Page 10 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

“No, I’m kidding. You’re not hurting me at all. I just wanted to give you the satisfaction of crushing the doctors.” We both laugh.

I let her know I’m going to hold her arm and feel her heart at the same time. I’m looking for one of the telltale signs, and at the same time hoping I don’t find it.

Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum. Ba. Ba. Babababa.

The pulse and the heartbeat don’t sync up. It’s the biggest indicator yet that it’s stone-skipping sickness.

“Okay… Okay. Next game. No, never mind, you wouldn’t want to…”

“Tell me!”

“Do you think you could hold your breath longer than me?”

I barely have the time to finish my sentence before Hanai takes a deep breath. She puffs her cheeks out as she does.

I fake being unable to hold any breath at all, since I know already she won’t be able to go long without breathing, especially with her highly irregular pulse.

As I worried, she can’t hold it for long. Barely longer than three seconds.

“Any more games, Zaya?”

“I have a few more, but not for right now. I think something else would be more fun.”

“Really? What?”

“Do you think you could tell me a story?”

“Me? You want me to tell you one?”

“Of course! I bet yours are way better than mine. Do you mind telling me how this all started? How you first got sick?”

I listen intently as Hanai tells me everything. And I mean everything. She may be a princess, but she’s still eight and goes off on all the unimportant tangents, like about the color of her friend’s skirt when she first felt her body acting as if her brain hadn’t given it permission.

I let her talk, keep eye contact, laugh when she laughs, and do anything else I can to make her feel heard. I’m sure the doctors interrupted her a lot to stay on topic. Or didn’t look up from their commpads as they took notes. Hanai needs to know I’m listening.

As Hanai talks, I try my best to ignore Taurek. I can feel him standing just behind me, watching my every move. It reminds me of one of those old suits of armor that used to decorate human castles. I refuse to let his probing, intense eyes unsettle me.

Meanwhile, Hanai tells me, in a very long-winded way, what’s been going on. It started with a lack of balance, and it’s been unpredictable. Hallucinations. Full paralysis. Distortions of vision and hearing. Selective malfunctions of entire bodily systems. Oozing from the skin. Burning inside the blood.

I blend her descriptions of the files Taurek showed me, along with the physical symptoms I’m seeing.

I think I might know what’s wrong with her. And if it’s what I think it is, I only know of one treatment, and there’s no guarantee it will work. It’s also incredibly dangerous to get it.

I need to do some more tests with her to confirm.

We continue playing games, but her squeals of delight now hold an incredible sadness. If she doesn’t have a cure, I don’t know how much longer it will be before the halls filled with her laughter go silent.

5

TAUREK

When she holds her hand up to me while I try to tell her Hanai’s name, I’m stunned. My body freezes, and my jaw locks up. There are a million responses swirling in my head about how badly I would love to put this upstart in her place. But I can’t even speak from shock.

It’s been so long since another being spoke to me like this that I want to make an example of her.

My lips part slightly, about to let her have it, when I notice Hanai looking at her. There’s something in her eyes that tells me I should let this healer continue her work. I decide I won’t let my pride get in the way of her getting the best treatment, although I doubt this egotistical woman is going to be the best this Kingdom has to offer.

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