Page 13 of The Hunter

Lacey opened her eyes to find him crouched beside her, holding out a wooden cup. She sat back, feeling the thick moss pillow dip beneath her bottom, and accepted the cup with both hands. Warmth seeped into her palms, and the potent scent of herbs wafted up from the steaming tea. Her brow furrowed; there was a bitterly sweet note in the aroma that she hadn’t smelled before.

“What’s in it?” she asked, glancing at Diego as she brought the cup closer to sniff.

“A flower called Hunter’s eyes. It should help with the pain. I tested it myself first, and it’s safe. But Nalaki said there’s not much of a supply left here, so we’ll need to be sparing with it.”

Tentatively, Lacey tipped the cup and took a sip. Warmth and sweetness filled her mouth. After swallowing, she waited, anticipating the bitter aftertaste the tea’s fragrance had implied, but it didn’t come. Satisfied, she took a deeper drink.

Diego stood. “Is this your first period since waking from cryosleep?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Are they usually this painful?”

“They hurt, but they were never this bad.” She tightened her fingers around the cup, frowning. “Is…this something to worry about? Because as dramatic as I’m being about dying, I really don’t want to die.”

Diego and Ahmya chuckled.

“You’re not dying.” Diego turned and walked to the heater, an open-faced box made of flat stones housing a large bowl of spinewood sap that burned with blue-green flames. “Being in stasis is hard on the body, especially with all the chemicals they pumped into us, and it can take time to readjust. You’ve likely had some hormonal imbalances, and now your body’s playing catch up.”

“Are the blood clots normal? I… I used to sometimes get some small ones before, but nothing like this.”

“A lot of women with heavy periods get them. It’s normal. From what I’ve seen of yours, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Lacey’s frown deepened. She hated that she knew so little about her own body, but it also made her sad. By the time she’d had her first period, her mother wasn’t around to give guidance on feminine matters, and even after Lacey grew up, she’d been unable to turn to doctors for advice because she sure as hell hadn’t been able to afford healthcare. That was one of the reasons why she’d joined the Homeworld Initiative—at least she would’ve received regular medical care on Xolea.

Grabbing a nearby towel, Diego spread it across both hands and used it to pick up a stone that had been warming atop the heater. “If you’d like, I can do a pelvic exam once you’re feeling better?”

He carefully wrapped the towel around the stone.

Lacey nodded and drank the rest of the tea.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were in so much pain?” Ahmya asked, leaning closer and looking at Lacey with so much worry in her dark brown eyes.

Lacey inwardly cringed. Heat flooding her face, she dropped her gaze to her cup and absently swirled the bit of liquid left on the bottom. “Everyone was having so much fun, and I…didn’t want to bring the mood down. Didn’t want anyone to worry or feel guilted into taking care of me. And to be honest, it hurt so much that I just really, really wanted to be alone. I thought soaking in warm water might help with the pain, but I know the temple hot springs can be busy during the day, so I went to the base of the falls instead.”

Diego returned to Lacey’s side and lowered himself onto his knees. “That was danger⁠—”

“I know,” she breathed grouchily. “I already heard it from Telok.”

He smirked.

“I can’t believe Telok tied you up and left you here like that,” Ahmya said.

You will stay, and you will think.

Lacey scowled. “That jerk put me in timeout.”

Thankfully, her timeout hadn’t lasted long, as Ahmya had arrived to untie her shortly after Telok left. Apparently, he’d tersely informed the others of Lacey’s situation before stalking off to who knew where.

But that didn’t make him any less of a jerk.

Chuckling, Diego set the wrapped stone on Lacey’s lap. “Use this as a heating pad.”

After handing him the cup, Lacey pulled the stone closer to her belly, immediately feeling the heat emanating through her blanket. She moaned softly. It didn’t take away the pain, but it was something. “Man did we get real lucky that Doctor Diego survived the crash.”

“I’m a nurse.”

“Mmhmm, whatever you say, Doc.”