3013: FATED (2 page)

“I’ll tell her,” he murmured to Ciara before turning his attention to the nearest nurse. “Get this one ready for surgery once we get back to the base. She’s got a partial pneumothorax, broken ribs, and some other internal bleeding. I’ll operate on her myself.”

“The boys,” Ciara whispered faintly.

“Will be fine. I’m going to see to them now, okay?”

“’Kay.”

Ciara relaxed and let herself drift once she knew the doctor was on his way to see to the boys. He’d had a gentle way about him that she hadn’t expected from a military man, and even with her eyes closed, she could still recall the compassion she’d seen in his light brown eyes. Maybe it was because she was as close as she had ever been to death, but she really wanted to trust him, and she wasn’t the kind to give her trust easily.

A moment later, something brushed her arm. There was a hiss and a brief sting, and her pain started to fade, banished by whatever magical elixir they’d injected her with. Voices sounded around her, but she was too tired to listen to them anymore. Ciara knew when she woke again, she’d have to face the loss of her home, her clinic, and every material possession she had. For now, though, she was content to let it all go and focus on the one thing that mattered, staying alive.

Time stretched out. It might have been hours or only a few seconds before she felt a faint jostling as if she were being moved. A little while later she heard her name being called by a deep, familiar voice.

“Ciara? It’s Dr. Sterling. We’re back at the base. I’m going to fix you up now. Before you go under, I thought you’d like to know, the boys are going to be fine.”

She tried to open her eyes and say “thank you,” but her eyelids were too heavy, and her mouth refused to work properly. Soon after, the voices faded away, and she slipped into the void where her pain and worries couldn’t follow.

***

CHAPTER TWO

“Ciara Fanning. Open your eyes. You know I’m not a patient person at the best of times, so quit making me sit here and wait for you to wake the hell up.”

Ciara heard the words, but it took her a while for them to make any sense. Why would anyone be waiting for her to wake up, and why did the voice sound like Alayna’s? Alayna was hours away at Fort Saken, and there was no reason Ciara would be anywhere near there. Something wasn’t adding up here.

The voice came again, and this time she could make out the hum and chirp of electronics nearby. “Ciara? I know you can hear me. It’s time to wake up. Danny and Kyle are already awake and asking about you. You remember Vance? He was the surgeon who fixed the mess you made of yourself. He said you should be waking up any time now.”

The voice was definitely Alayna’s, and the more she spoke, the more Ciara remembered. Not that she wanted to. Her home was gone. The clinic destroyed. Stars, most of the town had been reduced to rubble, the few inhabitants who had been there at the time all dead. Well, almost all.

Ciara forced herself to open her eyes. She was in a med-bed, her every breath and heartbeat monitored and displayed on the screens surrounding her. The rest of the room was less institutional and more homey-feeling. The furniture appeared to be made of wood, the walls were painted a soft, buttery yellow, and there were actual curtains on the window. Ciara hadn’t seen curtains of any kind since she’d moved to the badlands. Shutters and blinds were more durable and far better at keeping the elements and unwanted visitors out.

She turned and looked at her friend, clearing her throat to test it before finally asking the one thing she needed to know. “The boys are really okay?”

Alayna came to her feet with a grin. “I knew you were ready to wake up.”

She found herself looking straight into a pair of jade-green eyes framed by a set of elaborate tattoos. It was still strange to see her friend wear her fertility tattoo so prominently instead of hiding it the way she’d done most of her life. It was stranger still to see the claiming tattoo that marked the other side of her face, announcing to the world that she belonged to the two elites whose mark she now wore.

Ciara had met Alayna not long after arriving at Black Springs and setting up shop as a medic. She had been gaining a reputation as someone that anyone could go to for medical help, regardless of who they were or if they could pay. Alayna had appeared at her clinic one morning nursing a broken wrist, and the two had become friendly. Over time, they’d learned to trust one another. Ciara was one of the few entrusted with the secret that Alayna was a fertile female, marked by the Alliance with the scroll tattoo that denoted her as a claimable woman. That secret had been discovered by two elites who were now her bonded, and who were both devoted to their renegade chosen.

