The Last Breath

Kai slowly opened his eyes, wincing as a bright, glaring light flooded his vision. He instinctively hissed and threw his arm over his face, desperately seeking solace in the shadows, akin to a vampire recoiling from the touch of daylight. The darkness did little to ease the relentless throb behind his eyes, a pounding beat echoing in his skull. Gradually, he let his arm fall away, squinting as he strained to make sense of the familiar outlines of the stateroom aboard the Resilience.

Fragments of memory surfaced like debris in an ocean. Images of the terrifying chase at Zorb Keep flickered through his mind—especially the massive silhouette of the AC-9F Behemoth and the heart-pounding moment he pushed Shreya from the rover as she clutched the black box with desperate fingers. Everything after the explosion was shrouded in a haze, but the dull aches radiating through his body filled in the gaps.

As Kai sat up, the straps securing around his chest suddenly yanked him back to the bed, prompting a wheeze. Frustrated, he fumbled with the buckles until they popped open with a satisfying click. Through a blurry double vision, he looked around the room, spotting his glasses clipped to the bedside table. Once they were perched on the bridge of his nose, the room snapped into sharper focus, yet the remnants of dizziness danced at the fringes of his mind.

Carefully, he pushed off the bed and floated toward the door, only to be suddenly stopped as his arm was yanked back. He spun around to find two cables stubbornly attached to his forearm, anchoring him to a nearby medical kit. With an annoyed grumble, he pried the leads loose from the ports in his nanosuit and tossed them aside before continuing into the corridor.

As he glided down the passageway, confusion kept swirling in his head, causing the ship’s walls to distort and stretch like a funhouse of mirrors. Hit by a sudden wave of vertigo, he pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut to fight off the sensation of standing up too quickly. As the spinning eased, he rounded the corner, drawn by the sound of soft, murmuring voices and the rhythmic clicking of a keyboard. Weary but curious, he floated silently through the open doors of the bridge, pressing his palm against his forehead to stave off the pounding ache.

His eyes fixed on Shreya and Parri as they hovered over a computer console, their faces marked by intense concentration. “Why do I smell food?” he managed to croak, his voice weak and raspy.

Parri whipped her chair around in a startled panic, her heart fluttering at the sound of his voice. The moment she saw Kai framed in the doorway, she froze with a mouthful of food. Oh shit, it’s Kai. Don’t embarrass yourself. Do something sexy. She quickly slouched low in the chair and draped one leg over the armrest, adopting an exaggeratedly suave expression. Her eyes shifted to the half-eaten burrito in her hand. Crap. Real smooth, Parri. That’s exactly what he wants to see, a stupid slob munching on a burrito. Her cheeks flushed bright crimson. She hurriedly tucked the food behind her head and wiped her lips, smearing a trail of yellow cheese across her puffy cheek. Attempting a sultry tone, she crooned, “Hey,” but the words tumbled out in a clumsy mumble that sounded more like an awkward grunt than anything remotely alluring.

Kai smirked. The sight of Parri was a bit much. She looked like a swooning chipmunk, draped over the armrest and drooling yellow cheese. Ridiculous but enduring. How does he respond to that? He matched her frequency with an amused grunt of his own.

Shreya moved forward, her expression shifting to one of concern as she asked, “How are you feeling, Mr. Randal?”

Kai pushed away from the bulkhead, stumbling further into the bridge like a drunken sailor navigating a stormy sea. “My brain is on fire,” he groaned, rubbing his temples. “I have a throbbing migraine, and my ears are ringing.”

Shreya glided closer, stabilizing his precarious movements by wrapping her arm around his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be up and about. You need to rest,” she urged.

“Thanks, Mom,” he slurred, with a hint of playful sarcasm.

“I’m serious. You took quite a blow to the head. You’re probably suffering from serious brain trauma. Let’s get you back to bed while Ms. Hasana fetches you something for that headache,” she insisted.

“Hold on a minute!” Parri interjected, springing from her chair and quickly switching places with Shreya. “You should get the meds. I’ll take care of Kai.” Slipping under his arm, she snuggled closer to his side and balanced the burrito precariously between her teeth. “Come on, let’s get you back in bed,” she muffled.

As Parri escorted him off the bridge, Kai stubbornly clung to the door frame, his arms sprawled across the threshold. “I’m fine. I don’t need any more bed rest,” he grumbled. “Why are you two acting like best friends all of a sudden? How long was I out?”

Parri rolled her eyes and huffed, “We’re reviewing the flight log.” She dug her shoulder into his back, pushing him forward, her brow knitting as he resisted. Switching tactics, she tugged at his fingers, prying them free from the frame.

