Page 56 of Her Alien Boss

* * *

When I wake up again, I am lying down on the bed, there is a cold cloth on my head, and my feet are elevated.

“She just fainted,” the doctor is saying. “It’s understandable, given all she has gone through. Give her a moment and some air. You’re going to have to get used to handling a tender woman now. There will be many more months of this, and she will only become more vulnerable.”

“I’m awake,” I say. “You can stop talking about me as if I am an endangered penguin now. Besides, I’ve not been here that long. I can only be a few weeks pregnant max. That’s barely anything.”

“It’s enough to have hormonal swings,” the doctor says. “And having been through two major surgeries, not to mention having experienced the universe through the body of a mechanical being is enough that I’m going to say you have to rest.”

* * *

Arkon

The relief I feel at seeing her sitting up, talking, experiencing reality in her own body, cannot be understated. It can’t be stated at all. I was so afraid Drak would not be good to his word, and instead do something to harm her.

But he kept his end of the bargain, and so, in the end, did I.

“You are going to rest,” I tell her. “You are going to let yourself heal. You are going to…”

She’s smirking at me.

The surgery must have been good.

“How is she like this so soon after…”

“We have technology that allows us to repair human flesh as if it had never been sundered in the first place,” the doctor explains. “She probably does feel quite well in herself. Not a reason not to rest, though. There will probably be effects we can’t quite predict.”

* * *

Evie

I feel amazing. I don’t feel sick at all. I don’t think the human body is really made to deal with the brain being taken out and put back in, so it is actually pretty chill about it. Also, medical science here is clearly so far in advance of Earth that there’s no way to even compare the two things.

But that doesn’t mean they’re not the same about medical advice. I have been in bed for three days with my brain perfectly attached to my body and I keep getting treated like I have some kind of horrible condition.

They’re making me stay in the med bay in case anything happens, when it’s pretty obvious to me that absolutely nothing is going to happen. I am fine. I’ve literally never felt better.

I decide to get out of bed while Arkon is out being busy. There’s a lot of work to be done on the goddess, the Fematrix, my second body, whatever you want to call her. I feel a pang when I think about how it was to inhabit those metal bones and feel the universe shrink around me. I was so big then.

I am back to being small now, and it is not fun.

I potter about the room a bit, just getting used to feeling like a human again. It was so odd to not have any of the biofeedback of a body. Odd, but freeing, but odd. I think, given enough time it would have driven me fully insane. Fortunately for all of us, I am only part insane right now.

While I meander about, the med bay door opens, and I find myself being stared at by my big, mad, alien boss.

“What are you doing?”

I grin shamefacedly. “Well, I thought I would…”

“No,” he growls firmly, striding toward me and picking me up in his arms.

I know immediately that I am in trouble, even before he confirms it for me.

“I am going to spank this ass so damn hard you never think about disobeying me again,” he declares.

“Yeah? Good luck with that. I know what it feels like to be bigger than a planet.”

“Good. And now you will remember what it feels like to be small, and sore, and sorry.”