“I told the guys you’d want to know about the kids right off. Trust you to nearly die and then wake up more concerned about someone other than yourself. To answer your question, they’re going to be fine. Now, how are you feeling? I hate to tell you this, but you look like shit.”

Despite her light words, Ciara could see the worry in her friend’s eyes. “Let’s see how good you look after you have a building fall on
you
,” she retorted. Her chest ached, but the stabbing pains were gone. The doctor had fixed her up, just like he’d promised.

“I’m sorry about the clinic. I know what it meant to you,” Alayna murmured, and gave Ciara’s hand a quick squeeze before turning to snag a cup of water off a nearby tray and offering it to her. “Thirsty?”

Ciara nodded and managed a quick smile she didn’t really feel. After Alayna had helped her sit up a little, she took several careful sips of water through a straw, then settled back into the bed. “I’ll rebuild the clinic. What else am I going to do, take up knitting?”

“For now? Maybe you should stick with knitting. Your doctor said you’re going to need stay here for a week or two before he’ll release you, then you’re going to need to take it easy for a while.”

“Two weeks?” Ciara wanted to yell, but the best she could muster was an angry wheeze. “No way. I need to get back to Black Springs and help the others rebuild.”

“Ciara…I’ve seen the vids. The team headed out the moment they knew Black Spring was hit. They’ve already looked over what’s left, and it isn’t much. The seed storage, the hydroponics bays, it’s all gone. The survivors have already been offered materials and land if they’ll relocate to Fort Saken. This place is booming, and we need more farmers to feed everyone without relying on shipments from the cities.”

“They won’t all agree to move. Some of them will stay, and they’ll need a clinic and someone to run it. I need to be out there.”

Alayna frowned at her. “You’re going to stay here and get better, even if I have to tie you to the fucking med-bed. Don’t be stupid, Ciara. You would never let one of your patients leave until you were sure they were one-hundred-percent. Do you really think Vance is going to be any different?”

“Vance? You mean the doctor with the sexy voice?” Ciara regretted her words the second they were out of her mouth. She was going to blame the drugs for this.

Alayna’s eyes widened. “Sexy voice, huh? What the hell meds do they have you on to make you let that slip? You barely look twice at most guys.”

“Most of them aren’t worth looking at once. And I didn’t really see him, I just remember his voice.”

A soft knock on the door and a familiar voice entered their conversation, the low, sexy timbre sending a tiny thrill down Ciara’s spine. “Miss Fanning? I’m Dr. Sterling. It’s good to see you awake.”

Both women snapped their heads up to look at the new arrival, and Ciara got her first real look at the man who saved her life. His eyes were light brown and kind. The rest of him…holy nova. He had dark brown hair and a dark-skinned complexion that somehow seemed to enhance the classic lines of his face. Like every elite soldier in the Alliance, the doctor had been physically enhanced. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall, and the standard black and steel-gray uniform he wore beneath his white coat showed off every cut and line of his well-muscled body.

“Hey there.” She managed a weak wave in the doctor’s direction. “I’m awake. Please tell me that means I can go home soon.”

“It’s a good start, but you’re not ready to head out quite yet. You need time to heal, and maybe think about acquiring a few things, like clothes. That med-center issued gown you’re wearing isn’t going to cut it outside these walls.”

Ciara started to laugh, only to stop with a wince of pain. “Ow. I guess I’m not cleared for laughter yet, huh?”

He was at her side in an instant, subtly laying a hand on her shoulder so he could take a quick scan of her body. “On a scale of one to ten, how badly did it hurt? Sharp pain or more of an ache?”

“It was about a four. Aches only, no stabbing pain at all. My body was simply reminding me I had a building collapse on me not long ago, and I should try and take it easy for a while.” She shot him a hopeful look. “I should be good to go in a day or so, though, right?”

Vance’s quick scan confirmed there was nothing to be concerned about, but he didn’t like seeing any of his patients hurting. Ciara had been through more than enough trauma and pain already. What she needed now was to take care of herself and rest until she was fully healed. Somehow, he didn’t think she was the type to do that.

He shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re going to need more than a few days. Three more days of total bed rest and then I’ll assess again. You need to give yourself time to heal. You had broken ribs and a hole in your lung. Even with a top notch surgeon and the healing accelerants I gave you, you’re not going to be back to one-hundred-percent right away.”

