by Jade Waltz
“I’m forty-five years old, without a husband or mate—or whatever combination the Stars would’ve put together for me. I don’t have a family to call my own. So when you came stumbling into my host club all bruised up with nothing more than scraps for a dress and a travel bag, I saw myself in you, needing something to stabilize yourself with.
“Your pregnancy was a surprise, but we got through it.”
She rolled her thumbs on the back of my hands and shot a glance through the propped open door of my apartment to where Caia slept.
“You’ve done a fantastic job raising your daughter. Not once have you treated her poorly because of how she was conceived and who her fathers were. So even though it pains me to see you both leave, I know you are only doing so out of your love for her. You want to give her everything you never had.
“But once she’s gone, who are you going to have? You have rebuilt your life working here, hiding away from the world, and focusing only on raising your daughter. So what will you do when it’s all gone?
“What if that triad that is begging you to give them a chance—a chance that you would’ve probably freely given if you hadn’t met your first match—is the Stars way of making it up to you? What if the four of you were supposed to come together to help heal each other’s wounds?”
“I haven’t thought about what I would do once Caia is old enough to find a triad of her own,” I said, as her words stunned me with their truth. “I’ve been focusing so on trying to make sure she is provided for, that I’ve been blinded to what I will do when my job is done.”
“I’m not telling you that you have to stop your plans, but I believe you need to explore what this triad has to offer before you make your final decision about them.”
“What about the prince?” I whispered. “Have you heard anything about him?”
Nami pinched her lips and shook her head. “My sources have no current knowledge about the prince’s present status and whereabouts.”
“I just don’t understand how I’ve triggered their markings,” I confessed. “It’s been always preached that a core can only be for one triad. Once a triad or core dies—or becomes rejected—they don’t get another. That’s the single chance they have. I know I triggered the markings for the members of both of the triads, so how can I be the core of them both? Even if the prince has recently died, it still doesn’t explain the phenomena.”
“Maybe it’s because you are human?” She shrugged as she gave me an apologetic look. “I am sorry I don’t have an explanation for you.”
“It’s okay,” I said, giving her a soft smile. “I figured you wouldn’t, but it still confuses me.”
“The best thing you can do is take each day one at a time, and the answers you seek will come to you.”
“I’ll pray to the Stars that it happens because I need some answers to what I need to do.” Sighing, I looked at the time on my wristband and cursed myself for staying up so late on a night before a morning delivery. “I need to ask you for a favor.”
“You only ask me for them when it’s something serious,” she replied, squeezing my hands as her face transformed into business mode. “What can I do for you?”
“I know a few of your favorite clients are among the station’s security or OISSC and have been keeping a watchful eye on Caia, myself, and the rest of our coworkers, but I need you to pull a favor.”
“Anything. Just name it.”
“I need you to prevent a vessel clearance to disembark whenever Caia’s or my wristband is aboard it.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but I shook my head and squeezed her hands.
“I took Caia to the infirmary earlier today.”
“For what?” she asked as concern laced her voice. “The Tzzks are away on vacation.”
“I know, but she needed to be seen.” I glanced at my daughter and jerked my chin in her direction. “You can see the bandage right now along her back, peeking through the top of her comforter. She got scraped while we were trying to run away from those males.”
“But why didn’t it heal right away like all of her other wounds?” Releasing my hands, she pushed herself off of the crates and took a few steps closer to get a better look. “Do I need to find a way to get one of those expensive booster packs the military uses?”
“What?” I hissed, only that it sounded more like a shriek as I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away from the open door. “How do you have access to such things?” Then, shaking my head, I let her go. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. You don’t have to worry about pulling favors to purchase one because she doesn’t need one.”
“Are you sure? I have a commander who owes me for hiding his surprise anniversary present for his wife. It wouldn’t take long to get one delivered.”
“No, it’s quite all right,” I assured her. “If I’m not worried, then you shouldn’t be.”
“But what does her injury have to do about preventing this triad from disembarking?”
Closing my eyes, I sent a prayer to the Stars to give me strength. But, unfortunately, I was too tired to deal with this.
“That triad’s medic, Karvyan, is working in the infirmary and was responsible for tending Caia’s wound. He took his time and was careful with cleaning, spreading ointment, and bandaging the wound. While he was working on her, he was able to convince me to give them a chance.”
“Are you going to?” She pulled out her tablet from under her apron and pressed a few buttons. “There. Your request has been sent. I’ll let you know when they accept my favor.”
“Thank you,” I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against my body for a hug. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“I feel the same,” she murmured, tightening her arms around me to return my hug. “You and Caia are the closest I have to family. I won’t beg you to stay because I know you are trying to do what’s best for the both of you. But if you change your mind or you ever want to return, the both of you are always welcome to stay. You will always have a home here.”
