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In hindsight, I realized that maybe, just maybe, I shouldn't be too eager to try and move most of Hail Mary’s things into my new home— right after I had stopped being all skin and bones.
Don't get me wrong, my body was making impressive progress because of Eli and Will.
Well, not to play favorites but Eli was invested in my language when I arrived with Rocky. In just two days, he became more fluent in the human language and used it to study all the nutritional values of the human food and how it affected my biology.
Together with Will, who sort of became scientist turned into my ‘family’ doctor, they worked with me to put together a low level physiotherapy routine with a scheduled and alternating nutrient supplements as my recovery diet.
Within a week, I was eating solid synthesized food, building muscle mass back, and generally started to keep up with more moderate trainings. All things considered, it was a pretty significant improvement within the short span and I was pretty optimistic when I was able to walk up and down the steps with ease.
So when the Eridians wanted to help haul equipment down from my ship, I didn’t want to impose on them. They’ve built this amazing place just for me, kept changing things to suit my needs, so I told them that I can manage it on my own— with Rocky tagging along, because he's just stubborn like that.
See, this was going to be a long term living arrangement with an indefinite end of lease. They’re more than delighted to let me stay for as long as I wanted. Which led to me not wanting to risk leaving stuff unattended or losing all of Hail Mary’s lab equipment incase something happened to the ship. Surviving in space had taught me many valuable lessons on that.
Besides, if there’s any research or testing I wanted to do, I wanted a proper workspace to do it at the comforts of wide open spaces with ample lighting and a comfy bed rather than a claustrophobic space that I had spent years on.
But my grand idea to make repeated trips back and forth to the Hail Mary?
Probably should have scheduled those a couple of weeks apart, rather than back-to-back. I’m not a workaholic per say, I just— figured I can take it easy after all the moving gets done. Except the trips were brutal.
When the Eridians built the tunnel to connect the Hail Mary to the surface, they hadn’t exactly accounted for what their somewhat unstable tunnel would do to the human body. The platform was small, just enough for me and Rocky and maybe a bulky equipment or two if I packed everything carefully. And it’s swaying and moving at inconsistent speeds, slowing down, picking up, then abruptly slowing down again, rotating left, rotating right, a little spin to the left again, slow down, then spin to the right again and slow down, the cycle repeats itself roughly about 20 minutes.
It’s doing absolute wonders for my stomach and my head.
Mostly stomach.
“Grace very quiet.” Rocky had said that to me in the last trip as we were descending. Now, when I say last trip, I don’t mean that’s the last. I still have a long way to go but you’ll find out why.
“You don’t have to point that out.” I mumbled as I leaned my head against the wall and tried to stare at some imaginary horizon with the low lighting. There’s really nothing to see but I do have an imagination.
Rocky climbed up the equipment so he could be around my height, his new xenonite suit makes moving around a lot easier than being in a ball. He even had an autotranslator built in and I had requested to have a short delay so I could eventually understand his sounds.
“Your idea.” He pointed a claw at me. “Grace not used to Erid atmosphere. I said we take time to move things. But you said no, you want fast.” Then he shrugged. “So fragile.”
This is what happened when an intelligent life form learns sarcasm. I groaned. “Okay, I get it.”
And then this cheeky fellow rubs it in by raising his two arms and making a quick spin directly in front of me. “I can still go up and down and up and down again many more times~ Who is sick now, question?”
I couldn’t even made a comeback because the only thing that came out of my mouth was vomit.
On Rocky’s fancy xenonite suit.
To his credit, Rocky was more fascinated than offended. Maybe because the few times I did puked on the Hail Mary, I refused to let him study the chemical properties and promptly disposed of it much to his disappointment. Well, he prefers to be handed the specimen instead of having one all over him anyway.
To my credit—
Actually, no. I had no credit left after that.
And that’s how I ended up in bed right now.
I missed today’s class and I was really looking forward to show the pebbles how a Pharaoh's Serpent earned its name. When Rocky first introduced the group of pebbles to me, they were so darn adorable and cute! Rocky said they were really excited to see an alien from a different planet and I was more than eager to share everything to them. I literally begged him.
