by T. J. Quinn
“Sure…” she mumbled, just before she fell asleep.
Colborn kissed her forehead and considered his options. He could go back home and come back in the morning, but he wasn’t sure he had been able to convince her that their passion wasn’t a bad thing. Leaving might lead her to draw wrong conclusions, and staying might upset her as well.
Concerned with her health, he decided to stay. He would handle her in the morning after he got sure she was all right.
So, he hopped in bed and lay next to her, cuddling her.
He must have fallen asleep because next thing he knew she was struggling to get free from his embrace, mumbling nonsense things.
She was crying, but her eyes were still closed, and he quickly realized she was still sleeping.
“Please… I need to get her back… please…” she kept saying, with so much anguish in her tone, he got worried.
“Gil Ra… please… wake up.” He said, gently shaking her.
She opened her eyes, but he was sure she wasn’t seeing him. She was still lost in whatever nightmare she was having.
“You have to let me go get her, please…” she mumbled, desperate. “I’ll do anything… please.”
He shook her again, and she didn’t wake up. She kept crying and mumbling the same words. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. The minute he touched her skin, he realized she was too hot. He recalled her words and realized she was feverish. He needed to lower her body temperature, but he had no idea how drogons didn’t have that kind of trouble.
Chapter Eight
He remembered Erin, one of the human women, Fritjof’s soulmate. She was a doctor, back on their planet so she would know what to do. He pulled his communication device out of his pocket and called him.
“Colborn, this better be an emergency.” The man grumbled.
“Would I call you if it wasn’t?” he grumbled back. “Is Erin with you? I need to talk to her, urgently.”
“Yes, hold on.”
Colborn heard mumbles until the woman picked the phone. “Hi, Colborn, what’s going on?” she asked, in a kind tone.
“Gil Ra was outside in the cold with no protection. I made her take a warm bath after that, but now she’s burning with what I guess is a fever.” He briefed.
“Yes, most likely. How hot do you think she is?” she asked, sounding concerned.
“Very hot.”
“Is she conscious?”
“I don’t think so… she’s talking but she’s not making sense, and I’ve tried to make her talk to me, and she doesn’t seem to hear me.” He explained.
“She’s hallucinating. That means her temperature is too high. You need to lower it as fast as possible.” She said, worried.
“How do I do that?”
“Get her in the bathtub, filled with cool water, cold, but not warm either, and keep her there until you feel her temperature is back to normal.” She explained. “Do you want me to go there and help you?” she asked.
“No, it’s not necessary. I’ll do as you told me and call you if it doesn’t work.”
“Very well. Keep her head in the water. You need to keep her brain cool. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need help.”
“Thank you, Erin, I’ll let you know.”
“And give her liquids. A cold mungát would be perfect.”
He ended the call and ran to the bathing room to fill the tub for her and while he was doing it, he called the kitchen and asked for a cold mungát for her.
The servant brought it to him very quickly, and he took the opportunity to ask him to change the soaked bed. She would need a dry bed to go back to when the fever had been lowered.
In just seconds, he was inside the tub with her in his arms. She protested but still didn’t wake up. Worried, he had her drink some of the energy drink and waited a few more minutes. At least, she had stopped talking and seemed a bit better. The temperature of her body had diminished considerably, and that was a relief.
After a while, her eyes fluttered, and she looked at him confused. “What happened?” she asked him, in a weak tone.
“You had a high fever.” He explained.
She closed her eyes and let out a moan. “I’m sorry I bothered you this way.”
“It was no bother.” He protested.
“How did you find out?” she asked, puzzled.
“I was here with you. You didn’t look very well, so I decided to stay with you, which was a good thing.” He said, giving her a bit more of the mungát.
“It’s just a cold, I’m sure.” She said, looking away, feeling embarrassed for all the trouble she had caused him.
“According to Erin, you had a very high fever. You were even hallucinating.” This got her attention, and she tensed up in his arms.
“I’m sure I said a lot of nonsense. You shouldn’t pay any attention to that.” She said in a cold tone.
“Of course.” He nodded, but he was sure there was a lot more behind that. But he knew this wasn’t the moment to ask her about it. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, I am. Perhaps we could get out of here.” She said as a chill ran down her spine.
“Very well.” He left the tub and dried himself, before he emptied the tub and took her out of it, carrying her to the bedroom.
“I can walk.”
“I’m sure of it, but I can also carry you, and this way is faster and safer.” He replied, laying her on the bed and going to pick up a clean tunic for her and for him.
"I'm feeling much better now; there's no need for you to stay here." She said, closing her eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He assured her, hopping in bed next to her and pulling her into his arms. “Please, promise me you won’t go out in the cold like that again. We still don’t know the effect of out medicines on you, and the last thing I want is to be forced on using them on you,” he asked her, showing all the concern he had felt for her in the past hours.
She opened her eyes to look at him. “It wasn’t my intention to make you worry about me.” She said, cradling his face with one of her hands.
