Beyond the Empyreal Stars

40.

4o.

The next morning when Odette walked into the Ward's suspension room, the tank Duke had been in was empty and all support systems were off. For a split second, her heart stopped, thinking the worst.

"They have moved him to one of the recovery rooms," the Healer on Duke's case said from behind her. Indus had been working on Duke's recovery in the suspension tank since they arrived back on Terra. He constantly reassured her he was going to be fine, especially after what Lucina had done for him.

"A recovery room?"

He nodded. "He is in the wake up phase since all internal and external injuries have been healed. It is the psychological effects we are going to worry about now. Though humans and Terrians are much alike, the human brain..."

"Which room?" she asked, cutting him off.

"Down the hall, third door on the left. I will be there after I get his test result feeds..."

Odette was out before he could say another word, all but running down the hallway toward the room Duke had been taken to.

He was lying on the bed, sheets neatly folded down at his waist. The upper half of his body was bare, though several bio-monitors were stuck to his chest, abdomen, and temples. After weeks of being in the tank, all she wanted to do was touch him.

Odette pulled one of the chairs over to the side of his bed and reached forward to take his hand in hers. His skin was soft and smooth. In suspension, not only were his most recent injuries completely healed, but all of his scars were erased, including the one that cut across the left side of his face and into his hair. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened to him and he grew into this man before her.

The door to his room opened once more.

"How long until he wakes?" Odette asked without even looking at Healer Indus behind her.

He cleared his throat as he walked over to the holographic screen connected to Duke's bio-monitors. "There is no way of telling, Prime One."

"Please, call me Odette. I am still not used to the Prime One title. I still think of myself as Paragon, so it will take some time."

She saw him smile from the corner of her eye. "Noted." He turned back to the screen, going through each of the feeds shown. "Heart rate is good and so is his blood pressure. As for the brain activity..."

He pressed a finger against it, making it shift into a three-dimensional model of Duke's brain, flashing as neurons fired. He pointed to the left temporal lobe and the specific area that lit up.

"His auditory cortex is functioning perfectly...including hearing us right now. Like the doctors back on Earth say, try talking to him. Maybe that will help him...and you, too."

Healer Indus gave her a smile and left as she tightened her hold on Duke's hand before leaning down to kiss it.

"Can you believe that?" Odette smiled, looking up at his face, his closed eyes. "A Terrian Healer quoting a human doctor. And here I thought we were the dominant species between the two...but I am going to give it a try to humor us both."

The AI Evangeline, who had long since been dormant without having someone to answer to, spoke. "Human doctors have made quite a lot of advances in their own medical practices over the years. I have compiled medical feeds..."

"Thank you, Evangeline," Odette smiled. "I have actually already seen them, but thank you."

She traced a finger along the back of Duke's hand and swallowed hard before speaking again. "This is the first time I have gotten to touch you in over three weeks. You have been in a suspension tank for that time so they could make sure you were completely healed. You are fine, though, just like I told them. Like you said, you are too stubborn and would put up a fight. And you know what? I am too selfish to let you even think about dying. I meant what I said. I need you, Duke Mitchell."