Brynn Phytrelia 05

Chapter 05

When she awoke, it would felt as though no time had passed. The door of the chamber was still closed, and as Ophelia sensed her consciousness, she appear next to her.

"Mistress..." The voice was solemn as the image spoke to her. "I will...open the chamber for you. You will be happy to know that...the harvesters...they let us go. Atalanta is adrift...but I am confident that our captain will be able to make the necessary repairs...but...only if he wakes up. Since they shoved us back into space...about seven hours ago...he has yet to come to." The image frowned and disappeared, the door to the chamber opening.

Idris was scattered on the floor...not moving...not conscious. He was alive, the fall and rising of his chest made that clear...but he did not appear to be stirring. Brynn lifted her head slowly, groaning softly as an immediate headache set in. Reaching up slowly, she felt her temple, pulling her fingers away - they had a little bit of blood on them, and she could feel the dried blood caking her skin and hair. What had happened? And then it all came rushing back to her. The woman, beating Idris and then...they had found her. Brynn cringed as she remembered the sheer pain of her powers being forced up to the surface by the woman, and then being let go so suddenly. Idris...she had watched Idris offer himself up for her.

"Ophelia..." She looked at the little projection, staring as she began to explain what was happening. "Have you tried anything Ophelia? Shaken him? Shaken the whole ship? Anything?" Panic filled her to the brim, bubbling over, making every part of her ache as she rushed over to his limp body, ignoring her own pain. She grabbed onto him.

"Oh...Idris...please...please wake up. Please!" She gave him a couple of shakes, praying for a grumpy noise of acknowledgment, anything.

"Please Idris...I need you right now. Please be okay. Please wake up! Please!" She was desperate tears falling down her cheeks as she held him, try to bring him back to consciousness.

"Ophelia...can't you read him? Tell me what's happening with him?"

The image shook its head at her. "His heart beat and breathing seem...fine. I can't measure his brain waves from here to check to see if he is in a comatose state. However, like I said, because we are still without propulsion, there is nothing I can do in the way of tilting the ship or stirring him. He...he suffered a great deal...at the hand of his attacker." Her voice fell as the image walked around to the side of his head, looking down at him sorrowfully.

Then the image changed, growing larger, retelling the events that had taken place, showing as she was thrown carelessly into the chamber. Then the woman returned to Idris, her hands moving to the sides of his head. She shut her eyes and then smiled, tensing as Idris cried out in pain, struggling to pull her hands away from him as the agony coursed through him. Because his powers had no manifestation, subtle as they were, there appeared to be no reaction. But she cried out in pleasure and screamed, her eyes opening wide. She moaned loudly and Idris began to twitch. She let go of him, casting him to the floor. She looked over at one of the guards. She motioned at him, and he threw his weapon to her. As the weapon crossed the distance between them, she held up her hand, the weapon moving to a standstill in midair. She reached out and took it with one hand. Then she tossed it back towards him, but reached out her hand after it, the rifle flying past the man and out into the corridor, smashing into the wall. She smiled, pleased with herself. She left Idris on the floor. He groaned again, moving a little and seemed to drift off to sleep, or more likely, he seemed to just pass out at that point.

Brynn watched Ophelia replayed everything, horror taking over her face, and a hand gently clamped over her mouth. Poor Idris...he had done all that for her?

Ophelia's image returned. "I...I do not know what she did to him, but...it seems as though...she has somehow found a way to acquire his gift." The image shook its head. "We...will not know for sure, however, until he wakes up."

"Well, then we need to wake him up. Idris...Idris, please..." She went back to shaking him, to calling out his name over and over looking for any response from him. Holding him tightly to her she began to rock him gently, no longer shaking him. Great sobs welled up inside of her as she held him, whispering his name over and over. She needed him to wake up, needed him to be okay

"You should have let her take my gift, Idris. You should have let her take mine and you would have been fine. You would have been fine if you had just let her do with me what she wanted. Idris..."

Idris felt his entire world spinning. It seemed to cyclone around him with a great centrifugal force. He groaned softly, and felt his eyes open slowly, barely. His head bobbed a little until his world slowly stopped spinning. He moaned softly and reached out, taking her arm as if to anchor himself. "Where...'s she...?" He managed, half mumbling.

