Collided

Chapter 27

It was a few minutes past eight pm according to the clock by her bedside that was set to still follow Earth time and Alyssa lay in bed, swaddled in a comfy blanket. But she could not sleep.

How could she? After Blaze's unsettling claims that her babies were alive? Granted, he was yet to prove anything, and all she had were his words, but he sounded certain enough that Alyssa caught herself longing to see her twins again. Blaze promised to take her to the medical ward, and together they would find her babies. In return, she promised to trust him and listen to what he had to say.

Boman, who had tucked Alyssa in bed for the night, was out of the room, but first, he had asked if there was anything he could do for her to make her feel better. In response, she had muttered, "you can bring back my children", resulting in his evident discomfort as his brows bunched. He pretended not to hear it as if to make her feel like it was impossible. She felt guilty instantly. She had said those words to provoke a reaction, one that would affirm Blaze's accusations, but she found none.

It was unfair to do that to him. He was, after all, grieving father just as she was—unless Blaze was right.

Boman leaned down and kissed her then said sweet words to her. It confounded her. He left her soon after to continue his duties, thinking she would go right to sleep as she closed her eyes and turned away from him, but sleep was the farthest thing from Alyssa's mind.

She looked at the clock once, then again ten minutes later. It was time.

A knock sounded on the door; a peculiar tap-tap-tap sound as if on cue.

She threw off the blanket and went to open it. As expected, Blaze was standing in the doorway.

After he revealed his discovery about Alyssa's children, he had formulated a plan to sneak into the medical bay, where they were being kept.

"We don't have much time," Blaze said. "Let us move. Quickly."

She nodded and followed close behind as he moved.

Boman was at the helm of the ship currently. According to Blaze, they were still far from their galaxy and from Helios by physical distance, but they were preparing for a warp jump. This was to be the second jump in their trip, the first having been done while the humans were still asleep as soon as they had left Earth's orbit. All of this meant that Boman was very occupied with preparations, and if they were careful, he could not catch wind of their actions.

They went down the hallway, walking apart from each other so no one they met along the way could tell they were together.

As they got to the entrance to the medical bay, Blaze signaled for Alyssa to stop.

"Ada is on seat," he explained.

Alyssa peeked through the front door and to the side, the entrance to Ada's office was partially open, and she was seated at her desk, writing something.

"What does this mean?"

"She's a doctor, but she's loyal to Boman. If she sees us together, he'll definitely know we were here and why."

"So. What do we do?"

Blaze paused to think. The next moment, he whipped out a blade so fast that Alyssa staggered back.

"What is that for?"

"Relax," Blaze said. He reversed his grip on the knife, so the handle was pointed at her. "This is for you."

"For me?" Alyssa asked, horrified. "Are you crazy? I'm not going to kill Ada!"

"I'm not asking you to." Blaze laughed.

"Then."

"I need you to trust me once more."

"What are you asking?"

"I need you to stab me."

"What?" She closed a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. "That can be considered treason, stabbing a general? Are you out of your mind?"

"You heard me," Blaze repeated. "Take the knife and stab me. Right here." He pointed at his shoulder blade. "Stop worrying. I will make something up."

"I'm not doing that! Why would I do that?"

"The emergency room is to the left, and the maternity ward is to the right. I will distract her by taking care of me while you sneak in and see them for yourself. You will have to work with time, but you'll get your proof."

"Why don't you stab yourself?"

"Ada is a doctor. A darned good one. She'll know if I stabbed myself."

"But—"

"Do you want to see your children or not?"

She took the knife, shut her eyes, and stabbed him.

Blaze clenched his teeth to keep from making a sound. It was done.

Alyssa backed away, her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my god Blaze. What have I done?"

"What you have to do," Blaze said. "Now follow my lead, and we'll be fine."

Blaze pushed the door open and made his way to Ada's office, making as much noise as he could to conceal the sound of Alyssa sneaking in after him. She hurried out of sight and waited.

Ada rushed to him, and from her hiding place, Alyssa heard him say something about getting hurt by one of the trainees during practice. Ada threw a jab at the fact that he was the general, and he got tagged by a cadet, but it was clear she did not think to doubt him.

She led him away, and Alyssa waited until the door closed behind them, then she skulked away.

She found the maternity section and went in. And there, in a private ward, she saw an incubator as Blaze had described. She went closer and found two identical babies sleeping peacefully with breathing tubes and IV drips attached to them. Instantly, she knew without a doubt. It was them. Her babies.

Alyssa ran a hand tenderly over the wall of glass that kept her children away from her, longing to break through the glass just to hold their little hands but knowing doing so would probably kill them. Her tears started to flow. The connection of seeing them for the first time as their mother and bonding with them was taken from her.

But they were alive. They were alive!

She was so stunned by her thoughts and angered she staggered back, accidentally crashing into a cart she had not noticed before and sending its content crashing to the ground.

There was no time to think to hide or run, mostly because she did not even want to. Ada burst through the door a moment later.

"What is going on here?" she said. She had a strange object in her hand, but the way she held it told Alyssa it functioned like a gun.

She paused when she saw Alyssa standing by the incubator.

Blaze came in after her.

"Ada! Ada, wait!" he pleaded.

Ada looked from Alyssa to Blaze and back to Alyssa.

Alyssa stared brazenly at her as if daring her to use the gun. That was her children in there, and she would not back down. If this meant death, she was hell as ready for it.

"If you're going to tell Boman, you might as well pull the trigger now," she said.

Ada retracted the gun and tucked it away beneath her lab coat with a sigh.

"Well, this is a mess," Ada muttered.