22. Chapter 22
Cooper held his mate while they waited for someone to come look at her physical hurts. If they”d been on his ship, he would have already had her cleaned, bandaged, and back in bed where he could hold her for a very long time.
While they lay there in the dark, he started counting up enemies and didn”t like how quickly that list was growing. He was certain the doctor wasn”t in the crowd when they got off the shuttle. Which meant there were at least two compromised humans on the base and maybe more.
The group that had kidnapped them should have been impossible. There weren”t Chelions out this far. And they certainly shouldn”t have been able to breed to have the kinds of numbers he”d seen in the caves. Even if they”d been breeding with the local populations like it seemed they had.
And they”d mentioned other groups that they”d raided and saved human women from so there was more than one settlement. Even if they were enemies of each other, he didn”t think he could count any of them as allies.
Then there was the Orvax. They had every reason to hate him and his people, even if he hadn”t stolen their device. Whether or not they knew that was an open question for the moment.
And he”d called home to get someone to come get him.
Soon, the only person on Earth who might like him would be Marissa, and he wouldn”t blame her if she didn”t.
”How are you feeling?” he asked gently.
”Terrible,” she told him and he believed her. He”d been glad that, of the two of them, he”d taken the most damage. Despite the pain in his feet, the itching as his toes began to regrow, the thing that hurt the most was his inability to keep her from getting hurt.
He could feel her inner pain, as well, and brushed along her mind, asking permission to become a bigger presence. They might be matched and mated with a connection that was growing stronger with each breath but he could feel her need to maintain her barriers.
Talking hurts you. Does this?he asked gently.
No,she said, her voice quiet in his mind.
Good. May I soothe what I can while we wait? I can”t take away all the pain but maybe I can calm some of what she did to hurt you.
Yes, please.
Cooper eased himself into her awareness and pulled on everything he knew from his training and what he”d learned about humans to soothe her. The worst of her panic centered around the place the doctor had tried to invade.
It was such a small weak spot in her shields, he wouldn”t have noticed it if he hadn”t known where it was. He tried to help strengthen it, drain away the sting of the assault, and he couldn”t. She was maintaining it from inside her mind, reinforcing the hurt and pain, and he needed her to let go and let him help.
Marissa, my love, my mate, you have to let go of it so I can help.
She shivered in his arms and shook her head before wincing against the pain.
Don”t say things you don”t mean, she told him.
I do intend to help, he protested. But you”re holding onto the wound instead of letting me close it and strengthen your shields.
I”m not your love.
Cooper stilled. The human endearment had slipped out but he couldn”t bring himself to regret saying it.
Of course, you are.
I”m not. I haven”t earned it yet.
You don”t have to earn anything. That”s not how this works.
The weak spot in her shields pulsed at him and he realized why she wasn”t letting him help. It didn”t feel like a weak spot to her. She was strong, both mentally and physically, steady, and competent, so when she”d learned how to create shields around her mind, she”d covered some very old wounds without realizing they needed to be healed first.
There hadn”t been time to warn her when he”d been showing her how to do it but he didn”t know if he would have in the first place. It was such a small hole in her psyche, such a small wound, he didn”t think he would have noticed it.
Marissa, we may not have had much time to get to know each other yet, and we have a lot we need to talk about, but love is an action and a choice. Beyond anything else, I have chosen to embrace you, and care for you, and love you. And I hope some day you”ll decide to do the same for me.
Something caught his attention while he felt her hesitation. She was fighting with herself, with her old hurts, and he saw the slightest hint of what had caused the weak spot in her shields.
A shiver of revulsion passed through him at the snake-like thought that came out to defend the pain it had caused. It was small, barely noticeable, and it had been living there for a very long time.
And until you make a decision, he said slowly, his focus on the wriggling, evil thought. I need you to trust me and let your shields down.
Cooper knew the invasive thoughts were a manifestation of electrical impulses. Whatever form they actually had was one he created to interact with them and help his own mind understand what was going on. But he could have sworn the evil thing turned and hissed at him.
I don”t know. I”m scared.
He could feel her hesitation and see the snake-thought thrashing about in her mind, triggering impulses that would increase her anxiety and feed her fear.
I know you are, he acknowledged. But I need you to trust me. I will never do anything to hurt you if I can help it.
She let down her shields and he darted in, grabbed the snake-thought, and pulled. It thrashed and fought and he could feel her shields closing again, pushing him out. He kept hold of the thought and let her.
With the entrance to the hole it had created in her mind closed, the snake-thought tried to burrow its way into Cooper”s but found his instincts the first time he”d been exposed to the horrible, intrusive evil were still good. It dissolved against his own shields, leaving behind a moment of doubt, but then it was gone.
