Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Mia
I rushed forward and hugged Logan, even though maybe I shouldn’t have.
I was lonely here and worried about my brother.
Axel and T’ukka lingered by the door, and Logan looked a little startled to see them both.
I glanced back at them, and that odd sense that something was happening between them returned.
They looked as they should have looked, like big muscly brutes — one human and a little smaller, the other alien and massive.
“That’s the guy you’re here to...” Logan’s voice trailed off, and he darted his eyes to the side, towards the doctor, who again looked flustered. Was the doctor flustered by my brother? Weird.
“Yep. The big guy looks mean but he’s a gentleman, and a softie on the inside,” I said.
“I am none of that,” T’ukka muttered.
“We’re trying to reassure her brother, jackass,” Axel said, bumping T’ukka with his shoulder.
Only he didn’t un-bump T’ukka. He stayed there, slightly touching the big man.
When I had come out of my bedroom, I could have sworn that they had been holding hands.
I wondered if they were romantically involved.
Whatever was happening, they seemed unsettled by it.
They’d been defensive and clearly lying when I’d question them, but maybe I didn’t have the right to know.
“Sorry. Brother of Mia, we are here to protect her and keep her safe. We will do her no harm other than harm that may come to her during sex.” T’ukka turned slightly and grinned at Axel, his brows up, and Axel rolled his eyes.
“He’s an idiot. Ignore him,” Axel said to Logan.
“How about both you idiots leave the room, and I’ll talk to my brother.”
Logan was staring at me as the two big guys shuffled out, a little smile playing around his lips. “I think I like them. Is that weird? They’re like a strange comedy duo.”
“Right?” I asked, sighing. “They’re irritating as hell but I kind of like them, too. It’s only been three days but they’ve given me time to adjust, and I’ve started to get to know them, especially Axel. He seems to speak for the prince when he gets all awkward and Aunga’ri.”
“Super awkward,” Logan said, chuckling. “The doctor is super awkward, too.”
“Right? Cultural differences, I suppose. Anyway, I like them both more than I ever would have guessed going into this.” This wasn’t a lie to reassure my brother. It was the truth, and it felt a little startling to speak the words out loud. “How is the doctor? Axel says she’s brilliant.”
He grinned a little wryly. “She seems nervous. I’m not sure why, but a nervous doctor is not exactly a good ego boost when you’re in my situation.”
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I blinked them back. “What if they can’t help you?”
He held out his arms and I settled into the embrace, trying to remember what it would have felt like to hug my brother just six months ago before all of this happened. “Accept that I might not be okay, Mia,” he murmured. “You did your best and got me this insane opportunity. It’s all you can do.”
“What if it’s for nothing?”
He sighed. “That’s what I was worried about from the start, big sister. But I knew it would kill you more to not have tried. But remember, Axel said the doctor is brilliant, right?”
“You have to fight for it, Logan,” I whispered. “You’re all I have left.”
“I’m fighting as hard as I can. And I have a feeling the doctor is going to do the same.”
I smiled a little. “I have that feeling about her, too. She doesn’t seem like the type to leave things unsolved.”
He chuckled, and then we both looked up as the doctor herself stepped into the room. She shifted nervously, looking at both of us. “I’m sorry. I overheard your conversation, and I want to clarify that I’m not nervous about your diagnosis, Logan Tsung. It’s a personal matter that has me on edge.”
“Thank you, Doctor...” Logan rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Can you pronounce your name again? I’m sorry.”
“Dr. Vralziks Yes’niet An’Ra’odah,” she said. “You can simply call me Dr. Vralziks. Or...” I could have sworn she blushed like a human, her light purple skin turning a little pinker. “Ra’odah, if that’s easier for you to remember. In your current state.”
“I thought it was unacceptable for a human to use your third name,” Logan said.
“I do not mind. I know it’s common in human culture, and since we’re on Earth I can attempt to see it as humans see it. But for now I suggest you get some rest. The treatment is intense, and it begins tomorrow.”
Logan was studying her quietly. “Right. Thanks for everything, Doctor. Can I have a few last words with my sister?”
