"It's your turn, Celeste!" Maya exclaimed while clapping her hands the way a five year old would at a lifeday celebration with tons of gifts. Celeste grimaced as she pulled her skinned knees to her chest. The three girls had been outside all day, spending their time playing games in the nearby forest. Breathing in the cool air, letting herself fall onto the leafy ground – a personal adventure she adored to the utmost. Unlike the game Maya and Chantal were making her play now.
"This doesn't even work. It's silly."
"Oh, come on, Celeste! Don't be a spoilsport." Chantal smiled a toothy smile; she did that a lot lately. Her lips were a permanent dark red, a gift from her mother who said it was something all grown women did and Chantal couldn't wait to be one of the grownups. "Maybe you'll find out who you're going to marry!"
Celeste frowned at her friend, wrapping her arms around her legs, "I don't want to get married."
At fourteen, she had already made up her mind that no man would ever be worth her time. Her father had died when Celeste was only five; all she really remembered was the skin crinkling around his light green eyes when he laughed. She had loved him so much – the mere thought of him now ripping open the old wounds buried deep within her heart.
Her mother had remarried two years after her father's sudden death. Celeste had hated that her mother had thought to find love so shortly after their family had been shredded to pieces. Celeste had never liked her stepfather but she had had no other choice but to live with him. In the beginning, it had seemed that he was a decent man – honest, trustworthy and loving. Nevertheless, within only weeks after their wedding, he had changed.
He would yell a lot and swear at them. And sometimes he would lash out at her mother. Only once had he tried to harm Celeste but her mother had stopped him with all she was worth, having to pay the price with a long stay at the hospital.
Celeste grimaced as memories pounded her skull.
No, she would never fall in love. Because love hurt.
Either the person you loved died and left you to grieve for the rest of your life or the person you loved caused you unimaginable pain.
"Please, Celeste. Just try it once."
"Maybe you're destined to be with Travis Fimmel!" Maya squealed with a wicked grin on her face and a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Chantal frowned, "Travis Fimmel is mine, thank you very much."
Maya snorted, "He happens to like brunettes and seeing that you're blond…"
Celeste laughed at her friends as they started counting possible ways on how to meet their favorite male model and how to get him to actually take notice and like them.
"He's too old for you." Celeste said, catching dark looks from the both of them.
"In ten years he won't be." Chantal murmured.
"In ten years no one will remember him."
Both Maya and Chantal gaped at her, their eyes wide as they stared, "How can you say that?"
"How can you even think it?"
"He's a God! No one forgets Gods."
Celeste arched a brow, "A God?" She gave them a quizzical look.
"Have you seen his body?"
"He has to be a God with a body like that!" Chantal grabbed her personal data pad, which she always carried around with her, and switched it on. A blue hologram flickered to life, showing a young athletically built man, his hair reaching his shoulders in thick waves. Besides a pair of black boxers, he was naked, showing off a muscled yet slim body.
Celeste had to admit he was good-looking but in her opinion, definitely no God.
"Wasn't it my turn?" she said tiredly, hoping to veer off the Travis Fimmel topic and get back to the game she didn't want to play.
A square board with letters and numbers on each of the four sides and in the middle was a symbol of the like Celeste had never seen before. It resembled a basic number eight yet swirled somehow, as if someone had plunged a blunt object right through the middle.
"We almost forgot the game!" Chantal switched off the floating image of Travis Fimmel and gave Celeste a pointed glance, "Ask the board any question you want answered."
"Ask if you're going to marry someone." Maya said with a bright smile.
Celeste made a face, "There isn't anyone out there who would change my mind. I'm not getting married. Ever."
"Fine." Chantal breathed.
"At least ask who you'll fall in love with." Maya held up a hand when Celeste started to object, "Even though you're prone on hating boys –"
"I don't hate boys."
"– everyone falls in love." Maya finished.
"Go on." Chantal prompted, dark eyes searching her face.
Celeste sighed and raked a hand through her short red hair, "Fine. But I really don't believe in this stuff. It's superstitious nonsense."
"Live a little, Celeste."
She closed her eyes and fought a giggle. Her friends believed in the paranormal and she didn't want to irritate them. So if they believed an otherworldly being could look into the future and tell them what they wanted to know – fine. She would play along.
Trying to make her voice sound happier than she felt, she asked, "Will I ever fall in love?"
The board lit up, the symbol in the middle a scarlet red. A white light appeared above the letter A, slowly moving along the alphabet until it suddenly veered to the right and settled atop a single word.
Yes.
Maya laughed, "See! I told you so!"
"Now ask who you'll fall in love with. Maybe it's someone we know." Chantal said.
Celeste grimaced, "Who will I fall in love with?" She felt so stupid saying the words aloud.
Again, the board lit up, the small white light floating above the letters, swiftly moving back and forth. Her eyes could hardly follow as it started on the letter Z.
"Z?"
"Do we know anyone whose name starts with Z?" Maya asked tapping her chin with a finger.
"Look!" Chantal exclaimed. The small white light spelled out the name Z-E-K-K and then blinked out. As the board darkened, the girls looked at each other in silence for a long while. Celeste felt silly – of course, it wouldn't have worked. They knew no one by the name of Zekk.
"This is stupid." She whispered.
"Maybe you'll meet Zekk sometime later." Chantal whispered.
Celeste arched a brow and pushed off the floor, "Can we stop the game now? I'm kinda hungry."
