“Why is that?” Cy seethed.
“Because I…that’s none of your business.”
“Rory is my business,” Cy said.
“As flattering as this is,” I said, “we have shit to do. Let’s get Cy stitched up.”
Cy and Benji stared each other down until Apolonia tightened her grip on Cy. “Agreed. We should move. Check for survivors,” she said.
Apolonia left for a moment, and then the bridge was lit with something other than a red emergency light. She returned and sat Cy down on a chair, directing Dr. Z to stay with him. Then, Benji and I went with her to check the bodies in the hallway. Every time we couldn’t find signs of life, Apolonia became more and more angry. After the sixteenth body, I was beginning to feel afraid to be around her. We reached the breach in the hull and saw that Rendlesham’s Jeep was gone.
A flicker of silver caught my attention, and I turned to see a woman lying next to the torn hull. She wore the same uniform as Apolonia but in gray, and she was speaking in Cy’s language. Her skin was golden brown like Cy’s, but her irises were black, contrasting the light paint forming a rectangle across her eyes from one temple to the other. Her pixie-length silver hair was what had caught my attention. I could see that her side was hung up on mangled metal.
“Apolonia! Here! She’s alive!”
In the next moment, Apolonia was at the young woman’s side, cupping her face, speaking comforting words.
“I hope she makes it,” Benji said. “If not, Apolonia might stab one of us just to make herself feel better.”
The young woman grinned at me. Her teeth were red, covered in her thick blood. “English. I can speak your English.”
“What can I do?” I asked.
Apolonia spoke to her, and the woman nodded. It didn’t look like a pleasant conversation. Before I understood what was happening, Apolonia slid her sword into the holster strapped to her back. Then, she took the woman’s legs in one arm and her neck in the other, and in one quick move, Apolonia lifted her straight up off the debris that had impaled her. The woman didn’t scream or cry out. She just held her breath.
“Holy shit,” Benji said, staring at Apolonia with the woman in her arms.
I was thinking the same thing. The young woman wasn’t many years away from being a girl, and she had already displayed an intense amount of bravery and self-control that I had only seen once before—in myself.
“Come,” Apolonia said. She carried the young woman back to the bridge.
“Where are Cy and Dr. Z?” I asked, panic welling up in my throat when I didn’t seem them where we left them.
“They must have made their way to the…” Apolonia looked to the woman in her arms. “Shehaucht.”
“Shehaucht…erm…in…infirmary,” the woman said.
For the first time, I saw Apolonia flash a nonthreatening smile. “Cy has shown Dr. Z the way to the infirmary. It is forward.”
We entered an all-white room, every surface made of the same strange cloth-like material. Even the walls, floors, and small surgical tables and beds were composed of this gauze-cheesecloth combination. I assumed it was to keep the room sterile.
It was brightly lit but not so much that I needed to squint. I glanced up at the ceiling but couldn’t find the source. There were no bulbs, no lamps. Everything seemed to glow from the soft natural light, giving me a strange dreamlike sensation. It was a bit unsettling—the bright yet forgiving lighting—and even more so when I realized that every item in the room was clear, as if I had on X-ray, high-definition glasses.
Benji smiled at the sight of Dr. Z tending to Cy’s wounds.
Apolonia carefully placed her comrade on a bed that looked more like a large rectangular table, two over from where Cy was lying. She wasted no time pulling out trays and equipment.
“Is she a doctor, too?” I asked Cy.
“No,” Apolonia answered. “Tsavi is the doctor,” she said, nodding to the woman.
Tsavi was bleeding from her ears, too. I wasn’t sure about alien anatomy, but they looked human, and I imagined that bleeding from the ears wasn’t a good sign for them either.
Cy called out, prompting Apolonia to rush to his side. My stomach tensed, and my cheeks flushed, but it wasn’t jealousy. It was that I couldn’t bear losing someone else. It was too much to stomach—that, and so much blood. I hadn’t seen that much blood since—
My eyes felt heavy as I placed my hand on the nearest bed to steady myself.
“Rory?” Benji said.
“Is she okay?” Cy asked.
Benji forced me to look at him as he pulled down the skin under my eyes a bit. “I don’t know. Rory?” He began checking me over, looking for any signs of injuries.
My mouth wouldn’t work. I was too tired to respond, too deep in sadness.
“She’s bleeding!” Benji said.
My feet left the ground, and then I was lying flat on the table next to Tsavi.
“Help her,” Cy said, his voice sounding as weak as I felt.
I thought he said it again. Although, I wasn’t sure since he spoke in his native language.
I turned my head and stared into his beautiful golden eyes. He always had a calming effect on me, even when I hated him. He was dirty, covered in grease, soot, and blood, but he was still beautiful. Like my mother just before she died.
“I’ll be okay,” I said although it was too quiet for anyone but Cy to hear.
He reached out for me, and I mustered up the last of my strength to lift my hand to touch his fingertips.
A ripping noise above drew my attention. Benji was pulling gently on my arm, assessing my wound. The light shining from behind his head nearly blacked out his face, but I could still see his sweet smile.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Rory. I promise.”
Chapter Sixteen
MY EYES OPENED and blinked a few times. It wasn’t a surprise. I’d come back from much worse. It wasn’t even a shock to find myself in the bright white infirmary of a spaceship. But it was a surprise to see Benji Reynolds leaning over me, resting his head on my bed. He’d stayed with me, sitting on a weird-looking but clearly uncomfortable stool, sleeping hunched over, not wanting to even go as far as the next table over.
His fingers were resting over mine. His breathing was slow, deep, and relaxed. He looked so peaceful.
Tsavi.
Cy.
I lifted my head and looked around. Aside from mine, the tables were clean and empty, as if the other two patients had never been there. I was wearing a light-blue shirt and pants I didn’t recognize. The fabric was incredibly soft.