by Stella Cassy
She goggles at me like I've lost my mind and perhaps I have. I lean down and kiss her firmly upon her mouth, before my monarch, before my world. Kolory crinkles his nose and looks as if he may be sick. Others snort or look away, dishonored simply by my presence and my actions. I couldn't care less.
Marie saved me.
I love her.
"I'll try," she says as I pull away.
There is uncertainty in her eyes. I stroke her cheek and kiss her once again. I know that she can do this--that she must do this. My Marie will be the savior of our world and what happens afterward, happens. If she wishes to go home, I will take her. I will fulfill my promise.
But.
When she looks back at me, with a face full of hope and sees the spot has gone gray rather than deadly pink, I believe with my whole heart that she will stay. I believe that she cares for me as much as I care for her. We may have a long road ahead, but I believe that we will make it to the end, together. She will save my planet as she saved me, and she will be a hero.
Our hero.
Marie.
Marie
Thank God for instant translation software. Without it, I'd still be trying to draw diagrams for these poor nurses.
It's been six years and I'm still hard at work fixing the ever-changing Neff virus. This stuff evolves faster than a tadpole on steroids. We managed to save Serethas and her ilk. When Kolory Hesthu came in flat on his back about six months ago, I was tempted to let the virus take him. He's an ass. Whenever he has guard duty, he's always up my butt trying to find some way I'm out to kill them all.
Paranoid, delusional fucker anyway. Even after I cured him, he still doesn't trust me. No idea what I ever did to him, because all I did was get abducted and come save everyone he cares about.
Of course, now the spots are turning blue and they're harder than ever to find. The vast majority of people here have some kind of blue fur on them and the Neff has figured out how to match that pigment perfectly. It also likes to show up only in those spots.
I'll keep fighting it until we finish it, I guess. Sometimes I miss home, but it's worth it to be with Rothren.
Exhausted from a day's work, I walk from the lab toward our home. I have little doubt he's already there. His Human Languages classes tend to let out early. I guess they thought it'd be better to try to encourage human languages given that Serethas intends to send a scouting troop to Earth soon. She wants more doctors like me.
I don't know if I really approve. It's been hard to adjust to this life, though Rothren does what he can to smooth over any strangeness. The first Christmas I was here, he cut a large branch from a tree and placed it against a corner. He was so proud of himself, I couldn't bear to tell him we usually had the whole tree. Besides, the branch was huge to begin with and our daughter looked adorable next to it.
I smack my hand to the plate outside the door and wait for the airlock to engage. We've really got to fix this thing, it's getting rusty. At least there are people well enough now to fix it.
The airlock pops apart and Rothren grabs me, twirling me around before I can so much as put my bag down. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him for all I'm worth, grinning through it. His tail curls and twists around my leg, then up my leg, sneaking toward-
I hiss and pull away, giving him a playful bop on the chest.
"The kids are right there!" I scold.
"You will still be entirely clothed," he smirks, unashamed. "My modest little human girl."
I laugh and swat him again, "Put me down."
"ALA!" comes the squeal from around Rothren's knee.
She's beige, touched with her father's cream and already five. When did she turn five? It seems like it was just yesterday that I was holding this impossible little bundle. Hadn't the scans said it was impossible for me to get pregnant? Hell, hadn't I once sworn off children entirely?
"My little Thethri, come here!" I say, sliding from her father's arms and kneeling.
All four of them come rushing over. The nurses tell me I'm some sort of walking miracle for not getting pregnant already this year, given our streak--but I know something they don't know. I'm not telling them this time around. Human blood is immune to the Neff, giving my mixed race children full immunity. There's no reason for them to pull me away from my research again just to satisfy their worries. It's just too bad I can't reverse-engineer my own blood to make a vaccine. It doesn't work. It was one of the first things I tried.
I bet Jessie could have done it.
I'm tackled by my little ones, three boys and my little Thethri. It takes Rothren all of a second to join us in a dogpile upon the floor. Instead of helping me up, he just rolls around on the carpet with the rest of us. No more than I'd expect from my rascal of a husband. I kiss him once more before I pry myself away from my family.
That lasts all of a second. I'm reeled back in and we spend half an hour in tickle fights or snuggling, sometimes mixing them throughout. It seems the children are very snuggly at this age, always wanting to be touched or held. I'm fine with that, so long as Rothren's there to snuggle me when I need it.
And tonight, I certainly need it. We get the little ones into their pods for the evening before I fall upon the bed. I plop down a glass of green liquor made from some variety of not-rose, I can't remember the name. Even after being here for so many years, it seems as if there's something new to learn every time I turn a corner. At least the economy is starting to recover, there's food to get and Serethas isn't pulling down the emergency supplies anymore. The first year I was here, everything was stale biscuits and unfortunate eggplant-looking stuff that tasted like soap.
Rothren climbs in with me, an eager look in his eyes. He knows I trend toward this liquor when I'm pregnant and I haven't confirmed it for him yet. He's hopeful, his gaze shining as he reaches over to take my hand. Perhaps the best thing about being pregnant with an alien's baby is that you can still enjoy this stuff. If anything, it seems to help the labor go easier.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asks.
He cups my face with both hands, almost holding his breath. I can't help it. I smile, then I crack up. He's such a devoted father. If he could repopulate this planet himself with me, I have no doubt he'd do it.
Who would have thought I'd have ever ended up on an alien planet, saving lives and falling in love, with a little family all my own?
"I may have a surprise for you in say, eight months or so," I grin.
He all but glows as he leans down to kiss me, holding me like a precious thing. I could cure the Neff and he would be less enthused than the announcement of another child to our happy home. I kiss back with all I can and he sinks on top of me.
"Shall we attempt to make it twins?" he whispers, voice hot against my ear.
"That's not how biology works," I murmur back to him, suppressing a shiver.
"It never hurts to try," he answers, and I laugh.
"I love you, Rothren."
"I love you, too."
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Healing Hands
Stella Cassy
© 2019
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).
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