Chapter Eighteen
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Day Seventeen: Asteroid
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I gently lay Meteor’s drained body back down onto the bed and slip off of his lap. I press a small button on the bedside table in the Orion’s medical wing and sit on the bed. I play with his hair and run my hand down his arm, an arm that is covered in blood, sweat, and tears. Michael slams in exclaiming “What’s wrong? Where’s the fire? Who died?” I silently put a finger to my lips, stand up and walk over to Michael.
“Thank you, Michael. Neither of us would be here if it weren't for you. I am, however, severely worried about him,” I confide with a gesture towards the battered Meteor. “He cried. No, he bawled. I have never seen him cry, and I've known him since I was two. Meteor does not cry. Also, his leg is starting to look infected. I think it needs stitches.
Nova was in here. She… she saw me wake him up, even though I know you told her to go to the leisure room.
Please help him. And if there is anything I can do for you, tell me. I am forever indebted to you. We both are. Again, thank you.” I finish, biting my lip to keep tears of gratitude from spilling out all over Michael’s black combat boots.
“You're welcome,” he smiles sympathetically. “I can do the procedure in an hour. I have to get the stuff ready. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, my voice breaking.
“OK. I'll be in this room, but I'll mostly be on the other side. You can be almost alone with Meteor. He will be okay. I promise.” I nod and turn my head to Meteor, a tear threatening to leak out. It escapes and I rush over to the bed, trying to look nonchalant. I sit on the bed and gently play with Meteor’s hair.
For once, he finally let himself be the unguarded one. The entire time I've known him, he has always been full of swagger and confidence. No. I lied to Michael. Meteor has cried once before. The night he left he brushed away a tear. Even then, though, it was more like slow, silent tears. Today, he cried like his heart was breaking. And that, more than anything else, makes me believe that he loves me.
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Day Seventeen: Michael
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“I thought I told you to stay in your room.” I am furious with Nova right now. Asteroid waking Meteor up was supposed to be a private thing for the two of them. And she just had to tell him what Jupiter said. “While Asteroid and Meteor are out of commission, I'm in charge! Asteroid told me you were in there. She knows I told you not to be. Go relieve Star. Go drive the ship. Now.” I walk over to Constellation, shaking my head in consternation. “She is a butthead. Has she always been like that?”
“No. Her last boyfriend took her to a super fancy restaurant one night, right? Well, they walk out, and who do they see? The only criminals on Scallanos. Turns out there was a jailbreak the night before. The lead guy, Mars, shot him dead right in front of her. The last thing he said was, and I quote, ‘Run. Don’t look back. I love you.’ Then, a gut-wrenching shriek filled the night as they riddled his body with bullets. At that point, she was on a sky train. Regrettably, they all have glass floors. She watched Mars pick up the body and stuff it into a sack and throw it into the nearest dumpster. Then she passed out. It was all over the news the next day. She never gave her statement, and they never found the body. She almost never left her house. I was sad, too,” she says, blinking back tears. “After all, he was my twin brother.”
“Constellation, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” She laughs sadly.
“How could you have?” She smiles. “Anyway, your hour’s almost up.”
“You're right.” I say, slipping an arm around her waist. “Just enough time to do this,” I cry, pressing her back against the wall and planting a kiss squarely on her lips. Then I turn tail and run out of the room, leaving her with a satisfied smile on her face.
On the way back, I grab some M & M’s out of the pantry. As I walk into the medical wing, I see Asteroid lay her head onto the bed next to Meteor. She is visibly unnerved after all the horrible things she’s seen and been through and all she wants to do is go home and pretend like it never happened, with Meteor at her side.
I sigh and shake my head, full of sympathy. She doesn't realize that going home would jeopardize her entire planet. After all she’s seen, she wouldn’t be content to just sit and be a scientist on a planet with no crime. She would cause problems to solve problems. I know.
I laugh softly. I should know. I did the same thing before I joined the Illuminati. I blew up a building so I could put out the flames. I broke a Mars rover so I could fix it. I robbed a bank so I could frame a free criminal and get him thrown in the clink. I was the perfect neutral. Not good, not bad. Oh, well.
I trudge over to the bedside. “Asteroid, do you want to sit with him during the operation?”
She looks up. “Yeah. Thanks, Michael.” She manages a brave smile and I feel an odd sense of pride. She’s come so far from that girl who yelled at me for trying to save her boyfriend. I smile back.
“Hey, help me wheel this thing into the operating room.” She does, the whole time her facial expression is stony. We chock the wheels and I open a few cabinets, taking out nylon sutures, three sterile needles, gauze, antiseptic ointment, anesthesia, and a numbing cream. I turn to Asteroid, holding the cream. “I think he might need this,” I grimace. She nods, not taking her expressionless gaze off of the laceration down the side of Meteor’s left leg.
I go over to the sink and wet a large cloth. I use it to wash his wound. As I rinse his leg, sizable chunks of dried blood crumble into the towel. I bite my lip as I peel back the scabby mess so I can clean inside. The inner layer is infected, so I lather antiseptic and numbing cream into the lesion.
Once I'm satisfied with my cleaning job, I give Asteroid a second cloth. “While I stitch him up, do you mind cleaning his arms and other leg? They're kind of a mess.” She wordlessly takes the towel and starts rubbing Meteor’s appendages.
I thread the first needle and make the first stitch. I can see Meteor’s hand slightly tighten on Asteroid’s. She winces, showing the first bit of emotion in over an hour. I make a complicated knot and hurry through the rest of the stitches, praying that the two of them will be okay.72Please respect copyright.PENANAMegcxQeWqm