Oz
Minus the asshole Military Model, breakfast in the common room had been wonderful. Marley, Acer, and Ever had welcomed me without hesitation. It felt wonderful. It had felt like home. A real one. I understood why Poe hadn’t wanted to leave.
Walking back to Viper’s quarters, his comm buzzed.
“I need to see Oz in the lab,” Dax said. “After her episode, I want to make sure there is no lasting damage.”
Damage.That one word caused my stomach to roll, the breakfast I had eaten threatening to come back up.
Viper gazed at me. “On our way.”
“It will be fine.” No, it very well could not be fine. I knew implanting the chip would be dangerous. A stupid and rash decision that could end my happily ever after before it had even begun.
At the moment, I felt great. Sleep and breakfast had done wonders. But I had a ticking time bomb in my head. One not even the brilliant Dax could remove.
Would I go to sleep next to Viper one night and never wake up? Would I be laughing with Poe, not realizing that it was my last day?My dark thoughts continued all the way to the lab. The serious look on Dax’s face I saw when we entered didn’t help to ease my concern.
He patted an exam table. “Up you go!”
I followed his order, hopping up onto the table as he pulled out a scanner from his lab coat pocket. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a dark-haired woman step out from one of the back offices.
My brain immediately registered who it was. I had seen her face splashed across multiple Global Allegiance articles claiming her to be the most brilliant mind of her generation.
The infamous Dr. Shaw. And holy shit! She was heading right for me.“How the hell do you look like you haven’t aged a day?” Really, Oz? You meet the smartest person besides the green cyborg in front of you and that’s what you lead with? This was Viper’s mother! She created the man you love! Introduce yourself!
I sucked in a breath. “Sorry. That was rude of me. Hi, I’m Oz and thank you for creating Viper!” Yep. I totally thanked Dr. Shaw for making Viper like he was a brand-new transport. “Fuck. That came out wrong! Viper is totally a person. In my opinion he is the best person.”
“He truly is one of the best people, isn’t he?” Dr. Shaw smiled, extending her hand. Shaking it, I tried to calm my racing heartbeat. It had just started to slow down when Dax’s scanner beeped, and a frown appeared on his face.
Dr. Shaw took a glance at the scanner over Dax’s shoulder and the smile on her face fell, her frown matching the Science Models. If the two most brilliant beings on earth frown at the sight of your test results, shit has hit the fan.
I straightened my spine, bracing myself for what I knew had to be bad news. “By the looks on your faces, it can’t be good, can it?”
Dax shook his head sadly. “I am afraid the damage has spread. The repair I made is failing.”
“There has to be something you can do!” Viper yelled. He desperately looked between Dax and Dr. Shaw. “One of you can fix her!” He grabbed for my hand. “Please. I just found her.” His eyes met mine. “I just found you,” he whispered, his voice breaking.
“I know,” I whispered back. So, this was how it ends. Kind of thought it would be in some back alley somewhere. “How long?”
“A month. Maybe two.”
Ice filled my veins and dread pooled in my belly as I sat stiff and frozen on the exam table.A month or two? It wasn’t enough time. I had finally found where I belonged, and now I had to say goodbye? I wasn’t sure I could. Then again, death wasn’t an enemy I could fight. And neither could my cyborg.
I watched the moment it sank in filter across Viper’s face. His mouth twisted then he cried out. It sounded as if his very heart was being torn from his chest.
Dragging me off the table and into his lap, his frame curled around me as he began to rock back and forth.
“He’s wrong…I will fix this. I’ll take you out of here. Turn myself in and beg the humans to help you. Dax can be wrong. Humans know humans, right? They will know how to make you better.” Emotion choked his voice, his frame trembling like a leaf around me. Held tight, I could feel his heart race. Pressing my palm to his frantic beat, I whispered, “Viper, baby, look at me.”
He shook his head and I gripped his chin, tipping it down. The pained expression on his face would have buckled my knees if I had been standing. “You know Dax is the best. If he can’t fix me, then no one can.” I slid my hand over and cupped his cheek, brushing away the dark fluid staining his skin. “If I only get a month or two, I don’t want to waste it by worrying over something we can’t change.” I sucked in a breath knowing my next words were going to hurt. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to stay with me only to watch me die. That’s not the ending I want for us, Viper. I can’t be the reason you break.” I sobbed, my heart shattering inside my chest. I would be the one who would break, to shatter into a thousand parts and pieces so that my cyborg didn’t have to.
He still had forever. He could find someone new. But every day he watched as I faded away would leave a scar, and I wasn’t sure he could survive. “You were a gift I never thought I would find. Even when we were at each other’s throats, I knew I’d rather fight with you than love anyone else. Now loving you means letting you go before it’s too late. There is someone out there who can give you forever. I wish it could have been me.” I put my lips to his and kissed him for all the joy he brought me, for all the time we would never have.
He pushed his mouth harder against mine. His hands slid into my hair to hold me to him. “You,” he rasped. “I’d rather have less days withyouthen spend my forever with someone else. You don’t get to decide for me, Oz, I do. Let me spend the time we have loving you enough for a lifetime. That’s the ending I want. I promise I won’t break. I am strong enough to carry us both to the end. All you have to do is hold on and don’t let go.”
Could I do that?I wanted to. God how I wanted to. I don’t want to do this alone. When I took my last breath, I wanted someone to be holding my hand. My soul desperately wanted that person to be Viper.
I went to answer him, but a voice from the doorway asked, “What the hell is going on in here? Why is everyone so glum? Did someone die?”