His eyes move from me to Eissa and then back again.
“Thank you for having me,” Eissa responds, and I interpret. “It is an honor to be invited to a birthday party.”
Luca lifts his hands and slashes them through the air. ‘He wasn’t invited.’
When I just glower at him, thankful no one saw this but me, he sighs and shakes his head, folding his arms across his chest as if to try and keep his hands under control.
“I won’t keep you, as the celebration for the impending death is still ongoing…”
Everest bites back a laugh as Rathyn rumbles his approval.
“…but I have come to tell you that I have found a way around your service at the clinic. Permanently.”
“What is it?” Everest asks before I can.
“According to your medical records you have a pain you do not have a cure for…”
“Yeah,” I say softly.
Eissa leans forward slightly, his bright rainbow eyes meeting mine. “It is a shock that we have no cure. Does no one know what’s wrong with you?”
Those signs fall heavy from my hands, and Luca pushes off the wall and moves toward me. ‘Nothing is wrong with him.’
He signs this loudly, and I interpret it as best I can. Even if my voice does crack slightly when I say it. I blame it on my nerves misfiring right now.
Eissa inclines his head but does not look at Luca. “I apologize if I offended you. I am just surprised. Human conditions are usually easily treatable. I wonder if the Tarek would know more about this…” His words trail off, and then he shakes his head. “In any case. For now, you have a condition that makes you unfit for service. Just as your brother was able to be removed for being…” he catches himself. I think he was about to utter what Rathyn had earlier. Instead, he says, “Deaf.”
My brother frowns, but says nothing, watching as I relay the information.
“I just need you to authorize a release of your medical records. I can enter them, and you should not be contacted again.”
I let out a long exhale, feeling relief filter through me. “That’s it?”
“Yes. That is it.”
“What exactly do you need?”
“A signature from your doctor allowing us to use this condition to remove you from service.”
The relief is so profound, for a moment, it overwhelms the pain I’m feeling. “I can do that. I can have my doctor send it over. This is a huge weight off. I don’t know what to say.”
Eissa nods and then glances at Rathyn and Everest, who give him a look I can’t read.
“Thank you,” I say, my eyes watering, from relief, but also from the throb in my hips and shoulders.
Fuck I need to go grab that zitha from my bag and take some, but I want to do it at home in the peace and quiet where Cielo’s warm arms and soft purr are waiting for me.
“Will you stay for dinner?” I ask.
“I would not recommend consuming the blood worms,” Rathyn says, and Eissa trills in distress, pulling a disgusted face.
Luca lets out a laugh and then smothers it when Eissa peers his way. He runs a hand down his face, his fingers flicking something I don’t understand before moving out of the space, leaving the door open as he goes.
It only invites people in. My mother is one of them.
She appears with two large socks in her hands.
“Oh, I was looking for you! I finished them. Record time.”