He lowered his voice in sympathy as he reminded her of her situation. “Besides, as I understand it, you don’t have anywhere else to go at the moment. Stay here, regain your strength, and take the time to plan what you intend to do next.”

Ciara’s pretty features folded into a frown, and she crossed her arms over her chest to add emphasis to her next words. “Please. I can’t sit around here for days or weeks. I need to get back to my clinic and see what can be salvaged from the wreckage. There are people out there who depend on me to take care of them, and I can’t do that from this bed.”

Vance cocked a brow and crossed his arms over his own chest, deliberately mimicking her actions. Stubborn patients were part of his job, and he knew how to handle this one. “You can’t help anyone if you’re dead, so you will stay in bed until I tell you you’re cleared to leave it. And later, when you’re feeling better, you and I are going to have a chat about practicing medicine without a license…and what it might take to get this clinic of yours restocked.”

“I…but…You’re going to help me?” She stammered, clearly thrown off by his offer.

Vance nodded, fighting the urge to grin at her confusion. She was a fascinating woman, so small and delicate, yet doing hard work in a harsh land.

“If you stay in bed and let your body heal, then yes, I’ll help you. Consider it a bribe for good behavior.”

Alayna snorted with laughter. “I think he’s got you figured out already, Ciara. Are there operating instructions written on her ribcage or something, Vance?”

“I don’t need instructions to know that doctors…or those who act in that capacity, make the worst patients. I’m simply giving Ciara a reason to follow my directions,” he said with an easy shrug.

“If you’re really going to help me restock and replace what I lost, then I’ll behave.” Ciara shot Alayna a dirty look. “Since I lost my best source for new equipment when she let herself get caught and branded by a couple of bossy ‘leets.”

“I didn’t hear that. I couldn’t have heard what you said, because as far as I am officially aware, Alayna Grekov-Nielson, our local Alliance Liaison to the rebels, was never a thief.” Off the record, of course, he knew all about it. But this wasn’t the place to be bringing up the past. Fort Saken wasn’t just a spot on a map. It was a chance at a clean slate, for all of them.

“I preferred to call myself a freelance acquisition specialist,” Alayna chimed in, and Ciara laughed and then winced in discomfort.

“Stop making me laugh, damn it!”

Vance threw up his hands and started backing out of the room. “And that’s my cue to leave. Alayna, your bonded threatened to feed Annie nothing but sugar and junk food and then buy her a houseful of noise-making toys if I ever mentioned your past. I can’t risk it. I’ll send someone to check on your dressings and pain meds in a bit, Ciara. Rest up, I’ll be back to see you tomorrow and see how you’re healing. Now, I’m off to check up on my other two patients. If you’re up for it, I’ll send them over to visit you tomorrow.”

Vance turned to go, and Ciara sat up a little, causing several alarms to chirp and squawk. She ignored them, and Vance held his tongue, hoping she didn’t try to move any further and undo all the work he’d done during her surgery. Her wounds were healing, but if she pushed too hard, she’d wind up setting her recovery back for days.

She gave him a genuine smile. “Before you go, I wanted to say thank you. I owe you my life and the lives of those boys. Their father lost enough today. I’d really like to see them once I’ve had a chance to sleep a little more.”

“I was doing my job, but you are very welcome. I’ll let the boys know they can visit when all three of you are up for it. Take care of yourself, Ciara.”

Once the hot doctor was gone Ciara let herself fall back on the bed with a tired groan. Even that slight exertion had drained her.

“I’m going to let the guys know you’re awake, but before I take off, you should know the earthquake didn’t hit Black Springs today. It happened two days ago. You were out for a long time.”

“So, salvage is already underway. Do I own anything? Or is it all gone?”

Alayna laid her hand on Ciara’s for a brief moment before pulling away with a soft smile. “It’s all gone. I’m sorry. I’m going to go and let you rest. I’ll see you in a little while. You had me worried. I don’t have a lot of friends, and I’d like to keep the ones I have alive and well.”

“You’re going soft, girl. Next thing you know, you’ll actually be hugging people. Go find those big lugs who claimed you and tell them I’m not dead yet.”