Page 49 of Crash Landing
“Sam!” someone shouted.
It was a deep voice. A man’s voice.
It was Saleuk.
“Sam, it’s just thunder. Sam, look at me.”
I was huddled in a corner of the freighter watching people die around me when Saleuk came from the smoke and chaos, his big body blocking my view of the destruction around me. He cupped my cheeks in his hands and knelt, his eyes wide with alarm.
“It’s the storm. You’re ok,” he kept saying over and over.
The storm? I barely remembered it had been raining. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. I blinked rapidly, trying to recall where I was, and finally noticed a dark room around me speckled with bioluminescence. I was on the cold floor against a wall and Saleuk was crouched in front of me, coaxing me back to reality. I could hear the downpour outside and through the mirrored wall, I could see the light show as the lightning strobed outside.
We were still on that moon. It was storming outside.
I took a deep breath, trying to quell the dizziness I was feeling, and refocused my eyes on Saleuk. He looked so worried and suddenly I felt bad about that.
“It’s thunder,” he said, his voice growing calmer as I relaxed. “It was a loud one, but it’s just the storm. I swear.”
“Right,” I said, clearing my throat and trying to appear as if I was alright. But the adrenaline from that day was still racing through my veins. I was fully awake and shaking. “I’m ok. I’m ok, now.”
Saleuk shook his head and moved his hands to my arms, standing and pulling me up with him. I stumbled on trembling legs and leaned against the wall.
“I believe you’ll be ok,” he said. “But you’re not right now.”
“I’m sorry,” I broke. “That hasn’t happened in so long. I—”
“You’re under stress being trapped here. I’m surprised something didn’t trigger you sooner.”
“I thought something exploded.”
“The storm has picked up. The thunder woke me up, too.”
“Was it loud or did I imagine that?”
“It was pretty loud,” he chuckled. “It nearly stopped my hearts.”
“That would have been a shame.”
He walked me back to the bed and sat me down, stroking his hand back through my hair.
I loved when people played with my hair. It was euphoric and I almost sighed with pleasure before he sat down beside me.
“That felt good,” I admitted.
“What did? This?” he combed his fingers through my hair again and dragged them slowly down my neck before repeating.
I nodded, closing my eyes and slumping so my head was against his shoulder. He kept going, gently massaging my scalp for a bit before twirling strands of my hair around his fingers. Gradually, my elevated heart rate slowed and I was able to settle.
“I really am sorry,” I muttered.
“Why? Because you got startled awake by the storm?” he scoffed.
“Because you’re babysitting me again and I know you hate that.”
He shrugged my head off his shoulder and gently gripped my chin, turning my face up to look at him.
“Taking care of you was never a problem.” He swiped his thumb lightly across my lips and lifted a brow. “The snarky things that came out of this mouth were.”
