Page 15 of Tempting Jupiter (Arena Dogs #2)
Chapter Eleven
Jupiter stepped onto the decking of the smaller ship. Smoke-tinged air filled his lungs and overpowered Fee’s scent. “This place still smells of fire and death.”
“And plasma discharges,” added Sen.
The bodies of the dead crew had been removed, but there had been no other attempt to clean up. The melted pilot seat sat empty in a ring of singed metal. Blue lumps of fire suppressant splattered the hallway leading to the back of the ship.
Jupiter lost sight of Bug and he didn’t see any sign of Fee. “Do you hear the device?”
Ears alert, Seneca tilted his head. “No.”
Jupiter sniffed at the air and found the scent of the woman who’d slept with him and pressed her lips against his skin.
It was there, hidden beneath the other more noxious odors and the chemical tinge that always accompanied her.
He followed it deeper into the ship and found her lying on a bench in a two-meter square room that had no obvious purpose.
Her chest rose and fell in an uncertain rhythm.
Her hair was a tangled cloud around her face.
With those green eyes closed, she looked ordinary.
He saw little to hint at the vital, spirited woman who’d given him ecstasy with her mouth.
A muscle in his jaw twitched with tension.
The scent of blood and burnt flesh mixed with her softer essence.
An open med-kit sat on the floor beside her and a white cloth lay across her shoulder.
Jupiter crouched down beside the bench and wrapped his hand around hers. “Fee?”
Her eyes fluttered open and her hand tightened on the fingers he’d curled under her palm. “You’re clear.” Coughing interrupted her words. “That’s good. Seneca?”
“I’m here.” Sen stood in the doorway.
She’d wrapped a dark blue cloth around her arm, but he could taste the taint of the dried blood beneath. It was the shoulder that worried him. She tried to sit, but Jupiter quickly pressed his palm over her chest.
“Be still,” Jupiter complained. “You’re injured.”
Her muscles relaxed and she fell back. Her lips curved in a hint of a smile. “I think… I like you bossy.”
Her eyes fell closed and she said nothing more.
He leaned closer and breathed her in. There was definitely a burn under the white cloth. Burns could be serious, fatal. “Fee?”
Her eyes snapped opened. “Hmm?”
The wave of relief he felt was short lived, but he refused to show his fear. “We need to treat your injury?”
She humphed and her eyes narrowed. “Yeah, but right now we need to get deeper into the ship and keep out of sight.”
Jupiter wanted to return her humph with a bark of his own. She was near losing consciousness. “Are you sure your wish to relocate isn’t just part of a quest to find ever more uncomfortable resting places?” He reached for the cloth pressed to her shoulder.
“Don’t!” Her fear-filled demand startled him.
“How bad?” He couldn’t move her until he knew.
This time her bright green eyes stayed open and wide. They were glassy and serious. “It’s a plasma burn. But it’s superficial. Didn’t shred the muscle. I’ll heal.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her assessment. He wanted to see for himself. “Let me tape it for you, then we’ll move you to wherever you want to go.”
“After. You can tape it after.” Fee shoved against him, in another attempt to sit-up. “It’s stuck to the wound. It won’t slip.”
A shock wave rippled through the hull. Jupiter stretched an arm across her to keep her from falling to the floor.
“What was that?” Sen crouched in the hallway, ready to defend them.
Feeona patted Jupiter’s hand where it had slid up to grasp her uninjured shoulder. “That was the nearest of the escape-pods disconnecting and engaging its thrust engine.”
Jupiter frowned. Her words made little sense to him. “Escape-pods?”
“Yes.” She nodded slowly. “Small vessels the crew can use to leave the ship in emergencies.”
“The small rooms your device opened,” Sen said. “Those were escape-pods?”
“Three of them,” she answered. “This ship has dozens. Standard safety feature. We need Fitz to believe we got off the ship. It’s the only way they’ll stop looking long enough for us to find a better place to hide.”
She pulled against Jupiter’s restraining hand and this time he decided they’d played out this battle for dominance long enough.
He slipped an arm under her knees and one under her shoulders.
She hugged her injured arm close to her chest as he lifted her.
She was trembling, but her free arm curled over his shoulder. Jupiter chuffed his approval.
When Sen looked to him for direction, Jupiter considered what needed to be done. “Clean-up anything that could give away that we’re here then follow.”
Jupiter carried her deeper into the ship past the many rooms that lined the hallway. At the end of the corridor a spiraling ramp led to the lower decks. They went one level down and stopped when the woman moaned in pain.