Kai activated his mag-boots with quiet defiance, locking his heels firmly to the floor. “Parri, I’m not leaving.”

“Stop being a pain in the ass!” Parri exclaimed, clinging to his waist, her ear pressed against his stomach to keep him in place. “This is not up for debate. You’re going back to bed, like it or not. You almost died. Do you have any idea what that did to me? I can’t… I’m not taking any more chances.” She reached down and manually disconnected his boots. In a sudden, impulsive move, she swept Kai off his feet, hoisting him like a child. She shuffled down the hall toward the stateroom, squeezing him tighter as he squirmed in protest.

Once inside, she unceremoniously tossed him onto the bed, the thud muffled by the soft fabric. Parri swiftly yanked the safety straps over Kai’s waist, securing him. Meanwhile, Shreya assisted, pinning his flailing arms to the bed and reconnecting his nanosuit to the medical kit.

“This should relieve the pressure and ease his headache,” Shreya said, tapping the keypad of the medical kit to deliver the appropriate pain medication.

Parri leaned over the bed, her eyes locking with Kai’s as her fingers gently grazed the stubble along his jaw. “There we go, all tucked in,” she cooed softly.

Kai frowned, confusion etched on his face as he squirmed under the straps. “Why are you two treating me like I’m dying?”

Shreya interjected in a serious tone. “Because you’re lucky to be alive. Now, stop fidgeting and try to stay calm while the advanced somatic cell cloning treatment repairs the damage.”

Kai’s eyes widened in alarm. “I’m a clone?”

“No, you’re still the same asshole you’ve always been,” Shreya scoffed, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “That’s just the name of the procedure. Stop freaking out.”

“I just need to walk it off. I’ll be fine,” Kai insisted, reaching down to unfasten the straps.

Parri quickly slapped her hand over the buckle to keep it locked. “You’re not leaving this room,” she demanded, her eyes narrowing.

“Let go,” he argued, tugging at her wrist and struggling against her grip on the belt. “Move your hand.”

“No!”

With a frustrated huff, he pried Parri’s fingers from the clasp, only for her to shove his hands aside and throw her body over the buckle, one arm draped over his waist to keep him in place. Undeterred, Kai wiggled his fingers under her armpit in a desperate attempt to reach the buckle, inadvertently eliciting a bright laugh from Parri. “Dammit, Parri, I’m not trying to tickle you. Get off the strap.”

“You’re not leaving. Doctor’s orders,” she teased, a wide, tension-breaking grin lighting up her face.

“Fine, you leave me no choice.” With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he twisted his trapped hand and pinched her bicep.

Parri jerked back, a loud squeal escaping her lips. The playful energy quickly gave way to frustration as she retaliated, punching him in the stomach. “Asshole, that hurts!” she exclaimed, her laughter replaced by a mock glare.

Kai winced as the air was knocked from his lungs. He cradled his midsection, his expression one of disbelief. “What the hell? Don’t hit me. I’m sick, remember?”

“Sick, my ass. Just because you don’t get your way doesn’t give you the right to hurt me,” she shot back.

“Then stop pestering me like two mother hens,” he retorted, his voice sharp.

Parri scrunched her brow as she rubbed the sore spot on her arm and backed away. “We’re only trying to help.”

“I don’t need your help!” Kai remarked snidely without thinking, the words slipping out before he could consider their impact.

Parri’s jaw tightened, her mouth forming a thin line as she clenched her fist to strike him again. Surprise flashed across her face as Shreya intercepted, grabbing her wrist.

“Come on, Ms. Hasana, we should leave the room,” Shreya said. “Mr. Randal is still in pain, which is making him even more of a jerk than usual. Until the medication takes effect, our best option is to ignore him.”

“But if we leave, he’ll start wandering the halls when he should be resting,” Parri countered.

Shreya nodded, her demeanor steady. “In a few minutes, it won’t matter. The drugs will knock him out cold, I promise.”

Parri shot Kai one last, emotionally wounded glare, the turmoil between love and ire flickering across her face. Heeding Shreya’s advice, she eased into resignation, her shoulders drooping in defeat as she moved toward the door.

“You go ahead,” Shreya instructed, pausing at the exit. “I need to run one last diagnostic on the medical kit.”

Parri huffed, dismissively waving a hand over her shoulder as she drifted down the passage. “Maybe you could give him another dose of ‘calm the hell down’ while you’re at it.”

With a playful grin, Shreya raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps I will,” she quipped, lingering in the doorway, her gaze fixed on Parri as she floated away.

