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“Come on, you need a shower and to sit down and eat something,” Danielle says, pulling me to my feet.
“What? No—I—”
Danielle ignores me, pulling me down the hall to the bathroom. A pile of clean clothes is already waiting for me by the sink. “And I want you to run through at least two cycles!” she says before leaving me alone.
My shoulders slump, and I slowly slip out of the tunic I took from Volethos’s room, which smelled faintly of him and I’ve been wearing ever since.
Stepping into the shower, I let my head fall back when the sonic pulses get to work scrubbing my body. It took some getting used to, but now I find it soothing. Maybe not quite as soothing as a hot shower, certainly not a soothing as a hot bath, but if I try really hard, I can almost imagine it’s like a gentle message.
I run the cycle twice, like Danielle told me, and then quickly dress in the loose shirt and pants she left me. When I come out of the bathroom, I’m not surprised to see she’s waiting for me.
“Come on,” she says, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the hall. “We’re going to eat in the galley.”
I sigh, knowing I’m not getting out of this. To be honest, I’m just too wiped out to even fight. I’ve barely slept, and when I do sleep, it’s been in a chair with my head propped against the medbot. But I refuse to leave Volethos. Even now, I feel an ache starting in my chest at being away from him. But the sooner I humor Danielle, the sooner I can get back.
I let myself drop onto the bench that surrounds the table while she goes to the replicator and brings back more food than either of us can possibly eat.
“We should be arriving in another day or two,” Danielle says as she sits down across from me, pulling one of the bowls in front of her.
“Arriving where?” I pick a bowl at random and dig my spork into it.
She sighs and mutters to herself, “I knew you weren’t listening.” Then, focusing on me, she says, “Zell found a doctor who has agreed to treat Volethos.”
“Oh, right. I do kind of remember that,” I mumble around a bite.
The Federation offered up their own medical team, but Zell nixed that, saying he didn’t trust their medical knowledge. So instead, he put out his feelers and found the very best for what Volethos needed.
“The ironic part is, he’s on the same planet that some of the other women we were abducted with ended up on. Remember them? Bela and Skylar?”
My eyes jump up to her, and I pause in stabbing my bowl of…I glance down and wrinkle my nose… noodles.
“There is also a well-known prosthetist who has found sanctuary there, and she’s willing to meet us as soon as Volethos is ready.”
The spork I’m holding drops, and I lean back in my seat.
It’s obvious Volethos’s leg isn’t salvageable. Each day I’ve been watching as more and more of it dies. I’ve come to terms with it, but I worry how Volethos will react. He’s already lost so much. It’s why I haven’t already given the medbot the go ahead to amputate, which it asks several times a day to do now.
His vitals are still good, and as long as his life isn’t in danger, I’ll give the doctor a chance to see what can be done.
Danielle reaches across the table and covers my hand with hers. “It’s going to be alright. You’ll see. The fates are watching out for both of you.”
My lips quirk up into an almost smile, and I squeeze her hand back.
“Now. Eat,” she orders me. “Then I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Picking up the spork, I do as I’m told, finishing the bowl without really tasting it. I will probably eat just about anything if it’ll get me back to Volethos that much sooner. When Danielle is satisfied that I’ve eaten enough, she leads me back to the med room. But when I step inside, I freeze.
In front of the medbot, a narrow bed has been made up.
“Now you can lie next to him and actually get some rest,” Danielle tells me from the doorway.
When I look back at her, Zell is standing behind her with his arms around her. Tears cloud my vision, and I smile. A real smile. “Thank you,” I whisper.
Her dark eyes shine with tears, even as she gives me theit was nothingwave.
Crawling onto the pallet, I curl up on my side facing Volethos. I’m at the perfect height, so it almost feels like we’re sharing the same space. I still can’t reach out and touch him, but this is a vast improvement to what I’ve been doing.
With my fingers pressed to the glass, my eyes close, and I’m asleep in moments.
