Page 13 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

“Hey,” I whisper, squeezing her hand lightly. She barely glances up at me, and I lean in. “Nothing scary, remember?”

Her diagnosis is scary enough. The examination shouldn’t be.

“I need you to slide your legs over, though.”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“Nope! Now, can you count down from three for me?”

She shrugs. “Will you do it with me?”

“Sure. Three –”

“Two,” she mutters.

“One,” I tap her knee gently. Her leg barely moves at first, but then it’s buzzing around in spasms. I don’t want to do the other knee. There’s no need. I know that her reflexes are afflicted along with all of the other systems of her body.

“Whoa!” she exclaims, sitting up in bed quickly to look at her leg.

“Yeah, your reflexes are working, alright. Does it hurt?”

“No. But it feels funny.”

“I’m sure a lot of things feel funny right about now. At least you know it’s normal for some of your systems to not quite be in control, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How is she?” a low voice asks from across the room.

Turning around, I inhale deeply when I see Taurek standing by the door with his arms crossed. I open my mouth to respond, but Hanai beats me to it.

“Daddy! My body can move on its own! I didn’t even have to think about it.”

“What?” he exclaims, walking over to her and completely passing by me like I don’t exist. “That’s remarkable.”

He turns around to me, and I’m almost surprised he even glances at me. I was sure he saw me as nothing more than a brief inconvenience. “Hanai, my darling, do you mind if I steal Zaya for a moment?”

“Only if you bring her back!” Hanai answers excitedly.

“I will,” he responds without looking at her, his eyes focused intently on me. I can feel the intensity of his look coursing through my body. I’m hoping I haven’t done anything wrong. I know what a Kiphian of his status is capable of.

Looking at his brawny chest and his tawny eyes, I gasp a little thinking of what it would be like to feel affection beaming from them rather than disdain.

I follow him as if in a trance. Before I know it, I’m cornered in the hallway, staring up at him.

“What do you think?”

Exhaling deeply, I try to harden my heart even more. Learning that her mother has died only makes delivering this news worse. Dealing with solutions and chemicals is always the best part of any work involving health and medicine. It’s straightforward and logical. The social aspect is a challenge.

“I think…”

“Yes?” Impatience cuts through his voice.

“I’m trying to think of a way to put it.”

“Think faster. It might help.”

“A little patience might help.” I refuse to break for any man, human, Kiphian, or any other species. I deliberately go more slowly.

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