“Yes, of course. Remember what we discussed? I think you should talk to her about that. The treatment involves an infusion of alien DNA, which may impact your appearance or other qualities.” She flushed again and rushed out of the room, making me wonder what other qualities she was talking about.
“Feel better?” Logan asked.
“Does the doctor have a crush on you? I could have sworn she was blushing.”
Logan rolled his eyes, lying back on the examination table and rubbing his hands over his eyes. “That would be insane.”
I fluttered my eyelashes like a simpering maiden. “Oh Logan, you can call me Ra’odah.”
“Don’t say her name. I think it’s bad luck. Or a curse.” He frowned. “Something like that.”
“That is all fantasy hogwash for those Aunga’ri who believe in magic.
It is simply disrespectful,” T’ukka’s voice boomed from behind me and I startled.
“But I’ve learned that humans are impudent.
” He had appeared at the door, Axel again beside him, and again they were standing a little too close, though it may not even have been a conscious act.
“He’s trying to say he hopes your brother makes a full recovery,” Axel said.
“I do not need you to interpret my English, human.” T’ukka tensed, but Axel put a hand on his back, somewhere that I couldn’t see, and the alien immediately relaxed. “But yes, I have the utmost confidence in our doctor.”
“What did she mean about changes?” I asked.
“Apparently, I might turn purple?”
T’ukka explained, “We have treated five other humans in this facility with our methods over the past year. Two came out normal, two gained some Aunga’ri qualities.”
“Big dick,” Axel said this through a cough, like we were in middle school.
T’ukka shot him a look. “The patients reported an increased member size.”
Logan’s eyes widened, and he laughed. “I mean, I wouldn’t complain about that.”
“Shut up, jackass. What about the fifth?”
Axel hesitated. “The fifth had a bad reaction to something in the treatment. The doctor had a difficult time with it, and it may be why she’s feeling nervous about treating Logan.
She has not treated another human since,” he said.
When I gasped softly he continued, his eyes steady on mine.
“You have to understand that it’s risky, what we’re signing him up for, but Logan has accepted the risk and decided it’s worth a shot. ”
“Otherwise, I only had three months to live, Mia,” Logan said. “Eighty percent odds sound good, right? Compared to that?”
“Why did the doctor agree to treat him, then?”
T’ukka spoke up. “The commander issued an order, and she will have to overcome her hesitancy. It is not a choice. But she has been developing a testing process. She’ll want to start that on him first, so there will be some time to spend with your brother as he prepares.”
I nodded up at the big alien, then impulsively hugged him. “Thank you for this chance,” I whispered. He was still for a moment, then his arms looped around my waist and settled on my back.
“Now I will have to decontaminate for sure,” he muttered, stepping back. Axel barked a laugh. I gave Logan one last hug, handed him his book and a water, and headed back out of the patient rooms, towards the decontamination rooms.
“Hugging was worth it, though, wasn’t it?” Axel said.
“Shut up,” T’ukka muttered, giving him a hard glare. The two men made eye contact and that strange thing passed between them again, like they were communicating silently.
“Females in the left stall, males in the right,” T’ukka muttered as we came to the decontamination rooms. The operator nodded through the window and left to set out our clothes.
“Why do we have to do this every time? Logan is in the building. He’s been tested.”
“The commander is paranoid,” Axel said. “He won’t see anyone who hasn’t been through decontamination, and won’t allow them to touch anything within the residential quarters.”
“The doctor will not have decontaminated Logan because of his weakened state. She is supposed to speak to him mostly through the glass partition in his room.” T’ukka hesitated and shrugged. “Otherwise she will need to be decontaminated as well.”
“But she didn’t. She came inside.”
“She will do that when she feels the patient needs her direct touch or more comfort,” T’ukka said. I frowned at Axel and he shrugged.
“She must have her reasons. Because these spray jets hurt like a bitch.” He pulled off his shirt, his muscles rippling in a way that made me unconsciously lick my lips.
I pulled my tongue back into my mouth before either of the men noticed, then glanced at T’ukka and found he was also licking his lips.
“I like your tattoo,” I murmured, reaching out and touching a big bird on his shoulder. The detail was intricate and beautiful, with finely drawn feathers that blended down into geometric shapes. I wondered about the meaning behind it, but he just stood still and allowed me to touch him.