“I can’t heal a human.”

Horror flooded his chest. “If she is like Sah-ah and the other humans, she has Plutonian blood. You must be able to dosomething.” At that moment, Tiegan saw thejidezispreading on the human’s body. She coughed and blood sputtered from her mouth. “Healer, she’s getting worse!”

“Set her on the bedding.” The Healer gestured for him to lay her down.

Tiegan dug his fingers into the female, a surge of protective instincts roaring through him. “You must help her.”

The Healer stopped and stared at him. “I will do what I can, but she is dying, Tiegan.”

His eyebrow nubs hiked.

The Healer squeezed his shoulder. “Do not fret. We will do everything we can to bring her back to life.”

Three

Symphony

Everywhere ached—fromthe back of her neck to the tips of her toes. She struggled to move, but it felt like she was pushing through sludge. Her head thumped and there was a slight pressure right by the base of her ears.

“Female,” a gentle voice said to her right. “Can you hear me?”

Symphony didn’t have the energy to open her eyes yet, but she nodded in response.

Why do I feel like someone ran me over with a truck?

She inhaled a sharp breath and the distinct scent of chemicals filled her nostrils. The fragrance brought her a sense of comfort. She must be in the hospital.

Symphony let out a sigh so strong her entire body caved in. Of course she was. It made sense that she passed out right when the doctors were trying to save her.

The bright light, the giant blue alien and nearly drowning in a weird lake were the products of her imagination. She must have had a crazy dream while she was passed out and now everything was back to normal.

Symphony almost smiled. After that crazy dream, she had a new appreciation for her lot in life. Even if she had only one arm, at least she had a sound mind that could detect between reality and fantasy. She had to count her blessings.

“Why hasn’t she opened her eyes yet?” a low voice hissed.

She froze, recognizing that urgent timbre. It was hard to forget a voice like that.

But that couldn’t be right.

That blue alien was just a figment of her imagination. A product of her mind bending under the pressure of death. There was no such thing as aliens. And even if there were, they weren’t blue or human-like. They were… little green creatures with spindly arms and space masks over their heads. Cartoons wouldn’t lie, right?

“Tiegan, have patience. We can’t risk upsetting her.”

“Ihavebeen patient, Healer.” Tiegan kept a calm tone, and yet there was an underlying agitation beneath it that warned he was nothing to be trifled with.

“Neh. You have been pacing her quarters and driving both Rune and I to the edge with your questions.”

“I found her.” Something thumped and it sounded like Tiegan smacked his chest. “She is my responsibility.”

“You are behaving as if she is your mate.”

The room went very still.

Symphony’s curiosity got the best of her. She pried her eyes apart and looked around, only to fall into a familiar purple gaze.

“You’re real!” She frowned. “No, you’re not,” she argued with herself. Closing her eyes again, Symphony tried to even her breathing. “I am having some kind of mental breakdown after surgery. I am in the hospital. The doctors are outside right now.”

“Let me get one of the females to talk to her,” the alien with the beard said.