Embracing Ember (2 page)

Ceylon had nearly drowned in his grief when he helped to take care of Eon’s mate, Serenity when she contracted the Blue Death. She was nearing the end of her existence when Kylan’s mate, Anna determined that she must be immune to the deadly disease. At the insistence of his mate, Kylan had changed Serenity’s treatment and ultimately saved Serenity. When the opportunity came from the Council to go to Earth, Ceylon jumped at the chance to escape the reminders of his loss.

Dr. Langston sighed before stating, “Look, Ceylon, I’m going to be honest with you. It looks really bad for her, so that is why I’m going to allow you this, that and the government has been pressuring all of us to try and see if you had any secrets to impart. What do we need to do?”

Ceylon wasn’t shocked that the government wanted things from his home planet, in truth, Ceylon and his fellow Salinians were expecting to get the one thing they had lost, females. Ceylon nodded before stating, “I need her ready for transport to one of our ships.”

Dr. Langston shook his head before answering, “That isn’t possible. I can’t allow you to leave with her.” Ceylon had expected this, but without her coming with him to the scanner on his ship, so he sweetened the deal with the good doctor.

“I understand that, but she has to come with me to my ship for the equipment. I also understand that she is under your care, therefore it is prudent that you accompany me to my ship to see firsthand our technology.” Ceylon replied.

Dr. Langston nodded before announcing to the trauma team, “Everyone please stabilize the patient to the best of your ability without leaving this room and ready her for transport to the Salinian ship. Tell EMS to get me a unit STAT.” There were several yelled concerns, but Ceylon ignored them taking out his communicator. After their first encounters with the different types of communication devices, several of the scientist and engineers of his planet had come up with their communicators. It worked similarly to the Earthlings cellular phones, but didn’t require satellites or towers for successful communication.

“I need transport for three people, one Salinian and two earthlings. We are coming in with a female who has been gravely injured. Please prepare the scanner.” Ceylon replied. When the voice on the communicator stated he understood the instructions and assured that his transport would be swift. He watched with baited breath as the trauma team continued to stabilize her.
What made this female so important?

TWO

Ceylon stepped out of the back of the ambulance where the nurse and paramedic were continuing to maintain the female’s stability. From the looks the nurse kept throwing the paramedic, Ceylon understood that time was of the essence. He breathed a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he had been holding when the small transporter ship came into view. Before the doctors had accepted that the female would be transferred in her current state, they had insisted upon her being intubated. When Ceylon had looked at Dr. Langston in confusion, he had explained that intubation allowed for a secure airway so that if she quit breathing on her own, then she could be ventilated manually by machine or healthcare personnel. Ceylon nodded and allowed them to do what he had done for Eon’s mate with non-invasive facial mask that kept the patient’s airway patent and allowed for mechanical ventilation. Yet another difference in their healthcare practices.

Ceylon greeted the young pilot and introduced Dr. Langston, the young nurse with dark brown eyes and tanned skin that had been referred to as Maria, and the Paramedic a mid-aged male with blonde hair and blue eyes that was called Paul and began to give orders for the female’s expedient transport. He watched as his young pilot stared at the little nurse and decided to take pity upon him and called him over, “Silvius, load the female and take the little female nurse with you, she may be helpful to keep the sick one stabilized until we can get her in the medical scanner.” Silvius nodded and carried out his orders post-haste. Maria seemed surprised when Silvius explained that they needed her to accompany them up with them. It turned out to be a tight fit and what was actually ten minutes felt like a lifetime, especially when the little nurse’s face drew into a grim countenance. Ceylon felt as if his beloved Ashwin were dying again and those memories seemed intent on invading his mind, but he ruthlessly tamped them down. This female needed him to be a healer now.

They rushed her to the medical bay and he removed the equipment from her and had Silvius help him to outfit her with the breathing mask and place her into the medical scanner. Its appearance seemed to confuse Maria, so she stepped forward, ever the patient advocate and asked, “You say this will save Ember?”

“What is Ember?” Ceylon asked his thoughts already on the little female within the confines of the medical device. He keyed in the sequence to diagnose and mend her injuries. He turned to Maria after the instructions were in place and was confused with her stern face.

“Ember is the woman you just put in your thing that looks like a coffin.” She snapped when she held his attention. He nodded at her and frowned.

“I apologize Maria my mind was on Ember. Sometimes I don’t completely grasp your language. Yes, this is the scanner and it will make a complete diagnostic scan and begin to heal her traumatic injuries. I believe she will be injury free in twenty-four hours. Thank you for coming with us to ensure her stabilization. I will show you to some quarters where you can rest. I believe Ember would feel better if she awoke to a female’s presence. I forgot to ask if you’d be willing to stay. Do we need to find another female or will your mate or children mind if you stay aboard?” he stated.

“I’m single and I don’t have children. I just need to contact my roommate and let her know that I’m okay and I won’t be in until later. So if I can use a telephone that would be good.” She replied seeming to relax now that she knew he wasn’t callous, just absorbed in Ember’s care. Silvius came over and led Maria to the quarters that would be hers while she was aboard. Dr. Langston was looking over the medical bay with interest. Ceylon sat beside the medical scanner and patted the shell with the silent prayer that they had arrived in time to save this female, Ember. He smiled to himself as he remembered the meaning of ember and it certainly fit the small female with the hair the color of fire.