So lessons were arranged at two per week and it’s been so much fun with them. I told them about where I am from, what humans know about colors, the different species we have on Earth. Then we talked about the weather and aurora lights and snow for hours until Rocky had to remind us to wrap up. This is my third week and I was planning to show some chemical experiments before we dwell a little more in depth when well— this happened.
I don’t want to postpone tomorrow’s lesson.
But can I not postpone it?
The duration of me being able to remain standing was getting longer now. I had managed to get to the restroom, wash my face, and get back into bed before my brain decided to file another formal complaint. That’s progress and maybe once I started getting hungry, that’s a good sign of recovery. Maybe? Maybe.
Hopefully.
I really should have brought Armando in first.
I turned my head to stare at the glass window that melded seamlessly into the concrete mixture. There wasn't much to see, the material was opaque enough that the cliffs outside were reduced to vague silhouettes. So I closed my eyes and pretended I’m back on earth at a decent vacation beach house.
I would imagined that it’s early morning, somewhere down the sidewalk, someone was walking their dog. The house next to me has someone preparing their first cup of coffee while waiting for scrambled eggs to settle in a frying pan. An old man was carrying his fishing gear toward the beach.
Funny the things you miss are things that were completely ordinary things.
The next day, I had arrived much earlier to start preparations for the next lesson. I assured Rocky that I’m feeling much better and the trip to my class wouldn't bother me that much despite the temperature. The team had lowered it down and although the ocean’s not hot like the kind you could get a heat stroke hot but it's sweaty stick-to-your-clothes hot. I could smell my body odour one time and was glad the pebbles and the adults don’t point this out even if they had somehow noticed it.
Apparently, Eridians do have different comprehension abilities even when they were given explicit instructions directly from Rocky. 98 degrees celsius is not human’s body temperature by the way, 98 degrees fahrenheit is. And these guys aren’t always easy to get ahold of either so it’ll be awhile before Rocky can get them to change the temperature to an ideal 30 degrees for the water.
For the present time, I negotiated with Rocky that he could accompany me after the lessons ended so he wouldn’t worry about the humidity affecting me. As long as I don't stand too close to the waters, I’m pretty much fine and I still have my short sleeves to keep the heat off.
Just an hour before my lessons started, I do a double check to make sure everything is in order. I had poured a thick layer of baking soda and sugar layered in a bowl and measured the distance away from the barrier so the pebbles could still sense me and the experiment. Then, I waited for them while sitting on the stacked platform as a makeshift chair because somehow, just walking in a straight line and not even looking at the ocean can still stir the nausea in. That’s how sensitive my internal ear is but otherwise, I think I can conduct the lessons without traumatizing the pebbles of Teacher Grace shutting down for no reason.
When the pebbles arrived, they greeted me and excitedly asked where had I been yesterday. I didn’t want to worry them so I said I was preparing for a big surprise for today’s lessons. The table in front of me acts as a barrier since the pebbles sense of perception wasn’t as sharp as an adult. But— it’s better to take precautions.
So when everyone had all gathered and paid attention, I started my little magic show with ethanol and a carefully placed flame and voila, the pebbles trilled with excitement as Teacher Grace made the land “grew” into a spiraling charred column. I gave myself a few minutes to enjoy being hailed as Teacher Grace with “super powers” before I showed them what really happened. And then we started the lesson on thermal decomposition with a few more experiments that I had set aside to use along the way to keep everyone entertained.
The hours flew by like a blink of an eye when we’re having fun. There were times when the motion sickness sinks in just because one of them would get too excited and started spinning. I had to shift back further away from the barrier while I continue my lessons.
"And that's everything for today, I will see everyone next week." I announced as I started clearing away the clutter.
The pebbles tend to linger around to chatter among themselves, sometimes it gets too fast so I couldn’t pick up on what they’re talking about because the tones would overlapped with each other. I looked on in confusion when I caught one of them mimicking what I did with the Pharaoh’s Serpent and one of them pretended to be the spiralling column which another pebble decided to join them by climbing on top.
I sighed when another followed, then another.
And now I had a precarious tower of five pebbles stacked on top of each other, somehow swaying without falling off. And because they lacked the sense of self preservation, they suddenly realized they could spin on top of one another like a long, segmented Eridian clock. Oh boy.
