Cat Eyes: Sirius (Marien's POV only)

Chapter 12: I must be strong

The evolved men were still watching us.

"Sorry," one murmured.

I shot a fleeting glance of hatred at the three of them and looked back at Anthony. It had not been their fault, but I couldn't help it. The people approached.

"Let's take him to the clinic!" one exclaimed.

I took his pulse, and it was weak. I stood up, and one of the evolved men lifted and took him, guided by the villagers. I swallowed hard and followed them. I didn't want to lose sight of Anthony. I didn't want them to take him away without me noticing. I feared for another second that it was another trap.

The clinic was small but seemed to have what it took. Upon arrival, I burst into the room.

"I am a doctor," I said, showing my identification.

Anthony was on a stretcher, bare-chested. An elderly doctor and two young men were by his side. They had connected an intravenous line.

"How is he going?" I asked, trying to remove the tone of anguish from my voice.

"Stable. These beings are strong, but he has lost blood. We'll put a type O blood unit; it's the only one that works for them. There was no time to examine his blood type, so we turned to it. We don't have much left anyway."

"Mine is type O, please, take it," I said without hesitation.

"Don't worry, for now. I think it will be enough. He has wounds in the upper body, sagittal axis, and dorsal area. They have torn off some flesh..."

I didn't pay much attention to what he said, just enough. I couldn't take my eyes off Anthony. I reached out and stroked his hair, his cheek... I sighed, put on gloves, and started disinfecting and covering his wounds.

"They regenerate quickly. Tomorrow he'll be on his feet," added the doctor.

"I know, thanks."

"Sorry, this happens here, although they only sleep and take them. I must admit that I had never seen a young one in my life either. They are usually over thirty years old."

"Well, to be honest, I also only studied adults' corpses," I admitted sadly. It was all because he had been exiled for failing his society. They were sent to die, to their fate. They were cruel to theirs too.

"We can't do anything; those government men have EH with them, and you know how dangerous they can be."

I sighed. So, it seemed to be. The stories were real, and this was awfully bad.

***

I stayed with him all night, sitting in a chair with my arms and my head on the mattress, looking at his face tilted towards me. I caressed his hair occasionally, then closed my eyes and fell asleep unintentionally for a few minutes and other times for a couple of hours. They brought me my backpack and a little snack. I didn't want to see him fight anymore; it was horrible.

It was already around five in the morning when I opened my eyes and met his gaze; he gave a slow blink and his lips curved into a slight smile. I tightened my lips to keep my eyes from betraying me, but they still did, welling a couple of tears that rolled down my cheeks. I wiped them off right away and sighed.

"You are fine," I said.

"Why are you crying?" he asked in a whisper.

"What kind of question is that? It's because of you."