The door slid shut with a quiet hiss. Moments later, the room’s stillness was shattered by the sharp click of a plastic buckle and the soft rustle of bed sheets. Shreya’s head drooped with a weary sigh. “Mr. Randal, you need to be honest with her.”

“I was being honest,” he replied, his tone dripping with irritation. “I don’t need a giggling nurse. I’ll be fine.”

“No, I’m talking about y’all’s relationship,” she shot back, her stern glare landing on Kai, who was sitting up on the bed.

“Dammit,” he exhaled, a deep weariness creeping into his voice. “Not this again. I don’t know how many times I have to say—”

“I know, ‘it’s not like that,’” she interrupted, finishing his thought with a roll of her eyes. “I hate to break it to you, but it’s exactly like that. You can’t honestly claim you have no idea she’s in love with you.”

Kai turned his gaze away, his expression troubled, and muttered, “Do we really have to talk about this?”

“Yes, we do,” she insisted, marching purposefully toward the bed. “Every time you avoid the topic, you sow doubt in Parri’s mind. You’re hurting her with your silence. She loves you and deserves to know the truth, whatever it may be.”

Confusion flashed across his face as he asked, “Truth about what?”

Shreya threw her hands up in exasperation, her voice rising. “Seriously?”

“What do you want from me?” he snapped. “Do you want me to say I love her?”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

Kai shifted uncomfortably, the weight of her piercing stare forcing him to divert his gaze to the floor. “I… I dunno,” he stammered.

“What kind of an answer is that?” she huffed, her expression souring. “Why do you have to make this so difficult? What’s so hard about a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’?”

“Sure, fine,” he conceded, though reluctantly. “I find Parri attractive and don’t want any harm to come to her.”

Her face twisted into a skeptical sneer, disdain oozing from her words. “You’re obviously confused. That answer was so pathetic and elusive that I’ll pretend you’re having a stroke right now. The fact that you can’t give a straight answer implies you don’t love Ms. Hasana. At least not in the same way.”

“It’s complicated,” he deflected.

“No, it’s not complicated,” she snapped, her voice sharp and clear. “You’re just an idiot.”

Kai flashed her a glare, his lips clenching.

Shreya continued, “A beautiful woman on this ship is clearly falling for you. Perhaps blindly so, because I can’t understand how anyone could find you attractive. All you have to do is say ‘yes.’ So what’s the barrier between you two? Is it the age difference? Her personality? Do you prefer Androids? Perhaps you’re secretly married? What in the galaxy is keeping you from returning her affection?”

He hesitated before admitting, “The fear of repeating the past.”

She smacked her lips, unsatisfied with the answer. “What happened in your past?”

“As I said, it’s complicated.”

“Well, you’d better make it uncomplicated,” she scoffed. “The longer you string her along, the more it will hurt both of you.”

Kai’s face pinched. “I’m not stringing her along.”

Shreya’s expression turned deadpan as her fist moved to her hips. “Have you ever blatantly told her you’re not interested?”

“Well, no, not exactly.”

Her mouth gaped slightly as her hands motioned for him to pick up the clues, but he never did. “Then you’re stringing her along,” Shreya blurted. “You’re feeding her hopes and dreams. Ms. Hasana wants a relationship with you, but you’re too scrambled-brained to know what you want.” She raised an imposing finger, signaling the stakes. “I’m going to do you a favor and lay out your options. One, you tell her point-blank that you are not interested. It will break her heart, but at least she can finally move on. Or two”—she raised a second finger—“you push aside whatever is holding you back, admit that you love her, and commit to a relationship.”

Lowering her hand to rest lightly on his chest, she spoke with heartfelt urgency. “Use this downtime to reflect on where your life is headed. There are so many things I wanted to share with Den and experiences I missed before he suddenly disappeared from my life. I pray you never have to feel that kind of despair. You need to do some serious soul-searching and decide what you’re going to tell Mrs. Hasana before it’s too late. Don’t be like me, a miserable wretch, wandering across the galaxy in a desperate search for one last moment.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, Shreya stepped back from the bed and stormed out of the stateroom, her boots clicking decisively against the metal floor. As the door slid shut behind her and her footsteps faded into the corridor, Kai lowered his gaze to the bed. He reclined against the mattress and re-fastened the waist strap with a trembling hand. The harsh, flickering ceiling lights blurred in his vision as he began to reflect on his feelings for the first time in a long while. Images of Parri danced through his head: their first encounter and the way her tongue would poke out when she concentrated. As a smile crept across his face, the medication coursing through his veins lulled him into a restless sleep, postponing honesty just a little longer.