Page 42 of Galaxy Between Us

I keep my eyes open, locking them on the glass shield, letting the machine do what it needs to find a compatible electromagnetic signal from space to connect with the neurons in my brain. My back itches from sweat pooling between myself and the cold metal of the bed.

Cushions would’ve been nice. I let my brain focus on the discomfort to distract me from the fear of fucking with my brain waves. Dr. Ritza is convinced that nothing can harm us, and that if something doesn’t work or goes wrong, then the machine will simply fail. I’ll just wake up having gone nowhere.

Nothing else happens for so long that I wonder if this is it. It didn’t work. I’m sure as hell not in space. The sterile, concrete scent of the lab still fills my nose. I don’t think more than an hour has passed. I’m just lying on the transfer bed while machinery hums to life around me.

And then I feel it. Like a sedative seeping into my veins. My brain disconnects from my body, still aware, but no longer focused on my physical form. My fingertips twitch and my hearing takes on a low hum.

I don’t know when Dr. Ritza’s voice stopped coming through, but it’s notably absent now. My vision tingles and blurs, never focusing on anything in front of me. I feel lucid. Floating someplace dreamlike between sleep and awake. Did I fall asleep?

This is pretty much what I expected. A numb, tingling sensation accompanied by an insistent hum. My thoughts become simplified and I can’t seem to focus on one thing for too long.

“Arius…” I find myself muttering his name in a whisper far too quiet for anyone else to hear.

I feel like I’m floating, far and fast. Everything is dark, but I can feel something. Harsh coldness. And then burning hot. Torturous temperature changes until things begin to level out and I feel like I’ve crossed a threshold.

If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a new layer of space. Beyond our atmosphere. Beyond our world. I still can’t see, but I can feel it. It’s remarkable. I’m… I’m there. The wavelength. My brain and outer space are traveling parallel on the same plane.

No fucking way.

With my feelings and emotions heightened, I’m drenched with overwhelming excitement. So much that I begin hearing beeping that sounds out of place. I vaguely recognize it as a heart monitor, but my brain refuses to make sense of it. Refuses to remember why I hear a heart monitor. Then it stops. The sound is swiftly blocked. Now it’s just me and the hum again.

Remembering my mission, I try to open my watery eyes, but I don’t think they’re closed. I’m just somewhere impossibly dark. I try desperately to focus on anything through my tears of overwhelmed joy. After many failed attempts, I force myself to relax and just concentrate on what I feel. Peaceful. Cold. Something grainy.

Yes, that’s interesting. What is that? A grainy texture in outer space. Dust? Rocks? I have zero concept of size. It could either be a handful of something or surrounding me entirely.

I focus on it for as long as I can, but then my brain gets sucked into a vacuum.

At least, that’s what it feels like. If I were capable, I would be screaming and thrashing at the awful sensation. Begging for it to stop. I see flashes in my vision, and I allow my eyes to focus on them. I feel compelled to pay attention to them as if I’ve done this before. As if they’re the answer to escaping this misery.

The rocks… I wish I could’ve brought them with me. Grainy rocks. I don’t… I don’t know where I would take them, but I wanted them.

My ears ring with more hums. Different hums of different frequencies. Some high, some low. Some beeping, some whirring. I hate it. All these sirens. I want them to stop.

I wake up in my physical body, but it isn’t relieving in the slightest. Like the worst fever one could imagine. I’m coated in a cold sweat. My muscles painfully seize and relax, protesting the restraints.

Why the fuck am I restrained? Why can’t I see anything yet?! What the hell is this?!

My heart pounds and my blood rushes. I can sense my Alpha pheromones permeating the room. A threat to anyone who thinks they can attack me. Amidst all the blaring alarms, I hear my own voice yelling in agony. I’m expecting to see a hospital room. That’s what this is, right? Something went wrong. Maybe an accident, and I’m waking up in a hospital.

Gasping for breath, I try to focus on my surroundings. Blurry visuals soon become colorful movements. Flashes of white, yellow, and gray.

“Vitals stabilizing,” someone comments through a distant haze while I seethe through clenched teeth.

“Knox! Can you hear me?!” another voice. Much closer. “Gomez, do something! Somebody! Please!”

I glance at a man standing on a platform behind a yellow railing. Gomez, I guess. I don’t recognize him or the name. He looks distraught and uncertain about what to do.

My motor functions slowly come back to me, but then I feel tired. Extreme exhaustion weighing me down, convincing me that if I just sleep for a few minutes, I’ll feel more energized. Just for a second.

I blink awake in a much calmer environment. No more beeping, no more shouting or blurry movements. A hospital. Yes, I remember. I believe I was in an accident and woke up in pain. I just…don’t remember anything before that. Or after.

Cautious and stiff, I sit up, slowly assessing the standard beige room with soft yellow lighting. Nothing hurts anymore.

I’m wearing gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Some wires are connected to my skin beneath the tight fabric, so I stand and peel it off. As I release myself from the wires and tubes, the door opens. An Alpha doctor and an Omega enter. They look at me worried, but I feel fine. Much better than…whatever the fuck that nightmare was.

The Omega throws himself at me. I stammer back as his arms squeeze me tight and his warm cheek presses against my bare chest. I hug him back awkwardly, dick stiffening inappropriately against his warmth.

“Knox! Thank fuck you’re okay! We were so worried!” the Omega pulls away with watery eyes, staring up at me as if I’m his world.