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Andy was fast and strong, and his arms locked hers against the table. She screamed and thrashed and tried to kick him with her legs, but to no avail. When she started crying, I set the syringe down and touched her cheek. Something was obviously not right with this situation, and I didn’t want to terrorize her.
“Hey. Listen.” Her eyes turned towards me and when she saw I was empty handed, her movements ceased. “I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help you, but I need you to cooperate.”
Another tear leaked out of her eye, and she took a shuddering breath. “Don’t give me the medicine. Please.” Though her arms were locked into place by Andy, her hand was close enough for her to touch my fingers. “Please. I can take the pain. Please.”
There was something in her eyes and in her voice that made me believe her. She didn’t look confused. She looked perfectly sane and in pain and so very afraid. I didn’t understand why she would refuse the medicine, but I dropped my head and nodded. “Okay.”
Her body went lax, and another tear leaked down her cheek. “Thank you.”
“You can release her, Andy.”
He let go of her and took a step back. I sighed and moved around to her injured arm. “This is going to hurt.”
She simply nodded. I tugged her jacket carefully down her arms and dropped it to the floor. A flash of light caught my attention, and I glanced down at her waist. A police shield was hooked into her belt. I closed my eyes and silently cursed.Of course, she would be police. I squinted at it and could faintly make out the IPF insignia. I sniffed and tried to keep my contempt to myself. I discreetly reached up and tucked my necklace under my shirt.
Cop or not, I wasn’t going to stop helping her. I positioned myself by her head, carefully cupped her shoulder, and took her arm in my other hand. I didn’t have formal medical training, but I had some experience with field medicine.
She pressed her lips together, anticipating the pain, and I didn’t draw it out any longer. I yanked, hearing the shoulder pop into place with an audible click. She screamed, her body tensing, and she fell back against the table. I checked over her shoulder, making sure everything was where it should be.
Everything looked fine. I relaxed a little and met her eyes again. “What else hurts?”
She licked her lips, exhaustion heavy in her eyes now. “I’m fine. Everything else is minor.”
Trusting she knew her injuries better than me, I nodded and stepped back to grab the towel. I proceeded to wipe off her face gently, removing the sand and dust from her pores and lips.
She watched me in silence while I worked. Those eyes were so observant, so knowing. I felt scrutinized, like she could somehow see beyond the surface, but I didn’t say anything. She could stare if she wanted. There was some level of mistrust in her eyes, and I had a feeling she’d been through a lot if she was still suspicious of me after I’d helped her.
“Do you have any food?” she asked suddenly, coughing again once the words came out.
I nodded. “Yes. Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I haven’t eaten in days.”
That wasn’t good. I set the towel aside. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I left the lab, and Andy silently followed.
He waited until we reached the kitchen before speaking. “I surmise you had some complications while erecting the last sensors.”
“Yes.” I dug around the cabinets until I found a can of soup. I grabbed it, cracked it open, dumped it into a bowl, and placed it in the quick cooker.
Andy looked down the hall for a long moment as he processed my answer and the implications of the situation. “Was the woman in danger?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anything I can do to assist you?”
The cooker beeped, and I gently pulled the bowl from it with a towel and retrieved a spoon from a drawer. Then I paused and looked Andy over thoughtfully. “There are men out there who were trying to kill her. I doubt they’ll be stupid enough to try again while it’s raining, but I want you to see if any of the ship’s outboard sensors are working. If not, see if you can get them functioning at least a little. I bet when the rain is past, they’ll come after her again. We need some sort of warning if they do.”
Andy nodded. “Of course.” He disappeared towards the cockpit.
I carried the food back to the lab. The woman was still lying there, eyes wide, cradling her shoulder. I set the bowl on the counter and approached her side. “I brought some soup. Can you sit up?”
After a slight hesitation, she nodded. I gently raised her up and helped position her sideways, so her feet hung off the table. Then I picked up the bowl and held it close to her. She eyed the food but said nothing. I took a spoonful and held it to her lips.
She said nothing about me feeding her, and she didn’t insist on feeding herself. Every now and then she would sway, as though sitting up was difficult. I finally set the bowl beside her and braced her back with one arm while feeding her with the other.
Feeding her was slow, but I was patient. She ate the entire bowl. It was a little messy, so I kept the towel handy. She would open her mouth, chew mechanically, and then swallow, but it seemed to exhaust her. She needed the fuel, though. If she hadn’t eaten in days, I was surprised she was even conscious after everything she’d been through.
There was no telling what those men had done to her. If she was IPF then they were obviously criminals of some kind, and criminals didn’t take well to cops. They could be quite cruel. I wondered what they wanted her for and what had happened, but I didn’t ask. There would be time for that later.
