Page 42 of Uprooted

Elowen

Bihar is unlike any other city I’ve seen before. The space between buildings has been over taken by flowers and trees. Vines climb up the walls around us. Tilaks mill about between massive skyscrapers. High overhead, mazes of bridges connect tall buildings.

It’s impossible to tell where the ground is. I would be sure we were on the base when the road would drop out from beneath us, exposing another even lower level. I kept my face plastered to the glass of the porter the entire time, in a constant state of awe.

Unlike the cities on Earth, there is serenity here. The most modern buildings and tech, surrounded by nature. Ever the devoted tour guide, Aro points out his favorite places to get a meal and all the local tourist traps. He keeps a hand on my knee the entire trip to the hospital.

We come to a stop with a group of porters, waiting for our turn through a busy intersection.

We pull up to one with a Tilak child, who is staring at me through the plexi.

They point towards me, trying to get their parents to look at what they see.

I wave back and the child ducks down, embarrassed they were caught.

“You’re making quite the impression,” Aro says, laughing at my interactions with the little one.

“Gawking at a new species is one of those few things that everyone does, regardless of where they’re from,” I say. I remember doing the same thing as a kid, but I was usually the one everyone looked and pointed at.

“News is going to travel fast that there is a human on the loose,” I tell him .

“The program is essentially over. What are they going to do—send you home a few days early? They need you to pack up all that research.”

“There isn’t much left to do,” I whisper. I hate that this came up.

“Don’t remind me. I’m over here pretending like you’re going to stay and you have the nerve to ruin my fantasy,” Aro says.

He’s been not-so-subtly dropping comments about me staying here once the program is done.

I’ve even allowed myself to live in that delusion for a little while with him.

It’s getting harder and harder to pretend I won’t be leaving soon.

Now that it’s come up I have a pit in my stomach.

The brightness of the day is dulled by the reality of our circumstances.

He looks over at me and I force a smile, but it doesn’t quite reach my eyes.

“Let’s just be here today. We can worry about the rest later,” he says and grabs my hand. His ability to stay present is admirable. He is relentlessly present.

“You got it.”

Aro goes back to pointing out his favorite spots in the city.

The deeper we go into Bihar the older the buildings get, eventually leading to ancient ruins at the center.

Crumbling stones form arched temples that are barely visible from the overgrowth of plant life slowly taking over.

Narrow dirt paths wind between the old ruins.

“Eventually j’Tilak will overtake the remains of those buildings. After a while we might build new ones or just let it sit,” he tells me. I hope they let Tilak reclaim what was once hers.

“We’re here,” Aro announces when we pull up to another building that looks like it’s being overtaken by nature.

More creeping vines crawl up the walls and columns.

Trees huddle around the walls, their branches making a canopy over the roof.

Flowers and grass grow in fractal shapes along the bottom.

It’s the densest foliage I’ve ever seen.

“This is not what I expected. Hospitals don’t look like this on Earth.”

“The plants and trees come here to counteract the concentration of illnesses and injuries,” he says.

Aro tells me how the patients with the most critical injuries are closest to the outside natural environment.

They believe that the close proximity to nature can help heal.

The scientist part of my brain immediately questions the validity of that, but I switch off that cynical voice and believe what I have seen with my own eyes here on j’Tilak.

“This place will never stop amazing me.”

I admire the shifting grass as we walk to the hospital. I attentively step between patches to avoid smashing their delicate leaves. Aro confidently leads me through, and the plant life darts away from his strong and steady steps.

Andi’s room is at the far end of the building on the ground level. Before we even get to her room, I can hear her voice. She sounds happy. I can’t detect a trace of pain in her tone. Other voices murmur back and forth with hers. I quicken my steps, eager to finally see her.

I lightly tap my knuckles on the door frame before stepping into her room. She’s sitting upright on the bed. It's impossible to tell that mere weeks ago she was injured so badly.

“Surprise!” I say and come to her bedside.

“Elowen! What are you doing here?” she asks.

“We’re here for you. I had to see you with my own eyes.”

“Aro! I can’t believe you brought her!” she lightly scolds him.

He steps out from behind me. “Dr. Kahn, you are looking well.” He sounds nervous. I take his hand in mine and give him a squeeze. I want him to know I’m here for him. I’m realizing now he has been carrying guilt from what happened.

“I feel great, and please call me Andi. You saved my life,” she tells him.

Aro ducks his head and waves off her thanks. “It was nothing.” I can tell he is uncomfortable with her appreciation.

“You saved the day,” she says, undeterred by his humility.

I watch her, looking for any sign of lingering injury, but she seems like her old self. Feeling happy and maybe a little cooped up from being in a hospital bed for all this time.

“Aro, I want you to know how brave Lugo was that night. He sacrificed himself for me,” she says.

“Thank you. That means a lot. I was responsible for him, and I should never have sent him out there. He wasn’t ready,” Aro says .

It’s the most I’ve heard him speak about what happened that night. I’m glad he is talking about it. Andi has a way about her that makes people feel safe enough to open up and be vulnerable with her.

“By that logic, I would be the one responsible for the attack. I’m the one that requested an escort. I don’t blame myself and I don’t blame you,” she says.

I can tell it’s exactly what he needed to hear because his shoulders drop and a heavy sigh comes out of him.

“Let’s take a walk. I’ve been in this bed far too long,” she says and moves with ease to get out of the bed, no signs of any lingering pain.

We wander for a while through the magnificent gardens surrounding the hospital. Andi is still recuperating, so she loses her breath easily. We stop and rest at the conveniently placed benches.

“Can you believe we did it? We figured it out. No more polibots!” I say during one of our stops.

“You did. You figured it out,” she corrects me.

“The first thing I do when we get back is throw those bots into the incinerator,” I say.

“Oh, that can all wait. I’m not in any hurry to return to Earth,” Andi says.

“You’re not?” I’m surprised by her comment. I had expected her to be jumping on the first transport shuttle to get back and implement everything we have learned over the last few months.

“I trust our colleagues back on Earth to continue on without us,” she says and smiles back at Aro.