From every teardrop

  something new is born.

  Collected Unpublished Lyrics

  - Sibsil Creed, Stories of Shurwinn, (2788)

  I was curled in a ball, rolling forward. Falling forward through the dark. Always rolling forward. In a ball. Curled up. Rolling—

  “Dr. Nova, he’s waking up.”

  I startled awake with a jerk. Long time since I’d fallen asleep sitting up in a hospital. It took some time for Peydran’s eyes to open.

  His mom sat by his hospital bed, holding his right hand, his dad next to her, watching their son wake. The head of the bed was raised, and Peydran’s left arm and shoulder were in suspension. No movement.

  I stood near the foot of the bed, giving his family space, knowing he'd see me when he needed to.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  His eyes flickered.

  “Honey, we’re here,” his mom said. “Peydran, we’re here, and we love you. You’re going to be okay.”

  His eyes moved, taking in the room. He drew in a sharp breath and groaned. He curled around himself as much as he could with his left arm in suspension and cried, “Ryst.”

  It was a wail, not a word.

  And for the first time since I’d met him, I sensed Peydran.

  He was agony in my mind and in my body. My whole being clenched with his pain. Then I was on the bed, pulling his head against my chest.

  I could sense him, and he was pain. His thoughts were wails of terror and horror. Horror and horror and horror.

  I let him fall apart, and I caught all the pieces. I loved him. All of me wrapped around all of him—my arms, my body, my being, my inner self, my heart, and my soul.

  All of my love wrapped around him like a blanket of light to hold the pieces of him as he crumbled apart. I love you. I am here. I am here, and I AM NOT LEAVING.

  I don’t know how long he wailed. I was there, and I was love.

  I could feel him in my being and hear him in my mind. We were merged as one being, and I held him, keeping the pieces of him until he was ready to pick them back up again.

  I don’t know how long it was. But he stilled. He receded from my mind. My sense of him disappeared, and he slept.

  Journal

  Ahtah, Just give me a minute to not be strong. To collapse. Can I have that? Something terrible happened. I need a minute. Just a minute.

  To fall apart.