60. Ell-rom

60

ELL-ROM

E xhausted from the pool session, Ell-rom rested his body on the hospital bed, but his mind refused to slow down and go quiet. He was excited about moving to the penthouse, scared of not meeting Jasmine's expectations, and disturbed by the dream he'd woken from that morning.

It lurked at the edges of his consciousness, casting a dark shadow on all the good things he was looking forward to, like meeting Jasmine's friends, seeing what this world looked like topside, and spending his first night with Jasmine without a surveillance camera hanging overhead.

He tried to push the disturbing dream aside and focus on the positive aspects of the day ahead, but it clung stubbornly, refusing to be dismissed. The best he could do was to let it fester in a corner of his mind while he thought of other things.

He hoped that Jasmine's friends would like him. They seemed important to her, and Ell-rom was determined to make a good impression.

But how?

Ell-rom had no idea how to interact with people, especially in a large group. His encounters with Annani and Kian had gone well enough, but that was different. Annani, his half-sister, was his blood, and so was Kian, although it would take much more to gain the confidence of his nephew. Still, he was family, while Jasmine's friends were strangers to him, and they were under no obligation to befriend him.

Ell-rom sighed, turned on his side, and tucked his arm under the pillow.

Social interactions were the least of his worries. He was much more concerned about disappointing Jasmine.

Tonight would be their first night together in complete privacy, with a large, comfortable bed at their disposal. Jasmine would have some expectations, and he wanted nothing more than to fulfill them, but his knowledge of intimacy was limited to what Julian had told him, and he feared it wouldn't be enough.

Yet even this paled in comparison to his greatest fear. What if, in a moment of anger or frustration, he unintentionally killed someone with his mind?

The possibility seemed absurd, and yet the dream had felt so real. He couldn't simply dismiss it and hoped it would never manifest. He would need to be constantly mindful of his emotional state, never allowing himself to become agitated, angry, or even fearful. He had to remain calm.

Perhaps that was the reason his mother had consecrated him and Morelle to the priesthood?

Perhaps the seer had seen his ability developing as he neared puberty, and she had warned his mother that he needed to learn self-control and stay away from conflict? Becoming a priest was the best way to achieve that.

No, that didn't make sense.

The head priestess wouldn't have tested them if their mother had wished for their talents to remain dormant. The reason he and his sister had been put in the temple was the way they looked and not some prophecy about his powers manifesting. But after they had, he might have reached the same conclusions as he just did, deciding that priesthood was the best path for him.

The probability of that was disturbingly high.

Still, even if he had decided that in his past life, he didn't need to stick to this decision now. In a way, he had been reborn, and none of his previous vows and convictions remained in effect.

It was a flimsy argument, but there was no way he was giving up on being with Jasmine in every way a male could be with a female. He wanted a future with her, perhaps even children, and it was all possible in this new world he found himself in. Things he could have never dreamt of on Anumati.

"Thank you, Mother," he whispered. "Thank you for smuggling Morelle and me onto the settler ship and giving us a chance at life."

The sound of the bathroom door opening pulled Ell-rom from his spiraling thoughts, and as Jasmine emerged with a neatly folded stack of his clothes in her arms, he cast her a smile. "What are you doing?"

"Packing." She walked over to him. "Can't fall asleep?"

"I'm too excited."

Jasmine's face lit up. "Then let's go up to the penthouse now." She crouched and pulled a bag from under his bed. "There's no reason for you to spend more time here than necessary." She placed his clothes inside.

Ell-rom nodded, pushing himself up to a sitting position. "True, but I want to visit Morelle before we go and spend some time by her side."

Jasmine's expression softened. "Of course. Take all the time you need."

"Did you pack my nice clothes?" He shifted his weight to his feet and stood up.

"Do you want them?"

"I want to look good when I meet your friends." He reached for the walker and used it for support.

"I kind of hoped that you would put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, but if you want a dressier outfit, it's fine with me." Jasmine dug into the bag and pulled out the items he'd requested. "You do you, Ell-rom."

"What does that mean?"

She put the clothing on the shelf of his walker. "It means that you should have your own style, and it shouldn't be dependent on what I like."

"But I want to please you."

Jasmine smiled. "That's so sweet. You can wear jeans for me some other time. When meeting new people, you should wear what makes you feel comfortable and confident."

By the time Ell-rom was done getting dressed and came out of the bathroom, Jasmine finished packing and even took the bedding off.

"Why are you removing the bedding?"

"It needs to be laundered in preparation for the next patient, and I want to make things easier on Gertrude. She was so nice to us."

"We are going to keep seeing her every day until Morelle wakes up and goes through rehabilitation."

"Still, if I can save her some work, I'm happy to do so." Jasmine put her large bag next to the door. "Let's go to your sister. I'll pick this up on our way out."

Ell-rom took a long look at the room that had been his entire universe since he had woken up in this world, and he felt a surge of anxiety at the prospect of leaving it behind. It wasn't a particularly nice room, and there was nothing he would miss about it, but he had created good memories with Jasmine in there, and he would always feel a little nostalgic about it.

At Morelle's room, Ell-rom approached her bedside and gently took her hand in his. "Hey, Morelle. I'm moving out of the clinic today, but don't worry. I'll still visit you every day. You just focus on getting better."

Jasmine stood quietly by the door, giving him space, and Ell-rom appreciated her ability to sense when he needed a moment alone with his thoughts.

"The place I am moving to is right here in the building. It's on the top floor, and it has lots of windows, and I can't wait to see the sky and the sun in this alien world we arrived at. It is nothing like the world we expected to encounter. Seven thousand Earth years made a big difference, and humans are an advanced civilization now. You will enjoy it here. I think." He lifted her limp hand, turned it palm up, and put it on his cheek. "I need you to wake up, Morelle."

As usual, there was no response, not even a finger twitch or the slightest change in her pulse.

With a sigh, Ell-rom returned her hand to her side and rose to his feet. "I'll be back soon."