Hearts of Ishira (Hearts of Ishira Saga) (10 page)

Hunter stayed by her side the entire time, holding her hand and draining away the worst of the pain when she needed it. She was grateful for his presence. Her head was still killing her, but her leg was, thankfully, no longer in agony. Two of the medics tending to her moved to other duties after a nod from the lead doc, and Arianna looked at the handsome physician, who seemed to be in charge. He sat on the edge of her bed, holding a small but wide roll of material in one hand.

“I need to wrap your ribs,” he told her softly. “It will be uncomfortable, but it needs to be done. After that, I can give you a stronger general anesthetic and let you sleep for a while so the meds and fluids have a chance to work.”

“Thanks,” she said, offering him a weak smile. He blinked, staring at her for a moment, then shook himself, smiling back.

He looked at Hunter and nodded. Hunter helped her to sit away from the pillows and gently pulled the blanket from her chest, letting it puddle at her waist. She sucked in a shallow breath at being nude once more in front of him. Naked with a doctor was one thing. Now that she was clean and wasn’t in nearly as much pain, being naked with Hunter was …odd. She was incredibly self-conscious, even though she knew there was no help for it at the moment. She was trying to be pragmatic, but it was hard with such incredible men tending to her. She might be injured and weak, but she was still a woman, and she knew sexy when she saw it. These men were the definition of ‘hunk’, all of them. Hunter and the doc were even more so, in her opinion. She had the craziest thought, wondering what they would taste like if she kissed them. Lord, what was wrong with her, that she could even think about something like that right now? Definitely some brain trauma going on in her noggin. There
had
to be! Maybe she should ask the doc about that.

Her face heating, she stared straight ahead as Hunter lifted her large breasts and held them out of the way for the doctor to wrap her torso. She would have been happy to hold them, but the IVs’ placement prevented that. She closed her eyes in mortification, but knew that it had to be done. Her damn boobs had always been too big for her comfort. The doctor didn’t seem to think anything of it, but she could sense Hunter’s efforts to keep his hands from wandering.

He wanted them to wander? Ri sucked in a short breath. Surprised, she realized that he was wondering what her nipples would feel like when hard, that he wanted very much to flick his long finger over one to find out. But she was vulnerable, and he would never take advantage of a woman like that. So he kept his hands where they needed to be, instead of ‘accidentally’ slipping.

Arianna was suddenly flustered. He liked holding her breasts? That quickly, she wasn’t nearly as ashamed as she had been, and she grinned. She felt as well as heard the soft groan Hunter let out when he realized that he’d been broadcasting his little mental caress. She couldn’t help a tiny smile of delight. Apparently, the brain damage wasn’t affecting just her. She giggled at her own silliness. Wow, the drugs here were awesome!

At Hunter’s groan, the doctor glanced up at the tall, black-haired warrior holding her, rolled his eyes in amused exasperation, and went back to his task. The fabric encased her ribs now, from belly-button to just beneath her bosom. He wrapped her breasts next, securing them firmly a bit higher than they would normally rest, murmuring something about keeping the extra weight off of her broken ribs. It would be easier to breathe that way.

She was surprised at the depth of Hunter’s regret when he no longer needed to touch her. When he was done, the doctor and Hunter helped her lean back against the pillows, and the doc tucked the blanket securely beneath her arms. For a moment, he simply looked at her, as though assessing. She could not sense him trying to read her thoughts. Perhaps Hunter was the only one able to do that? But he
was
trying to figure out something about her, that much was clear. Finally, he sighed and spoke. He seemed to be a man of few words, but had a bright energy and lively intellect that made her want to talk to him for awhile, pick his brain and find out about his race.

“I understand that you are their leader, and for the time being, the translator for your group,” the doctor said. Arianna threw a frustrated look at a smug Hunter, but agreed. Again, no sense wasting her breath and energy. She had the feeling that as long as Hunter considered her the women’s leader, that’s what the men would think, as well.

“I have run a few preliminary tests as we scanned your ladies for injuries. Your physiology does not appear to be very different from ours,” he informed her. “Your women seem to have a few broken bones, some nasty bruises, cuts, and even a few burns, but over-all, look pretty damn good for having just crash-landed a spaceship in our forest. I will keep an eye on the more seriously wounded, just in case, but I think they will be fine.”

“Thank you,” she said softly. He nodded, smiled warmly, and went on.

“You, on the other hand, have several broken ribs, and your leg is, obviously, mangled from the compound fracture. You also have a concussion and strained muscles all over. Tomorrow you will hurt a lot more, but we have good pain meds. Ask for them if you need them. That’s what they’re here for. The bottom line is, you will mend, and we will see to it that you do not injure yourself further before you have had a chance to rest and heal. I do
not
want you trying to get out of bed or putting any weight at all on that leg for now.”

