help but notice the furtive glances that the female staff snuck at Soren as we passed by. It didn’t matter if they were young or old, he affected them all.
Not that I blamed them. Soren was definitely eye-candy, not to mention the fact that he was a doctor and a prince. Had it not been for the fact that he was an alien, even I would’ve been tempted to think of him as a catch.
We took an elevator to the lower floors, the glass walls of the tube revealing Mount Holland as we slid down the side of the building, the royal palace and its gleaming silver walls sitting atop the crest. As the sun set, its light spilled around the building, casting a peachy-pink hue across the land.
“Beautiful, right?” Soren asked me, his voice low and tender. Even though he was standing beside me, it almost felt like he had whispered those words into my ear. I felt a pleasant shiver run up my spine, and my heart picked up the pace.
Here we go again, I thought, unsure if I’d ever be able to control my own body around Soren. I kept hearing about Tracorox and its sorcery, but the only magic I had experienced so far had come from Soren. Whether that was a good or a bad thing, I couldn’t be sure.
“It’s an amazing view,” I finally said. “Hollander’s beautiful, all of it. It’s different, but sometimes it reminds me of Earth. Just in technicolor.”
“Then you’re probably going to like the gardens.” He smiled as the elevator finally ground to a halt, and then waved a hand at the corridor that stretched in front of us. We strolled down it and into a courtyard that occupied the center of the building, the glass walls that surrounded it encasing the long service corridors of the hospital.
The moment I strolled into the garden itself, I knew that Soren had been right—I liked these gardens. The greenery rose up from the ground as if we were in the woods, and after just a few seconds of walking, it no longer felt as if we were inside a hospital.
Zinnia flowers lined a cobbled path, their red and yellow colors as bright as fireworks, and large hibiscus seemed to sprout at the base of every tree. This sprawling garden was more like a park, a true hidden gem someone had tucked inside the hospital.
“I insisted that the hospital should add a garden,” Soren said, hands clasped behind his back as he walked. “But, truth be told, Wisteria’s the one responsible for it looking as good as it does. She handpicked every single plant that you see in here. You’ll notice that most of them came from Earth, even though their vibrance is more pronounced due to the Hollander soil and sunlight. She always says that you can’t rival Earth when it comes to varieties of flowers, and I’m inclined to agree.”
“She did a great job,” I whispered, still fascinated with it all. “It really feels like I’m back on Earth. Dylan’s going to love it here. He’s never been to Earth, of course, and I…”
I trailed off, suddenly feeling the weight of the world settling on my shoulders. Even though Dylan was feeling better, how could I be sure that he’d be truly okay? He had lost his mother, and then had been stuffed inside a spacecraft and shipped off to an entirely different planet. And now there was this strange sickness… How much was too much?
I felt something salty rolling over my lips, and only then did I realize that I was crying. I tried to hide it, rubbing my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt, but it was already too late.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Soren whispered and, before I could do anything about it, he had his arms around me. He pulled me into him, and I offered no resistance. I just laid my head against his chest and let the tears come.
“I just...I just won’t be able to live with myself if something...if something happens to Dylan.” The words came between sobs, my whole body shaking as I surrendered to Soren’s embrace. For the first time in ages, I allowed myself to feel vulnerable.
“It’s okay, Maya,” Soren said, and this time he was whispering into my ear. I wasn’t imagining it. “I promise you that it’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to Dylan.”
I pulled back from him, just enough so that I could look into