Star’s Storm

Chapter 3-2

Star woke up in stages. The first stage, she became aware that there was light filtering into the room. The second stage, she became aware of the soft sound of voices murmuring beside her. The last stage and the most important one was she became aware that she didn’t hurt… anywhere. She flexed her toes back and forth before moving her legs. When she still didn’t feel any pain, she moved her fingers before turning her head toward the voices and opening her eyes.

Twin sets of eyes, one an unusual dark blue and the other a set of light blue like her own, stared at her with worry and love gleaming from them. Star slowly smiled before she whispered in a husky voice.

“Hi,” she murmured.

River grinned back. Jo opened her mouth, closed it, and promptly burst into tears. Star’s eyes widened as she watched her older sister’s shoulders shake as she cried. River was pressing a small towel into Jo’s hands and hugging her.

“Is she hurt?” Star asked, her voice raspy from being dry.

She struggled to sit up so she could comfort her big sister and was surprised that it wasn’t that easy to do. She finally made it into an upright position, balancing herself on her arms until her head stopped spinning.

“Wow!” Star muttered, raising a trembling hand to her head. “Head rush.”

“You dope! You shouldn’t be sitting up yet,” Jo bit out between hiccupping sobs. “You were dead almost twenty-four hours ago. You shouldn’t even be…. be…. be able to sit up.”

“Water?” Star asked with a grimace, rubbing her throat.

River reached over and picked up a small cup of water that was on the table next to the bed. She held the cup while Star took several small sips from it before she set it back down on the table. Jo’s sobs slowly became quieter until she was just drawing in deep, calming breaths. Jo wiped at her reddened cheeks with the soft cloth that was clutched in her fist in aggravation.

When she felt like she finally had a small semblance of control back, she glared at her little sister. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” Jo snapped out, wiping at her still damp cheeks.

Star chuckled as she weakly collapsed back against the pillows. “It’s not like I planned to get hurt,” she said. “Jazin?” she asked fearfully.

“He’s safe,” River assured her with a smile.

“What happened?” Star asked, looking back and forth between River and Jo. “Was anyone else hurt?”

River bit her lip and looked at Jo, who nodded. “Yes,” River began quietly. “Eighteen people were killed in the banquet room. Most were women on the stage and several of the men who were sitting close to it. Thirty men who attacked us were killed. Javonna was working with them. She is dead, as well,” she said quietly.

“What about the councilman? Tai Tek?” Star asked, nervously playing with the covers.

Jo shook her head. “He escaped,” she said, her lips pressed into a tight line of frustration. “If I ever get my hands on that bastard, I’m going to barbeque his ass over an open flame.”

Star laughed at Jo’s fierce scowl. “Was anyone else hurt? Ajaska? Manota? Torak?” she asked, biting her lower lip in concern.

River reached over and gripped one of Star’s hands. “Torak was hurt when he fought one of the Tearnat’s guarding Tai Tek, but not seriously. None of the others were hurt,” she assured.

“Jazin was frantic when he saw you….,” Jo’s voice choked up again.

“We came very close to losing you, Star,” River continued. “You scared all of us, especially Jazin. He really does love you.”

Star sniffed and looked away. “He’s never said he does. He just says I’m his and I should do what he tells me to do,” she grumbled under her breath. “Fat chance that is ever going to happen.”

River giggled. “I can always lend you my knives if you need them. Once I pinned Torak to the door with them, he’s been very careful about his ‘I’m the man’ speech ever since,” she giggled.

Star’s lips turned up in a smile. She looked at her surrogate sister with a twinkle in her eye. The thought of pinning Jazin to the door brought up some interesting ideas. She just might have to take River up on her offer if he became too overbearing again.

“So how long have I been out and what has happened since everything went fuzzy on me?” Star asked tiredly. “And why in the hell do I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck?”

“It wasn’t a truck, but a laser blast to the back,” Jo snapped out. “It’s a miracle you are even moving right now. If Madas hadn’t gotten you to medical as fast as she did, you wouldn’t be here,” she gritted out as tears filled her eyes again. “Damn it! Now I’m crying again.”