Sergey: Love Me Harder (14 page)

Rena nodded with a small smile playing on her lips. “It‘s going to be ok. I know that Nicolas is the best doctor on Earth. He’ll save him.”

Lorali nodded and kept pacing. “I wish it had been me.”

“Stop it.” Dee came to stand in front of her. “He would‘ve lost it. Devastated doesn‘t describe how Sergey would be, if you had been killed. Under restraints might come close. His brothers having to hunt him down may paint the picture you need. Never underestimate your value to him.”

Lorali dropped her head and allowed the tears to come with noisy grief. She should‘ve told him long before tonight that she loved him. She cried harder as Dee and Rena held her close.

“Mate?” She looked up, only to realize she was hearing his voice in her head not with her ears.

“Are you alright mate?”

“Yes.” Her mental voice was as shaky as her physical one. “Are you alright?”

“Nicolas is working on us. He knocked the male out. He’s sleeping.”

“Why are you awake? ‘

“One of us has to be able to communicate with him.”

“You can talk to him and to me too?”

“Yes. The male. He can’t talk to you yet. He’ll be able to soon.”

“Did Nicolas say it was ok for you to talk to me?”

“He insisted I talk to you. He says you’ll keep me grounded.”

“He’s right. I will. I like having you in my mind. Can you read it?”

“No. Can only see what you allow me to see.”

“That’s even better. How did you know that I was in danger?”

“I just knew. I had to protect you.”

“Thank you.”

“I‘ll always protect you. Remember? I told you at the park?”

“I remember.”

He gave a groan of pain.

“What‘s happening?”

“He took out a bullet. They’re close to my spine.”

“Tell me about yourself. Something from when you were little on your planet.”

“I used to wake before Aran so I could sneak outside to see the sun coming up…”

***

The door to the room finally opened and the three of them fell backwards. They had sat leaning against the door and each other for support.

Aran looked down and gave them a confused male smile.

“Don‘t ask.” Rena said, lifting her arms to him. He reached down and lifted her up, tucking her in his arms.

Lorali and Dee got up, looking into the room for Sergey.

“How is he?”

“I think he’s going to be fine. Come in.” Nicolas smiled at Lorali, but motioned them all in.

They walked into the room to see Sergey laying on his stomach with his back covered in bandages.

“The hardest part will be getting him to lay still for the next twenty-four hours.” Every head turned to see Dante standing in the corner of the room.

“Don‘t ask him how he got into this room.” Rena commanded, still cradled in Aran‘s arm. “If we don‘t ask, we can pretend he was always in here.”

“Lorali, get used to it. Dante will show up everywhere, except your bedroom.” Dee said.

They turned their attention back to Sergey. He was laying on the makeshift operating table not moving a muscle. The tension in the room rose as they focused on him.

The brothers with Dante‘s help lifted the portable table Nicolas had used, bringing it closer to the bed before they moved him.

Lorali stood biting her bottom lip and clenching her hand as she watched them. The sigh she let out as they finished was echoed by the others in the room.

“Why does he have to lay still for a day?” Lorali asked, looking between Nicolas and Dante.

“It will take that long for the muscles and nerves in his spine to heal. If he moves and causes damage to the areas I repaired, I’ll have to operate again.”

“How will he relieve himself?” The concern in Lorali‘s voice made the males smile.

“He can hold it.” Aran answered. “We were created with the ability to lay still for days, if needed. He’ll be fine for a whole earth day.”

“Lorali, are you going to stay with him?”

She looked at Nicolas. “Will that be ok?”

“Yes.”

“I don‘t want to hurt him.”

“As long as you don‘t jump on him or lay on him he‘ll be fine. You can lay next to him. Don‘t worry about shaking the bed. He’ll be fine.”

She nodded. “I‘ll stay.”

“I‘ll come check on you both later,” Nicolas said.

Dee walked back into the room and handed Lorali some clothes. “We keep clothes at each other‘s houses. You never know when they will come in handy. These should fit you and will be more comfortable than what you have on.”

