Psy (Alien Castaways #3) - Cara Bristol Page 0,36

her painful indiscretion, so Cassie hadn’t asked about him.

Psy relayed her father was unknown.

“No problem. What you’ve given me is a good start. I’m sure I’ll have the information for you before too long.”

Shadow went off to begin his research, and she resumed pacing, still trying to make sense of it all. She couldn’t refute that the machine had cured her mumps. But if her throat was normal, why hadn’t she learned to talk?

Do you ever attempt to speak? Psy asked.

Not anymore. I can produce sounds, but if I try to form words, my throat closes up, and I can’t breathe. It’s always been this way. I only talk in my dreams. I’m a regular chatterbox. She shrugged. I also fly. And once I dreamed I played the piano, but when I woke up, I still had no musical ability. She forced a laugh.

In a low voice, he said aloud, “Why don’t you try saying something now?”

With her voice having gone unused for more than two decades, she would probably require speech therapy. In high school she’d studied how the lungs forced air into the larynx and over the vocal cords. The throat, mouth, lips, and tongue shaped the sound into speech. Her muscles had no practice doing that. The biggest hurdle, the one she feared the most, was her throat closing up when she attempted to speak.

She took a deep breath and released it, silently repeating the mantra, I’m in control. Calm pervades.

Psy offered soothing encouragement, never pushing but always supporting. He’d given her a tool to combat claustrophobia, had gotten into the med pod with her, and hadn’t trivialized or mocked her fears. Knowing him, she believed if she never learned to speak, it would be all right with him, but he would do everything he could to help her achieve what she wanted.

How had she gotten so lucky to meet him? His love was the greatest gift of all, but could it be possible he’d also given her the gift of speech?

She knew exactly what she wanted her first words to be. Calling forth a dream in which she’d spoken and then focusing on the words, she opened her mouth.

She dropped her jaw, pulled her tongue back, widened her lips, and forced air from her lungs. “Ayyy…” An invisible band began to squeeze her neck. She pressed her tongue to her upper palate behind her teeth. “Lll..lll…uv…” She choked, the band cutting into her throat.

This was the point at which she’d always stopped. Not this time. If she never said another sentence, she would say this one. The band tightened, cutting off her air. Her vision turned spotty and gray. She pursed her lips. “Oooh.”

Gray went black, and she collapsed.

* * * *

“Cassie!” Psy caught her before she crumpled to the floor and carried her to the living room sofa. “Wake up!” he said loudly while probing her mind, searching through the fog for a connection. “Cassie!”

What the herian had happened?

I love you. After speaking those words, she’d keeled over—and he’d had no warning of her faint. Linked to her mind, he’d sensed her struggle to voice the emotion. When she’d gotten to the L, he’d understood what she was trying to say. But other than picking up on the difficulty involved with forming words, he’d sensed no distress. So, what had happened?

He patted her face and rubbed her hands. “Wake up. Cassie, wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she gagged.

He rolled her onto her side in case she vomited. Easy breaths, easy breaths. You’re okay.

Her chest heaved as she dragged in huge gasps of air. Psy?

I’m here. He sat on the sofa and pulled her onto his lap. What happened?

The same thing that always happens when I try to speak. I start to suffocate. Her lips curved into a shy smile. But I said it anyway.

He brushed her hair from her face. “Yes, you did. I love you, too,” he said aloud. If he’d had any inkling this would happen, he never would have urged her to speak. The med pod hadn’t reported any respiratory issues. Nor had he sensed anything amiss. Everything had seemed normal.

Her mouth drooped. I don’t know why you love me. I’m such a basket case.

I love you because you are the part of me that has been missing. We’ll get to the bottom of this situation. Tell me exactly what happens when you try to speak.

She touched her neck. My throat gets squeezed like somebody is choking me. The harder I