He kissed its palm, gently. “I know it wasn’t, but you’re too important for me. You can’t risk your life like that again, please.” He asked her again, but she only nodded, never pronouncing the words he needed to hear to feel assured.
“Thank you for all your help.” She said instead and closed her eyes.
He knew she was still very weak, so he didn’t insist, letting her sleep instead. They would have time to talk about that later.
The following morning he left her sleeping after he asked Erin to keep an eye on her. He had new information on the conversions he needed to go check.
Gil Ra left the bed as soon as he left. She still wasn’t feeling that good, but she wanted to finish the clothes she had promised so that she could end things once and for all. The chaos in her mind was way too big, and she was afraid she would end up confessing all her sins to him. She couldn’t face the disdain in his face; the pain would be too great.
Erin found her at her work room, surrounded by all of the fabrics, working on a few dresses and tops.
“You were supposed to be in bed.” she scolded her, as she entered the room and checked her temperature by touching her forehead.
Gil Ra chuckled and took a step back. “I’m fine, I assure you,” she said, hiding the fact her body was still aching and that the only reason she was still standing was thanks to the mungát she had been drinking.
“You don’t look fine. What are you doing that it’s so urgent you can’t take the day off?” she asked, with a frown.
“I just want to finish these pieces. The girls are looking forward to having them.” She replied, showing her some of them.
“Oh, these are amazing. You made them?” Erin asked, checking a few dresses.
“Yes, Sasha brought me the fabrics, and I have been working on them ever since.” She explained.
“You have a gift girl. When you’re feeling alright, you’ll have t
o add me to that list.” The other woman said, with a smile. “But right now, you should get some rest. Colborn will ask for my skin if he sees you like this.” She added, showing a terror she clearly didn’t feel.
“I guess I get some rest.” She accepted, with a faint smile.
“Yes, please.”
She walked her to her room and made sure she was in bed before she left. Although she hadn't wanted to rest, the minute Gil Ra laid her head on the pillow; she fell asleep. By the time she opened her eyes again, it was nighttime, and she was still alone in her room.
A buzzing sound was coming from her nightstand, and she realized it was one of those things that looked like a cell phone.
She picked it up and answered the call.
“Hi, how are you feeling tonight?” It was Colborn.
“Hi… I’m much better, thank you.”
“I wanted to at least have dinner with you, but I received an emergency call, and I won’t be able to be there.” He explained and there was sorrow on his tone.
“It’s alright. I rather have something to eat in bed and go back to sleep.” She assured him.
“I’ll come visit you as soon as possible.”
“Of course. Please don’t worry about that.” She said, not sure how she was feeling.
“Have a good night sleep, please, and don’t forget to have something to eat. You need to recover your energy.”
“I will, thank you.”
He ended the call, and she got up. She needed a shower, and he was right about something. She needed to have something to eat if she planned on finishing all the work she still had pending.
After she ate, and unable to get back to sleep, she decided to get some work done. She needed that done as soon as possible.
The following days she almost didn’t see Colborn. She had avoided him as much as she could; sure, nothing good would come out of seeing him and fate seemed to be playing on her side since he had been very busy with the mission the king had given him and some emergencies he hadn’t been able to discuss with her.
He called her every day, though, making sure she was alright and taking care of herself.
She always told him she was fine, though every night she spent alone, her demons would haunt her, and she was having more and more trouble to keep them at bay.
Colborn watched Asgar leaving with Sasha. The incident with her collar had been a nasty one, and fortunately, the king had decided to deactivate the damn things. After what he had seen on Eleanor, he had hated the damn things, and if it had been his choice, he would have removed them from the women’s necks a long time ago. That and the nipple ring they all had, though he had to admit he liked that one, but he would replace that one by one of his.
Sasha, Asgar’s soulmate had been through a lot of pain due to a senseless incident, but that had kept him away from Gil Ra once more.
That and the pressure the king had put on him to find more answers about the conversion.
The more he learned about it, the more reluctant he felt about it. It carried great danger for the woman, and he was sure he would never put Gil Ra through it. He couldn’t lose her at this point. She had gotten under his skin, and all he could think of was her and how much he loved her. Being away from her had been a true hell, and he couldn’t wait to have her once more in his arms.
But his plans were shattered once more when Eleanor, the king’s soulmate was kidnapped. The king summoned all the women back to the palace for security reasons, and they were all looking for her. The king was terrified, and Colborn understood his feelings very well. He would be too if Gil Ra were the one missing.
Fortunately, they were able to find her just in time and save her from the claws of Eskol, the Slythonian slave master that blamed her for the loss of his job.
Colborn had been at the hospital the whole time, waiting for them and as soon as Brynjar brought her, he put her under a scan, hoping the damage wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
“How is she?” the king asked, pacing the room.
He shook his head when he confirmed his hopes had been in vain. “Not good. She’s a lot worse than last time. He tortured her severely.” He informed in a stern tone, wiping the blood from her face, with clean gauze, while the scanner did its job and presented a report on the internal damage. She was still bleeding, and he could tell there was internal bleeding throughout her whole body.
