“Thank you,” he said, his voice not even remotely grateful. “Dr. Veyalor will complete the examination without your assistance. Wait outside.”
For a long moment, the Tandoran didn’t move. Then, with a smooth, unhurried motion, he turned and walked out of the room. The door slid shut behind him.
Silence.
He became aware, slowly, that both Melissa and Veyalor were staring at him. Her expression was a complicated mix of gratitude and wariness. Veyalor’s was something else entirely—thoughtful and calculating.
“Perhaps,” the doctor said mildly, “we should continue without the pelvic examination. I have sufficient data for now.”
He nodded once, not trusting himself to speak.
The rest of the examination was mercifully brief. Veyalor took a few more measurements, made notes on his datapad, and then stepped back from the table.
“You may return to your quarters. We’ll begin the hormone treatments tomorrow.”
“Will they… Will they affect my ability to nurse my son?”
Veyalor hesitated. “Not immediately, but it is a possibility. I will prepare some formula samples for you to try in case it becomes necessary.”
She nodded and slid off the table, her legs slightly unsteady. He wanted to reach out and steady her, but he held himself back. They were being watched.
“I’ll escort her back,” he said.
Veyalor raised a fluffy orange eyebrow. “I’m sure you will.”
They walked back in silence. He kept pace beside her, close enough to intervene if needed but not so close as to crowd her. She moved with careful footsteps, her gaze fixed straight ahead, and her breathing deliberately even.
The red marks on her wrist were darkening into bruises.
He wanted to say something—to apologize for what had happened, to promise that it wouldn’t happen again, to tell her that he would burn this entire facility to the ground before he let anyone hurt her. But the words lodged in his throat, trapped byduty and uncertainty and the growing realization that he had no idea what he was doing anymore.
When they reached her cell, the door slid open to reveal Robbie still sleeping peacefully. She crossed immediately to the crib, leaning over to brush her fingers across her son’s forehead. The tension in her shoulders eased slightly as she confirmed what the silence had already told them.
“He’s okay,” she murmured.
“Yes.” He held up his communicator. “I used the datapad to monitor him so I would be aware if he woke.”
She looked up at him, and her expression was unreadable. “You didn’t have to do that. In the examination room.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
It was a simple question, but the answer was anything but. Because it was the right thing to do. Because he couldn’t stand to see her hurt. Because something fundamental had shifted inside him the moment she’d kissed him, and he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to shift it back.
“Because you’re under my protection,” he said finally. “And I take that seriously.”
She studied him for a long moment, her dark eyes searching his face. Then she nodded, once, and turned back to the crib.
“Thank you.”
He wanted to stay. He wanted to sit with her the way he had last night, watching over her and her son, feeling her warmth against him. But even as the desire rose in him, so did the certaintythat Veyalor would want to speak with him. That look in the examination room—that calculating, knowing look—wasn’t something that could go unaddressed.
“I have to go,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“I know.”
The words were simple, but there was something in her voice—a quiet acceptance, a lack of argument—that made his chest tighten. She trusted him to come back. Despite everything, despite where she was and why she was here, she trusted him. He didn’t deserve her trust. But he would spend every moment he had trying to prove himself worthy of it.
