23 of LeX

“Iwould want that crap out of my mate as quickly as possible.”

“Destroyer,Destinywhoever you are now …mix up whatever it is.”

Momentslater, a small female holo form appears, with a med bot following behind. “MasterLeX, you will have to administer this to her.Originallyit was meant to be drunk, butIdo not believe she will be able to keep it down in her fragile state.”

Thisentire time,Cassandrahas been hanging limply on me.Hereyes are glazed and unfocused, like she is asleep and awake at the same time. “Whatdid you give herLeX?”

“Justsomething to calm the nausea, but it may be reacting with something else already in her system.Wewill have to be careful with any future medications as her body seems to ingest them unfavorably.Holdher still becauseIhave no idea if this will be painful or not.”

Igrasp her to me a little tighter, her eyes never leaving mine the entire timeLeXis giving her the shot. “Hey, you with me in there?”Ishake her gently.

“Youare so pretty, andItried to stay, butIdon’t like this new world.Iwant to go home. …Rememberme.”Thoseare her lastwords right before her eyes roll back in her head and she goes limp.

LeX’shand is on my arm immediately. “Sheis fine,Rafe.Itis just the medication talking.Whatif you bring her to medical whereIcan monitor her better?Giveyourself the rest of this rising off.Youlook as exhausted as she does.”

“No!ImeanI’mfine;Ido not want her to wake up in a strange place without me there.”

“Thatis understandable.Iwill go ahead and prepare her bed.Thisprocess will likely be easier on her if you are in the bed with her anyway, soIwill have two pushed together.Sheis reaching for you now even in her unconscious state.Giveme a few tics before heading to medical.”

Outof the corner of my eye,IseeLeXleave, but my full attention is on the small hand grasping my wrist to her chest.Huggingher tight,Iallow myself a moment to fall apart, as my own tears splash upon her cheek.WhenIfeel her twitch underneath my fingertips,Istand up, adjusting her insignificant weight effortlessly in my arms and head forLeX, and the med bay, not caring if anyone witnesses my only weakness.Thefemale in my arms.

Chapter Fourteen

RAFE

Inever,ever want to relive this darkness again and ifIcould erase it from my memories forever,Iwould.Ishould have known it wouldn’t be easy, because nothing ever is.Evenafter witnessing so much lately, nothing could have prepared me for the helplessness of watching her scream and fight against the restraints.

Severaltimes it has takenLeXandIboth, with all our strength, to hold her down.Ihave cleaned her body’s waste and had to change her garments multiple times simply from the sweat and foul liquids that are seeping out of her skin.Thelast half of this darkness,Isit beside her bed, nervously resting my head on my knees asIwatch her every movement.

LeX’sappearance beside me has me striking out.Heducks out of the way just in time, asIbarely stop myself from hitting him. “Sorry,I…”

“Itis fineRafe, we are all on the edge.Sheseems to finally be calming down.”

“Ithought that the last time as well.Whathave we done to herLeX?”

“Ido not believeSCOUTwould lead us wrong when it comes to your human’s health or wellbeing,Rafe.Withhis help,Ihave been able to break through to my own mate several times.Medically, that should not be possible, but he has opened my eyes to looking outside the journals and technology of modern medical procedures.Hegave me direction whenIhad no path forward.Hegave us an option, and we took it, hoping it would play out in her favor in the long run.”

“Youare rightLeX.Iam just trying to find something or someone to blame all this on.Ijust cannot believe she would have willingly done this to herself back on her world.Whowould intentionally poison their body, knowing it will not function long at that level?Whywould you put yourself through the highs and lows?Ijust cannot understand.”

“Thepod said it was hers, but something seems off on the data we downloaded on several of them.Itdid not help that we had to disperse them back into space so quickly, either.Ifwe had more time,Ibelieve we could have pulled more information from their data banks.Waita moment,ANDIsaid something that caught me as odd earlier.Hesaid that he could confirm my mate’s name wasRylie.Maybewe should have him look into yours?”

“Iwould prefer she opened up to me herself when she is ready.Oneway or another, it makes no difference to me who she is … she is mine no matter her name or circumstances.”

“Sheis lucky to have you,Rafe.Iknow that your relationship has not started out on the best of terms, but theLordofLightled you both here.Youhave to believe in that when all seems lost.”

“Isthat what you are doing?”

“Itsounds good whenIsay it to you, butIam genuinely struggling.Ifeel like she is reaching out to me, andIhave no idea how to free her from her own mind.Ikeep asking the same question over and over; what amImissing?”

“LeX,Inever saw a female in my future.Myposition and this ship were fulfilling enough.Butnow thatIhave her,Iam not sure whatIwill do if she rejects me.”

“Ourminds are one and the sameRafe.Allwe can do is try our best and hope that it works out in the end.Look, her scans are changing.”

Standingup,Iwalk around the bed to peer at the screen closer.Thingsthat were clearly in the red are slowly moving in the other direction.Sheis going to be ok.IfLeXhad not been standing next to me,Imight have collapsed right there on the floor.

“Rafe,Ido believe she is through the worst of it.Getsome rest while you can.Ihave a feeling that the female you have been dealing with is not the one that will awaken in about half a rising.”

Ilay down next to her on top of the light covering even thoughIknowIshould keep my distance.Shemay wake up and remember everything, or she might simply be in a haze.Iwon’t miss the constant up and down emotional swings, butIam terrified she will be scared of me and the others once she is thinking clearly.

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