He explained the whole situation to Brynjar. “We have to stop the internal bleeding, but I have to admit I have no idea how.” He confessed, very worried. “I would have to perform surgery, to find the source of the bleeding and stop it, but I have no idea where to look and having her bleeding from the surgery would only make things worse since we don’t have blood to replace the amount she’s losing.”
Brynjar growled his frustration. “There has to be a way to heal her.”
“We don’t know enough about them and their bodies to do anything that wouldn’t increase the risk.” He administrated some pain medications on her, the same he had used on her the first time she had been brought to him, as he studied the possibilities. At least, he could reduce her pain and make her more comfortable.
“We can’t let her die, Colborn. I can’t lose her.” Brynjar muttered through gritted teeth.
Colborn nodded, wishing there was more he could do. Even with Erin’s help, it would be too risky to perform surgery on her. He was sure it would kill her.
He rubbed his eyes before he made the one suggestion that could possibly save her life. "You could try the conversion." He said, in a cautious tone.
“I can’t mate her while she’s in so much pain and unconscious.” He snarled.
"It might be the only way to save her life." He insisted. The future they were picturing was too dark; they had to try something.
“You said it was too dangerous, that I could kill her in the process.” The king reminded him.
He nodded, knowing exactly what had been his position on the matter. But things had changed, dramatically. “Yes, but right now, she’s dying on us, and I really don’t see another way of saving her,” he admitted, wriggling his hands, feeling frustrated, as he had never felt before.
Brynjar paced the room and punched the wall hard. “It’s too dangerous.” He grumbled.
Colborn nodded. “I know that, but it can be the only way of saving her.” he insisted.
“Can you try to stop the bleedings and see what happens? That should buy us some time.”
“Yes, we can try that.”
He picked a few medicines that he usually used on the wounded warriors had and injected them into her body, in a smaller dose, hoping for the best.
“We should see some results if there is any in a few hours.” He warned the king, rubbing his neck. He hadn’t had much rest lately. Being away from Gil Ra had proven to be a real torture. “I’ll get some rest. Let me know if anything changes. The doctors on guard will warn me if there’s a problem.”
“Very well. I’ll be with her.” He rubbed his eyes. “Warn Asgar I want all the collars and nipple rings removed from the women. This can’t happen again.” He had removed the ring as soon as Colborn had stabilized her. He didn’t want anything reminding him of Eskol.
“I’ll let him know immediately.” Colborn nodded and left. He needed to get some rest, just in case he needed to perform surgery on Eleanor, and that night he needed the comfort only Gil Ra’s arms could give him.
Chapter Nine
He called Asgar on his way to Gil Ra and gave him the king’s orders. He assured him he would proceed immediately.
“I’ll take care of Gil Ra’s collar and ring.” He had informed Asgar before he ended the call.
He found her in her workroom, still working. “Hey there… missed me?” he asked, leaning against the door frame.
She turned around to look at him, surprised by his presence. “Colborn… I thought you were at the hospital.” She said, closing the distance between them, with a slight frown.
“I
was… but there isn’t much I can do right now, so I decided to come and get some rest.” He told her, leaning closer and stealing a kiss from her delicate lips.
“You should have gone home.” she said, in a gentle home.
“I’ve missed you too much, and tonight I need the comfort of your arms.” He said, in a pleading tone.
She nodded, unable to say no.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, once more, a gentle kiss with the same passion they always conjured, but this time, all he was looking for was comfort, not passion. He just needed her in his arms.
They went to her room, and after a quick shower, he made her stand in front of her. “I need to take these off of you,” he said, pointing at her collar and nipple ring.
“Why? What happened?” she asked, puzzled. She hated the damn things, but the king had been so emphatic about keeping them, she had thought she would wear them for the rest of her life.
“Eskol was able to capture Eleanor thanks to them, and you have no idea just how much damage he was able to cause to her, with it.” He confessed.
“Oh, God… I thought she was alright.” She mumbled, worried.
Colborn disengaged the collar from her neck, with the commands Asgar had given him, doing the same with the nipple ring. “She’s not alright. The internal damage is very severe.” He said as he caressed her nipple.
“Will she be alright?” she asked, with a shaky tone.
“We’re not sure yet.” He admitted.
She hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around her, imagining the king’s pain at the perspective of losing his soulmate. He would go insane if he loses Gil Ra.
After getting rid of the offending objects, he guided her to bed, and just a few seconds later, they were in bed, in each other’s arms, falling asleep almost immediately.
Colborn woke up when the sun showed up in the sky. It was still very early, and for a moment he considered getting out of the bed and letting Gil Ra sleep a while longer, but his need for her woke up inside him with such strength, he couldn’t keep it at bay.
He pulled her into his arms, and started a fire trail up her arm, through her shoulder, and up her neck until he reached her irresistible earlobes, capturing them between his teeth and gently nibbling them.
