Galactic Love

Chapter 3

The days passed in a monotonous blur. Cleo spent her time tending to their unconscious guest while her brothers and sister gathered water, food, and firewood. Exhaustion weighed heavily upon Cleo. Their guest's fever had refused to break. It had raged out of control and Cleo feared that there was going to be lasting damage from the high fever.

A week after the battle, the fever broke. Cleo relaxed a little as she tended to him. He wasn't out of the woods yet, but he was definitely a lot safer. Several more days passed without any sign of movement from the man. His breathing was deep and even as if he simply slept. There were times when Cleo thought he had died because she could barely discern a pulse or even see him breathing.

Two weeks had gone by and Cleo was worried. She was bent over the man checking all of his injuries. They had healed remarkably fast, too fast to be normal at least from a human perspective. Cleo found nothing wrong. She sat back on her heals and frowned down at the man as she absentmindedly scratched at an itch on her neck.

Hannibal and Lizzie came scrambling in with arms full of wood. Cleo stood and moved over to help them pile the wood up in the corner. Alexander followed them inside with an armful of kindling. He dumped it next to the wood before he dusted off his hands.

"We can't stay here much longer Cleo. We are having to range much farther than normal to find the items we need."

"I now Alexander. We can wait till the end of the week. If our guest hasn't woken by then I doubt he ever will."

Hannibal and Lizzie started bickering. Alexander stayed out of their fight and Cleo let them bicker. Everyone was going stir crazy. She was having trouble not snapping at her siblings. A headache was beginning to form behind Cleo's eyes. She rubbed at her forehead as she wearily told her siblings to please stop their bickering.

None of them knew that their guest had awoken. He lay unmoving, watching them with his hooded gaze. He was in pain. His body cried out for sustenance and it was so close at hand. He could hear the blood flowing in their veins and see the energy swirling around them. He craved them like a drunkard craves alcohol.

He had no idea where he was. He remembered defeating his opponent as he went after one of the natives and then everything went dark. Faint impressions presented themselves in his mind of gentle hands and a soothing voice. He wasn't too thrilled about being in a cave with people he didn't know. He was curious as to why they hadn't left him for dead. Why did they take the time and energy to heal him?

"Um...Cleo," the older of the two boys said as he pointed towards him. "The man is awake."

Cleo spun around, her attention focused on the man Alexander was pointing to. He was indeed awake. Cleo could feel is gaze from clear across the cave. Cleo took a deep breath before she headed over to him. She grabbed the bucket they had water in and brought it with her. Her stomach clenched uneasily as she neared him. His dark hooded gaze made her nervous.

He watched as she dropped to her knees beside him. He never moved a muscle, but just looking at him Cleo knew that he even as weak as he was he was still far stronger than any of them. Cleo set the bucket down and dipped a shallow hollowed out bowl into the water.

"Here," Cleo said as she slipped her hand behind his head. "Drink this. It is only water."

The man obliged and dutifully drank the water. Cleo repeatedly dipped the bowl into the water until he had his fill. Each time she brought the bowl to his lips, his hand came up and cupped her hand almost as if he didn't trust her. There was a slight tremor in his hand, but the feel of his hand against her skin caused her hand to tingle.