Page 121 of Star Bringer
“Are you okay?” I ask Gage. He looks okay, but I’m not exactly tracking right now, so I want to hear it from him.
“Almost as good as new,” he tells me. “Nothing but rave reviews for the sick bay. And on the plus side, I’m on some really great painkillers at the moment. So just think what you have to look forward to.”
“Painkillers are definitely something I can get behind right now,” I say. My leg feels like it’s on fire, and I just want to cry.
Which I’m absolutely not going to do, since everyone, even Beckett, is here now, looking like they want to help but are unsure how.
Ian has his back to me. He’s rummaging through the first-aid supplies we got in Rangar. Then he turns and gives me a forced smile. “Let’s get you fixed up.” He steps closer.
“Have you ever stitched up a bullet wound?” Rain asks, sounding as worried as she looks.
“Not technically,” Ian replies. “But I’ve certainly experienced more of them than your average medic.”
I don’t ask why that is. Mostly because I’ve seen him in action.
He has a pair of scissors in one hand, and he’s brandishing a hypodermic needle in the other. My eyes are fixed on the needle—not because I’m scared of them, but because I’m not sure Ian is the one I want stabbing me with it.
“I’m an excellent seamstress,” Rain says with conviction, coming up next to Ian now. “I spend a lot of time doing needlework at the monastery. Why don’t you let me handle the stitching-up part?”
“And why don’t I take that huge needle off your hands,” Beckett adds, joining her. “I’ve certainly seen my share of those while on theCaelestis.” She gives me a wink, and I’m sure I’m delirious now, because did Beckett really justwink at me?
Ian steps back, and then the dream team of Beckett and Rain is hard at work. I barely feel the prick of the needle—Beckett is better at this than I imagined—but within seconds, blissful numbness is running through my leg.
My whole body relaxes. “That’s so lovely.”
“Okay, then. Let’s get that bullet out,” Ian says. “Bullet retrieval is definitely my specialty.”
“Can I sit up a little more?” Now that the pain is fading, I want to see just how badly I’m wounded. Max presses a button close to my head, and the top half of the bed raises so I’m half sitting.
Turns out I can’t actually see much, currently, as the wound—and my beloved jumpsuit—is covered in blackish coagulating blood.
Ian presses a finger to my leg. “Can you feel that?”
I shake my head. “No.” Thankfully.
“Let’s do this, then.”
As he works, the others crowd around me, keeping my focus off what Ian is doing by telling me how brave I am, how worried they were, and how amazing theStarlightwas with its odd solar flare.
“Hey, Kali,” Gage pipes up. “You ever hear the one about the drokaray crossing the solar system?”
I know exactly what he’s doing, but I take the bait anyway. “No, Gage. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Why did the drokaray cross the solar system?”
We all look at him, patiently awaiting the answer.
“To get to the other side!”
Rain giggles, but the rest of us sort of stare at one another, and Ian lets out a snort. “That’s terrible, man,” he says.
“I know,” Gage admits, “but it’s still funny to me. The other side. Ha.”
Ian rolls his eyes at me, but he’s smiling. “Bullet’s out, Princess.”
I take a peek. Ian is holding up the bullet. It’s black and quite small and really doesn’t look capable of causing nearly as much pain as it has.
My leg is bleeding freely now, though. Max swoops in and wipes away the blood, then holds the wound together as Rain does her thing with the needle. She really is quite good at it, and it’s only a few minutes before she steps away and Max wraps a bandage around it.