“If there were a way for me to get rid of my looming fear that the prince will return for us, I would gladly remain on the station.”
Pulling away, I turned toward my makeshift apartment that’s been my home for the last fifteen years and thought about all the memories this storage bay held. It was fine while I was pregnant, and all of the years that followed, but the office space had turned too small to house the both of us comfortably.
Caia needed a room—a space to call her own.
She was at the age where human children often demanded their privacy. But even though she wasn’t human, she was still a hormonal teenager going through her stages of puberty.
I believe she hadn’t demanded it because she wasn’t around other children to know better. However, witnessing how hard I had worked to provide for her in our current living situation showed her that I was doing the best I could—and things could’ve been worse.
She always had clothes that fit her and the necessities she needed to keep her hair untangled, prevent her skin from flaking, and whatever else a Rowdu female required.
“I’m doing the best I can to raise her, but there’s always a lingering feeling that I’m not providing her with the knowledge she needs to succeed as a Rowdu. I’m lost when it comes to their biology and basic instincts. So in a way, this is the perfect time for me to speak with adult Rowdu because they would be able to walk her through any changes or challenges she may have.”
“You’re too hard on yourself.”
“That may be, but it still doesn’t change the fact that she needs to be around others like her. I refuse to accept my core role within the triad just for my daughter’s sake, but I can’t lie and say that having them around wouldn’t give me relief when it comes to raising her.”
“Small victories. Without them, you lose your drive to win the war.”
“How is having three males court me like a battle?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
“You will see.” She chuckled, winking as she smirked. “When they try to make sure they are the ones to make you smile, ease your burdens and send you to new heights… you will be begging for some time alone.”
Chapter Fifteen
Karvyan
“Medic Karvyan?”
Elya’s voice called to me as it pierced through the commotion within the infirmary, like a vibroknife through a blade of grass.
Clean and precise.
I shot up from my workstation and crossed the room, where Caia stood beside Elya, just within the threshold, behind three other patients waiting in line.
The receptionist was working hard to assign the constant flow of patients to open medics all day. Unfortunately, they had only required those waiting for a specific medic or specialist to sit in a row of open seats along the wall.
“Is everything all right?” I asked, looking between Elya and Caia.
Other than the tired circles around their eyes, I didn’t notice anything concerning on either of them. There wasn’t any discoloration on her skin, nor was there any puffiness near the edges of the bandages.
“You said that you would redo my bandages if I came in today,” Caia explained, her tail shifting nervously. “I would’ve come here earlier, but Mom and I had a shift, and we recently just got off work.”
“I told Caia today that we should come down here and try to catch you before you leave for the day,” Elya added, wrapping an arm around her daughter’s waist, just below her bandage. “Especially since we didn’t arrange a time for us to arrive at your ship.”
I glanced at the time on my wristband and noticed that my shift was almost over.
The craziness of the day made time slip away. I almost didn’t notice how long I’d been here.
Glancing up at Caia, I shot her a smile.
“I can right now if you want, and once I get done redressing it, we can make our way to my vessel together.”
“That sounds perfect!”
“I knew it was a good thing that we stopped by here first.”
Gesturing her to follow me, I turned toward my workstation and glanced over my shoulder. “Follow me, and I will inspect the progress of your wound.”
Something about them being here, seeking me out, made my chest swell with pride. Outside my brothers, no one had ever purposely sought me out for something so personal.
When I worked at the palace, I was one of the newer medics and was only given simple tasks and patients who didn’t have a primary caretaker. As a result, all of the younger medics were often the bottom-ranking ones. Even though the older ones had grown their roster of loyal patients and were known in their respective fields, they had often felt threatened by the younger staff and gave us jobs they didn’t want to waste their time doing.
Now that I was working for the infirmary at the space station, I felt a similar discourse amongst the staff here. Patients come and go, such as the ways of a space station. Only a tiny percentage of the citizens aboard actually lived here. The rest made stops whenever they needed fuel or to make trades.
I knew being a new medic here wouldn’t allow me to have the privilege of working with the population that stayed aboard. All my coworkers had established relationships with their patients, but I would probably never see any of mine again unless they got injured frequently.
That was why Caia felt special to me.
Not only was she my core’s daughter, but she was the first patient I’d seen twice.
“Sit here, Caia, and I’ll grab the tool that I’ll need.”
Reaching down, I grabbed the stool and placed it before her as I turned around and grabbed the laser scalpel, ointment, and bandages.
“How did it feel today? Did you feel any discomfort while you were moving around at work?” I asked, reading to take notes if needed.
She combed her long hair and pulled it in front of her, mindlessly playing with its strands as she bit her bottom lip and glanced at her mother.
“A slight stiffness. I never felt bad, but the itchiness is starting to get annoying.”