Lorali looked down at her first date clothes. She had on a short skirt paired with a cute blouse. “Thank you, Dee.”

“You‘re welcome.”

The three of them hugged before Dee and Rena followed the males out.

“Looks like it is just the two of us.” Lorali changed her clothes into the sweats and tee Dee had given her. She walked into the bathroom to relieve her own bladder. She was washing her hands at the sink when she finally read the words on the t-shirt. Aliens do it better.

Loud laughter poured out of her as the tension and the uncertainty of the day melted away. Sergey would be alright. Pulling herself together, she climbed on the bed, taking hold of his hand.

“You‘re going to be ok. Nicolas said so.” She needed to talk to him, even though he couldn’t hear her.

“Rena was a rock when she was giving me directions. She said that Aran was feeding them to her. I didn’t understand, but now I do. He was talking to her mentally. That is so cool by the way. When you‘re well, think of all the things I‘ll be able to say to you when you‘re surrounded with people. It will be so much fun.”

“I met your other half. Not sure what to call him. Animal or beast doesn‘t feel right. Sentient humanoid is a mouth full. Maybe you’ll be Sergey and he can be Serg.”

Lorali snuggled closer to him, rambling on about trivial things. She said whatever came to mind, as long as she was talking.

“I love you, Sergey. When you wake up I’m going to tell you. Then I‘ll tell you the next day and the day after that. I realize you can’t time love. We never could. I don‘t know when it happened, when I fell. It may have been the first day when you made sure I was hidden from the General. I may have fallen then, or maybe when your fingertips sprouted claws and you climbed a tree with me on your back.”

She rubbed her free hand along his arm and listened to his deep slow breathing.

“I love you, mate.” She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Chapter Twenty-three

Lorali woke to a find herself being scrutinized by a pair of brown eyes.

“Hi.” She smiled at Sergey. “Don‘t move. You have to lay still for twenty-four hours.”

“Eight hours.”

She shook her head. “Its twenty-four believe me, I checked.”

“It was twenty-four I only have eight left.”

“That’s impossible! That would mean I slept for sixteen hours.”

“For the most part. You did eat though. Nicolas and Dante came to check on me. You were restless, crying out in your sleep. They woke you and forced you to choke down a few bites of something. Whatever they gave you had something in it to relax you. It took a while, but you finally sank into a peaceful sleep.”

“Did you yell at them? Tell them to never do that again? How can I take care of you if I’m out of it?”

“I said thank you. No one has left since we got here. We‘re protected. If I remember correctly, it is my job to protect you.”

She shook her head. “We protect each other.”

He smiled at her. “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine. You‘re the one laying on your stomach, unable to move. How do you feel?”

“Much better. The muscles are knitting together and the nerve endings are mending, allowing me to feel the muscles knitting. It could’ve been much worse.”

“I don‘t know. It looked like you were dying to me.”

“I wasn’t. At least not yet. My body wanted to go into a type of hibernation, where everything not needed slows down to a barely functioning level. I wouldn’t let it and thus the battle began.”

“Why would you put yourself in danger?”

His eyes looked up at her, while his body lay prone on the bed. “Lorali, did you really think I‘d leave you unprotected?”

“No.” She responded, shaking her head.

“I thought you were going to die,” She said.

“I might have, without you. You were really brave.”

“Nah. I always drive off the side of the road, down the ditch from hell, and up the cliff going straight to heaven. Then I take the road labeled dead end and crash through mountains of rocks. It was no big deal.”

“Aww they brought you that way.” She reached out and stroked the side of his face.

She nodded vigorously, trying to look unfazed.

“You were much braver than I gave you credit for.” He said softly.

“Just a walk in the park to an army girl.” She gave him a blinding smile.

Her smile disappeared. “Who would want to kill me?”

“No one. They wanted you alive. In order to do that, they had to get me out of the way.” Concern for her safety laced his voice.

There was a knock at the door. Aran and Nicolas walked in after Lorali said enter.

