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Chapter Eighteen

RYLIE

The lift opens and I walk up to our room only for the door not to open. I run my hand over the scanner once again, then look over at LeX who is really acting odd.

“ Is the door broken or something?”

“ Umm , I do not think so. Here let me try.”

Of course, the door opens right up. “ Show off, maybe I just didn’t hold my hand right or something.”

“ I am sure that is all it was. Destiny , will you take a look at the scanner? Rylie’s heat signature would not open it.”

“ I apologize Medic LeX , it should be operating properly now.”

“ LeX , love. I know we don’t spend a lot of time in our rooms, but we really should update this place, it still looks like a bachelor’s pad after all these years. Wow , I don’t remember it being this open to the outside. The view is absolutely amazing, isn’t it? We probably had most of the blinds closed when we were in the Nebula , but now that we are back home, I think we should leave it open like this. If we’re going to be here for a few weeks, we should have SAGE look at this entire space. If it was slightly more comfortable, we would spend more time here. We stay in the lab way too much now as it is. You know, I think I’m beginning to get jealous of the glass containers you are always fiddling with. They get more action from you than I do.” Teasingly , I bump him with my hip as I walk into the bathroom.

“ Will you order us a snack while I get cleaned up? I can’t wait to tell you all about this dream I had. It was so realistic, that must have been the reason I overslept this morning. I can’t believe I fell asleep in the med bay again, and when I woke up, it took me a moment to realize where I was.”

The entire time I’ve been talking, LeX has just stood there watching me and I swear he actually blushes when I start to pull my shirt off as I’m walking into the bathroom … refreshing chamber. I laugh at myself as I’ve started using all these human words way too often.

Stepping into the ionizer, it oddly takes me a second to figure out how to turn it on. It’s almost like I’ve never seen any of this before. Shrugging it off, I step out once it’s done and walk up to the viewing wall, only to stop dead. Wow , my coloring seems a little off, and this is the first time I’ve ever noticed how human-like my facial features really are. Running my fingers through my shoulder length hair, I shake off this feeling of things not being right as I walk over to our wardrobe, only to find there are only three outfits hanging on my side.

“ LeX where are all my clothes?” I swear I feel like I’m living someone else’s life here lately . Grabbing the first thing I see, it’s a bright blue jumpsuit practically the same color as LeX’s hair. Starving , I rush to get dressed, only to discover Lex sitting on our bed, his hands covering his face. Crawling up behind him, I wrap my arms and legs around his waist from behind. “ Hey , what’s going on?”

“ My life has been turned upside down, and I have no idea what to do next.”

“ Oh , mister dramatic, as long as we have each other everything else will be fine. No matter what is going on anywhere … or everywhere else, you will always have me. Talk to me, LeX . I hate it when I have no idea what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours. I understand you are worried about Ember and the youngling, but the Lord of Light will see us through this. He has never steered us wrong yet.”

“ Will you take my mind off things and tell me about this dream of yours?”

Lovingly , I lean my head against his back while he plays with my toes like he’s never seen them before.

“ It was weird LeX . To the point that I swear I’m still having flashbacks from it. I think it’s because we’ve been so focused on finding the humans, that somehow my subconscious flipped on me. That’s all I can figure because it was so real, I felt like I was really there. I could smell things and was even experiencing them like I was really living it. I still feel like something or even everything is off, but I can’t seem to figure out what.

Okay , here goes, and yes it sounds crazy, but I -was-human ! Literally , I lived an entire life on another world and all of it had to have happened in a matter of hours … I think ... Lord knows it felt much longer than that while I was in the dream. And an even stranger thing is all these human words I’ve suddenly started using. I know we studied their race extensively and I’ve been around Ember and Qwin a lot, but it’s like I’m now speaking a whole other language.” Suddenly my head starts to hurt, and I rub my temples.

“ How peculiar … now that I think about it, I don’t remember actually talking to Ember or Qwin that often. Anyway , I’m getting off the subject. You would not believe what I looked like as a human either. The brain is an amazing thing because I swear you would think I suddenly just got all these scales and then turned yellow overnight. Here I go, rambling and off the subject again. The dream was so detailed I could remember growing up, even certain events. Like how I gained the scar I have on my knee where I wrecked my hover bike as a youngling. I can even recall meeting you for the first time at med school and all the fooling around we did as we sneaked into each other’s dorm rooms.

Or I think it was you anyway; you looked the same but so different. You still had all this luxurious hair, but it was because you were in a band. Why my mind made that up, I have no clue because you sure can’t carry a tune even though you often try in the ionizer.

I even relived that horrible plague that occurred on that outer sector planet that was affecting all their young carnivores, but in my dream it was the human’s children instead. Even my heart felt heavy there, and I got really sick, but you were there to fix me, as always. I even saw the pods, but they were in a completely different setting than floating around, damaged in space. Near the end, right before I heard ViN’s youngling crying, I could smell danger and the dark clouds in the distance were terrifying. Even in another life, I was reaching out to you, always looking for you, but you seemed to be a shadow. Mostly I could only see your reflection, but I could hear your voice and feel your presence all around me.

Never have I been more thankful than to wake up and realize I’d been dreaming the entire time. I wouldn’t want to live that nightmare for real, my mind isn’t strong enough to handle all of that. The most bizarre thing is, some stuff is still a little fuzzy, like I have been asleep longer than usual. I know all of this sounds crazy and if it was someone else telling me this story, I would suggest they be evaluated.”

The longer my story goes on the more tense LeX feels, and I swear it’s like he is hiding something. “ You did sleep more than usual. I tried to wake you several times, but you looked so peaceful I just let you rest. You must have been more tired than you realized. Other than that odd dream, do you feel all right?”

“ You must have only woken me up enough for my mind to drift off somewhere else. Because I can remember you asking me to come with you. We ended up walking together in a field full of flowers. My goodness, remind me not to eat before I go to bed anymore. I’m still worn out, and I just got up. You know, you sure feel good. Having you all wrapped up in my legs and arms where you can’t escape is something I’m enjoying. I was even thinking if we have time before dinner this evening, we might be able to sneak in a quicky.” I reach up, my teeth grazing LeX’s ear only for him to quickly unwrap himself, practically jumping out of my arms.

“ The sustenance should be here soon. I had better get clean up.”

Sitting on the bed all sprawled out, I scoot back against the headboard. “ Did you order my favorite?”

He looks at me like he’s never seen me before. “ I just told Destiny to send a tray, I did not ask for anything specific. I will be back in a moment.”

“ Take your time, I’m just going to spend this rare chance to relax for a little bit. I’m so exhausted this rising if I fall asleep, wake me up so that I have time to get dressed for dinner and find out where Destiny moved all my clothes too. Hey , before you go, what did you do with that book you were reading me earlier? I want to see what happens with Randy and Petal .”

“ I left that holo pad in the med bay; do you want me to go get it before I get in the Ionizer ?”

“ Not if you promise to read to me later.”

“ I promise.”