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He looks absolutely horrified. The funny thing is, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this kind of expression. It’s just that last time I saw it, it was on a human man’s face. Seems like males of all species are shocked at the wildness and unpredictability of my flow. My uterus is on a sacred mission to purge my body of all the blood she can.
He gets out of bed and immediately starts striding away. I’m just as quickly certain that he’s grossed out as hell and is going to leave me.
“What are you doing? Running away?”
“I am running you a bath,” he says.
I’m stunned. I’ve never, in all my life, had anyone look after me in this state. The only men who have ever seen me in this state have expressed their disgust. The alien was surprised, but he is not disgusted. He is concerned for me. He wants the best for me.
That’s a lot to realize all at once, especially with cramps pulsing through my lower abdomen. A bath would be the perfect thing right now. How does he know?
Kahn disappears into the bathroom for a little bit, cleaning himself up probably, but also preparing a nice bath for me.
“Stella! Come here,” he calls out. “You can shower first, but I want you to take a long bath. I am going to make you a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate milkshake.”
That should sound like a weird combination, but it’s basically the perfect meal for my current state. The idea is as comforting as it is delicious.
He ushers me into the bathroom. The bath waits for me while I shower off the sanguine flow, then welcomes me into a warm and soothing embrace. The last time I had a period, I was stumbling through the desert scrub outside the city, aiming for what I thought and hoped would be safety.
And then I was shot.
When I look down, I see the wound on my leg. It has scarred, as one might expect. Through the refractive qualities of the water, I can see it there. A permanent reminder of the one time I was stupid enough to put myself at the mercy of anybody else. It’s weird now, being looked after by an entity I thought of as my enemy from the very first moment we laid eyes on one another.
The warmth of the bath washes around me and sinks into me, the little cramps and tension that have been threatening to become deeply unpleasant start to melt away, and I close my eyes just… for… a…. moment.
* * *
Suddenly, there’s a splash and a sudden blast of cold. For a second I am absolutely disoriented, and then I realize I have been bodily hauled out of the bath, naked and exposed to the cool air. Kahn is already wrapping me in a towel, tight wraps of thick, long, plush fabric that goes all the way from my neck to my toes, turning me into a Stella burrito. These towels were not made for creatures my size.
“Unbelievable,” he growls as he works, simultaneously being very nice and very mean at the same time.
I have no idea what the hell is going on. Last I knew I was having a nice warm bath, but nothing feels nice and warm anymore, and I have no idea why he is so very grouchy. It is very confusing to be simultaneously swaddled and lectured.
“What is happening?”
“You almost drowned. I found you falling asleep in the bath!”
“What?”
His ice blue eyes sear down at me. “You truly cannot be left alone for a single moment, can you?”
“Of course I can. I spent an entire lifetime looking after myself before you showed up. I wouldn’t have drowned in the bath.”
“You were sinking below the water while asleep.”
“YoU WeRE SInkINg…” I start to mock him, because I’m out of arguments that explain why I wasn’t in mortal danger, but the look on his face as I get even partially through the sentence is enough to make me stop. He takes this seriously. He takes me seriously.
“Sorry. I guess I was tired.”
“It is not your fault,” he says, sweeping me up in his arms. I couldn’t walk now if I wanted to with the way the fabric is wrapped so tight around me. “I should not have left you unsupervised.”
“I can keep myself alive, you know.”
“There is very little evidence to support that claim. I think it best if you stay in bed.”
At this point, I’m not listening to him at all. I’m smelling food. Good, hot, fatty, salty, sweet, delicious food. Everything a body needs.
Kahn