I decided that it’s better to look away and cleaned up the mess I made. The ammonium dichromate is leaving ugly stains but that was my fault.
Lily chirped. “Teacher Grace, look!”
I didn’t look and kept myself occupied with rubbing the stubborn stains. “Yes, be careful now.”
“Look! Look!”
“I’m looking!”
“No Teacher Grace is not looking!”
Oof. I finally looked up.
The pebbles had changed their formation into a circle, their friends are stacked on top of each other so there’s 4 rows of pebbles. The first row starts moving in a clockwise direction, the second moves anti-clockwise, the third goes in a clockwise direction and the fourth follows the anti-clockwise direction.
I called out. "Class.”
Nobody stopped. In face, they start moving faster when they realise they could do it without tripping on each other. I realised then, that it’s not just them, but the world started to rotate a little too fast and my head felt light and airy as if it wanted to float away.
I swallowed as I gripped the edge of the table a little too fast and waited— everyone seemed occupied. I tried not to make any more sudden movements while the pebbles were busy pretending to be carousels. I can’t believe it has gotten this bad when it’s been a day already.
Right— time to pull out the oldest trick in the teacher handbook. I clapped my hands once. "Well, since all of you are still here! Now who wants— homework?"
The room froze.
Homework in this case, involved making molecular structure based on today’s lessons. Something which, these pebbles aren’t fond of because they’re not good at constructing these at their age and don’t want to get laughed at by their friends.
I start busying my hands as if I was searching for something on the table. It was also to distract myself as much as possible because I’m fully aware that my heart is racing and I just prayed none of them noticed.
I announced outloud. "Now which one should I picked. I need to think."
That finally got their attention. One by one they scuttled toward the exit, trilling hurried goodbyes to me.
“Teacher Grace?” Daisy, the last pebble approached the barrier.
I didn’t kneel down like I usually would because that’s going to be a problem when I get up. So I tried my best to sound as gentle as possible. “Yes Daisy, can I help you?”
“Teacher Grace—” Daisy got closer for a moment. “Teacher Grace take care.”
Awww. I placed both hands on my chest. “That’s sweet of you, Daisy. I will. Thank you.”
Daisy jolted slightly and then started scuttling away, a high pitched warble echoed out as she rejoined her friends.
Finally alone, I waited until the sound of their footsteps disappeared before I closed my eyes and exhaled. I ran a hand down my face, I can feel my hands were trembling.
It’s lingering somewhere behind my eyes, gently rotating the entire world and my nervous system. I swallowed against another wave of nausea and decided a short nap wouldn't hurt so I could wait for my brain to get the memo.
And also for Rocky.
I’m so glad we agreed to walk back home together.
I grabbed the cubes and arranged them in a row so I could lie down. I stretched out across it, closed my eyes, and concentrated on the sound of waves lapping against the sand just a few feet away from me. Nevermind that it’s warm, I’d just imagine it’s summer, I’m on a cheap vacation at the beach and it’s a beautiful quiet spot that tourists wouldn’t find.
That's all this was.
I’m at a wide open space.
There’s no shifting gravity.
No cramped tunnel.
Nothing is spinning.
Everything is fine.
Breathe in deep, breathe out slowly, repeat.
I didn't realize how deeply I'd plummeted into unconsciousness until something pulled on my knee and I jolted awake. I flail widely, entirely disoriented and almost rolled off my bench when I heard a familiar chirp pierced the air. I was still acutely aware of my heart doing a painful stutter in my chest as I searched around and then looked down.
It was Rocky.
I sank back with a breathless laugh. “Oh, hey.”
“Grace go home.” Rocky tugged on the hem of my pants again.
I laid there for awhile, I didn’t want to get up but my back is going to hurt and I rather be back in the comforts of my bed. So eventually I sat up, groaning as a wave of sheer exhaustion washed over me. Well that was odd.
There was a specific, quiet chord that rolled out of Rocky whenever he became worried. “Do you need help, question?”
“I’m fine, Rocky, I’m fine.” I forced myself upright and stretched out stiff muscles before I looked down at him. “Thanks for asking, by the way.”
