Page 20 of Kailirex (Brides of the Mylos #6)
CHAPTER 20
STELLA
When I saw it was a doctor entering the room, my heart felt as if it was being squeezed in a vise. His lips were moving but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying as there was a strange roaring sound in my ears. He stopped speaking before disappearing from my sight entirely, being replaced by Kai, who was kneeling before me. He cupped my jaw gently and it was as if his touch was magic. Time seemed to slow, but the normal sounds of the world had returned.
“There she is,” he said in a gentle tone. “Just breathe. Everything is alright.”
“I’m sorry if I distressed you. I glanced over Kai’s shoulder to see it was the doctor who had addressed me. ”I thought you were expecting me and that the fact I was smiling would let you know it was good news.”
I felt silly now, my cheeks heating as I admitted, “I saw the white coat and tablet and my brain took a vacation, I think.”
Kai patted my knee, retaking his seat before tugging me over into his lap.
The doc was smiling once more. “I understand. You probably thought I was here to deliver bad news. I’m thrilled to say that’s not the case. It appears that your father suffered a panic attack, which since he has angina, was easily confused for it acting up. I know that it might seem otherwise, but his coming in today brought him to the attention of our heart clinic where he’s not usually a patient and that’s a good thing.”
“It’s a good thing? Why? Is his heart getting worse?” Mom’s shrill voice cut the air like a knife.
“No, no, not at all. We had his regular doctor send over his records and his condition is quite stable as long as he doesn’t get too many serious scares like the one he must have suffered today. I understand you were served a thirty-day eviction notice while out walking your dog,” he said, looking at my father.
“What?” That surely couldn’t be true. My parents had lived in that apartment for thirty-five years, ever since they first got married. Many of their neighbors were also long-time tenants of ten years or more.
“They sold the building,” my father said, sounding heartbroken. “Last year they put everyone on a month to month basis and let us know they were looking at finding a buyer. We tried to get the others to form a co-op and buy the place, but we couldn’t get enough money together in time. The building has no historical value, so apparently an investment firm bought it so they could tear it down and put up something more modern.”
“It’s all that no-good boy’s fault!” Mom raged.
“What boy?” Piloris asked, looking confused.
“His son! His parents had been so proud of him, getting a job on Wall Street. Well, he gambled away all his money and some of the company’s! He has to pay back the company for what he took or they said they’d press charges.”
“Shouldn’t they press charges anyway?” I asked, horrified.
Dad shook his head. “They didn’t want the scandal as it could impact their clients’ trust in the firm as being a safe place to handle their investments. Since he didn’t touch any of the client’s money, they made a deal. He’s been fired and blacklisted, of course.”
“So, Mr. Zanecki decided to help Josh by selling the building,” Eric said, understanding. Then becoming indignant, “And he thought it would be okay to ambush Dad with an eviction notice while he was out walking Sookie?”
“Well,” Dad morosely replied, “he stopped me and apologized, saying he was sorry, but he thought it would be better coming from an old friend. Then he handed me the envelope and told me Landis Investments had decided to not keep the building and were evicting everyone. To be fair, when we didn’t raise the money and we heard they’d been bought by an investment company, we kind of thought this might happen. Still, it was a nasty surprise. I thought they’d let us know in advance what the plans were and maybe do like they did at Vinnie Chapman’s place. Landis bought his building and offered new tenancies at one of their other properties. He’s paying more but not full market value. Your mom, Pop, and I thought we’d be able to handle the rent increase if they did that. I guess I’d really been banking on that so when I realized we were just being thrown out on the street…” His voice trailed off.
“You need not worry about being homeless,” Piloris said archly. “As Mylos, you are now entitled to full living expenses being paid. You can choose wherever you wish to live, here on this planet or within the Fleet.”
Silence met this declaration, as everyone except our Mylos mates stared at him, stunned. They’d told us on the way here that our parents were now Mylos by extension as they were our immediate family, and so dad’s medical would be covered and he could receive advanced treatment aboard ship without applying for a program to get it. But this? I was just as speechless as the rest of them.
The doctor cleared his throat. “Well, you can decide where you’d like to move. I personally dream of retiring to the Bahamas,” he chuckled. “But, as I was saying, his coming here and gaining the attention of our heart clinic is a good thing. The Mylos have nanites that can repair the damage to your father’s heart and as his is not too advanced, he’s an excellent candidate for our reciprocal agreement. Though it looks like he won’t need to take one of our slots, since as Mylos, he can simply go up and receive treatment at one of their Sickbays.”
“Our Sickbays,” Mom said, latching on hard to the fact that they were now legally as Mylos as Eric and I were. She gave Dad a stern look. “As soon as they let you out of here, your butt is getting on a shuttle and letting them do that nanite whatever thing.”
“They’re microscopic robots,” the doctor told her. “They inject them, the robots do their thing, and then go into standby, unless they detect any new damage to repair in his heart. Though that’s not an excuse to not eat sensibly, get adequate exercise, and avoid unnecessary stress.”
“Thank you, Dr. Martinez,” Kai said. “When can he make the journey?”
Dr. Martinez looked even more pleased to be able to deliver this piece of good news.
“Since he’s Mylos? As soon as I let your Sickbay know to expect him. The discharge paperwork will take about an hour, but you should be able to shuttle back up immediately after that.”
Dad sat up, already trying to lower the side of his bed. “You all need to get out so I can make myself decent. I’m not flying out into space with my ass hanging out for all to see.”
The doctor laughed. “I’ll leave you to it then. A nurse will bring you your discharge papers within the hour.” He turned and left, closing the door behind him.
“I’ll let Tillin know. He was going to wait at Flushing to hear if we needed him,” Piloris said, naming the formerly disused airfield that the city had allowed the Mylos to put into use. Located in Queens, he was literally only minutes away so we wouldn’t have to wait long for his return.
“We can take a cab there,” my brother said, “Save him the hassle of flying here, landing, and taking off again. Plus that leaves the hospital’s landing pad free in case they have an emergency to deal with.”
Mom had managed to get the side bedrail down for Dad, and he swung his legs over the side.
“Yes, you go take care of that. And go let Pop know I’m fine and to pack some of his and all of Sookie’s things and ride over in a cab. Or is he not Mylos too?”
“He counts,” Kai reassured him.
“I’ll call him,” Eric said. “And arrange for a pet friendly Uber to pick him up in half an hour.”
“Where will we stay while we’re there?”
“His nanite treatment will take a very short time, less than a day probably,” Piloris replied. “But, I think maybe we’d all feel better if you stayed aboard for a few days. You can start making wedding plans and think about where you’d like to live.”
“If it’s no trouble,” Mom said, looking relieved at the thought of us all being close by.
“It’s not. I’ll just contact the quartermaster and have him assign you guest lodging. It’ll be ready for you as soon as you arrive.”
“Be like going to a fancy hotel in outer space,” Eric promised her.
I knew then just how worried she’d been when she replied. “I guess it would be a nice taste of what it would be like to live there. It wouldn’t get cold and bother Pop’s bursitis and we’d be able to see the grandchildren all we wanted. Easier for you to make it to our place for Sunday dinners, too.”
Kai smiled broadly. “I think we’d all love that.”
Warmth filled me like a comforting hug and I realized I was already starting to fall full on in love with this man. He was thoughtful of others and devoted to family, not to mention as gung ho about children’s educational programming as I was. The stars had truly brought me the other half of my heart and soul.