Page 34 of Healer (The Outlander Book Club… in Space! #4)
The joyful comments regarding my return morphed into scolding in the time it took me to draw breath.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you were sick!” Emmy’s tone sounded prosecutorial, which was no surprise since she’d spent most of her career as a district attorney.
“We would have been there for you.” Clara squeezed my hand tightly, her hazel eyes shimmering.
“Which is precisely why I didn’t tell you.” I covered Clara’s hand with my own and returned the squeeze.
“What do you mean?” Daisy sniffled. She seemed to take the concealment of my disease as a personal affront. Of course she did... Daisy was all heart.
I sighed. A deep, heavy sound that echoed through my heart. “I’m a doctor. I knew what my prognosis was... knew what taking care of me would be like. I didn’t want to burden you with it... any of you.”
Emmy laid her hands on my shoulders, turning me slightly so she could gaze into my eyes as she spoke.
“We’re family. It wouldn’t have been a burden.”
Clara’s gaze focused on the hairline white scar decorating the underside of my forearm. A memory tickled, the recollection of the blade slicing into my skin haunting but not painful.
“It breaks my heart what those bastards did to you,” Clara sniffled, wiping her runny nose.
“What the Ulkommanian did—that wasn’t so bad,” I bluffed. “As you no doubt noticed, ALS is much worse. I wouldn’t have survived much longer if Hakkar hadn’t cured me.”
“Thank God he did,” Emmy said with a covert swipe at her eyes. She didn’t like to cry.
“Thank God for Hakkar,” I echoed, and meant it in more ways than one.
Daisy sniffed loudly before squaring her shoulders and giving me her best reproachful glare. “From now on... no more hiding bad stuff from each other. Like Emmy said... we’re family.”
“Family,” Clara mimicked.
“Family,” Agnes agreed.
The next thing I knew, we’d dissolved into a group hug accompanied by a chorus of sniffles and giggles.
Clara eyed me curiously as we broke apart, and I tried to corral the wetness smearing my cheeks.
“You look happy.”
“I am,” I admitted and couldn’t help the glance I stole in Hakkar’s direction.
“Oh, I get it,” Emmy snorted with a bawdy wink. “We all get it.”
“In more ways than one,” Clara agreed with a giggle. “When we saw that bright light on the Appalachian Trail... did you ever think for one second that we’d end up like this?”
“Never!” Our voices rose in unison, along with our laughter.
“Where are Pearl and Willa?” As happy as I felt to be reunited, we weren’t complete.
“Hopefully close to being with us again.” Emmy shifted, drawing her feet under her, a faint furrow creasing her brow.
“We know where they are. It’s just a matter of being able to rescue them without anyone getting hurt.
Jutuk, the Bardaga’s navigator, tracked Pearl to the Ardeese Valout space station.
Some Baron purchased her and as near as we can tell, she works in the kitchen for him.
Khaion says the Baron is throwing a grand dinner for Duke Ako’s birthday in a few days, and it will be the perfect cover for Jutuk stealing Pearl away. ”
“Pearl in a kitchen,” I giggle-snorted. “She may not want to be rescued.”
Most considered our friend Pearl to be one of the best chefs in the US—in the world, for that matter. So, it felt rather perfect for her to end up in a kitchen—even an alien kitchen.
“And Willa?” I asked.
“We know where Willa is, but that’s about it.” The furrow between Emmy’s brows deepened. “Charick tracked her to the planet Ajaxiun, but we haven’t heard from him in over a week.”
Worry dampened our chatter.
“No matter what happens, we’ll help Willa through it,” Daisy announced with uncommon bravado. Being mated to a war chief had been good for her.
“Of course we will. We’re family.” Clara said, holding out her hand.
“Family,” Emmy added her hand atop Clara’s
“Family,” I agreed, adding my hand to the pile.
“Family.” Daisy finished, her hand lying on top.
Our hands-in ended with a shout of “Family!” I felt Hakkar’s eyes on me and wondered what the men must think of us females holding a huddle as ferocious and determined as any sports team.
“Soooo,” Clara said, waggling her brows as we settled back in our chairs. “Tell us about your meet-cute.”
While there wasn’t much cute about my meeting Hakkar—his rescue of me, the care he took of me, and the ferventness of his determination to cure me had everyone swooning.
I rather enjoyed Daisy’s retelling of meeting Daicon.
Not going to lie, picturing the demure former minister’s wife knocking out the Bardaga’s war chief with a shovel was hard.
Emmy’s story proved more amusing. She woke up from her rescue thinking Khaion was an angel and still lusted after him. I’m unsure where that ranked on a list of religious no-no’s, but I didn’t miss Daisy’s eyeroll while Emmy told the tale.
