A Song of War

two

nunc scio quid sit amor 

now I know what love is 

*       *       *

I opened my eyes to the sound of Mimi. She was trying to be quiet as she looked at the numbers on the machine and typed them into her computer.

Her lips raised at the sight of me watching her.

"Hey baby," she whispered, still not willing to shatter the silence and admit that it was a new day.

"I dreamed that a dragon carried me back to my bed," I said.

Mimi's smile widened as she adjusted the machine. She shook her head at the needle that was out of my hand. Scolding me for pulling it out. I let her words wash over me, thinking back to last night and how vivid my imagination had been.

A knock on the door had both our heads turning.

"Can I help you?" Mimi's tone was wary. She knew that I didn't often have visitors.

"Ares?" My eyes widened at the sight of my dragon. I sat up too fast, swaying in place while Mimi steadied me. Behind the boy was a man. I could see the resemblance. He was older and fiercer, his eyes staring at me with concealed emotion.

"We're here to see her," the man said, tilting his head to me. Mimi seemed to bristle at his comment.

"Are you family?"

The man smiled, baring his canines to Mimi. "Might as well be."

His comment didn't soothe her. The boy ignored them both, stepping forward until he was standing at the edge of my bed.

His eyes scanned me, looking up and down to fully take me in.

"How are you?"

Surprise washed over me. I was rarely asked that question. It might have been because I was a child, and the doctors thought I couldn't give them an accurate response. They would rush into the room, all smiling but still anxious to leave as they turned to the nurses. How is she?

Even on the rare occasions that mama came, it was still the same concern. How is she?

How are you?

There was a strange feeling inside me that flinched at the sight of lying to my dragon. I wanted his protection, and I could gain that by telling him the truth.

"I hurt," I whisper.

Mimi's soft sigh full of grief reaches my ears. Her hand touches my hand, feather light before pulling back.

The boy stepped closer.

"Ma'am," the man in the doorway holds out his hand, beckoning Mimi to him. She seems entranced, almost under a spell as she follows his command. I watch her progress, wondering what it was that affected her.

She followed him out the door, leaving me alone with the boy.

I flinched from the feel of his hand taking mine.

"It's okay," he said, his grip tightening only briefly before loosening.

"I thought you were a dream," I said.

His smile, so much like the older dragon's, shows itself to me. I could see how this boy would grow up to be like the man. How he was still learning- but soon- time would change and he would be the one spitting fire and roaring.