Page 53 of The Dragon's Perfect Omega
Ugh, not only had I fallen asleep when I didn’t mean to, I’d slept too long as well. No matter, in just a short while, I’d be reunited with Zim and everything would be okay.Most thingswould be okay. “Thank you for your help these past few days,” I told Kylan as I got up.
“Don’t worry about it,” he waved me off. “I just hope you find what you’re looking for.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Ihadto find what I was looking for. After all, my mate’s life might depend on it.
It was a thought that didn’t let go of me, even as I prepared for my trip. I had to make sure that Zim was going to be okay. Nothing else mattered.
Even as I sat on the plane, my mind kept going back to that dream I’d had. Zim pregnant and then that long monotonous beep of the heart monitor. I couldn't get it out of my head.
I couldn't let it become reality.
When the plane landed, though, the direction of my thoughts shifted. Away from a Zim who was potentially dying and toward a Zim who was waiting for me at the airport. These past three weeks away from him had been the longest three weeks of my life, and I couldn't wait to see him again. To touch him again. Smell the sweet scent of his hair as I embraced him.
I spotted him almost as soon as I set foot in the arrival lounge. It wasn't hard, really. The whole airport was awash in colors, all the auras of excited travelers mixing and interlacing to create ever brighter swirls of red, orange and yellow. But no one shone as brightly as Zim. He stood out in any crowd. That day, he was positivelyradiant. Where other people were yellow, he was gold.
My treasure.
He waved at me with a smile on his face that was almost as bright as his aura. When he raced at me, I set down my suitcase and threw my arms around him, pressing him close. Nothing ever felt as right as being able to hold him again. For one short moment, all my troubles were forgotten, and I could feel Zim relax as well. Both of us were where we wanted to be—with each other.
And then Zim tensed.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, glancing at his face. His colors were bright, but his skin was pale. Almost as if he was sick. Usually, though, when someone was sick, it shone through in their aura. Aside from his face, my mate didn't look sick, so what was wrong with him?
"It's nothing," he said. "Just..." Taking a step away from me, he held one hand in front of his mouth. "I need to go to the bathroom." The words left him in a rush, and then he ran, disappearing into the men's room at the end of the hall.
For a second, I stared after him. What was going on? Regaining my wits, I went after my mate, entering the bathroom just in time to hear retching sounds from one of the stalls. Was that Zim throwing up? It had to be. "Is everything all right?" I asked. "Did you eat something bad?"
Because why else would he be throwing up when he wasn't sick?
My dream came back to me, nagging at me again. Pregnancy could cause this kind of thing, couldn't it? But Zim wasn't an omega. Or was he? There were other things pointing to that conclusion. Like the way he didn't seem to need any preparation in bed. Or the way all the other dragons' human mates were omegas.
But no, Zim would know if he was omega.
"I'm okay," he finally spoke up. "Sorry. This is going to pass in a minute."
"Is this a regular thing?" Because that was what he made it sound like. Suddenly I was reminded of that conversation we'd had over the phone about a week ago. He'd mentioned feeling sick then too. Was this still the same sickness?
"I don't know what it is," Zim admitted. "But it always passes. You don't need to worry about it."
Like hell I didn't. "Will you be okay by yourself for a minute?"
"Where are you going?"
"Just to a drugstore." There were bound to be a few of them in an airport this size. "I need to grab a couple of things, then I'll be back," I promised.
"Okay," he said. "I'll wait here. Exactly here." And then I heard him hug the toilet bowl again. I grimaced as I walked away. We had to get to the bottom of what was causing this, and I intended to do just that, even if that meant ruling out the impossible.
Finding a drug store only took me about ten minutes. Fortunately, they carried a large selection of the item I was looking for too. Idly, I wondered how many people took pregnancy tests at airports, but then I decided that it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the pregnancy status of my mate—which I hoped was negative. If it wasn't, we were getting dangerously close to the events of my dream.
I paid for my purchase and made my way back to the men's room. Zim was still waiting for me there, still in the same stall where I'd left him. "Feeling better?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think I'm going to be fine, thank you. I'm sorry for worrying you. I don't know what this is."
"You don't have to apologize. Let's just figure this out, okay?" I looked around the bathroom, but we seemed to be alone for the time being. Perfect. "I bought something for you so we can start eliminating possibilities, okay?"
"What did you buy?" Was I just imagining it or did Zim sound apprehensive now?