That hurt,she told him, then cuddled deeper into his arms.
I know,he said. But how do you feel?
Like I could happily sleep for a week.
Not until the doctor clears you.
Don”t like that doctor. She was a bitch.
Cooper agreed.
He kept her awake asking her questions and letting her mind wander through whatever came with the answers. Neither of them watched the time so he had no idea how long it took for a medic to knock on the door.
He recognized the medic that had been with the team that had rescued them, and John behind him. Cooper waved them in and helped Marissa sit up. The exam was quick and mostly confirmed that there weren”t any large breaks and the bleeding had stopped.
”We”re going to want to get her in for a scan,” Doc said. ”But I think it”s safe for her to take a shower and a nap if she has someone to watch her.”
”I”ll watch her,” Cooper said.
”You need sleep, too,” Doc said.
”We”ve already set up a rotation,” John told him. ”Concussions suck but this isn”t the first time we”ve dealt with someone on the team having one. And we don”t like the fact that Doctor Johnson attacked Marissa.”
”She said she didn”t mean to,” Cooper said. ”And I believe her. But I also think I know why she did it and she”s not the only one walking around with the problem. Unfortunately, I don”t know how to stop them until they attack me.”
”So we set up the rotation with people we trust, two men at least, and keep you guys covered until they get the experts in.”
”What kind of experts?” Cooper asked, curious and amused.
”No idea,” Doc said. ”But I know we”re getting a mess of visitors and a couple aliens in a few hours.”
”Any idea when we”ll be able to get my ship back?”
John shook his head. ”Not without going hot in a couple places where we”d really rather avoid that. We wouldn”t have been able to go in after you as quickly as we did without the Orvax and that little shuttle of theirs isn”t going to work to get your ship.”
”I should talk to the shuttle pilot and find out what their capabilities are. They may be able to get me close enough to get to my ship, at least.”
John looked uncomfortable and Cooper had to fight back a sigh.
”Yeah, the Orvax aren”t exactly happy with you right now,” John said.
”Well, if they want their device back, it”s in my ship. Or was. If they didn”t strip the interior and take all my stuff, I”ll be very surprised.”
”And right now, all of that is out of our hands,” Doc said. ”Get Marissa a shower and both of you lay down and sleep. We”ll take watch.”
”I”m awake,” Marissa said. ”You can talk to me, too, you know.”
”And you”re tracking about as well as expected with a head injury,” Doc said. ”You”ll feel better soon and we”ll get you in for scans as soon as we”ve got someone there were can trust.”
Cooper had a dozen more questions he wanted to ask but he nodded. ”Alright, shower, then sleep.”
He stood with Doc and John watching him, then turned and lifted Marissa.
”Are you sure you”re good to carry her like that?” Doc asked. ”She”s not exactly light and you”re still not walking right.”
”I balance better holding her,” he said and started slowly down the hallway to the showers.
One of the other members of her team was already standing outside the showers and held the door for him to go in. John followed him in with a bag that he set in the shower and left.
He set Marissa on a folding chair that had been left in there, pulled her soaps out of the bag, and helped her out of her clothes. When he started taking his off, Marissa put a hand on his arm, and blinked up at him.
”Can you take a shower like this?”
”I can hold you under the water while I clean you,” he told her. ”I”ll be fine.”
”It won”t hurt your skin?” Her hand trailed up and down his arm and he shivered.
”If we take too long, I will be uncomfortable,” he said, trying not to concentrate on the delicious feeling of her hand stroking lightly over his skin. ”But It will not hurt me to take care of you like this.”
”Okay,” she said. ”If you”re sure.”
”I”m sure I would like it less if anybody else helped you with this instead.”
Marissa gave him a small smile. ”I understand that part.”
They didn”t have much time to spend in the shower and Cooper could feel the effort it took for both of them to stay standing. Thoughts of how they could spend the time when they were both feeling better drifted through his head and he had to clamp down hard on his reaction.
He reached for a towel and realized he hadn”t thought to grab one so took her tank top and used the mostly clean parts to wipe Marissa off before handing her the shorts.
”Hey, Cooper,” John yelled from the door.
Cooper covered Marissa”s body with his and turned just in time to get hit with a bundle of clothes. The door closed and Cooper took the shorts from Marissa and dropped them with the wet tank top and his discarded clothes.
Once they were both dressed, he picked up the dirty and damaged clothing, put her various soaps back in her bag, handed both bundles to Marissa and picked her up.
”I can walk,” she told him.
”Of course you can,” he answered. ”And I”ll let you. Eventually. Some day. When I”m certain there isn”t someone waiting around the next corner to take you away.”
He could tell she felt like she should argue with him but decided to relax into his arms instead.