New Host

13 - Venom

"I'm getting worried. Her heart's barely beating." It was Celest, speaking in a trembling whisper. "Shouldn't it be working already?"

"It doesn't work that quickly on normal people, but I wouldn't call Elva 'normal.'"

I opened my eyes, and a draconic Mark jumped back from my bed. Ugh, this was the first time I'd fallen into a truly deep sleep in the last two days, and I'd stopped actively controlling my host body. It was a good thing I'd managed to repair much of the autonomic nervous system, or else I'd be dealing with a corpse again.

My digestive system jolted into action, and I sat up. "Bathroom." I rushed out of the room.

When I'd taken care of business, I left the bathroom to find Mark and Celest waiting in the hall.

"How do you feel?" Mark spoke carefully and calmly, like he was talking to a child who'd just had a limb amputated.

"I'm fine. Sorry for scaring you both. I didn't mean to sleep so deeply."

"Or for so long?" He smiled.

"How long has it been?"

Sniffing, Celest hugged me tight. "So long, I was so worried."

Mark crossed his arms. "It's been nineteen hours. Do you usually sleep like that?"

"No, it was a side effect of putting in so much physical work yesterday. Now I've regained a decent amount of mobility, I shouldn't have to work so much in one session again."

Still looking like she was on the verge of tears, Celest let go of me. "No, you most certainly will not. You're staying home today to rest and recover."

"I don't need to. I've slept plenty. And watch, it was definitely worth it." I sprinted down the hallway and executed a perfect hurdle jump before spinning on my heels to face her again. "I couldn't do that yesterday. I could barely walk yesterday. Now I feel much better. It would be a shame to stop all forward progress." I dropped into a crouch and jumped up again. "But if you really, really want me to, I'll stay here under protest."

I dropped down again and tried a push up, but I hadn't worked my arms enough yesterday. I ended up flat on my stomach. "So, what'll it be?" Rolling on my side, I pulled my legs beneath me before jumping back to my feet.

Celest sobbed. "You're so much like her."

I really didn't think I was too much like Leah, but arguing with her felt cruel.

She looked to Mark. "Is she healthy enough to go out?"

"I'm not a licensed healer." He rocked back on his heels. "And I have no idea how aryta biology works. But if Elva says she's fine, I'm inclined to trust her."

Frowning to herself, she thought for a long minute before speaking. "Okay, she can go out, but I want you to make sure she doesn't over-exert herself."

"I'll do my best."

Did he plan to take me out again today? He really didn't have to. Of course, I wanted him to, but I'd already taken so much of his time and upset his friends. He'd probably just agreed because it was hard to say no to a grieving mother.

"You really don't have to take me anywhere. I'm fit enough to walk places now."

"It's no bother." He shrugged. "I'll wait in the car while you get ready."

After he'd left, Celest squeezed my shoulder. "If you don't want to go with him, dear, you don't have to. Just let me know, and I'll tell him to leave without you."

"It's not that. I had a lot of fun yesterday. It's just, he probably doesn't want to drag me around, but he won't say no out of politeness."

She shook her head. "Forget about that. So long as he's taking good care of you, let me worry about the rest."