Chapter 4 #2
When my knees trembled and the static in my brain grew to deafening levels, I sat on one of the beds.
I kept my hand fisted as I swallowed against the churning in my stomach.
I would not vomit. I refused to. Ensign Puke was no more, and the last thing I needed was for word to get around that I’d vomited from a clean slice across my palm.
After what felt like an eon, Doctor Qinlin strode out of the office and came toward me with a screen in her hand and a harsh expression on her face that made me cringe and hunch my shoulders clear to my ears.
She growled at Noxlyn, pointing at the isolated bed, and he obligingly sat down, arms crossing like a petulant child.
“So my kit injured you,” she said, pushing a hand through her short purple hair.
“Kit?” I asked, looking at Noxlyn. I suddenly realized when I’d seen his stern expression before.
He looked like his mother. They weren’t the same color—she was a dark purple—but that wasn’t unusual.
However, their features were similar with the same long face and ordinary aspect. “I didn’t realize you had a child.”
Qinlin didn’t seem like a parent type to me, though she also didn’t seem like the type to like being the head seeker or doctor on a ship, and she was, so I couldn’t have gotten a true understanding of her.
She scoffed and grabbed a medical wand, scanning my palm. “He sliced one of the tendons. I will have to do surgery. Lie back.”
“But I can move my fingers.” Not my hand. Please, not my hand. I used my hands all the time for my work. I couldn’t lose the full range of motion.
“It’s not a full tear, but I need to repair it before it’s further damaged.
” Qinlin absently patted me, and I recoiled from the touch.
She often ignored permissions, as they were too much hassle for her.
“You’ll be fine. A week of light duty and maybe two of restricted movement, and you’ll be back to your normal duties.
Records state this is your dominant hand, so no firearm training. ”
No Monqilcolnen. That was a perk, if there was one in this situation.
I jolted as a needle punctured the skin between my scales.
The liquid burned, and I fought the urge to whine.
Qinlin barely paid attention to me as she held the cylindrical needle to my wrist until it emptied and the needle retracted.
Numbness filled my hand, and my thoughts scattered like clouds in the wind.
“You shouldn’t feel this, but if you do, tell me,” she said before pulling out more instruments.
I had a hard time following her as she set everything up.
“My apologies about Noxlyn. He has no experience on a ship. His father wouldn’t let him go to space.
The man is a moron, but he was a good fuck, which, I suppose, is why Noxlyn is here. ”
The first smile I’d ever seen on Qinlin’s face appeared.
It was a small thing that barely quirked her lips, but it was there all the same.
“I wouldn’t have Noxlyn without him,” she said, pulling the skin of my palm apart.
I looked away, queasy. “Me and Fynlincoxmin weren’t courting; we were fuck friends.
He’s too stupid for anything else, but he is lovely.
“When I got pregnant, I planned to terminate the pregnancy. It wasn’t the right time in my career for a child, and I never wanted children.
Not ever. But Fynlincoxmin begged me. He sobbed and cried for the baby, so I decided to keep it.
” She smiled again. “Noxlyn is the best thing in my life. Thank the Crystal he inherited my brain, though.”
I’d never known her to speak so much, but she was successfully distracting me from what she was doing. Perhaps she remembered me passing out more than once from blood when I’d fulfilled my obligated rotation in the medbay.
“But he is rather inexperienced in space. His father cannot be parted from him.” She scoffed.
“Fynlincoxmin is mated now, and Zyngid and I had to convince him to let Noxlyn go. Fynlincoxmin hates whenever he is away. He doesn’t even let Noxlyn live out of his house.
The man is overly attached. I thought this trip would be good for Fynlincoxmin, and Noxlyn wanted to go. ”
“Why?” I forced out of my lips.
Qinlin looked at me for a long moment with a deep frown, then clarified, “Why am I telling you this, you mean?”
I was too lightheaded to respond, but it wasn’t needed.
“Because you won’t remember any of it, and I don’t want you to vomit. According to the stories, you have quite the stomach. I hardly need to be cleaning up vomit from my medbay, and that idiot Klars isn’t here to do it.”
I hated Monqilcolnen. Why did he have to tell everyone?
“Perhaps you and Noxlyn can be friends.” She looked over her shoulder and said loudly, “He would be a good friend, Little Shadow. Don’t be a moron like your father. Get help.”
Noxlyn rolled his eyes. “I will take your opinion under advisement.”
My eyes started to close when the door opened. Monqilcolnen was suddenly leaning over me. His starlight hair brushed my cheeks, and his golden eyes burned into me.
“Report,” he demanded.
He sounded angry. I don’t think I’d ever heard him angry before, besides when I’d vomited on him, at least according to the story. I didn’t remember; I’d been too drunk.
Monqilcolnen looked down at me. “You will be fine, Wyn. I promise.”
Why did he care? I had the perverse urge to touch his cheek, but my hand didn’t move, and I closed my eyes, tired. Maybe after I slept, it would all make sense.
The instant I’d seen the injury report from Doctor Qinlin with Wyn’s name on it, I’d raced out of Command and to the medbay. Wyn had been hurt. She hadn’t stated much in the incident report besides logging the initial injury, and when I’d arrived, Wyn’s hand was cut open and she was doing surgery.
“Report,” I demanded.
“My kit got trapped in the tunnel. Wyn helped him, and he got sliced by Noxlyn’s talon in the process.”
I glared at the young drakcol and had to fight the instinct to seize him and snarl. Accidents happened, but he’d injured Wyn. I prowled closer. “Why were your wings out?”
Noxlyn shuffled back. He wasn’t a particularly large drakcol in frame, but he was tall. His tail flicked faster and faster the closer I got, and his breathing increased, his chest heaving. “It was an accident. Instinct."
Instinct. That one word pulled me out of my anger.
Wyn wasn’t mine to defend, and even if he had been, attacking someone under my command wasn’t right, especially not for an accident.
I dug deep for my mask of calm. I rarely struggled to find it, but this time was different.
The normal mask wouldn’t slide over my features, and my soul continued to throb, pounding against my ribs.
Wyn was special. I knew that. Why? I didn’t know. But that didn’t change the fact he was.
“You will attend training to overcome that instinct. If you cannot, you will be confined to the public spaces,” I said in an even voice.
“I understand, Commander.”
Giving him my back, I focused on Wyn, who drifted in and out of consciousness. Qinlin didn’t remark about my comments to her son, not that I expected her to. Personnel were my responsibility, and Qinlin was an experienced officer; she knew the need for order.
“Lieutenant Wyn will be fine,” she said, closing up his palm.
“You will keep a close eye on him,” I ordered.
“Are you questioning my ability to do my job? Like Prince does? I cannot believe he brought that useless Amorian healer for Seth Harris and his son. They have me. They hardly need anyone else.”
Klars had been Seth’s personal doctor for years.
Uncle Kontolmakqilnen had hired him and several other amorians, since they were the closest genetic makeup to humans, to care for the humans under our care.
A few would live on Terra, the moon sanctuary for humans, in Lucyville, the first settlement, and a handful would remain in the capital to help the humans there as well as further our research into human biology.
Also Dontilvynsan had hired an Amorian physician to travel with him and Vince on his ship; he would never allow anything to happen to his mate.
I looked down, and Wyn stared up at me with his crystal blue eyes. He was lovely, utterly lovely. I fought the urge to settle him in my arms and snuggle him close. “You will be alright, I promise.”
Wyn just stared at me, and I returned his look. I would keep him safe.
Not yet, my instincts whispered. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet… but soon.