The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 108

POV: Lyra

A quarter to five in the morning, Orion was resting his cranial area on the med-platform next to me, taking in my scent as he stroked my hand when, suddenly, he heard my soft vocalization. His body shot up from the seat, and he inched his face closer to mine as he uttered, "Star-heart. Star-heart, are you awake? Can you hear me?"

My fingers moved slightly in Orion's hand, and my optical coverings pressed down for a moment before they opened halfway to reveal those dazed black orbs. My dry vocal processors parted as I muttered, "Orion."

Orion's eyes were producing optical fluid with relief and joy. "Star-heart. Oh, cosmos. You're okay. You're okay." He pressed his lips to mine and I responded, albeit very weakly.

When I felt his optical fluid and he pulled away, I asked weakly, "What's wrong, Orion? Are you okay?"

He scoffed. I was the one on the medical platform. He chuckled as he said, "I am now, my love." He pressed neural contact to my cranial area, my nasal area and my facial surface. "I missed you."

I smiled with heavy optical coverings as my hand started stroking his in return. He pressed my fingers to his lips before saying, "I'm going to go get a doctor, okay? I won't take long."

"Wh-What? Wh-Where am I?" I started looking around as quickly as I could manage.

Orion panicked. He didn't want me to strain myself so he held my face gently in his hands and cooed, "Shh. Star-heart, you're okay. You're safe. You're in a medical station. I'll explain everything but I need to get a doctor to check on you first, okay?"

"Okay." I answered slowly and softly.

When Orion left my side, I saw a hydration cylinder on the platform beside me and tried to reach for it. Orion beat me to it, and he helped me sit up before holding the cylinder for me as I consumed half of its contents. When I uttered a soft 'thank you', he pressed neural contact to my facial area and got me to lie back down before signaling Dr. Karr to come over.

Dr. Karr checked everything from cardiac rate to fluid pressure to normal reflexes, and he was very satisfied with the results. He then asked me, "How do you feel now, My Empress? Any dizziness? Nausea? Discomfort on any part of your body?" I shook my head with a small smile.

"Any pain?" The doctor asked. I shook my head again.

"Not even in your left leg?" He asked in great concern. Again, I shook my head.

He was visibly relieved to hear that before proceeding to ask, "Do you feel sleepy, my Empress?"

"No. Just a little weak." I muttered, barely loud enough for the two Lyrokans to catch.

Dr. Karr nodded in understanding as he explained, "Nutrients and hydration will do the trick. I'll send someone up with something for you to consume. When you've regained your strength, we'll get to the rest of the questions. Just take things slow for now, and allow yourself to rest, my Empress." I nodded obediently with the same small smile.

After Orion thanked Dr. Karr and he left the chamber, Orion sat closer to my cranial area as I asked, "What happened?"

He smiled sadly. "What's the last thing you remember, sweetheart? I'll explain from there."

I averted my eyes as I thought hard before saying, "I was with Annie... and Russell. I sensed something. Then, I saw a male throwing a blade." My eyes widened all of a sudden, and I asked in a soft but frantic voice, "Where's Russell?! What happened to him?!"

"Star-heart, star-heart. Please. He's fine. Shh. He's safe. You saved him. Calm down. He's safe." Orion caressed my facial surface and my shoulder as I calmed myself before continuing, "I felt a sharp pain in my left leg, and I fell... I think. I saw that it was a blade. So I took it out, and... I think I threw it at him. And..." I blinked my eyes and shook my cranial area, stubbornly trying to remember before saying doubtfully, "I think he fell?"

When I turned back to face Orion, his eyes were glistening. He planted a deep neural contact on my cranial area and held me in a tight embrace before he said, "That was exactly what happened. You were so brave, star-heart. You didn't think twice before saving someone."

I suddenly mind-touched my match, Darling. Can't process atmosphere.

Orion loosened his hold on me immediately. "I'm so sorry, Lyra. I'm so, so sorry." I saw his watered eyes but I didn't understand his reaction. It looked like he was apologizing for more than the tight embrace. Before I could ask, someone knocked on the portal, and a station staff came with some nutrients for me. He brought the tray and placed it in front of me before leaving the chamber with a warm smile.

Orion helped me to sit up again, and he sat next to me on the platform before starting to feed me the protein mixture. When I emptied the container, he gave me some hydration solution and wiped the faint nutrient stains off my vocal area before putting the tray away. I refused to consume the glucose supplement, saying that I was already full so Orion had it instead.

I stared at the med-covers as my thoughts roamed far. He sat next to me again and asked, "What are you thinking about, Lyra?"