I started walking, hoping the physical movement would force my brain to reboot. Have you ever felt so sleepy you could almost fall back to sleep even when you’re walking? Yeah— gosh, I must be really tired, I should have felt at least a little refreshed from the nap, yet my limbs felt like they were packed with wet sand.
Rocky walked beside me in silence, we walked further away from the shoreline because I could feel the uncomfortable sweat that started to prickle along the hairline. It would have been nice if the water’s a little cooler, then I could just see if I could take a swim. I should probably do that when Rocky isn’t with me incase he freaks out. I realised Rocky had stopped and I turned around.
“Grace don’t want to see sunset, question?” Rocky pointed to the artificial sky as he tapped.
It had turned a pastel pink orange, I usually stop to admire the lights but all I am seeing was those dotted visions that hadn’t gone away. Maybe a proper rest at home might solve this as I rubbed my eyes. I should probably tell Rocky to get Eli if it’s still there after a good night’s sleep.
“I’m a little tired, Rocky.” I admitted. “Maybe next time. Did you manage to get Lex and their team yet?”
Rocky shook his body. “Not yet. Soon I hope!”
“That’s fine.” We continued our walk. “What do they usually do anyway, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“They make big tunnel under Erid!”
I sighed. “I guess that does makes it hard to reach them.”
“They will come back soon.” Rocky caught up to me. “Their mate misses them too.”
I smiled, as tired as I was, it’s nice to know someone’s waiting for them. Well, soon I will have Armando waiting for me.
Speaking of, my belated brain registered to me as we reached the flight of steps that stretched all the way, I realised I had to climb all of that in this state. The heavy sigh escaped me before I could stop myself.
Rocky seemed to have picked up on why. “Rocky can carry Grace.”
“I rather not, buddy.” I started the flight of steps quickly before Rocky can get any ideas, which thankfully, he only followed after me. “I mean, I get that you can carry me. But— I rather not.”
If I climbed two steps at a time, I could cover more ground.
Nope. I can’t.
Just don’t think about it and keep climbing. Ignore the nausea— my shoe caught the edge of the steps.
Rocky noticed me slow down after the stumble. “Lessons should be postponed. Grace need more time.”
"You’re right, maybe just a week more."
Rocky chit and thumped. “No. One month.”
“What?” I turned to him, feeling the faint vertigo. “That’s excessive.”
Rocky raised his carapace at me, a gesture he mimicked when I leaned forward to nag at him before. “Grace heart slow, need longer rest.”
I closed my eyes briefly and sighed. “I’m not that fragile.”
Rocky chit. "Observation disagree."
"Objection, speculative."
"Overruled!"
I stared at him, ignoring the splotches obscuring his form. "No you can’t."
"Yes, I can."
"That's not how courts work."
"Grace not court."
Whatever. I rubbed my temples, I was too exhausted to argue right now, too—
Woah, almost lost my balance there.
“Grace.” Rocky’s chords became sharp. “You need to sit.”
The realization hit me at the exact same moment I noticed the static in my vision was bleeding together into a dense, dark clouds. I tried to pull in a deep breath, but my chest felt compressed. Is my throat closing up? No, I can breathe but my lungs felt heavy, the air wasn’t doing anything.
It’s not enough.
It’s not enough
Oh god, I’m going to pass out.
I need to let Rocky know what was happening before that happens. Deteriorating vision, fatigue, light headedness, low heart rate. I scrambled for a diagnosis against the floating sensation. Low oxygen in the blood? Bradycardia? Hypoxia? Orthostatic hypotension? Primary hemodynamic collapse? Vasovagal episode? Maybe? Could be? What if it’s worse? What if it’s a mutated condition brought on by possible exposure from Erid’s atmosphere leaking into the dome? Please, please not that because that would mean a structure is compromised and I don’t have the capacity to go through that tunnel again and then stay holed up in the Hail Mary and go back down that tunnel again.
Calm down, there’s spare minutes to still think.
What triggered it?
