About a Year Ago
As far as Aliin could tell, the man behind the glass wall had traveled a great distance. Not only that, but he probably hadn’t traveled that distance willingly, judging by the lack of supplies. He had a defensive nature, the kind that was shown in squared shoulders and his mouth pressed into a hard line. His eyes watched everything, and the large scar across his nose made him look menacing, almost.
And yet, despite the face and the show he seemed to be putting on, Aliin saw his fear most of all. He was scared, probably because he had no idea where he was. He didn’t know their language. Who could even say if he had even seen a Dijnay before? Aliin was assigned to be his nurse, but it was hard to treat a species that only looked vaguely similar to her own.
“Dr. Borii, what do you think?” Aliin asked, folding her arms. They were standing side by side, staring through the one-way glass wall at their new patient. He had been found in one of the temples, right on the altar. Just lying there asleep. While that wasn’t uncommon to find homeless in the temples that were always open, this homeless man wasn’t Dijnay. He had no antennae, only one heart and red blood. Red blood.
They didn’t even know if he was male or female. They were calling him male for now and just hope they were right. Dr. Borri’s antennae twitched, evidence that he was running the problems through his head, going over everything. Aliin gave him a half-smile and waited silently.
“I would say he’s scared,” Borri said eventually. “But other than the various scars and bruises he doesn’t appear to be sick or in bad health. We can try to take his vitals, but without getting a baseline for what his vitals should be that’s pointless for now. The only similarities he has to the Dijnay is he’s a bipedal organism with similar outward appearances to us, but his inward structure is entirely different than ours. I mean, just his immune system...” Dr. Borri sighed in frustration. “I’m afraid that if he does get sick we won’t be able to treat him for fear of killing him.”
“What about food or water?” Aliin asked.
Dr. Borri shrugged helplessly. “Maybe? What if he’s allergic to our foods? Or maybe he doesn’t eat? Water is at least the basis of life, so hopefully that’s not poisonous to him. Get him a cup and try talking to him, alright?”
“Why-”
“Because you’re the only nurse I have who’s studying languages for her extended degree. Just try, okay?”
Borri nodded to her, touching his fingers to his forehead. His antennae bowed as well before he shuffled down the corridor. Aliin glanced at her new patient, trying to decide if he was even intelligent. Was the predatory look just an animalistic tendency, or was there something more there?
He sat on the bed, clasping his hands together, breathing hard. She could see his chest rising and falling quickly. “Voltron,” he muttered. “Voltron.”