Artificial Heart

13

Prisha gulped down the lump in her throat and closed her eyes. She could hear his breathing now. It was very faint but it was there.

'I think I panicked,' she said, voice muffled behind the mask.

He didn't respond.

'I'm sorry. That was stupid.' She turned her head, cheeks hot with embarrassment, but again he turned her face back. Prisha opened her eyes. He was gazing at her. The metal in his face gleamed against the soft light of the room.

His hand moved from her forehead. Prisha sucked in a surprised breath as he pressed the back of it against her cheek.

'What are you doing?' she whispered.

He cocked his head. Frowned. The red in his mechanical eye went bright, then dimmed. He suddenly stepped back, hands at his sides. 'Are you recovered?'

'Yes.' Slowly, she sat up. She pulled off the mask, then folded her arms around herself, feeling more vulnerable/uncomfortable/nervous/exhilarated/frightened—so many emotions—than she ever had in her whole damn life. You make me feel strange, Alf.

Crazy laughter bubbled up her throat. She was feeling giddy. She gripped her head at a sudden thump in her temples. So many things were happening. So many mental and emotional and physical things she couldn't begin to describe. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry.

Had he pumped something into her via the mask?

Alf simply stood there, waiting patiently. Prisha swung her legs over the edge of the bench and stared down at her lap, unable to look at him. Unable to deal with that uncomfortable intensity in his gaze.

She almost wanted his helmet back.

'What leaders, Alf?' she said. She squeezed her hands between her thighs. 'Who are you talking about? We don't have any world leaders.'

She suddenly thought of the UN, America, Europe, Britain. It had to be one of them. Or was there some kind of authority she knew nothing about? When it came to leadership, did he mean the most warlike, the most powerful, the most populated, the richest or the most diplomatic?

Who?

Her mind reeled. She massaged her temples.

'You are in pain,' he said.

'Good observation.' She smiled at him, then waved her hand. 'Harmless headache.'

'You are afraid of your own species,' he said.

'I guess you could say that. I'm just an ordinary person, Alf. If you needed someone to communicate with such important people, well ... then, you should have taken an important person. Someone like them.'

'No.'

'No?'

'No.'

'I'm a nobody, Alf.'

'So am I.'

Prisha shook her head. 'You're definitely not a nobody, Alf. You're extraordinary.'

'You are extraordinary, also.'

Warmth spread through Prisha's chest. Such powerful words in his monotone voice. She dared to meet his gaze. He could not lie, she reminded herself. Not that it mattered; the truth was clear as day in his eyes. 'You wanted a normal person.'

Silent acknowledgement.

Her heart fluttered. 'Why do you look at me like that, Alf?'

'I do not know.'

A surprising answer. Prisha looked down at his bare hand. Her heart was thudding as she reached for it. He looked down too. She took it.

'Are you sure you're an alien? A machine?' she said. 'Because you're more human than I am.'