“Sergey is right. We may have eaves dropped a little,” Nicolas said giving Lorali a big smile. “The created wanted you alive. We think he was doing a favor for the military. Sergey was shot in a specific location in order to induce him going into stasis. That would‘ve left you alone and vulnerable, giving the created enough time to grab you before we arrived. It was only his fight to stay alert that kept you safe.”

She reached out and stroked his arm. He had made sure nothing would happen to her even though his body needed to shut down. How could she not love him?

“Why does the military want me?”

“I asked the same question. I took the liberty of taking some blood from you while you were sleeping.” Nicolas gave her his winning smile.

“I’m not sure I like that.”

“I understand. I asked your mate for permission. I wanted to start looking for answers as soon as possible. I hope you’ll not hold it against me.”

“Would you have taken the blood if Sergey said no?”

“Yes. My family is in danger. I‘ll take any action necessary to neutralize that threat. You, Lorali, are part of this family. That means you pull your weight, even if it’s sleeping at the time.”

She wanted to be mad at him. There was no way she could be. He‘d done what was necessary in his opinion to protect those he cared for. If she was truthful, she would do a lot more than give a couple of vials of blood to protect her new family.

“What did you learn?”

“I compared your blood samples to the results from your blood tests when you were admitted to the army. Then I compared those to when you were admitted into the hospital after the experiment. I was expecting your blood sample to be different now and it was. I then asked both Rena and Dee for a sample of their blood. I also had several other human blood samples that I collected when we first came to earth. I compared all of your samples, Rena‘s and Dee‘s to those “normal” samples.

“I don‘t understand.”

“Your blood has a different hemoglobin strand than found in most human blood. Simply put, when the blood in your body feeds your cells, it gives them an enhanced property. I was able to see that same property in both Rena‘s and Dee‘s blood. When I compared the three of you, everything looked normal. When I expanded the blood samples, then the three of your blood samples suddenly looked either contaminated or deviant. The General wants you for your blood. The anomaly in your blood was spotted the day you were discharged from the hospital. It may have never surfaced otherwise. I believe someone looked into Dee‘s and Rena‘s past. They took a deeper look at their blood and came to the same conclusion I have.”

“Don‘t keep me waiting,” Lorali said.

“The women with this anomaly are potential mates for my brothers and myself.”

“It would give you a way to build a data base of females who could be potential mates.” She knew some in the military would hate that.

“Yes.”

“That’s great, I think. I still don‘t understand why they‘re after me. Do you think any of this has to do with my deadened nerves?”

“No, the experiment was a lucky shot in the dark for them. Now that they remember your blood anomaly, I believe they see you as the start of the solution. If they can gain access to you, then they can study your blood. They may even be able to make an antidote with your blood. They would think, and rightly so, that the mutations they see were brought about by their little experiment. They would be partially right. Your blood has mutated further because of it. The truth is that it was already mutated before the experiment or the injection.” Nicolas answered her.

“So is this your polite way of saying I’m not human?”

“If I could really laugh, little one, my body would shake with it,” Sergey said. “You‘re delightfully human. I believe what Nicolas is saying is that you have evolved a little more than some others. That allowed you to be compatible with me, and I with you.”

“Yes. You‘re definitely human. No. You can’t leap over tall buildings or fly like the heroes in your movies.” Nicolas said with a smile.

“Nicolas, you really know how to bring a girl down, I was already putting together a bad ass super hero outfit.”

“So what should I do? Hide in the house and wait for the bad men to grow too old to chase after me?”

“Is that acceptable?” Aran asked her with a voice that was as flat as his eyes.

She shook her head and smiled. “No.”

“Didn’t think so.” His eyes began to sparkle.

Big brother is teasing me. Once again that feeling of belonging overwhelmed her. She had felt like this when she first enlisted in the army, as if she was a part of something bigger than herself. She never could pinpoint where it went wrong with the military. It wouldn’t go wrong here.

“Lorali, Dante will have someone bring you food soon,” Aran said.

“Will it make me sleep again?”

“Lorali, would we do that to you?” Nicolas asked.

“Yes, you would.” Her answered was said to retreating backs. The laughter they left behind assured her they had heard.