My foggy mind reeled towards the wave of dizziness earlier. How it hadn’t gone away, always clinging to the back of mind, surfacing back over the smallest of triggers. How I had to lie down and somehow was dead asleep until Rocky woke me up. How the spots had remained in my vision the entire time when it should have gone away the moment I started walking. Could it also be heat related? This doesn’t make sense. Maybe it did but— I need to lean on something now.
"Rocky—" My voice came out thin, all I could see through the small pockets of light in my vision, was that I’m still at the steps. But which way was I facing? Did I turn to look at Rocky? Was Rocky standing higher or lower? My fingers felt Rocky’s claws reached out to me abd I clumsily grab at it. I was starting to list to the side but I can’t find my sense of direction. It’s as if my memory of where I am just seconds ago was disconnected to the present me.
“Grace, bad, bad bad!” Rocky’s claw tightened but it’s not secured enough for me to lean on. He must be worried about using too much strength but I can’t even will my fingers to increase mine.
The realization sank on my stomach that there is no way of doing this without hurting myself or him. I can’t descend slowly, the signals from my brain were no longer reaching my legs. I lacked the motor control to ease myself down, even if I had something to hold onto.
“Grace, you have to try and sit!” Rocky’s chords were practically screaming now, a chaotic, dissonant blare of distress.
"I'm— I’m trying." The physical world shrank down to the sensation of slipping through an infinite shaft, something that was entirely unbound by physics.
In the void, the lines blurred between where I was and where I had been.
I could hear my own voice explaining oxygen partial pressure to a room full of middle schoolers on Earth.
The classroom was the same as I remembered, lights filtering in through the windows, casting a warm glow.
The blackboard had lessons from weeks ago. I waved it off and the chalk dust scatters into a shimmering like xenonite powder. Olivia was asking why am I floating upside down. I was about to answer when I heard a grating chord shattered the dream and instantly recognised what it was before the translator kicked in.
“Don’t let go!”
I snapped out of it. "I'm—” swaying.
Am I still breathing?
I need more air.
I tried to gasp— not enough.
I can’t do this.
I won’t know which way I’m falling.
Am I still holding on— I’m clutching my shirt instead.
Rocky, where—
My foot missed a step, the last remaining tension in my muscles gave way and the world flipped violently. There was a sharp impact against my shoulder, followed immediately by another against the side of my head.
Rocky called for me, I think, or something. It's hard to tell when gravity is pulling me into a sickening spin down the slope of the steps. Each impact was sending another jolt through my already failing senses.
Then something collided with me, stopping most of my momentum and then my head was covered awkwardly, it felt warm and for one brief, confusing moment, I couldn't tell whether my neck had broken and I’m feeling a muted sensation of impact.
Rocky's voice somewhere impossibly far away. He was shouting something, it wasn't my name but an alarming chord of complex patterns that the auto translator didn’t picked up. I tried to answer, but nothing happened. I couldn't feel my legs. I couldn't feel much of anything at all.
I tried to answer, but my mouth wouldn't move. I couldn't feel my legs. I couldn't feel anything at all.
If only I had five legs just like Rocky.
At least I won’t fall.
Then even that disappeared.
There was no gravity, no sense of my body, no awareness of where I was. Just fragments that surfaced and vanished before I could make sense of them. A classroom of students and pebbles laughing. The sound of waves rolling over the synthetic sand. The smell of taumoeba sizzling in a frying pan. Darryl was asking whether I'd finished my homework.
Then came the pain.
I tried to shift my head to get comfortable and immediately regretted it. A heavy ache had pulsed into the side of my head and radiated sharply down into my neck. That fall really did a number on me.
For several seconds, I just breathed through the pounding headache and lay perfectly still while I took inventory of my surroundings. The low lighting had enough illumination to show me I was back in my own bed. The blanket was draped all the way up to my chest. My limbs had that strange, distant heaviness which is odd but I quell down the panic that was bubbling at the surface. I need to know how bad this is without my body reminding me how painful everything is.
I don’t know how bad my neck is so I should probably be careful with that. I tried lifting my fingers, there’s soreness at the joints on my left. I can’t see it because of the blanket but okay, so it’s not twisted from what I can feel.
Then I slowly tensed and relaxed my forearms, the muscles contract without issues but my left shoulder and collarbone throbbed so I guess there’s gonna leave a nasty bruise. I hope it’s not broken.
