ReEmergent -Guardians of Vesturon [4] by A.M. Hargrove Read Free Book Online

off because he knew they would be as upset as he was and he wanted to be able to at least give them some positive news. He didn’t want to leave the medical facility so he asked Rayn to bring them over.
    Their first meeting was disastrous; all three of them broke down and sobbed. Her parents were angry with Xarrid for not calling sooner. In Xarrid’s defense, he was only trying to protect them. However, in theirs, she was their daughter. In the end, they all mended the rift because Saylan needed them and she was their true concern.
    “ I’m so sorry, but my head has not been on straight since she’s disappeared. There’s something you should probably know. We had intended to tell you this when we returned from Xanthus but we never got the chance. Saylan and I were planning to unite. She is my soul mate which is why I always knew she was still alive.” He couldn’t get any more words out for his throat became choked with his tears.
    Saylan’s mother replied, “I know Xarrid. Saylan told me.” She held him in her arms as he cried again.
    He tried to pull himself together. “Please, I’m sorry for being so weak. Ever since she disappeared, I’ve been falling apart at the seams.” Xarrid wiped his face again and cleared his throat. “Saylan was gone, just like that,” he clicked his fingers, “and then my brother was killed and I can’t seem to pull out of this. Every time I make some kind of headway, I get pushed back down. When they found her I had my hopes up but when we realized what we were facing, what she was facing, I...” he shuddered.
    “ We’ve barely functioned ourselves. You’ve seen us, you know. You don’t have to apologize for your grief.”
    Xarrid nodded and gave them a lopsided half grin. “The funny thing is, she’d be giving me hell right now.”
    “ Oh, I know. But it would be with good intentions,” her mother said.
     
    ********
     
    A week went by before Julian allowed Saylan’s sedation to be lifted. He wanted her brain to have a chance to heal first. They all stood and watched from outside her viewing window for some kind of sign that she had returned to her old self.
    She began to move, but her eyes remained closed for several more days. On the fifth day, she finally opened them. Xarrid had taken to sitting by her side, only leaving to eat and to take bathroom breaks.
    He had fallen asleep but was awakened when he felt her hand moving within his. He came to attention and saw her eyes on his. In them was fear.
    “ Saylan, please don’t be afraid. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
    Her grey eyes grew even wider with fear. “Who are you?” she said in the tiniest of whispers.
    “ It’s me, Xarrid. You’re back on Vesturon in the medical facility. Julian has taken that horrible chip out of your brain.”
    She looked at him in confusion. “I...I don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s Vesturon? Who is Julian?”
    Xarrid’s heart plunged to the floor. Her memory had been wiped out by that nanochip. She didn’t even know her home planet. Trying to keep up a cheerful facade, he only said, “Let’s not worry about any of that now. The best thing for you to do is rest and get your strength back.” He pushed her hair back off her forehead and ran the back of his hand down her cheek. When she flinched at his touch, he felt his heart cracking into pieces.
    “ Please don’t touch me,” she begged.
    Xarrid forced back the mass that had lodged in his throat. He looked at her and smiled instead. “I would never do anything to you that you didn’t welcome Saylan.”
    “ Why do you call me that?”
    “ Call you what?”
    “ Saylan?”
    He swallowed and looked down for a brief moment. “Because it is your name. Your own very beautiful name,” he answered her as his voice cracked.
    “ No, I am called Number Five.”
    “ Is that what you prefer?”
    She looked at him oddly then, confused by his question.