“For the doorway?”
“A clear one?”
“No.”
S’samph was quiet for a moment. “I can put up a curtain. But you will voluntarily leave your room every two hours. That means taking your meals outside of the room.”
“Ok. What about when I’m sleeping?”
“Nighttime checks will continue on schedule.”
“I can’t sleep if you or K’kaen keep waking me up.”
“As soon as you convince me there won’t be a body to find in the morning, you will have your sleep back.”
Cassie hung her head. “This isn’t helping.”
“I am sorry you don’t feel like a person. It was not my intention.”
“I get it.” She grabbed a corner of the towel to wipe the tears away from her face. “Keeping me alive is a lot of work.”
“It is.” He stood from his desk. “Now you should go back to the clinic and get dry. I don’t want to see you in my office dripping water everywhere ever again.”
CHAPTER 51
Cassie
I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. You were my first fledgling, after all.Kestrel placed a hand on Cassie’s hair in an unusual display of affection.Stay out of trouble, ok?
Where are you going?Cassie asked.
An Itarian businessman bought my contract.I’ll serve out the rest of my days with him.
Doing what?
Whatever he asks of me.Kestrel picked up her bag and exited Cassie’s wing of the Aviary.
Another week passed in a blur. The rain finally slowed, and Cassie finally summoned the will to check the messages that had been piling up on her wrist interface. There were a few from Eleri asking if she had eaten, which she ignored because Eleri came up daily to ask the same question inperson anyway and then wouldn’t leave until she had come out of her room to consume something. But then she saw the ones from Glia.
Sorry to bother you, Cassie. I know you are grieving your mate. I just wanted to let you know the pups miss you.
Irio keeps asking where you are. Come back to play with us whenever you’re ready.
She tucked her knees into her chest as she backed herself against the tank.What am I going to do without you?Her hands moved in front of her face, but the question was for him. The crystal genesis had progressed, so there was something more in the tank. Less like a cactus and more like a starfish now. Cassie still couldn’t recognize him in the fragmented shapes pulling together around his core, but Aglao seemed to think the results were promising.
Two instincts fought inside of her. The first told her to stay in case anything happened. If she lost him completely and wasn’t there, she would never forgive herself. But the second urged her to leave, to exist in the world, even if it was just for a moment. Cassie didn’t know, but she found her fingers clasped around the door handle, and she peeked out. The clinic was still bright. She had no idea what time it was anymore, but at least it was quiet.
Cassie sat at the top of the steps leading down into the clinic’s main atrium. Aglao was working on something on the interface. Eleri typed notes on the main console while wearing her egg’s portable incubator against her back. The world had continued forward while Cassie was falling apart. She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.
Eleri finally glanced up from her console. Her pale brows rose high, and it took all of Cassie’s will not to flee back into the room with Örim’s tank. The other woman moved slowly, clearly aware that Cassie was half ready to bolt.
“Do you want to come down? I can make a pot of tea if you want to have some. We don’t have any patients scheduled for a bit.”
Cassie took air into lungs that refused to expand and stood up to make her way down the stairs. Eleri waited a few paces back while Cassie took her time standing in the center of the clinic. Finally, she turned to back to Eleri.
“I think we also have some cookies, but I’ll see what I can find.” Eleri led the way. Cassie followed, limbs stiff, still not entirely sure how to make herself move like a person. She sat at the table in the clinic’s kitchenette while Eleri puttered around pulling things out of cabinets.
Finally, Eleri sat down across from Cassie with a steaming pot of tea and a plate of purple pucks that were not like any cookies Cassie had ever seen. She handed Cassie the first mug.
