Behind His Weary Eyes (Novella) ✔️

19 ✙ Rending All False Hope

From her head to her tail, heat enveloped her scales. Asa shifted, the sheets scratching her more so than she remembered. Her eyes opened with a hazy gaze. The medic rubbed them, but it didn't change the image.

There, beside her, laid Renvir on his stomach. His draconic head sat on top of the pillow with both eyes shut. The tattered blanket spread over them rose and fell with his deep breaths.

Her memories of stripping down, of their bodies intertwined, of the toe-curling pleasure he'd given her that she had done the very thing Zienna warned her not to. She became intimate with a patient. Not any patient, but one suffering from a chronic illness. The gray cloud, however, spread over the Celest as a transparent mist, barely visible.

His wings spread over her, creating a cocoon. Considering the heat her body still gave, he'd successfully deposited an egg. It'd become a child if she fertilized it in the next few days. And, by her species tradition, their activities had bound them together until she laid her egg unless she didn't conceive. Asa's lips tightened.

Is this really what she wanted?

Renvir stirred. His eyes cracked open and grinned as his silver eyes landed on her. Yellows and reds danced across the miasma surrounding him. Slowly, he pulled her in close. Their colliding made her realize they were still naked. Yet she smiled. While pregnancy was not a guarantee during a Wikev's fertile period, it was a near ninety percent certainty.

Her hand strayed to her abdomen. Her smile grew. Maybe Ludis had been right. But was desiring a lover and child a bad thing? Did it matter that they weren't the same species?

Her breathing quickened. But what about Renvir's illness? She didn't want to spread the disease with a child, did she?

Without warning, she began to hyperventilate. She shouldn't be spreading the Celest's disease. What would her parents think if they knew? What would her classmates think?

Her throat tightened, suddenly feeling sick as her thoughts grew louder and louder. The medic rolled over onto her hands and knees.

Would they be killed for being interspecies? What would Zienna do if she found out?

Before she could think of any answers, dizziness overtook her. She closed her eyes while her body swayed. The wings on top of her slid off, and the mattress shifted.

"Asa?" Renvir asked, his voice sounding foggy as her mind. The medic couldn't answer. She couldn't breathe, yet her thoughts continued to pound in her mind relentlessly.

She shouldn't carry his egg, she shouldn't want this, she shouldn't...

"Asa, what do you need?"

It's then she realized her entire body was trembling. She turned to look at the Celest, but she couldn't speak between her breaths. She couldn't answer him anyway. She didn't know. Hesitantly, the Celest reached out and placed a hand on her bare back.

"Is this okay?"

She nodded. Her patient continued gently stroking her. Her muscles gave way, forcing her to lay back down. While her breathing steadied, she curled on her side. Despite this, her heart continued to pound. It wouldn't stop. The thoughts wouldn't stop.

The door slammed open. An icy gust of air forced the medic to pull the sheet back over her naked body. Rolling over, Asa saw a winged shadow walk through the doorway. Her mouth slid open, and her heart stopped.

"Zienna." The words came as a whisper, causing the Celest beside her jolted upright.

The Head Core Reformer's piercing gaze slit right through any last hope or happiness inside the medic. Her navy claws glinted in the shards of sunlight.