"Brynn...?" His head still bobbed a little as his eyes rolled around in his head.

As she heard him speak her name, her heart leapt, and she broke out into a smile, her sobbing quieting. She allowed Ophelia to talk to him, until he finally opened his eyes and then...Confusion came across her face and she let out a little chuckle.

"Captain...concentrate...on the sound of my voice. Focus...You are in your living chambers...with Brynn and I. Take it slowly...and open your eyes if you can...so that we know you are alright..."

Idris nodded groggily. "Ophelia...what happened...to...her?"

The image shook its head. "Do not worry. You are not alone. Just focus on the sound of my voice...and waking up."

He groaned softly, slowly opening his eyes to look at her. He smiled delicately at Brynn. "I remember you..." He shut his eyes for a moment. "Pretty girl..."

"Of course you remember me, Idris. Of course you do. Are you alright? Oh my...you shouldn't have done that, Idris. You scared me half to death." She wrapped her arms around him tightly, placing a soft kiss on his lips, then her kiss moved up to his forehead. "I'm so glad you're awake, that you're talking...Hell, that you're breathing! I'm so glad."

He smiled at her, his eyes still closed. He chuckled softly. He opened his eyes to look at her. "'S okay. You...are alright. You...she didn't...she didn't get you? She let you go...then? Where...where is she...where did they go? What happened?"

"Yes, she...let me go. I can still make fire as far as I'm aware. Ophelia would have mentioned something. I woke up, and...I found you lying here."

"After she...whatever she did...you passed out on the floor, Captain. They left us and jettisoned Atalanta back out into space. We are adrift, I am afraid. Propulsion is still offline."

Idris wrinkled his forehead and groaned. "Good..." He opened his eyes to look at her. He smiled at her. "I don't know what we did afterward...Pretty Girl...but you've definitely got me worn out. I can barely move...so exhausted."

She frowned a little bit as he called her 'pretty girl.' "Idris. why are you calling me that? It's odd."

He smiled up at her, reaching out with his hand, touching her cheek. "Because you're pretty."

Laughing a little, she shook her head and stroked his hair lovingly.

"Maybe we should get you in bed, I'll get you some tea...you need to rest before you get to work on the ship. Do you agree, Idris?" Staring at him for a moment she leaned down and placed another soft kiss on his forehead. "I'm so glad you're fine. I don't know what I would have done if I lost you."

He shut his eyes again and moaned softly. He pulled away from her and rolled over onto his stomach, slowly moving to his hands and knees before trying to stand. He looked over at her. "Will...you help me up?" He still looked groggy and worn out, his eyes barely managing to stay open for more than a few seconds at a time.

"Of course. Come here." She gently wrapped her arms around him and helped him to his feet. Once he was steady, she walked him slowly to his bed, gently laying him down, the bed still rumpled from their time together before all that had happened. Carefully, she laid him down, covering him with the blanket, as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Is that better, Idris?"

She began to stroke his hair again, watching him closely for any signs that something else was wrong. She knew she had to get up and leave him at some point, clean herself up. She could feel the dried blood still covering her temple, but right now all that mattered to her was Idris.

He looked up at her, frowning. He touched her head and pulled away his fingers. "Brynn! What...happened?!" He moved to sit up, very worried. Groggy and weak as he looked at her, his expression showed just how scared he was. "You're bleeding. What did she do to you?" He looked her over her. "We...need to get you cleaned up."

He pulled back the covers and moved to stand up. He took her hand and forced himself to stand, pulling on her with all his strength, but she could feel how weak he was, trembling as he tried to stay on his feet, the exertion great.

"Whoa...Idris. Stop, shhh. Shhh." Pressing her palms to his shoulders she gently began to push back him back onto the bed. She was stronger than him right now and she didn't find it difficult to do. "I'm fine. I hit my head on a wall, I'd be lucky if there wasn't a little bit of blood. Please stop worrying, I'm okay. Just a scratch. I'll clean it up, and I'll look fine. Okay?"

Gently she worked him back down onto the bed, shaking her head a little bit. "I'm more worried about you, okay? You're the one who..." Biting down on her lower lip, she took a deep breath. "Stop worrying about me. Worrying about me is how you ended up like this, so please...just..." She tried to stop the tear filling her eyes. "...stop and rest. Please?"

