Rah-bee was leaking from his eyes again, making loud sounds of distress. How had this happened? One moment, we were having fun as he learned new words, followed by a shared meal as usual. I got up to sniff the remaining ingredients. They weren’t spoiled. Perhaps he was falling ill, I decided. He had visited the others, where they remained under the watchful eye of the healers. That had to be it - one of them may have harbored an illness from their time in captivity with the Star Demons, and now he had it. There was only one thing to do. I had to get him to the healers immediately before he became any sicker. I scooped him up, resolute.
“Unhhh… wha tchoo dooeng bihg geye? Poot mee downn!” he said, startling.
I smiled down at him, careful to conceal my fangs in what I hoped was a reassuring manner, and received a smack on my shoulder for my efforts. I ignored him, slipping a cloak over myself so I could keep him covered as well.
“Hayyyy! Ay sed poot mee downn!” He began to struggle, so I merely tightened my grip as I saw how red his face had become, and not in the way it did when he acted shy. It had to be fever, I decided. Rah-bee always got red-faced when he became too warm from sitting too close to the stove. He’d been sitting well away, so this had to be illness. I hurried my pace, needing to get him seen before this progressed much further.
I threw the door open, uncaring about how it swung open hard enough that it slammed back closed behind us. People stepped aside, seeing the look on my face and the urgency of my pace.”
“Whehr arr wee goheng?” he asked after a pause.
“It’s okay, Rah-bee,” I replied soothingly, moving to tuck him into my neck. “Grokah will know what to do.”
“Grow-kah? Yoo ar taykeng mee tew thuh dawktoh? Aym naht sik!”
He still sounded distressed, but at least his eyes were no longer leaking, and he was no longer making those horrible gut deep sounds. He wriggled, trying to climb out of my grasp. “Gree-Gree! Leht mi dawn. Cuhm ohn!”
I shook my head at him, and he understood that, the side to side motion something that early on I’d noticed our people had in common.
He sighed. “Feye-nnn! Grow-kah kann tehl yoo heemsehlf!” he huffed softly. By now, the jog I’d used had us outside our destination. I opened the door, finding one of the junior healers making tea for the patients on top of the stove in the front area. “He needs help!” I barked.
The healer immediately stopped what he was doing. “Tell me what happened,” he demanded.
I explained everything that followed on from our visit as I settled Rah-bee down onto a bed and the healer began to look him over.
“Hmm,” he hummed as he checked Rah-bee’s heartbeat and looked into his eyes.
“What’s happened?” Grokah said, appearing from the back room.
“Rah-bee became distressed, and Ghrigri is concerned he may have developed a fever, but he seems to be of normal temperature for his species as far as I can tell, and his heart is steady,” came the reply.
Rah-bee crossed his arms. “Eyem gud!” Grokah had me repeat what I’d told his assistant, looking thoughtful. “The others have no illness that can be shared,” he informed me. “They need more food and time to deal with what the Sky Demons did to them. I think Rah-bee was distressed enough that he became warm from his heart going fast, as a response to his feelings. See? He is not red now, and he is not leaking eye water.”
I immediately felt foolish. “So Rah-bee was upset from thinking about what the Sky Demons did to him and his friends?”
The healers both nodded.
“Perhaps the meal you made reminded him of his old home,” Grokah suggested. “Take him back to your home and simply be there for him. The others have done similar and calmed greatly when soothed with gentle back pats and rubs and cups of tea. It is their feelings that are needing to heal in this, not just the body.”
I cast a critical eye over Rah-bee. “So he is well, except for his feelings. He is only very sad,” I winced at my words. ‘Only’ was a poor word choice. The distress I’d seen had been everything.
“Yes.”
My shoulders slumped. “Then perhaps the trip is a very good thing. The Sky Gods can take them home, and they will not have to be sad anymore.”
Grokah clapped me on the arm. “Perhaps, but then I think there will be a few of our kinsmen who will feel the losses deeply. He is your mate, no?”
I swallowed. “Yes, but if it is best for him to go, even if they will not allow me to accompany him, then I will have to find contentment in knowing Rah-bee is happy and well and not missing his home.”
Grokah looked at me thoughtfully. “I hope it doesn’t come to that,” he said finally, then made a shooing motion. “Now, take him home and let him have a good rest. You have much to do to prepare for your journey.”
I reached my hand out to Rah-bee, who jumped down from the bed, taking it with a smirk. “Aye tohld yoo aye wuz fihn!”
I didn’t need a translator to know he was telling me he thought I’d been silly. His eye roll and tone of voice told me everything I needed to know. “Lehtz goh hohm bihg geye!” He gave the two healers a small wave with his free hand as we left.
On the way home, I reflected on my overreaction to what should have been an obvious situation. I’d seen him distressed before, even if not quite so sudden and severe. I should have known what was happening. So why had I lost my mind, convincing myself Rah-bee was in danger of dying and becoming lost to me forever? That was it, I realized. I was facing him being taken from me, and my fear of losing him had me imagining other ways he could be snatched without warning. I ran my free hand down my face. I needed to get a grip. I couldn’t let my own emotions lead me astray like this. Our journey wasn’t the most treacherous, but it did come with dangers we’d have to be vigilant for. Any overreaction could lead to more rash decisions, which could then actually doom not just Rah-bee, but us all.
.
