Page 32 of The Emerald Boa's Lover
“The sutures keep tearing. I can’t find a thick enough part of the membrane to adhere the staple to.”
“More light here.”
“More suction.”
“Gauze.”
“Promise me.” Her soft voice cut through the noise and into my heart. Her eyes were misting over and her smile was becoming slack, as was her hand in mine. “Promise you’ll take them. My eggs. Please?”
I swallowed thickly, and knew as a professional I should not make her any promises. I absolutely shouldnotpromise her that I will take her eggs. “Charlie…please?” She cried, and my heart just wasn’t strong enough to resist her dying request.
“I will.” I whisper back to her and nod.
“…you promise?”
“I do.” I nod and smile through my tears. Her smile is serenely beautiful and her whole body relaxes. At first I think it’s because I’ve agreed to take her eggs in the event of her death, but then my training kicks in. The light is gone from her eyes. Her hand is limp in mine. The monitor flatlines and the bustle of the surgical team…stops.
She’s…gone.
Chapter 25
Plan C
Dalahan.
I pace and twist on my coil as I wait for Charlie. I have two plans for how the rest of today will go. Plan A, Charlie comes swaggering towards me, a big grin on his face because Asma’s surgery went well, and I give him the gift envelope in my hands. We go back to our nest, we celebrate until in a tangle together and plan for our future. Plan B, Charlie walks into the waiting room where I’m currently resisting the urge to nervously wring my own tail, and he is wearing a sad smile because the surgery didn’t go well. I’ll quickly put the gift envelope in my skirt pocket and carry him home. I have some of that whiskey he likes. I’ll dote on him and he can have the day off work tomorrow. I will take his tears with my tongue and hold him for as long as he weeps.
“Dal?” I swivel round on my hips to look for Charlie. I find his head and his windswept blonde hair hanging out of a doorway. I see right away Plan A isn’t on the cards. He is smiling like he does when he’s trying to pretend he’s okay. Oh no. My poor Charlie. “Can you come here a minute?”
“Of course.” I slither over, my body swaying as I move quickly, and see the back of his white doctor’s coat as he slips into another room. I don’t hesitate to follow him through that door as well, and it isn’t long before I realise he’s taking me on a familiar route. “Charlie?”
“Hang on.” He waves his hand for me to follow him to…the incubator ward.
“Charlie?” I ask with an incline, catching up with him as he walks into the ward. Many eggs are here, most will have a mother who had to lay prematurely but would go home with her once they were stable enough to do so. We pass the four mottled eggs Charlie helped to evacuate from Gjenti at Gcorket. He takes me to the back of the ward and two pale blue eggs, fully formed, are under a red heat light. “Charlie?” I ask again, distantly drawing the dots together.
“Okay.” Charlie cleared his throat and braced his hands on his hips. His shoulders were wide and he had his chin raised. Whatever Charlie was about to say, he was about to tell me. Not ask me. Tell me. Yet I could tell from his eyes that he wasn’t confident that I’d like what he had to say. Neither was I, by the way he stood defiantly beside the two blue eggs. Oh Charlie? What have you done?
“Charlie?” I putmyhands on my hips and lift up on my tail so I’m looking down at him. “Do you have something you need to tell me?”
“Yes.” It worries me more that he’s hesitating. Charlie never hesitates.
“Well?”
“Asma left me her eggs in her will, and begged me on her death bed to promise to take them, and I said yes.” He blurts out and then folds his arms with a defiant arch to one of his blonde brows. Like he’s daring me to challenge him.
“Charlie?!”
“On her death bed, Dal.” He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Looking me right in the eye. Whilst dying. I couldn’t say no to her.”
“But you could agree to take on her eggs and raise two Ucfeni hatchlings?” I am shocked, astounded, worried, and unsure how to deal with this. Plan A AND plan B just went up in smoke, and Charlie has presented me with plan C. I hadn’t planned for PlanC.
“…so it would seem.” He cleared his throat and was watching me intently. His jaw was tense, but his eyes were unsure. “And since she passed away, the eggs are mine now.”
“Oh Charlie.” I hold my right elbow and my right palm presses to my face. “You can’t just accept someone’s eggs on their death bed. Legally they—”
“She left them to me in her will. And the will was in her personal effects.” My hand falls from my face and my emerald eyes are wide. Well shuck. That would do it. Charlie moves his folded arms to his hips again, restless. “So…legally…they’re mine.” He looks pale all of a sudden. “Total disclaimer? I wasn’t planning on being a parent, never mind any time soon.” Well at least he is being honest there. “And erm…Well? I’ve been pacing back and forth in here for the last hour because I’m honestly a bit…” He snapped his mouth shut, like he was instinctively trying to clamp down on showing any weakness. He folds his arms and looks away from me, pain and shame on his face. I tentatively lower on my tail and reach for him. I flick my tongue out and scent his anxiety in the air. I’ve never seen or smelt Charlie be so afraid before.
“Talk to me.” I hiss softly and I’m three seconds away from ululating a soft coo at him. To coax him to calm down and open up to me. “If you’ve been pacing in here for an hour, you must have been thinking about the ramifications of this?” I nod to the side to indicate the two eggs. “The ramifications onus.”Charlie closes his eyes and sighs.
