Page 30 of A Mate for Haax

My name speeds up this time. “Esme.” I can hear him saying it, but it’s like I’m still in a hazy fog. “Esme.”

“Haax?” I say as I come to.

“Oh, thank the Goddess.” He pulls me into my chest and holds me tight.

My airway starts to constrict. “Haax…. can’t… breathe…”

“I am sorry, my mate.” He says it with such conviction that I wonder if he’s apologizing for something specific. What the hell happened? A crowd is gathering around us, concerned looks all pointed in my direction as I realize I’m laying on the ground. There are multiple shades of scaled alien males before me and a few human females I’ve yet to meet. The males are all shirtless and muscle bound. How does a species stay so fit? Do any of them ever get fat? I hear Haax growl his disapproval of my thoughts but says nothing. My eyes keep searching; scanning over a parked cruiser with a human sized dent in the front.

Haax’s eyes sprout murder everywhere he looks. “What happened?” I ask him quietly.

“Something must have happened to disrupt the cruiser's normal signals. It didn’t stop when it approached the landing area and hit you.” He turns to someone behind him and yells out something I don’t understand in Grekarian, but from the look on the aliens face, I would swear it was a death threat.

The Sepharon turns on its heel and shuffles off at an unearthly speed. Seeing a full-blooded one in real life is almost mesmerizing. Haax is only a half Sepharon, so it’s amazing to see a full one up close.

A flash of blue and purple scales fades into the background as he, I’m assuming it’s a guy, leaves us behind. “Are you able to stand, Esme?” He asks me gently, and I nod up at him, giving a smile I’m not feeling in the least.

Pain registers in my leg as I try to move it, and when I look down my body, I see my foot is curved in fully, telling me there is something dreadfully wrong. “I can’t…” I say through gritted teeth and a painful breath because now it's starting to radiate up my leg

“Shhhh… breathe, sweet mate. I’ve got you. You need to see a healing chamber. Can I try to lift you?”

“Haax, I am too heavy for you to lift.”

He gives me a look that promises punishment for degrading myself yet again. I wish I saw what he does when I look in the mirror, but I still see that fat little kid from middle school that all the girls and boys used to pick on because I was fat.

“Do not make me spank you here in front of all these people while you are in pain. I will do it. Do not test me, little minx. You will not speak down about yourself again today, do you hear me? I will not have it.”

I bite down on my bottom lip and give him a nod of agreement. As he bends down to grab me, he’s halted by a lime green hand upon his shoulder. “Wait, my mate says it is not safe to move her yet. We must wait for a physician. Humans have a certain way of handling things.”

“I do know, brother, but we also have a protocol for situations exactly like this. Do not forget to whom you speak.”

His eyes widen before he dips into a bow of respect. “Yes, Captain.”

“Haax…”

“Yes?” The word comes out as a question as his eyes meet mine.

“If you can lift me gently and take me to a healing chamber, I’ll be okay.” My eyes keep closing shut. Pain radiates from my leg outward. I can tell that my heart has sped up its beats per minute.

As gently as he’s ever been, he leans down and puts one arm behind my legs and one hand on my lower back before raising back up. I grind my teeth with each jarring step he makes toward the space port. “There will be a doctor on duty. In the medical center, they should have healing chambers. We store them here for when our men come home from fighting and need immediate medical treatment.”

“I trust you, Haax.” I say slowly before my eyes grow heavy like cement; The weight increases until they finally shut the whole way.

My body tilts with each step, and it feels like an out of body experience; like another part of me is floating above my body, watching over this part of me.

I start to rouse when Haax gets to the med bay. A rush of air greets my ears as we reach the chamber, and it opens. My eyes peep open briefly as I’m lowered down into the chamber. It feels similar to a CT machine on Earth, but my head doesn’t stick out.

“This may be weird the first time, Esme, but I promise it will work. Try not to freak out when I close the door as it will seal to keep the healing within.”

“Okay…” It comes out as a whispered breath. I’ve never really liked tight spaces, but if a healing chamber will fix me and help to avoid surgeries, I’m all for it. I’ve seen what happens with legs like mine.

As Haax suggested, the glass lid on the chamber closes and locks with a seal. I can see him from the outside, and the smile on his face is reassuring in this moment of uncertainty. I allow my eyes to fall shut and the healing process to take over. There is a tingling in my leg that wasn’t there before, and I have to wonder if the healing is already starting.

Chapter 18

Haax

Seeing my mate helpless and lying on the ground with a twisted up leg did something awful to me. My arrynthia is pounding out to the rhythm of a bass drum; heavy and loud. I wonder briefly if others can hear it before I decide I do not give a shit, as the humans would say. Their reverence of feces is beyond me, but it is what it is.

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