Dr. Langston came over to Ceylon and looked at him expectantly. Ceylon took the hint and began explaining the function of the medical scanner. “We have found a certain type of light that emits at a high enough energy to scan the internal workings of the body, much like you have used radiation. We also noted that it sped up the healing at a cellular level making the repairs that you allow the body to make on its own. We were very fortunate to have stumbled upon something like this. My only wish is that our infectious disease processes were so easy to beat.” He stated. The scanner finished its diagnosis portion and put its report on the screen for Ceylon to read. He read the results out loud and found himself becoming enraged for the abuse Ember had had to endure. “It seems Ember has suffered from many broken ribs, some of which had punctured her lungs, a ruptured spleen, and multiple bleeds in her brain. That isn’t mentioning the lacerations that covered her body or the seeming minor broken humerus. It also appears she has a plethora of older broken bones that have healed. The medical scanner has begun its repair.” Ceylon stated in a voice void of emotion that he viciously tamped down. He knew that if he allowed his emotions free reign then his rage would be misdirected.

Dr. Langston nodded before commenting, “Sadly this is the way things normally go. There is no telling how long she allowed the abuse to continue. It is hard for people to escape abusive relationships. I will leave her in your care. I will give instructions to Maria to follow your orders as she would any doctor, but I must warn you she is an adamant patient advocate so she will argue with you. I’ve worked with her long enough to know she doesn’t argue to undermine your authority, but to make sure that you are doing the best for each patient. So don’t let her brash nature upset you. If you need me, please don’t hesitate to call, until then, I must return to Trinity Heart. I have a hospital to run.” Dr. Langston said. Ceylon nodded and left the elder man to his arrangements. He sank into the chair beside the scanner and allowed the memories that had threatened him with each moment in Ember’s presence cascade through him.

Ceylon’s heart seemed to stop beating as his friend was forced to place the breathing mask on Ashwin. Her once beautiful dark red skin had been drained of its color, fading instead to an ashen grey sickly color. Her eyes once a vibrant hazel now glazed over with the sedatives given to ease her pain. He smoothed her chocolate brown hair away from her face and placed a kiss on her cheek her skin feeling like ice beneath his lips. He slipped into the bed beside her and held her close as he allowed his body to slip into a fitful sleep, his hand upon her chest feeling the beat of her heart that seemed slower than it normally was. His consciousness slipped from him taking him to happier times.

He relived their child hood together, playing with her in the small wooded area beside their houses. The way her hair was placed in braids on either side of her elfish face and the way her eyes would light with happiness when he gave her a pretty flower. He relived the years when they went to college together and they would stay awake for hours talking about nothing. He remembered falling in love with her, their first kiss and the night he claimed her as his mate. Of course there was always the Blue Death; they had both lost relatives to it. But she hadn’t yet succumbed. How foolish of them to think she wouldn’t be affected. He remembered seeing the blue spots for the first time and the fear that invaded her beautiful blue eyes. The prayers he prayed that her case would be minor and only take away her fertility. The worsening and the night they’d had to hook her up to the machines just to keep her sedated enough she didn’t suffer. It only got worse. Tonight her lips had turned blue, its harrowing color an indication that she was at the end.

He awoke and looked down into her face one last time as the thread beat beneath his hand stuttered to a stop and the light that had once brightened her eyes faded to nothingness. He didn’t remember much after that, but friends had later told him they had to sedate him because his grief was so deep. Their funeral procession ended in her cremation. He scattered her ashes in the wooded area that they first fell in love as children. His life had become empty after her death. He barely ate or slept. He became a shell.

***

Ember woke in a room that she didn’t recognize. She saw paintings scattered everywhere and painting supplies on a table in the corner. Her confusion only grew when she noted that they were her paintings. Ember had never left her work out. She hid them in the floorboards of the closet in the bathroom. She had noted it was the one place he never searched too thoroughly. She was startled when a middle-aged woman entered the room, “Ember, are you gonna sleep the day away?” she asked with a smile. Ember stared back at a replica of herself. She felt the color drain from her face. The woman came over and sat on the bed beside her and smoothed her hand over Ember’s face and gave her a look of concern before stating, “Are you not feeling well?”

Ember didn’t know what to say. She didn’t really know who this woman was but if she had to guess it was her mother. Ember had always dreamed about what her mother would be like. Of course she knew the story of how she had ended up in the foster system. Her mother had stumbled into the Emergency Room and given birth to Ember. The doctor’s tried everything, but she had hemorrhaged and died. The nurse that was taking care of her mother had talked with her while working to keep her calm. She told the nurse that she wanted to name her daughter Ember, because her daughter had hair the color of fire. The nurse had told the state agency she was turned over to and they honored her mother’s wishes. Her mother had been alone in this world. All of her next-of-kin had died in various accidents and she was an only child, so Ember had been placed in the system. It wasn’t a bad experience, just a lonely one. Probably the reason she had soaked up Landon’s attention so readily.

“I’m not sure what to say?” Ember said cautiously.

“Well, that’s not all that uncommon, Ember. Come on down and get breakfast. I saved you a plate.” The woman said as she got up to leave. Ember thought quickly and decided to just go for it.

“Mama?” she called out as the woman reached the door. The lady stopped and turned looking at Ember expectantly. “Thanks for cooking breakfast.” She said quickly to hide her confusion. Her mother, she assumed, smiled at her and exited. She got out of the unfamiliar bed and looked around the room. Was she dreaming? It had to be, but maybe her other life had been a dream? But why could she remember all those frightening years with Landon but not remember growing up in this unfamiliar house with that unfamiliar woman? She stepped cautiously out into the hallway and studied the pictures that lined its walls. There was one of her as a child learning to ride a bike smiling at the unknown person taking the picture and another of her graduating high school, the lady hugging her close and beaming in pride at her accomplishment. She remembered those occasions a little differently. No one was there to celebrate her learning to ride the bike. She didn’t have anyone to give her pointers or help her pick herself up from the concrete. No, she did it because all the other children could ride a bicycle therefore she had to prove that she could too.