“I told you, C,” Elya explained. “Itching means that you’re healing.”
“Your mother is correct. It’s good that it’s itching as long as it’s not burning or its stiffness is preventing you from breathing.”
“I know.” Caia huffed. “It’s just annoying. I try to scratch it, but my arms don’t bend that way. When I tried to use my tail, I could only reach the edges of the bandages. Rubbing against the outside doesn’t do it justice.”
“You shouldn’t be using your tail to do such things,” Elya scolded. “What if you accidentally loosened your bandage with your foolishness?”
“You shouldn’t be too hard on her,” I announced. “Her body is going through many changes. Another reason why I wanted to refresh her bandages is because younglings her age tend to grow overnight.
“I want to give her body time to adjust and breathe, which is why I’ve been asking if she has any issues breathing. What may be loose today might be tight tomorrow. “
“How many days do you think we’ll have to do this? Elya asked. “And do you have any concerns about her working? Should she be resting in her apartment until she’s completely healed?”
I raised my hand to silence her.
“First, let me cut open my wrappings to see how she’s progressing. If she shows signs of bloating, dryness, or cracking, I may have to reassess how I want to handle things.”
“I understand.”
Grabbing the laser scalpel from my side table, I showed it to Caia. “Have you ever worked with one of these before?” I started twisting it side by side, showing her what it looked like.
“No, I haven’t.” She glanced up at me. “What is it?”
“This is a laser scalpel, but it gives me the capabilities to slice through bandages in one swift movement.” I locked my gaze with hers, seriousness etched on my face.
“But for me to use this, I need you to stand perfectly still. If the ointment causes the wrappings to stick to your skin, I may need this to peel it off carefully. Also, any remnants from the bandage will prevent your skin from growing correctly. Do you think you can sit still for me?
“I shouldn’t have any problems sitting still. After all, I have to do it often,” she chuckled.
“Caia,” Elya hissed. “Now is not the time.”
“What, Mom? How do you think I found out about everything that’s going on amongst the host club’s staff? All I had to do was curl my tail around my body as I sat underneath a random table. You would be surprised by what I’ve heard or the conversations I’ve eavesdropped on. The coworkers may say they’re family, but they sure love to gossip about one another.”
“I don’t even want to know,” Elya muttered. “That’s another reason why I just stuck to myself back in the storage. There’s nothing but you, me, Nami, and the crates to deal with.”
“You would be surprised.” I chuckled as I stepped behind Caia and placed a hand on her shoulder to let her know that I was about to begin. “Males love to gossip too, but it’s usually about official business or, well, females. They love to discuss what females are easy in bed.”
Elya made a loud, audible gag. “Yeah, no, I’ll pass on that too.”
“You’re in luck then because my brothers and I, we don’t really talk about any of that.”
“Oh really?” Caia asked. “So what do you guys talk about? And don’t tell me it’s the weather.”
I turned on the laser scalpel and placed it against the edge of the wrapping. Then slowly, I moved its way up. I carefully made sure that neither of us flinched and paused a few times to allow her to breathe.
“It all depends on who starts the conversation,” I explained. “If it’s Eynar, then he often talks about our triad’s funds. If it’s Ajamu… Well, lately, he’s been talking about how the Stars have given him a bad hand in life. But everyone agrees that now you two have stepped into it, perhaps we’ve been given
a new hand.
“And you?” Elya asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Truthfully, there is so much I talk about outside news on any research that I’ve read or medicine I wouldn’t mind trying. But recently, what’s been on my mind is working here to raise funds for our triad so we could continue to pay our fees at the docking bay. And of course, you.”
As soon as the word ‘you’ passed my lips, I successfully sliced open all the bandages wrapped around her and placed the laser scalpel onto my medical table. Then, I walked in front of Caia, gently grabbed both sides of the sliced wrappings, and pulled them away from her in one swift movement before tossing it in the trash receptacle.
“You did a good job.” I gave Caia a quick grin. “You didn’t flinch one bit.”
“I told you I could handle it,” she replied, returning the smile.
“Good. Now let me check to see what your wound looks like.”
As I slowly circled her and inspected the damage, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Her back may have appeared rough and dangerous, but I was pleased by what I saw. None of the skin around the wound was puffy or discolored. The immediate area around the injury wasn’t flaky, puffy, or discolored either. Instead, I could see the beginnings of her skin restitching itself, forming a new layer of skin where the gashes were made. I believed it was safe to say that she had nothing to worry about. And a few days later, her wound would be sealed and none of the bandaging would be required.
I told the pair my discovery, and both of them sighed in relief.
“Thank you so much for taking care of her.” Elya beamed. “Without you, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“You would have attempted to try to wrap me yourself.” Caia muttered. “Well, we both know what happened last time.”
