Artificial Heart

46

'How do you feel?' Embry's voice sounded strange. Deeper. More gruff.

'Better,' Prisha croaked.

He laid his hand upon her forehead, then smoothed it around her cheek in an inappropriate manner. She opened her eyes. It wasn't Embry but Alf hovering over her. Her heart swelled as it all flooded back: her near death, Alf's rescue, the mad dash across the park.

She's dying.

'Hello,' she said.

'Hello,' he returned.

Prisha's eyelids fluttered alongside her heart. She shifted with a wince, expecting pain, expecting indomitable exhaustion. Lifting her arms, she looked at her hands. She looked down at her elbows. The tubes were gone. She cleared her throat.

'How long's it been?'

'Twelve hours and thirteen minutes rounded.'

'It feels like days.' Her eyelids kept sticking together. She dropped her hands to her belly with a start. 'Is it okay?'

'She is stable.'

'S-she? O-oh.' Prisha's throat thickened. 'Help me sit up.'

His hands were warm as he helped ease her onto the side of the bench. 'I don't even feel dizzy. The pain's gone.' She touched her eyes. 'That heavy exhaustion.'

'You were depleted,' he said. 'The foetus consumed all your resources. You had no reserve. You were close to death.'

'I know. I thought I was. I saw you ... I saw you coming to rescue me. What happened? I thought you were g-gone—again.'

'I had to prepare.'

'Prepare?'

'They do not know. They cannot know. We are adrift.'

Prisha blinked. She rubbed at her head at a faint throbbing in her temples. 'What do you mean?'

'I have cut communication. We are alone.'

'You're not taking me to them? The baby?'

'No.'

Prisha's heart leapt into her throat. 'Then where are we going?'

'I do not know.'

'We're safe? They won't come after us?'

Alf shook his head.

'Truly?' Her chest flooded with excitement. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I said. I should have trusted you.'

'You were right not to trust me.' His mouth tightened. 'You can trust me now.'

Prisha slid from the bench. Alf grabbed her to steady her. Prisha threw her arms around him. 'I missed you. I dreamed about you. I can't believe we're here.' She pressed her face into his shoulder.

'I missed you too.' He laid his cheek upon her head.

They didn't separate for several minutes, quiet, unmoving. Prisha breathed him in. She enjoyed his warmth, the feel of his arms around her. She could feel his heart beating against hers.

She would have liked it to last forever but the strength drained from her legs and she slumped back onto the edge of the bench.

She took a shaky breath. 'I am still so weak.'

'You have not recovered. The foetus is growing quickly.' His forehead furrowed. 'We must be cautious.'

'What's going to happen now? I don't understand. You said you broke connection. They're no longer monitoring the ship?'