Page 59 of Badass Alien Boss

He shook his head. “No. There’s nothing to be sorry about.” He bent his head and kissed her knuckles. “You’re going toLuturna Medical Center where Dr. Prymr sent your blood sample. His colleague Dr. Kurur is expecting you.”

She’d fallen asleep feeling fine—more than fine after making love—and then woke up suffocating. She’d tried to call for him, but he was gone, and that was the last she remembered.

“I never should have left you alone.” His eyes looked haunted.

“Waaaat…do you mean?” She gasped even with the breathing mask.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I went into the other room to think. When I returned to the bedroom, I found you…”

“Not your fault.” She’d never tell him she’d awakened and called for him. Not now.

“Waaaat were you thinkin’ ’bout?”

He shook his head. “Not important. Doesn’t matter right now. You shouldn’t try to talk.”

“He’s right. Save your breath for breathing,” the medic said. “We’re here now. Hang tight.”

The extended hovercar swooped into a vehicle bay, and its back doors opened. Ruyn moved out of the way as her litter floated out, guided by the medic. With Ruyn following, she drifted into a well-lit, muted-green medical lobby.

The medic handed her off to a tall, bald, thin man with gray-blue skin, his color an instant giveaway he wasn’t Luturnan. She couldn’t even guess at his species, and it caused a little trepidation. How much did these alien doctors know about human anatomy and physiology? She was trusting them with her life.

It’s not like I have many options.She reached for Ruyn’s hand and clung to it.

“I’m Dr. Kurur,” said the tall, thin, gray-blue man. “We need to draw some blood and run a scan in our analyzer to get moredata while you’re still in the throes of the allergic reaction. We’re not going to let anything happen to you, okay?”

That gave her a little more reassurance. “Just…hurry.”

He smiled. “We will.”

Two staff members shifted her to a hospital litter. The medic took his back. “You’re in good hands,” he said and departed.

She hoped so.

“I’d like to go with her,” Ruyn said.

“I promise we’ll take very good care of her, but we need room to work, and scanning bays are tight. Please wait in a comfort station. As soon as she’s stabilized, someone will get you.”

Ruyn squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. “I love you. Don’t worry.” Despite his calm tone, his tense face betrayed his fear.

“Love you, too.Youdon’t worry.” She hated being parted from him, and she wished he could have accompanied her for his sake and hers. But there was nothing either of them could do at this point. Everything was out of their hands. She had to put on her big-girl panties and suck it up.

She watched Ruyn watch her as they took her away.Don’t let this be the final goodbye.A tear slipped out of her eye.How can this be happening? It isn’t fair!

The doctor hadn’t underestimated the tightness of the space. She was taken to a closet-sized bay occupied by an enormous gleaming tubular machine with a glass window across the top half. There was barely enough space for the staff to squeeze by.

“I’m going in that?” When he’d said run a scan in the analyzer, she’d assumed he meant her blood, not her.Good thing I’m not claustrophobic.

“Shortly,” Kurur replied.

A phlebotobot withdrew at least a bucket of blood and then whisked it off to a lab somewhere.

“The scan will take about thirty minutes,” Kurur said. Thirty minutes?Scanto her meantshort. Thirty minutes wasn’t short. “You’ll be injected with tracers, nanobots that can diagnose at the cellular level.” Injected? Nanobots? She bit her puffy lip, anxiety spiking.

“The nanobots will transmit information. When the analysis is complete, you’ll be treated.”

“More injections?”

“Yes.”