Clara was the hands-down meet-cute winner of all time. While her story of being sold to a bordello made my skin crawl, mistaking Tarook for a client and then having the best sex of her life before she even knew his name had me lying across the table, howling with laughter.
“Is she well?”
I bit back a yelp of surprise when I encountered the question’s owner.
It was like looking at one of Botticelli’s cherubs…
in blue. The creature stood no higher than a child, dressed in a smock that made me think of togas from ancient Rome.
Everything about him was a shade of pale blue from his skin to his eyes, except for the platinum hair that waved about his head like a halo.
He smiled at me, revealing not the blunt teeth I expected but dentition that would have been more fitting for, say…
a baby shark. His chubby fingers held a tray laden with food, and he glanced from me to Emmy, who gave him a broad smile.
“Orzon, this is our friend Agnes. Agnes, this is Orzon, the Bardaga’s chef.”
The blue cherub deposited the tray on the table before issuing me a curt bow.
“It is my great pleasure, Miss Agnes. I am honored to prepare a feast tonight in celebration of your rescue.”
“Thank you, Orzon,” I told him. The expressions of foreboding resting on my friend’s features suggested I might need to reconsider my gratitude.
“You are most welcome.” The baby shark grin would take some getting used to. He swept his hand over the tray. “In the meantime, please enjoy some appetizers.”
I watched him walk away, swaying with the myopathic gait common to little people.
Daisy shifted the tray closer, poking at something resembling deformed pigs in a blanket. She sniffed closer, her nose curling. The smell made me think of old, expired hot dogs.
“Is it?” she asked skeptically.
“This is the edible stuff.” Clara picked up one of the brown and white blobs, giving it closer inspection. “I think he’s saving the Earth dishes for later.
“I thought you said he was the chef,” I asked, leaning back in my seat to avoid the smell.
“He is. Most of the time, the food is delicious, but Orzon has been trying to recreate Earth dishes to make us feel more at home.” Emmy made a face of extreme distaste, accompanied by a small shudder.
“He’s sweet,” Clara chimed. The blob she held fell back onto the tray with a decided splat. “But barf.”
“Speaking of barf.” Daisy sounded breathless as she fanned herself furiously with her hands.
“Again?” Clara grabbed a napkin from the table, dipping it into a glass of water and holding it to the back of Daisy’s neck.
“Even the smell is making you sick now. "You’ve got to go to Med-Bay and get checked out,” Emmy fussed with concern.
“Daisy, have you been getting sick?” My physician’s instincts kicked in and I raised a hand to her forehead. She felt clammy but not feverish.
Daisy nodded, then pressed her lips together tightly, her skin turning a faint shade of green. “Tarkas says it is called enfermo . You know, like getting motion sickness on a boat, except, well, this is a spaceship.”
“You’ve been aboard the Bardaga for weeks now. You should be getting used to it,” Emmy argued, watching intently as I ran my fingers along Daisy’s neck to locate her carotid pulse.
“I know you’ve hesitated to let George examine you since he’s like your child, but Agnes is here now.” Clara decided, waving her hand in consent for me to proceed with my examination. I somehow didn’t think I needed to worry about HIPAA at this point.
Grinning at Daisy’s grumble, I took her wrist and pressed my fingers to the radial pulse.
Just like with the carotid, the radial pulse proved indeed fast, perhaps fifteen beats higher than normal.
I gave Daisy the once over and despite the faint greenish tint to her skin, she appeared healthy.
Shiny hair, rosy cheeks, and it might be because Daisy looked forty years younger than the last time I saw her, but her boobs seemed larger.
The diagnosis came to me quickly, although what I considered to be the most telling symptom didn’t exist in any medical journal or diagnostic handbook.
Daisy positively glowed.
I loosened my grip on her wrist, letting my hand tightly encompass hers. I knew how much she’d dreamed of what I said next.
“Daisy. I think you might be pregnant.”
She ripped her hand from mine, eyes glaring at me with more hurt than surprise.
“That’s not funny, Agnes. You know how much trouble I had.”
I glanced at Emmy and Clara’s shocked faces before continuing.
“Of course I do. I got you the appointments with all those fertility doctors, remember?” Her hazel eyes flickered at me hurtfully.
“I’m not kidding, though. I think it’s a possibility.
If the healer can take ALS out of my genetic code, surely it can fix your infertility issues. ”
Emmy sat back in her chair, releasing a long breath. “You have all the signs. I don’t know why I didn’t notice before.”
Clara grabbed Daisy’s hand. “When did you have your last period?”