Page 19 of Monsters and Mocha

“Here we go.” Her soft words brushed against his ear, and his heart rate sped up, clanging against his ribs like a hammer. She eased him into a seated position, supporting his left side as the weight of his metal arm tried to pull him over. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Fitz lied, turning all of his focus on using what core muscles he had left to right himself and move away from how close she was to him.

She hummed, leaning back and studying him with narrowing eyes. “Let’s give you a few minutes to adjust to gravity again before we try standing. Do you think you can stay up on your own if I let go?”

Don’t let go. “Yes.”

She released his shoulders, and he wobbled a bit, but managed to keep himself upright. He was rewarded with another of her wide smiles. She crossed the room and pulled out a stethoscope from the deep pocket of her medical coat before kneeling in front of him again. “I just want to check and make sure everything is working properly. You look a little pale. Any shortness of breath?” She rubbed the end of the stethoscope on her sleeve before slipping it under his shirt on the right side of his chest.

“No.”

“Chest pain?” Her brow furrowed, and she moved the instrument higher.

“No.”

“Dizziness?”

“No.”

“A sense of impending doom?”

“No—wait, what?” He blinked and shook his head.

Darby chuckled and leaned back on her heels as she looped the stethoscope over the back of her neck. “Believe it or not, it’s a common symptom before a heart failure.”

“I thought you were worried about my metal monster limbs, not my heart.”

She bit her lip, and he could read the hesitation that flashed across her face as easily as a road sign. “What is it?”

“Your arm and leg weren’t the only thing that had to be rebuilt.”

A growing sense of horror washed over him. It was bad enough to be metal and screws and gears on the outside, but if she was saying what he thought she was saying…

“Your heart was too damaged to leave as it was.”

The hammers were back again, and Fitz felt like he was going to be sick. Immediately, the warm bubbly feeling was back in his chest. “Stop that!” he barked. “Stop trying to fix me. You’ve already done enough.”

You’ve already turned me into some kind of monster.

She must have correctly interpreted the undercurrent of his words, for she stepped back, giving him space. The warm, bubbly feeling abated, but didn’t leave completely. Heavy silence stretched between them for several minutes.

Raven cawed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

His words were like a stone dropped in a pond, breaking the tension of the surface.

“Do you⁠—”

“So—” They spoke at the same time. Fitz motioned for her to continue, but she shook her head.

“No, you.”

He squeezed his right hand into a fist. “Not even my heart is human anymore?”

“It’s human because you are human and it’s your heart. But I had to construct the left atrium and chamber. Do you want to listen?” Without waiting for an answer, Darby placed the earpieces in his ears and positioned the chest piece over his heart.

Thum, tick. Thum, tock.

He pushed the earpieces away with a scowl. “You turned me into a pocket watch.”