Page 14 of The Intergalactic Duke's Inconvenient Engagement
“You called him Raz.” The doctor shook her head.
“He said that was his name.” Rayna frowned. “Was that not true?”
The doctor lifted her eyebrows. “Not for any of us. However,I know your name is Rayna, and I am Doctor Boshil. Now lie back and let’s bring that heartbeat under control.”
The other medics were bustling around the five beds, and Rayna watched them for a moment, with a close eye on Trixie. The nurse was still talking softly to the girl, a comforting hand on her shoulder until she finally lay back. The stiffness in Rayna’s muscles surprised her as she reclined,not pain exactly, but such a reluctance to be vulnerable again that it was a different kind of agony.
“No drugs.” She fixed a stare on the doctor. “No injections. No gas. Nothing like that.”
She knew she had no way to enforce her order, but she had to try. Boshil nodded. “I will explain every procedure and not continue without your permission. May we start with a scan? It is not intrusive, butit is externally and internally thorough.” Her gaze was calm and steady. “We need to know what damage may have been done to you, besides the obvious wounds on your arms.”
Rayna wrinkled her nose as she stared up at the ceiling. To her dark amusement, there was some sort of screen that projected slow-moving, almost hypnotic clouds: distracting anxious patients was apparently a universal need.“I did that to myself.”
Boshil made a soft, noncommittal noise. “My expertise is in physical complaints, but we also have counselors who will check in with you next to assess any mental or emotional repercussions of your situation.”
With an explosive snort that raised another beep from the machine at her head, Rayna stared up at the peaceful clouds. “I don’t mean I was trying to kill myself.I was just trying to get free.”
“I reviewed the public reports on Blackworm after we received orders to investigate.” The doctor’s voice turned strict. “Whatever you had to do, it was good you took your chance.”
Rayna wasn’t sure she wanted to hear more. She closed her eyes. “There was another woman in the coffins. She…didn’t make it.” A light touch settled on her forehead, and she opened hereyes to see some sort of wand that Boshil swept slowly down her body.
“I know.” The doctor kept her gaze on the readout above Rayna’s head, her expression serious. “Another away team brought her back to theGrandiloquencealong with more evidence against Blackworm. Although he was convicted of other crimes, this will only add to the length of his sentence. In case a verdict lasting his naturallifespan wasn’t long enough.”
Rayna was glad to hear that part, but still. “Life wasn’t long enough for that woman.” Guilt swept her. “If only I’d woken up sooner.”
“No,” Boshil said firmly. “I do not deal with if-onlys, only what-is’s.”
Staring at the alien, Rayna gave a quick nod. “You might not be from Earth, but I guess you have to deal with a lot of the same shit.”
The doctor chuckled.“Indeed, biological processes often seem to result in the same waste products, regardless of which galaxy is spinning around you. We study a theory that the universe was seeded by a master race of dominating genetic material—the theologically minded call it a quintessential creative force—which is why so many beings across so many systems are built along similar, familiar, compatible lines. Andnot just our appearances but our needs, our wants, even our gestures, our very dreams are deeply, surprisingly the same.” She shook her head with a self-deprecating grin. “But you are here to be cleared for pixberry pie and coffee with His Grace, not to hear a med school seminar.”
“It was interesting,” Rayna assured her. “I never went to college. Although I guess they wouldn’t’ve been teachinginterstellar species seeding anyway.”
“Maybe you can continue your interstellar species seeding studies withRaz.” The doctor winked.
A little thrill of shock zipped through Rayna, making the med bed chirp a warning. If interspecies gestures were the same, was the doctor implying what Rayna thought she was implying? That was just crazy. Even if he had held her so gently.
“I’ll stick with thecoffee,” she said.
The doctor shrugged. “If that’s all you want, then I think there’s more wrong with you than I can fix.”
When Rayna sputtered, Boshil patted her shoulder. “Of course there’s no need to act on the attraction that the scan shows, if you truly aren’t interested. We are more than the sum of our biology, even if the body parts align. But you’ll be relieved to hear that there’sno sign of physical damage other than the abrasions on your arms. There are lingering traces of soporifics in your system—a common anesthesia drug that Blackworm must’ve used to keep you comatose—and elevated stress markers, which isn’t surprising at all. With your permission, I’ll treat the cuts with topicals and one injection to counteract any possible infection.”
At Rayna’s nod, the doctorpressed a small ampule to the insides of both her arms. A faint, cool sensation flowed through her veins before dissipating.
“Thank you.” She watched as Boshil cleaned, sealed, and bandaged the scratches on her arms left from bursting through the coffin glass.
“All done,” the doctor said while helping her sit upright. “Your electrolytes are slightly unbalanced, but a small meal will correctthat. Although pixberries and coffee with His Grace might destabilize your heart rate again.” Another one of those winks.
This time, Rayna grinned back, and she realized that had been exactly the doctor’s intent. Boshil might say her specialty was only physical, but she’d tidily short-circuited the simmering panic that had bothered Rayna from the moment Raz—His Grace—had walked out the door.“I’ll risk my heart for coffee.”
Boshil patted Rayna’s elbow, smoothing down the tail of the bandage. “It might surprise you to know that coffee is a popular export from your Earth. It’s a closed world, but a few products make it to the stars.”
Rayna’s amusement faded as she looked at the other women being assisted off their beds. “And now we’ll be sent home from the stars?”
After an almostimperceptible hesitation, Boshil nodded. “There are some formalities yet, but I was told that a few of your people who are approved for galactic representation have been notified of your status and someone is being sent to retrieve you all.”
“That’s…good.” Rayna wasn’t sure what to make of the hesitation, but that would have to wait. She slid off the bed and stood. “If I can get clean, clothes,and coffee, in that order, I’ll be great.”