All the Space Between Us (A Deathless Series Story)

Episode Twenty-Six: Reunions

"I expected that when I went to Petra, things would change between Esther and me. I didn't expect her to dump me before we could even try. But that doesn't mean I don't still love her. That doesn't mean I won't still do everything in my power to help her."

-Milo Valencia

ESTHER

My eyes open to a white hospital room, and within a few seconds of coming to, a familiar face greets me: Milo. 

"Es, you're okay," he says, breathlessly. He clasps my right hand in his before I start to try to sit up. "No, don't. Rest. You were...."

"I was shot," I answer. My voice is hoarse after however much time I've been out, not using it. "What happened?"

"We got you to the hospital. Your family and I. We all followed you here on one of the World Alliance planes. We weren't going to let you get away."

"Or let Rotmo get away."

His brows furrow. "Right, but you were the goal. We have you now."

I look down at my abdomen, but my bandages and wounds lie beneath this hospital gown. I can't see anything. 

"Where is everyone?" I ask.

"With the FTL drive. Julian is programming it to the Mayflower."

"To Tempest?"

He smiles. "Yeah, to Tempest. But it's going to be really dangerous. Anything could set off the explosives. You obviously won't be able to go." He eyes my abdomen after he delivers my fate. 

I pause for a moment to take it all in. I'm safe, but depending on what Rotmo has planned, maybe not for long. Eleanor is dead. Tempest is light years away, just beyond my reach, possibly unable to return safely. 

A line of wheelchairs wait to the right of a door just in front of me.

"Can you get me into one of these wheelchairs, so I can see my family?" I ask.

"Of course," he says. 

He stands up and crosses the room to where the wheelchairs are, pulls one out so he can push it towards me, and returns at my side. He smiles to himself. 

"You know, this is the second time you have woken up in a strange place with only me around," he says. "Seems like fate."

"It does... or maybe it's just that... never mind."

"Oh, c'mon, you know that no one is allowed to start sentences like that without finishing them," he says with a smirk.

I smile. "Maybe it's just that you love me enough to always be there for me, even when I'm terrible and push you away."

He sits back down in the chair he was waiting in beside me, and brushes some of the loose curls from my face. 

"I do love you. I know you need time to process everything, but when you're done--if you're ready--I'm here for you." He looks down at his hands as he scrapes at a cuticle. "There's no one else I want."