Behind His Weary Eyes (Novella) ✔️

10 ✙ Phantom Pain & Adopted Hearts

Care.

The word rattled in her mind while she scanned the room. Square glass pods holding oval eggs lined the walls. Being the primary hatchery, Concordia could incubate hundreds of Celests. But, with their rising lifespans, many incubators laid empty. The white light made the ebony-shelled offspring appear out of place. The only color came from the mauve Lynren bouncing around the room.

Asa fidgeted with her pencil, an uneasy feeling throbbed in her veins. In her tribe, they kept hatchlings in a nest, surrounded by warm leaves and warmer smiles. Here, nothing touched the children except the occasional Reformer to turn the egg. She'd been told that some parents only came once a week, if that, to hold them.

But it was functional, and that was enough.

"I'm surprised you're helping him, considering his condition," Finnley said. He hummed while adjusting the dials of various incubators.

Even though Celests could adjust to any environment, their eggs needed to stay within no larger of a 20-degree range during incubation of the temperature they were laid in. The Reformers and medics also adjusted temperatures to simulate the different times of the day.

"They have the resources right now which gives me time to find a cure."

"What if you can't find a cure?"

"Then I'll stop the spread by eradicating him and the others."

"That sounds more like you," Finnley said, sighing. He finished his inspection then turned to her. "Have you been able to find out anything substantial?"

Asa checked her notepad. A mix of emotions stirred in her stomach as she skimmed her notes from the previous days. His symptoms were everywhere. The medic figured it was some sort of chronic illness due to the way it flared in his body, but she'd never seen anything like this. To make matters worse, he had refused any of her suggested treatments.

She bit the end of her pencil. With such little information on its origin, all she could do was curb the symptoms. And Renvir wasn't even letting her do that.

"Not yet. I plan to try some Wycit to curb the pain and reduce inflammation of the nerves. If that's even the source of it..."

Or if he even takes it, the medic thought to herself.

She fiddled with the small, packed of crushed herbs in her pocket. Before Finnley could answer, the door opened. Renvir stepped in, wings pressed tightly to his back to squeeze through. Asa watched the gray miasma around him pulse insatiably around him. It tugged at his arms and weighed down his back.

"Pod three-o-three, please," he said then turned to her, "Thank you for meeting me here."

"Of course."

Finnley hopped to the adjacent wall, scanning the map of the hatchery. For a moment, his lips twitched downwards. He ushered them back to one of the adjacent rooms.

"Have your symptoms increased lately?" Asa asked, breaking the silence.

"Five days."

"What?"

"I have not seen my child for five days."

Asa froze, but not because of what he said. The dials for his child's pod were set to off. Renvir's breathing quickened, hyperventilating Asa concluded. Finnley spouted apologies, quickly removing the large, ebony egg. Swirling violet and navy patterns laced its oval exterior.

"Hold them close. I'll get the incubator back up and running," the Lynren said, handing the egg to Renvir. The Celest took a hold, wrapping his arms around it. After a moment, he cracked open his mouth.