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My burning eyes close in relief. We have made it aboard Qhix's vessel, but we are hardly safe. Not until we are off the ground and far away from Yeet will I succumb to my injuries, only when I know my Cora is safe.
"Stay with him," Qhix tells Cora. "I'll be back with a gurney to move him."
"I will," my mate sniffles and gingerly pats my clawed hand.
I open my eyes and peer up at Cora's pretty face etched in worry as she looks down at me. My chest expands, blooming and swelling with emotions long dead. The wall my Kaul half has built around his heart cracks, crumbling away despite his resistance. The stubborn fool does not trust the compassion Cora offers.
"You're safe now," I whisper through a throat raw from the burning acid.
She nods, tears streaming down her face. "Promise you won't ever do something like that again."
"I am sorry," I reply, feeling guilty for causing her grief. "That, I cannot promise."
Cora's weeping increases, and I try to sit up to comfort her, but the pain is too much and I fall back with a groan. Cora leans in closer, her hand brushing my forehead. Her touch is soothing despite my wounds, and I close my eyes to savor the sensation.
Qhix returns with a floating gurney. He lowers it to rest on the floor of the hauler. The pain is excruciating, but I endure as Qhix moves me to the gurney. My eyes shut tightly in torment, then flip open when my forearm is enclosed in a cuff.
"Where did you acquire a Ziarian medical cuff?" I croak.
"Stole it from a bunch of unfortunate Ziarian prisoners on Zune," Qhix says, floating the gurney above the floor and rushing me out of the hauler and through the ship until we reach the med bay. “I heard their guards abandoned them, so I went to check it out. They were all in lock down when I arrived, so it was an easy theft.”
“Zune?” I rasp. “There’s nothing on Zune.”
“There’s plenty on Zune,” Qhix counters with a sardonic laugh. “For once, the rumors were true.”
Cora remains at my side the entire way. My eyes burn with blurred vision. Blinking away the tears pooling in my eyes, I keep my gaze firmly on her. To look away would be to ignore a sweet solace in this time of suffering.
Once inside the med bay, Qhix slides a bed out from the wall and pushes me onto it, strapping me down so I don't fall onto the floor when we launch. The screens above my head flicker on, displaying my vitals in numbers and jagged lines.
"Cora, take that seat and strap yourself in. It's gonna be a fast launch off this rock," Qhix tells her and sprints from the room.
I hear Cora shifting about and then the click of the seat straps. It isn't long before the revving of the engines hums throughout the ship. Cargo vessels like this one aren't usually equipped with reverberation dampeners like the luxury long-range passenger crafts, so the noise is deafening.
I feel every minuscule movement the ship makes on takeoff. The pain radiating from my body is like nothing I have ever experienced before. Every breath feels like fire, and every movement sends shockwaves of agony through me, but the medical cuff is working. I can already feel the warmth of its healing effects.
The anesthetic it pumps into me is already making me drowsy. I must not give in to the lethargy dragging me down. Not until I know Cora is far away from Yeet and any possibility of a Yulineon confrontation.
I fight against the blackness, trying to stay conscious and focus on the pain. Focus on the dull ache in my bones and the burning sensation in my chest as a way to keep myself from succumbing to unconsciousness.
I close my eyes and take deep, calming breaths, forcing the blackness to remain at bay. I cling to Cora's voice as she speaks softly to me, telling me that everything will be all right. With her words of encouragement, I fight against the darkness that threatens to consume me.
My mind drifts in and out as Qhix pilots us away from Yeet and the Yulineon patrollers I know are on the way to investigate the loss of their ship. I float in a dreamlike state; my body is nearly numb, yet I can still feel the pain radiating from my wounds.
Once the ship finally levels off, the harsh hum of acceleration fades away so all I hear is Cora softly weeping.
"Don't cry, Starfire." I hate how weak my sivot's voice sounds.
She unbuckles and comes to stand at my side. "Look at you," she sniffles. "You could have gotten yourself killed. It was reckless of you to go out there."
"You are mine to protect."
"As the sivot, you keep saying that, but what about Navik?" she says. "Did he even have a choice? He would have never subjected himself to acid air to protect me."
My eyes close, weary and uncertain how to make her understand.
"Navik is as much a part of the sivot as the sivot is a part of Navik. We are one and the same, only in a different form. We share the same mind. I know his thoughts because they are my own."
"Yet Navik has never declared himself my protector."
