Page 30 of Star-Crossed Captive
“On your feet, tyro,” Mace ordered, and the boy scrambled to stand, facing off with the girl once more. “A couple hours of training and I’ll be focused again.”
He’d said it with conviction but wondered who he was trying to convince, himself or Grey.
Chapter eleven
Niaconcentratedonherpatient’s wrist, a boy with a strained ligament. The extra two hours made this shift seem incredibly long. Funny, since she’d been used to twelve plus hours onElara Five. There she’d had the benefit of stimulant injections. Now, she was infused with bone-deep weariness.
Faas and Mayra were determined to be as difficult as possible. Access to supplies and prescriptions, receiving patients according to skill level—everything became a battle. The third medic, Kessy, hadn’t been there the day before, but remained distant. The other two had been talking to her at the beginning of the shift.
Nia finished with the boy, saw him out the door with his mother, then rolled her neck, trying to work out the kinks. Stars above, she needed a three-hour soak in a regeneration bath. Did they have those here?
The door to the bay slid open. A man strode through, his dark blue uniform like Mace’s in style, except he wore two guns, and the most blades strapped to his waist as she’d seen on any warrior. His brown hair swept forward, covering a large portion of his forehead, his nose long and curved.
A strange silence descended in the med bay. Nia glanced over her shoulder. All three medics had frozen in their work, staring at the man who entered, a touch of fear in their eyes.
Nia swung her gaze back to him.Must be important.And she was the only one without a patient.
“This is family medicine,” she said, and someone gasped from behind her. “Are you in the right place?” There had to be another med bay warriors used.
The man’s gaze landed on her and didn’t leave. A smile curved his lips. “I’m in the exact right place.”
Her stomach clenched at his tone. The look in his eyes reminded her of the way Calvin would get sometimes, like he was owed something.
Squaring her shoulders, Nia tipped her head toward the nearest med bed and asked, “What is your medical issue?” If he didn’t have one, then she’d ask him to leave. The medics behind her had resumed their tasks, but there was still an air of caution in the bay—one exuding from the patients as well.
He hopped onto the med bed, then lifted his hand. Blood coated his fingers. “I seem to have cut myself.”
His nonchalant tone made her swallow. Shaking herself, she grabbed the scanner. He was tall, and the way he sat, she could only access the injury by standing between his legs. Unease crept up her spine, and she couldn’t help but compare this to when she’d healed Mace on the way toOrion. Even surrounded by people, this somehow felt more threatening.
Pushing the eerie sensation aside, she ran the scanner over the palm of his hand, eyes narrowing as she read the screen. As a trauma surgeon, she had a mental catalog of injuries, and this one wasn’t some accident. It appeared self-inflicted.
A sense of self-preservation made her forgo the regular round of questions in favor of getting him out of the med bay as quickly as possible. She could feel him staring at her as she ran the sterilizer over his skin, cleaning the blood away. The regenerator hummed next. The cut was fresh and deep.
Three quarters through the heal, a teenager strolled in clutching her wrist, face pale with pain. Her eyes widened when they landed on the warrior.
Why did everyone fear this man in a different way than what she’d seen with Mace?
“Sit right there,” Nia said jerking her head to the closest med bed. “I’ll be with you next.”
Finishing up with his hand, it no longer looked like he’d been injured, the skin smooth. He flexed his fingers, curling them into a fist.
Nia stepped away from the bed, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm. Her stomach squeezed with nausea.
“I’d heard you were good.” He said it like he meant anything other than medical expertise.
Trying not to react to his innuendo, she said, “I have patients to attend to.”
When she jerked her arm out of his grasp, he let her go. Swallowing, she turned to tend the teenager, giving him her back, and tried to concentrate through the erratic pounding of her heart.
He didn’t leave for a long while, and her spine burned from his stare. A collective breath released from everyone in the bay when he finally left.
Nia lifted her head, meeting Kessy’s gaze. The medical assistant’s eyes were wide, but there was relief there too. What had Nia escaped?
She tried to push the whole incident aside, the rest of the day passing in a blur. Only a few minutes remained of her shift when the bay emptied of patients.
But Nia didn’t have time to take a breath.
The lights in the room changed abruptly, flashing red. On a curse, Faas ran to the wall terminal, reading the information scrolling across its surface. He whipped around to Nia. “What kind of surgeon did you say you were?”
