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Black grunted back. “Tough shit. I’m paying her a lot. More than enough to cover her ego as well as her expertise.”

Miri smiled wryly through the line. “I’ll be sure and let her know.”

“Don’t you dare,” Black said. “The last thing I need is to have to hunt down another doctor after you piss this one off.” Before Miri could answer, he added, “Anyway, when I asked about the kid, I didn’t only mean how she was physically. How is she? Is she calm?”

Miri seemed to think before she answered.

“As calm as can be expected,” she said carefully. “Maybe too calm in some ways.”

“Is she talking at all?”

“Not really.”

“Not really? Does that mean not at all? Has she said anything to you, Miri?”

Miri exhaled, a trifle impatient. “You heard her give me her name. She keeps asking me about Nick… where he is, when he’ll be coming back, if he’s okay. That’s about it.”

“Has she mentioned Rucker?”

“No.”

“Anything else? Apart from her name and her fixation on Nick?”

Miriam paused, and Black felt a strange whisper of embarrassment around her light, even over the phone.

“What?” he pressed.

Miri sighed. “It’s nothing. She’s just been a little… I don’t know… clingy, I guess. With me. I don’t want to discourage her, but I’m worried about her getting dependent on all of us too quickly, or maybe dependent in the wrong ways.”

She paused, and her voice grew thoughtful.

“She’s been practically in my lap since we got back to the penthouse. Panther’s been great with her, of course,” she added. “He immediately sensed something was wrong and has been following her around wherever she goes, licking her fingersand sniffing her. She took to him immediately and started transferring some of that affection to him. She’s been really agitated, though. I think all the open space is causing her some anxiety.”

Her voice grew faintly worried, maybe a touch guilty.

“I finally buzzed Holo and he gave her a sedative, which is the only reason I’m able to talk to you right now… she’s asleep on the couch. Panther is with her.”

Something else seemed to occur to her.

“Oh, there was one thing,” she amended thoughtfully. “Aura got a little intense after she saw some of the photos in our penthouse, especially yours. She asked me for names of people on our team. She asked how I knew them, and where they were. She seemed particularly agitated by some of the photos you had on the dresser in our bedroom… the ones of you with your soldier pals in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Argentina? Those were mostly of humans, so that was a little strange… but I think they resonated with her somehow.”

“Why?” Black asked, blunt.

He practically saw Miri shake her head. “I couldn’t get her to say why. Then again, she might notknowwhy, but she was clearly drawn to them.”

Black frowned. “Sounds like she’s said quite a lot to you, doc.”

“Not really.” Miri exhaled, sounding frustrated. “Since then, she hasn’t said much to me at all. Or to anyone else. But she was clingy, like I said. With me, and with the dog.”

She calmed her voice as she went on.

“She doesn’t want to be alone,” Miri added. “She seemed particularly afraid I was going to lock her in one of the smaller rooms and leave her there. She’d only use the bathroom with the door propped wide open. So the wide-open spaces might be stressing her out, but she’s understandablymoreworried aboutbeing caged.” Hesitating, Miri added, “We’ll probably need to make sure someone is with her at all times, at least for a while.”

Black’s jaw tightened a fraction.

“Are you sure you’re safe with her, doc?” he asked.

Miri sighed again. “I mean, I can’t know that for certain, can I? Not when we can’t read her light. But I have no reason to think she’d try to harm me.”