Jupiter growled in the back of his throat. “You need medical care.”
Lips pressed together, tight and bloodless, she nodded. “There might be a med-bay. Most likely place is this level.”
He hadn’t been in a med-bay, but it had to be something like the medical center in the arena. He’d recognize it.
Sen had followed them down the stairs. He slipped past and started down the corridor, opening doors as he went.
Jupiter followed, cradling Fee close.
“Here,” Sen said, as he stepped aside.
Jupiter entered the small room that looked much as he expected. Familiar instruments were neatly stored in purpose-made bins that attached to the walls and ceiling. He strode to the med-bed in the center of the room and started to put Fee down.
“No, wait,” she protested. “Over on the bench.”
He hesitated. A molded shelf, barely suitable for seating, extended across one short wall. It had to be a joke. “I assure you the examining table will be uncomfortable enough to suit you.”
“Gee, thanks.” Her attempt at a grin did little to hide the strain tightening her features. “Sweet of you to think about that for me, but the supplies I need are over there and I’ll be able to find what I need more quickly than I can tell you.”
Not sure of the wisdom of his choice he put her down where she wanted, near the compartment-covered wall.
She ran her fingers from label to label as she read.
“Here.” She opened a shallow drawer. She pulled out a hypo-injector then shoved the drawer shut, moving on to the next set of compartments.
Another drawer yielded rows of tiny injection cubes.
With shaking hands, she dropped the tiny cube into his palm. “Load this one.”
His fingers fumbled and Sen came in and took it from him.
The woman retrieved a pre-filled spray from another drawer. “This is it.”
“You need more than pain meds and quick patching,” Jupiter argued. “The burned flesh could become infected, if it’s not removed and it will scar if it isn’t stitched.”
The Arena Dogs were allowed to scar because Roma wanted them to look tough, not because the Dogs wanted it that way.
Her lips lifted weakly and she patted his cheek with her good hand. “You sure you’re not a medic?”
“It is as you say. I have had need of much medical care.” His voice came out softer than he intended. She was growing shakier, and he could no longer find the spirit to banter with her as if nothing were wrong.
“The injector isn’t a pain med, it’ll speed up the healing.
The spray will debride the burn. After the spray, you’ll need to use the silver nozzle built into the overhead to neutralize the enzymes and clean away anything still in the wound.
” She gripped at his shoulder, ready to be lifted back into his arms. “I’m not worried about sutures or scarring.
I just need you to do the nozzle part and then slap a bandage over it.
You can do that, right? I expect to be unconscious pretty quick after the spray. ”
As he carried her to the med-bed, he couldn’t look away from her eyes.
The sparkle of mischief that normally resided there had faded, but they still captivated him.
Her inner strength impressed him. Her obvious faith that he would take care of her when she lost consciousness amazed and humbled him. He’d done nothing to earn her trust.
Seneca moved to stand at his side. “We’ll take care of it.”
“I will,” Jupiter added his promise. He reached for the overhead unit mounted above the bed then pulled it down to an easier reaching distance.
“The hypo-injector,” she demanded with her hand outstretched.
Sen kept the hypo. “Just tell me where.”
Her face showed strain. “Oh, yeah, okay. You can put it near my left shoulder blade. As close to the wound as you can make it.” She angled her body giving him better access to her back.
“Just press it to the spot and pull the trigger?” Sen gently pulled down the torn neckline of her shirt.
She sucked in a breath as the material clung to the wound. “That’s right. Don’t worry. It’s hard to mess up.” She gritted her teeth and waited.
Sen pulled the trigger and she nodded. “Well done.” She reached for Jupiter’s hand and squeezed. “See the blue and green stripped nozzle up there?” She pointed to the overhead equipment rack.
He reached for it.
“Spray a little of that on the bandage. Then I need you to hold my arm still when your friend pulls off the steri-cloth.”
He did as she asked. The strain in her features urged him to move quickly. He reached for her injured arm. “Where is it safe to hold on?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m only feeling the burn right now.”
She didn’t let go of her death grip on his right hand so he braced her arm with his left.
Sen set aside the hypo and gently lifted the cloth.
Fee panted in pain.
He pulled a little more and they could both see that the tissue below was a blistered and raw gash of muscle. What was left of her shirt had melted into the wound.
“Fuck,” Jupiter muttered. “Fuck those bastards all to hell.”
“Amen,” she panted.