My toes can clench and open but there’s an ache in both ankles, nothing that would point to a twisted one because I had twisted my ankle one time and this isn’t it. Aside from that, I can still feel my functional legs and I’m not in a cast or a brace so I should be—okay?
My brain helpfully supplied. All systems go.
Am I alone?
My eyes scanned through the limited periphery that I had.
Where’s—
Oh god.
I wasn’t the only one who fell.
A small movement caught the corner of my eye.
Rocky!
I turned my head to my right immediately.
Pain shot down the side of my neck and I cried out a little too loud.
“Grace don’t move!” Rocky chirped loudly.
Relief swelled up inside of me even though I couldn’t see him from this angle.
“Roc—ky,” my voice cracked, “where are you?”
Rocky scrambled over to my line of sight, he was practically vibrating on all five legs as he straightened up so I could see him. “I am here!”
There it was, a line on his xenonite suit that stretched all the way to the translator device and spread out into three fine parts, a superficial flaw on the surface that could have gone horribly wrong if Rocky hadn’t reinforced it somehow. But had the fall been greater, he could have died because of me again.
“Dr. Grace awake.” Will's voice was heard. “Good. Very good. Dr. Grace body is responding well.”
“You have a very terrible fall, Dr. Grace.” Eli appeared with Will trailing after him.
Rocky his claws. “Nothing broken!”
“Still hurts.” I cleared my throat.
Rocky cheerfully trilled. “But did you die, question?”
“Ha ha.” My throat hurts.
“Water for Dr. Grace.” Will held up a test tube with a straw attached. What a savior.
I sucked in a few small gulps, cool water running down my throat and instantly relieving the scratch. I cleared off the last remnants of whatever was in my throat and let out a sigh. “Thanks, Will.”
“You are welcome.” Will moved to set it on the rack.
“We performed a full scan.” Eli gestured. “No ruptures of your internal organs. No broken bones. No infection. No viruses.”
I frowned in confusion. “So what happened to me?”
Eli’s claws pointed at my head. “Based on yesterday’s event, we concluded that your vestibular system, the fluid inside your inner ear, has not fully recovered from the experiences inside the transit tunnel.”
My head is still fuzzy on this, that word should have been familiar.
Eli seemed to have notice my silence and continued. “Fluid structure inside inner ear is responsible for detecting changes in movement, rotation and gravity. The repetitive motions inside the tunnel imprinted into your system causing it to send conflicting signals to the rest of your body even after you are no longer in the tunnel.”
Well that didn’t seem right. “But, it’s been almost a day or two since then.”
“Too short.” Eli paused, her claws clicking against each other. “Like water! Water inside a bottle but a human bottle.”
I raised both eyebrows at this. Ow, that hurt. “Uh— I might need more understanding.”
Eli gestured widely. “If bottle of water shake furiously, there is bubbles correct?”
“Yeah?”
“Even when bottle of water stopped shaking, bubbles still there, correct?”
I nod a little bit. “The water needs time to settle down so the bubbles— Oh.”
Eli gave a short trill. “Correct. Dr Grace should have rested longer but you went for lessons, even when the water inside the bottle did not shake as strong as before, bubbles remain instead of fading away.”
“That’s— that’s an interesting example, Eli.” I smiled when Eli chittered in excitement. “So that’s why I kept feeling like everything is moving.”
Eli added on. “You would have collapsed eventually. Only, a matter of time. ”
I sank a little farther into the bed. “Oh.”
Will chimed in. “So Grace must remain in bed. Lessons postponed.”
Darn it. “Can I still move around? Is my neck okay?”
It’s not broken is it?
“Neck sprain but braces not needed.” Eli raised a xenonite capsule. “Painkillers every 12 hours. Movement must be limited to restroom for day one. Soft food starting today, I will provide dietary orders to Rose."
“Can I have the painkillers now?"
Eli tut at me. “No. 1 more hour."
It was easier to bypass a robot.
Will added on. “Rest will make recovery faster.”
There was nothing left for me to negotiate about so I accepted my defeat. “Okay.”
