The first month in the spa had been torturous for me and more than once I’d considered painting a face on the wall in nail polish like a bad parody ofCast Away.I even had a name picked out for my wall friend, Sally.As in, Sally Hansen.Now that I wasn’t looking at a long miserable existence of total solitary confinement, the thought made me smack my own face in embarrassment.
I wandered into the only bedroom and found a bare double mattress sitting directly on the floor, piles of moldy laundry in the corners and even more beer cans.From the looks of this place, the former owner’s life probably hadn’t gotten any worse for the world ending.I kicked a stiff pair of jeans away from the bed and stared at the gross stain in the center of the mattress.
The odds of finding clean sheets in this place were probably lower than finding gold.I shuddered and picked at the too short hem of my dress.I was exhausted, sore and needed to sleep, but way too much of my skin was going to touch that mattress for my peace of mind.
I patted the egg gently.“I’ll make you a little nest, and you’ll be nice and safe and cozy,” I whispered.
“You’re lucky you have a shell to protect you because I’m going to end up with lice or ringworm or something.”
It took a few minutes of searching before I found some clothes that seemed relatively clean and I laid a thin flannel shirt over the worst of the mattress stain and used two undershirts to make a shallow bowl for the egg.
I crawled onto the bed, being careful not to knock over the egg and collapsed on my side, one hand laid protectively against the smooth shell.
“I really hope you’re cute,” I murmured, the sound of my own voice making my eyes well up for a moment.How many nights had I spent, struggling to fall asleep and talking to myself to drown out the silence?
I was struck with a sudden burst of gratitude that Tovis had stumbled upon my spa.The last week had been nothing short of traumatizing, but I wasn’t alone anymore.As terrible as it had been, confronting the dangerous world my planet had become, the fear of the unknown had been paralyzing, keeping me trapped in a bubble.
That bubble had been popped, but I was freer for it.
“Please don’t turn into a violent monster,” I told the egg.“I stood up for you and your dad died making sure you had a chance at life, so don’t waste it by making us kill you.”
My eyes closed against my will and I tried to force them open.My nervous system sent a jolt through me, and I twitched, feeling like I should be doing something, keeping watch, looking for useful items.
But I was tired to a level I’d never experienced before, and my body took over, forcing me into a hazy sleep.I surfaced from dreams of running on glass and the Kwin’s bloodthirsty voice yelling after me to find Tovis crawling onto the mattress beside me.
He petted my hair and settled me against his side.
“Sleep Jessa, all is well.”
His sturdy chest rose and fell gently with his breaths, and I let myself fall back into the dark, but this time the dreams stayed away.
21 Jessa
Istared at Tovis’sleeping face as the sun rose outside, the curtainless window cast a square of early morning light on the ceiling and turned his bright red skin a calmer shade of maroon.I felt good, better than I had in days.Food, sleep and the knowledge that we weren’t about to die had wiped most of the nagging pain from my body and left room for other feelings.
Things like how much I was starting to like the alien who’d held me all night.Things like we were finally alone, no unwelcome eyes watching our every move.Things like Tovis calling me his mate and the very obvious tent growing under the leather of his loincloth.
