Reunion

Varya had been burning the candle at both ends as her project kept her up at night and excitement to keep working woke her up early each morning. There hadn't been a project that motivated her this much since she left Earth. Using her mind made her feel more alive than anything else.

After all the time she put into the invention, she was nearly finished and her blue eyes brushed over what seemed to be a light grey, metal gun sitting on the table in the prince's quarters. She was proud at how sleek it turned out despite the lack of materials she had.

Using a material that reminded her of solar panels from earth, she had created a gun that, if done correctly, could take the prince's fire aura and create concentrated blasts of fire that could be extremely fatal. It could take the aura and store it up with the intention of shooting a much bigger blast. This gun wouldn't be able to handle it without the right type of reinforced metal, but to draw out the aura would be the hardest part. It was apparent that she couldn't test her invention out herself so she left it on the table, deciding to wait for the prince to return. She wondered what he would think of such a device.

There was no purpose for an invention like this, but she wanted to prove to herself that she could adjust to her surroundings. Walking on the same planet were aliens that were so unlike humans, yet so like them all the same. They caused her mind to work overtime. Impossibilities became realities in her new reality. Her love of science and technology was starting to come back in full force and she decided she was going to pursue it - with or without the ability to go anywhere by herself.

It had been a full week since the prince had left and the day was starting to come to an end. She stood at one of the floor-to-ceiling windows and sighed as she looked at the palace grounds far below. From this window, part of the garden was visible. It reminded her of Basileus being overprotective of her when she was approached by another man. That moment had stirred up feelings in her that made her equally nervous and excited.

There was a noise at the main door that caused her to turn around, her heart suddenly in her throat. It was almost dinner, so it was probably just a servant, but she couldn't help but hoping it was the prince returning.

As the door slid open, a huge smile spread across her features as she realized the object of her thoughts had finally returned, but the smile quickly disappeared. There were two muscular aliens on either side of him, holding him up as if he couldn't walk by himself. His head hung in defeat and his eyes were hardly open. They moved into the room and walked him towards the bed. It was apparent he was trying to walk but didn't have the strength to do so and his foot occasionally dragged.

Varya stood there, stunned, but had to shake it off. She was going to get in the way if she wasn't going to help. She ran forward and pulled the blankets off the bed so they could lay him down. Once he was against a pillow, she put the blankets over him.

More aliens walked into the room. There were some holding Basileus's armor which was severely dented and almost the entire back piece was missing. Dried blood was evident on its surface. Others carried his boots and various other items that were his.

In the back of the group, there was one alien wearing a lab coat. Her skin was salmon colored and the grey streaks in her brown hair and wrinkles gave away her older age. She pulled glasses that rested on top of her head over her green eyes and started reading from some kind of clipboard.

Varya moved towards her, looking for answers.

"What happened?" She asked breathlessly, trying to control her emotions.

"You will have to ask Prince Basileus after he has rested. He has been in and out of consciousness since he was admitted to the med bay on Emperor Kruos's main ship," the doctor said. "However, what I can tell you is that he has hypothermia and multiple puncture wounds. The worst of them is midway down his back. Whatever he went through, he's certainly lucky he doesn't have a punctured lung. On the journey back to Planet Ptoma he underwent two rounds of blood rewarming to bring up his body temperature. I wanted to admit him further for observation overnight, but at one point of consciousness, he requested we take him back to his quarters, going so far as to pull the monitoring equipment off of him and try to leave." Saying her last sentence, the doctor looked less than pleased.

Varya felt like she was going to pass out at the sudden influx of awful information. The bed was nearby and she sat on the edge.

"How horrible…" she trailed off, shock causing her to not be able to speak.

It felt like she had been rebuilding her heart for the past couple of weeks only to have it shattered in front of her again. She had to wonder if her life would always be so full of heartbreak.

"Ah, here's a nurse with the warmed IV I requested," the doctor said.

A nurse in a light blue uniform came in wheeling an IV. After bowing slightly in the doorway, she brought it to the prince. She quickly had the IV placed and wrapped his arm, holding the IV in place.

The doctor continued, "All I ask is that you let him rest. Basilians heal very quickly, so I don't believe he will need more than a couple of days. Periodically I will return to check on him and bring in another warmed IV."

The doctor and all of the extra warriors exited the room, leaving Varya and Basileus by themselves.

It certainly wasn't the reunion she was hoping for. Earlier she had pictured jumping into his arms and getting kissed again. Now she wasn't even sure if or when he would wake up. It took courage to turn her head and really look at the prince. Despite the doctor's words, she felt she should see for herself what he looked like.

Basileus's eyes were shut and his lips were parted as he breathed. His face hardly had any scratches on it, but he seemed pale. The blanket she put over him was up to his chest so she could only see some of the bandage that covered his body. There was blood seeping out of the white cloth in places - the sight of it made Varya feel nervous.

"What happened to you?" she asked, a heavy feeling was in her throat. She felt tears start sliding down her cheeks, but she was determined not to cry. The prince would probably be annoyed if he woke up to her crying and she figured she should control herself so that doesn't happen.

Without knowing what she could do for him while he was unconscious, she decided she would wait for him to wake up. All she could do was climb into the bed next to him and watch his chest rise and fall. She made sure not to touch or move the blanket covering him.

Eventually, she fell asleep. Being that emotional always took a toll on her and made her feel so tired. On top of that, the last few days of working on her inventions had taken all the energy out of her as well.