He felt her overcome him, sitting on the bed, though he didn't want to. He looked at her, shaking his head. "No...no. I want to make sure you are alright. People often pass off head trauma as nothing...because they don't feel anything immediately. We...we need..." his eyes closed a moment and he took in a sharp breath, looking up at her. "We need to...make sure...that you're alright..." He shut his eyes a long moment and winced, his hand moving to the side of his head. He groaned a little and sighed. "And...I need to find out whoever is using the acoustic disruptor inside of my skull...and have them turn it off..."

He grunted softly and looked at her, trying to stay focused. "And I am...worried about you. What else would I need to worry about. You think I would..." He looked at her, his face falling into sadness. "You think I would give up my gifts...to save you...only to have you fall into a coma..."

"Wait...acoustic disruptor, what is that? And this isn't the first time I've been thrown around, and been knocked out, alright? Actually this way was a lot nicer than previous times. Please, SIT!"

A tear fell down her face and she quickly bent her head to hide them, wiping at her face hurriedly. Slowly she spoke trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. "I wish you had just let her take mine, Idris...I can't stand to see you like this. I..." Her head lifted, as she moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around him. "You mean everything to me, Idris Chariton, and I'll be damned if I lose you, so please...just...stay laying down. I'll go and clean myself up. Please." Holding him gently, she let him go, moving back.

"An acoustic disruptor: it's a...it uses the vibration in sound waves to break up large pieces of rock or debris." He shook his head. "And better I than you...I wouldn't be able to bear it if she had...taken...it away from you." His shoulders fell and he shut his eyes, the tears rolling down his face. "It's better this way. You're...she didn't get a chance...to taste you...and...you'll..." He grunted, shutting his eyes. It was so hard to sit up...so hard to talk for so long. "If your head injury is as trivial as you say...then you'll be alright...able to fend for yourself, should you ever need to."

He rocked a little, his eyes closing. He wanted so badly to get out of bed and accompany her. "Are you sure...you don't...need...help. I...I don't want...anything else to happen to you...for you to get hurt." He reached back for the bed and lied down again, his eyes having so much trouble staying open.

"Idris. I would have never asked you to give up your gifts. What good have mine ever done me, hm? Maybe she would have been doing me a favor." A half-hearted, bitter chuckle escaped her lips and she looked away from him. "I'd have been normal and you wouldn't be so weak."

Quietly, she leaned to place a soft kiss on his forehead. "Rest, Love, and I'll clean up. Please...just promise me you'll wake up again. And when you do, I'll bring you food and something to drink and...we'll try to make this better. Just promise." Sighing heavily, she watched him lay back down, and gently grabbed the blanket to cover him with again.

He grunted softly, his eyes closing as he submitted and decided to rest. "Just...please...come back to me..." He whimpered a little, and finally drifted off to sleep.

"I promise." She whispered, watching him drift off to sleep.

"He appears to be in good health, Mistress. When he wakes up, however, we should get him to the medical bay in the ring corridor and make sure that that is no underlying damage. The transition of power has apparently left him very weak...but he should recover. Think of it as though you had just sprinted for twenty-five kilometers...with no breaks. How might you feel?"

The image was on the bed, next to him, looking up at her. "And we should take a look at your head. He is correct. Many humans often pass off head trauma as little to nothing. But if you are bleeding, you should absolutely get some readings to check for underlying injuries."

Even as Ophelia spoke to her, her eyes remained on Idris. She still couldn't believe what he had given up for her, just to keep her safe. Before she began to cry again, she focused on Ophelia. "Fine, Ophelia, let's go get my head looked at. Ring corridor you said?" Standing up slowly she began to walk out of the bedroom, reluctantly, wincing as she felt her headache grow stronger. Making her way to the medical bay, she walked over to the nearest sink, and began to clean her head wound up.

"Ophelia, where would you like me for my readings?" She asked as she watched the gauze she was using turn redder by the minute, the dried blood slowly coming away, as well as fresher blood. The image lead her around, heading left as it walked from the bedroom. It guided her around, past the entrance to the cockpit, and onto a side of the ship she hadn't been just yet. As she approached, the walls folded out, first opening down and then pulling to the left and to the right on their respective sides. A flat bed, suspended by arms, shifted out of the wall. The image watched as Brynn walked past, inside of the station to the sink meant for hand washing. There was antibacterial soap as well as gauze and bandages.