My black orbs were regaining their shine, much to his Lyrokan's relief. My voice was more audible when I asked, "What was on the blade? It didn't feel like titanium."

Orion's expression hardened, and he took one of my hands before he started stroking it lovingly as he said, "Xytherium. A lethal amount of it."

My eyes widened. I and everyone else knew that no Kaelari could survive Xytherium, not even in its most minute amount. "H-How did they save me?"

Orion smiled before he said, "They didn't, Lyra. You saved yourself." Before I could argue, my match explained, "We were losing you. They connected tubes into you everywhere and started the bio-fluid transfusion. Even then, you were weakening. Your vitals were failing. About ninety minutes later, your cardiac rate started to pick up. Three hours later, they removed the respiratory apparatus and you started breathing on your own again. The doctors had no explanation. They don't know how you were doing it. You were just doing it."

I leaned into the support cushion behind me as I muttered to myself, "That can't be right."

"Don't say that, star-heart." Orion cupped my facial surface and angled my face towards his so that our eyes locked as he insisted, "Losing you wouldn't have been right. The fact that you survived IS right."

My eyes were filled with nothing but confusion when I asked, "How did I do it?"

Orion raised his eyebrows and chuckled lightly, "I don't know, star-heart. But I'm glad you did, aren't you?"

"I do. But how did I do it?" I was still trying to figure it out. It was malfunctioning my processor. Orion didn't want me to be overloading my systems when I had just regained consciousness so he tried to help me think. Maybe I wouldn't have to overexert myself that way.

"Maybe it's the same way you heal from titanium?"

"Huh." I thought that was a viable explanation, then I muttered without thinking, "This one hurt more like a void-spawn though."

When I felt Orion's grip tighten all of a sudden, I quickly added, "B-But it's all gone now. I don't feel any pain. It was just bad when... it happened."

He took both my hands in his and pressed them to his lips before he whispered to me, "I'm sorry, Lyra."

"What? What for?"

His voice cracked when he said, "I didn't protect you. I let you down. Again."

"What? No! You weren't even there..."

"Exactly."

"No! That's not what I meant! Orion, this isn't your fault."

"It is, star-heart. I'm your match. I was supposed to protect you, but I didn't. And you got hurt. You almost t—" he couldn't even say the word 'terminated' without producing optical fluid.

I took my hands back and reached for his cranial area before gently pulling it down, pressing him into my thoracic cavity where he heard my cardiac pump beating in regular rhythms. His Lyrokan sought comfort in the sound. I held him there as I stroked his cranial covering.

His optical fluid flowed onto my medical garment. I waited for him to steady himself before I said, "None of this was your fault, my acacia. Bad beings do bad things. All that matters is that everything's alright now. Please stop blaming yourself. Please?"

He peered up, and saw me looking down at him with those large eyes as I whispered, "Please? For me."

He lifted his cranial area and pressed neural contact to my lips. "It's not fair, sweetheart. You know I can't say no to you when you look at me like that."

"I know." I said with a cheeky smile. And Orion smirked before tickling my waist to elicit my giggles. When I calmed down, I reached for his face and traced his fatigue marks before I said, "You should enter rest mode."

He took my hand from his face and pressed it to his lips, holding it over his cardiac pump as he said, "I'm okay."

"Orion, you're exhausted. Just rest for a few hours."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight again, Lyra." Orion stubbornly insisted.

I started thinking before I said, "I'm right here, Orion. I'm right here with you." I patted on the part of the platform where he laid his cranial area watching me rest before I said, "Just rest. I'll wake you if there's anything."

He was still reluctant to rest. But when I looked at him with my large eyes, even his Lyrokan knew that both his conscious and primal parts were done for. How did he get someone so selfless? I was the one recovering and yet I was worried about him. He sighed, and pressed neural contact to my nasal area before he whispered, "How did I get so lucky to be bonded to you, my love? You're so perfect."

I simply said, "That's because I rested. You should too."

Orion narrowed his eyes at me for spoiling the moment and tickled me again. When he saw that my color shifts were returning, he felt more comfortable giving in to a rest cycle. He laid his cranial area on the platform and embraced my lower limbs. His hand searched for mine before putting it in his cranial covering, and when my thumb stroked through his thick brown neural strands, his Lyrokan purred in bliss. Orion took in my scent, and fell into deep rest mode.

Orion woke up about two hours later, and when he heard hushed conversations, his cranial area snapped up and his grip around my lower limbs instinctively tightened, holding me protectively in his arms.