Chapter 10 #3
She reduced the dislocation with a single, precise motion.
Peter made a sound that Marina would probably hear in her nightmares, and then it was over, and the medic was applying the thermal bonding compound.
It was a warm, golden substance that she spread along the laceration with a precision that bordered on artistry.
The wound edges sealed as the compound worked, the bleeding stopping in real time.
Dr. Vasquez appeared on the communication screen which was patched through from Ceylara via a relay node that the engineering team had restored.
She walked the Weredragon medics through human-specific protocols, and the collaboration was seamless.
Two medical traditions working on one patient, filling each other's gaps.
Marina stood beside Peter's platform and held his good hand while the medics worked. She didn't speak. She didn't need to. The hand-holding said everything: I'm here, you're safe, you matter to me.
"You're holding my hand," Peter observed after the pain subsided.
"You got hurt saving Patel."
"I didn't save Patel. I got hit because I was too slow to get under the table. The table saved Patel."
"Athena says you pushed her toward it."
"Athena talks too much."
"Athena talks exactly the right amount." Marina squeezed his hand once, then let go. She looked at him; really looked, the way you look at someone you love in a way that isn't romantic but is no less real, and said, "You're a good man, Peter."
"I know. It's my curse." He closed his eyes. The Weredragon healing compound was working, and whatever was in it had a sedative quality that was pulling him toward sleep. "Marina."
"Yes?"
"I heard what you said in the corridor. To Toren. About being in love with someone else." His eyes stayed closed. "I'm glad you said it. I'm glad you didn't wait for a better moment. There aren't better moments. There's just this."
Marina's breath caught. She leaned down and kissed Peter's forehead; gently and briefly, a gesture that closed a door with as much kindness as a closing door could hold.
Then she walked to the doorway where Toren stood.
The corridor was quieter now. Aftershocks done, structural teams working, the Colony finding its way back to routine. The bioluminescent lights had stabilized to their normal gentle pulse.
"Thank you," she said. Her voice was low, pitched for him alone. "You saved them."
"That's what allies do."
"You carried Peter through a collapsing corridor while he insulted you and made you promise to take care of me. That's more than allies."
"He has a good sense of humor for someone who's bleeding."
"He has a good heart for someone who's in love with a woman who's in love with someone else."
The words landed between them. Marina didn't take them back. She didn't look away. She stood in the doorway with dust in her hair and blood on her hands and told the truth the way she told every truth; directly, completely, without apology.
Toren felt his breath stop. His hearts kept beating. Weredragons had the redundancy for that, but his breath stopped, and the corridor went very still.
"Marina …"
"Not here," she said. "Not now. Peter's in there, and the Colony just had an earthquake, and there are a hundred things that need my attention. But I said it, and I meant it, and when all those things are handled, I'm coming to find you."
She turned and walked back into the medical bay. Professional, composed, in control. Her hands were shaking. He could see them from the doorway.
Athena emerged a moment later. She leaned against the opposite wall, looked at him, and crossed her arms.
"You look like you've been hit by something," she said.
"Your sister told me she loves me."
"It took her long enough." Athena's dust-covered face held an expression that was simultaneously unsurprised and deeply amused. "I've been watching her fall for you since Ceylara. She moves slower than a glacier on personal things."
"She said she'd come find me."
"Then go somewhere she can find you. And clean up. You smell like fire and rubble." Athena pushed off the wall. "The deep caverns below the main waterfall have warm pools that are geothermal springs. Third tunnel on the left past the secondary junction. Auren told me."
"When did you ask Auren for directions?"
"I didn't ask. He volunteered the information. Loudly. In front of six people. He has no concept of subtlety."
"He's very enthusiastic."
"He's very annoying. There's a difference." She paused at the medical bay door. "Toren, she’s, my sister. She's the only family I have left. If you hurt her, the earthquake will be the least of your problems."
"I understand."
"Good. Third tunnel, left at the junction. The pools are warm. Don't drown." She disappeared back into the medical bay.
Toren stood in the corridor for five more seconds. Then he went to find the warm pools, because Marina had said she was coming to find him, and Athena was right about the shower, and his hearts. Both of them were beating faster than they'd beaten during the earthquake.