"Sure."
"How about ice-cream? My Mom bought a new fruity flavor."
Celeste followed her friends into the kitchen, barely taking notice of their words. The board had only been a game, hadn't it? A silly, stupid game girls loved to play. So why was she feeling sick all of a sudden? Because what she hadn't told her friends was that she had been having dreams of someone named Zekk.
Celeste let out a little laugh. Just a coincidence, of course.
Because a game was just a game and a dream was only a dream.
"Would you mind if I left a little earlier?"
Celeste looked up from the flimsies scattered across the front desk, a lightpen in her hand after filling out a copy of the release form for a patient. She smiled as Daria started twirling her hair around a finger, a definite sign that she was nervous.
But Celeste had never really been a person to say No. "Alright."
"Thank you so much!" Daria's smile warmed Celeste so much that she caught herself laughing.
"Say hello to your new male friend when you get home."
Daria winked at her as she headed down the hall towards the dressing rooms, "Will do. See you tomorrow!"
Celeste leaned back in her chair and threw the lightpen across her desk. As the head nurse all paper work and other obligatory bureaucracy, was left for her to do. She had become a nurse to help patients, not deal with the system.
Running a hand across her face, she pushed away from the desk and grabbed Daria's folder, skimming through the pages.
Daria had one more patient to visit before her shift would have normally ended so instead of dealing with more flimsies and unwanted charts, Celeste grabbed her comlink and went to go see patient number 0512 without a name.
She raised her brows as her fingers flew over the touchpad – when the man had been admitted, he hadn't given a name or address. It was common that patients were rather sketchy with their personal lives but these patients weren't people you usually wanted to mess with. They had their reasons to keep some facts secret and Celeste wouldn't be the person to sniff.
The hospital was very quiet this time of night. Only one Doctor was on duty but Celeste had convinced him to get some sleep. It wouldn't do anyone any good if an emergency arose and he was too tired to see straight. Anyway, Celeste was sure she could handle day-to-day things.
Pushing the door open to the patients' room she was positively taken aback as she saw him sitting up in bed. According to his file, he had had four broken ribs, multiple abrasions and a slight concussion. No one with those sort of injuries would be sitting up smiling at her.
"Hello, Doc." He said with amusement in his dark voice. Celeste raised her brows – not only was she confused as to his current health state but she was also confused as to why she felt like a batch of flies had been set free inside her belly.
"I'm not the Doctor." She said as she came closer, placing the chart on the bedside table. Her eyes scanned the monitors near the bed and when she was satisfied, everything was in order, she turned back to the patient, "I see you're doing better."
"Yeah. And I'd really like to leave now."
Celeste shrugged, "Sorry. No leaving the hospital at nights."
He gave her a peeved glare as if to tell her he could leave whenever the hell he chose to.
"So…do you have a name?"
"How long do you intend to keep me here?" He asked, his voice growing cold as ice. She shivered as his green eyes pinned her and she had to swallow to find her own voice again. Whoever this man was, he leaked power and it rattled her.
"Until you're fully healed."
"I am fully healed."
Maybe the charts were wrong. Maybe Daria had confused this patient with another one.
"I'm certain the Doctor will let you leave tomorrow morning. Once he's taken a look at you."
The man scowled at her, narrowing dark green eyes but then turning away to gaze out the window. There wasn't much to see besides spires and buildings, flashing lights and vehicles passing by a few kilometers away.
"What happened?" Celeste asked, surprised at herself. She learned never to get too close to her patients but since this man technically wasn't hers to care for, she let her curiosity rule for just a moment.
"Long story."
"I have time."
He turned his attention back to her, "And why do you want to know?"
Celeste shrugged, "According to your file you were picked up near the space port, unconscious. Someone had a whole lot of fun crushing your ribs with their boots, no doubt. And here you are sitting up and being testy even though you should still be in pain." She sighed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Either your file is lying – granted, maybe someone switched the charts – or there's something more about who you are."
"Even if there were more about me, it wouldn't be any of your business." He laid his head back against the large pillow and closed his eyes. Celeste took the moment to actually look at him the way she had wanted to when she'd stepped into the room.
He seemed very tall but she couldn't be sure the way he lay there with his knees brought up. He wore a loose long sleeved white shirt that concealed his upper body but she imagined him to be an athletic man. His black hair reached over his shoulders, framing a beautiful and sincere, masculine face.
He definitely was a looker. With a snappy temper too.
"Well, if there's anything else you need –"
"What's your name?" he asked, his eyes still closed.
She hesitated for just a moment, surprised at his question, "Celeste."
A slight smile spread across his face and Celeste felt her heart flutter. She frowned at the unaccustomed sensation, filing it away for later observation.
"Beautiful name."
She nodded once, "Thank you."
Celeste grabbed his chart and tucked it under her arm, about to turn away as his eyes fluttered open. She couldn't get herself to walk away from him as he stared at her, a deep emerald green taking her breath away.
"My name is Zekk."
Celeste's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. She didn't know how to react – she felt like laughing and running away at the same time. Memories from her childhood days came back to her, the day she and her friends had been playing that silly game. And the dreams that had haunted her for over a year…
"Zekk." She whispered as if saying his name for the first time, savoring it and burning it to memory. "Zekk?" she repeated, earning an arched glance from her patient.
"Uh…yeah."
Celeste took a step back and swallowed, "No. Kriffing. Way!" Then she threw her head back and laughed.