There was an exchange of chittering between Rocky and Will that the translator did not picked up but I recognise a familiar sound that was repeated between the two of them. It melded in between the foreign treble and high notes like an entirely different dialect.
Eli moved in between them, speaking in the same melody shift and prompting them to listen to him before Rocky turned to me. “Eli and Will go home. Tomorrow, they will return.”
I lifted my hand from the blanket in a thumbsup. “Looking forward to tomorrow.”
“Be well, Doctor Grace.” Eli stood straight and waved with one claw before he retreated with Will. Rocky, however, remained where he was, only taking a few small steps in their direction and then stopped.
I expected him to prepare to get back to his place too but as the door closed, he returned to my side and climbed up to my bed. I smiled when he tucked his legs in, my hand reached out to rest on the side of his suit and felt the heat comforting against my sore joints.
“Hey buddy ol pal?”
“Eli said one hour.”
Drat. I sighed and stared up at the ceiling, I really should have gotten Armando in here first.
“Grace believe Rocky now, question?”
I turned towards him. “Believe what?”
“That Rocky can carry Grace.”
I let out a breathless laugh. Okay, that’s a tiny pain on the rib there. “Yeap.”
Rocky chirped gleefully.
“Hey Rocky?”
Rocky tilted his carapace. “Yes, Grace.”
My finger tapped lightly against the side of his suit and for a few seconds, neither of us said anything. I wanted to say I’m sorry but I don’t think Rocky would like that. He’d dismiss them and insisted there was nothing to apologise for.
But what else could I say when I know this dreaded guilt would forever haunt me in its abyss? I see that line on his suit and I think of how much risk Rocky gambled to try and stop me from my descent down the steps. He had to have jumped after me and that’s another risk in itself because had we collided in a haphazard manner, his suit could get seriously damaged. A hard crash into a jagged rock into the seams of where his auto translator was fitted, and he’ll be exposed to oxygen. There won’t be anyone to help him if that were to happen again.
I had spent years telling myself that surviving impossible situations meant learning from them. Study the failures, draw up a process of correction and by all that is holy, don’t let it happened again.
Yet still, one tiny error of margin and I’m playing roulette with Lady Luck and my chip is Rocky’s life.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Rocky.” I said instead. It was the closest thing to an apology I could manage.
Rocky unfurled his legs and almost immediately, he bapped me on the head. “Grace stupid.”
I’m lucky he knew his own strength. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, okay?”
“Brain cell still at stairs, question?” He bapped me again, this time a little harder.
“Ow! What do you want me to say?”
Rocky let out a short trail of clacks in his way of an exasperated sigh. “Don’t say sorry.”
There’s a low warble that the translator didn’t picked up but he’s used it before. It breaks my heart when I hear it even though he said it never meant anything. It’s an equivalent to how humans just made audible sounds to express emotion without words, it’s what he told me.
This time, he gently poked on my arm. “Grace is safe, that is very important.”
I reciprocated, only because I wanted him to know I’m well enough to still move something. “Can I say thank you for saving me, Rocky?”
He perked up immediately then pat me on the head. “Thank you accepted!”
That gesture did not missed me at all but boy did my rib hurt when I laughed a little too hard.
“Why is Grace laughing, question?”
“I’m sorry, Rocky.” I cleared my throat. "Did you just pat me?"
Rocky paused. "Yes, question?"
"Whhyyy?"
"So Grace feel better.” He raised one claw and a digit straightened out. “Also!"
Oh I know where this is going.
"Grace no more ship trips."
"What?" Noooo, my Armando!
“Temporary.”
“Fine.” I’ll see you soon, Armando.
“No more lessons— temporary!"
"I know." I guess I could brainstorm some lesson plans while I’m stuck here.
"Grace rest."
"Yes, Dad."
Rocky paused. "Rocky is not Grace's father."
"I’m calling you out. Don’t pretend you don’t know that."
Rocky chittered in a laugh.
Well, good news, I did felt better after two freaking weeks.
Bad news, they brought the water temperature down to 38 degrees fahrenheit.
Odd news is that I’ve learned a few string of tones from Rocky that were clearly vulgar when he found out about what they did. So maybe one day I might just really get used to vulgar Eridian language after all.