"Over here, Mistress." The image beckoned, standing on the side of the bed. "Lie down here so that my scanners can look you over and make sure that you are otherwise alright."

Brynn looked over at the flat bed, looking a little uneasy about the bed. Well, she didn't like doctors, so what? Tossing the bloody gauze away she walked over to the table, and slowly eased herself down onto it. "I'm sure it's just a headache, Ophelia. I've got a bit of a scratch." She reached up to check if her head was still bleeding. Just a little, she noted, probably from rubbing at it. Closing her eyes, she waited for Ophelia to begin her scan.

The bed was about waist height from the floor. It was extremely meager, just a two inch piece of foam on top of a plasteel slab. An arm extended out of the wall on her right, and starting at her feet, moving up slowly to her head, the empty semisphere, two small extensions that were reminiscent of pincers, projected an azure beam of light, a line that crossed perpendicular to her form. The blue line moved up to her neck, extending slowly towards her head.

"Close your eyes, Mistress. The scanner isn't harmful, but it's rather bright in your eyes."

The machine waited, and then extended over her head, the pincers swung around 180 degrees when the reached her scalp, moving down over her forehead again. The machine stopped, the line changing to a square, centering over her head wound. A monitor pushed out of the wall near her feet and then extended out on a short, hinged arm, showing her the screen. It projected the picture of her body and then zoomed in on her head. It showed how far down the bruising and the laceration went. It fell millimeters short of her skull.

"You appear to be alright. I think once Captain Chariton is alert enough, you should have him bandage you properly. For now, just take the cold compress-" the arms connected to both the scanner and the monitor receded into the wall and a different space opened, a small arm extending and reaching out towards her, a white pack in its finger-like prongs, "-and hold it to your wound to slow the bleeding and impede any further hematomas from forming."

She'd wait for her to get off the bed before it would retract back into the wall, the image standing on an imaginary platform near where the monitor had extended, the projection at eye level as it looked at her.

As Ophelia scanned her, she lay there a little tense, eyes closing upon Ophelia's request. She waited until Ophelia spoke again, 'til she sat up again, sighing softly, letting the tension that had built up inside of her ebb away. "So I'm fine? Like I said." Making a bit of a face, she knew it was best to have taken this precaution, than to be sorry. Idris needed her right now. "Thank you, Ophelia, for the check up. I'll just temporarily bandage myself up and wait until Idris is stronger to bother him with this scratch."

Laughing a bit, she got up off the table to grab medical tape and gauze. Walking to the nearest mirror, she paused in front of it, and began to place the gauze over it. "You know, Ophelia, before all this happened...I had been planning a romantic dinner for him and I. Candles and everything. I was going to wear that stunning dress you made me and just...dote on him. It all went wrong, Ophelia. None of this should have happened."

Guilt began to wash over her and she quickly finished repairing her temple, taking a step back to make sure it'd stay secure. "I'm going back to check on him." She whispered and began to walk back towards the bedroom.

The image disappeared, but she could still hear Ophelia's comforting voice as she walked back to the living quarters. "I could not agree with you more about being safe instead of sorry. As for the dinner, I would be willing to hypothesize that the captain would be satisfied with any degree of affection you offer him. Despite his human neuroses, and his facade of being cold or uncaring in certain instances, he is not even remotely as tough or cold-hearted as he lets on. However, should you wish to dote on him in such a way, I am sure that you and I can come up with something mutually beneficial."

Idris still lied in his bed, not having stirred in the slightest in her absence. He was on his left side, his arms held close, though there was nothing to hold onto. We're it not for his steady breathing, he would have otherwise appeared dead to the world.

"Oh I've never seen him as cold-hearted, always warm, and sweet. That's what makes me lo...Thank you, Ophelia. And you and I will come up with something. Perhaps when he is better." She paused at the doorway, staring at Idris for a very long moment, watching his chest rise and fall, rise and fall. It almost broke her heart to know that he was so helpless, that he was so weak.