He reached over to a mobile tray that held all sorts of equipment on it and returned with a syringe. Her eyes widened in curiosity, though not in fear. It was strange, but she got the same sense of instant trust with him that she’d had with Hunter from almost the first.

“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe,” the doc said, as though she’d spoken. “This is a vaccine that we give to all of our own men and injured. I modified it as soon as we had scans and lab results of your species. It will protect your system against most known indigenous pathogens for now and help build your immune system against them for the future. Also, the nanos in it will speed healing and repair any environmental genetic damage you may have sustained.”

Arianna blinked, wondering what he meant by that, but was distracted when the doctor injected her. There was a strange sensation that flowed through her, then a feeling of complete and utter relaxation.

“Wow!” she breathed, as her body suddenly felt weightless and every bit of pain disappeared. “That’s some good shit!”

Hunter and the doctor laughed, and she grinned up at them, knowing it was a rather goofy grin but unable to stop herself or even really care. She noticed for the first time that a translator blinked at the doctor’s temple, as well. That made sense. He’d need to be able to understand the women, too.

“So the other women have said,” the doctor remarked with a wink. “The others have been seen to, but they will be fine. Five bodies were found at the crash site, unresponsive. We may find more when we can return to investigate the scene. There are a few who are still unconscious, but scans show that they aren’t hurt very badly, so hopefully they’ll wake soon enough. Amazingly, only three members of your group have been seriously injured, including yourself. You three will remain here, in the med center, until I am satisfied that you are healing properly.

“You are not prisoners,” he made sure to tell her emphatically, “And you should probably convey that to the others who need to stay here. There are all kinds of predators and poisonous plants out there, beyond the walls of the compound. We don’t want any more harm coming to your people. But there are several ladies who are looking as though they would like to try to escape at any moment. Such an attempt could cause them serious harm, since my men
will
restrain them, for their own good. If they misunderstand the men’s intentions and fight, they could hurt themselves further.”

He stood up, patting her uninjured thigh. “I am Master Jace. I am the lead physician and Hunter’s second-in-command. If you have need of me, simply ask for me.” She nodded and he grinned, his eyes warming a good deal from just a moment ago. “And if you just want to talk, feel free to ask for me, as well. I will never turn down the chance to speak to a beautiful woman.”

Before she could come up with a response to that totally unexpected bit of flattery, one of the girls from another bed called out, wanting to know what was going on. Ri gathered her thoughts then addressed the girls.

“They want me to let you know that you’re not prisoners, any of you,” she told the women. “But they want to keep us here, instead of down in the main hall with the rest of the girls, until they’re sure we’re okay. Our injuries are more severe. The doctor, Jace, also said that if you try to run away or escape, his men have been instructed to restrain you, for your own protection, and will use force if necessary.”

“We can leave if we damn well want to!” Amy said heatedly. Ri frowned at her.

“What’s your deal?” she asked, bewildered. “Why are you so set on being contrary?”

“I’m the president of the sorority,” Amy said with a toss of her head. Ri held back a horrified chuckle when that toss of the head resulted in a spike of pain through Amy’s skull. It took the younger girl a few moments to collect herself, but Ri could feel her agony and could certainly sympathize. Maybe pain and confusion were to blame for the girl’s antagonism? “Those are my girls down there. I should be with them.”

“Well, for right now, you need to stay here. This isn’t up for debate.” Ri sighed at the challenging look the girl was giving her. “Look, I didn’t ask for it, but their leader, Hunter here, gave me this translator, so until your embedded translators come online, I’m supposed to be in charge. We can revisit that part later, if you want, but for now, I’m it. You can try to escape, if you want to, but the men will stop you, will restrain you, and if you fight and get hurt, it’s your own fault.”

She probably should have put it a little nicer than that, but Ri was too weak and too loopy from the pain-killer to be tactful at the moment. Amy’s lower lip poked out with petulance. Ri rubbed her temples, sighing with exasperation at the girl’s immaturity. Now was not the time for silly political machination. Sensing Amy’s attitude, she went on, “And I swear to God, if you tell me I’m not the boss of you, I’ll sic them on you right now.””

She sighed, shooting Amy a pleading glance. “Please… just accept this for now. It’s only temporary. We can work the rest out later. I don’t want to be in charge, I assure you.”

Jace and Hunter stayed for the conversation, the commander listening and Reading the interaction. Though Arianna could have been a bit gentler with her translation, Amy seemed irrationally aggressive and dominating. He sensed something troubling in her, but really didn’t have time to deal with that at the moment. His men could handle one small woman, especially as skinny and fragile as Amy appeared to be.

Before he could think much more about it, one of his warriors called out to him from the doorway. His time with the little leader was done. He sent a mental command to the young woman who seemed to want to challenge Arianna’s authority, suppressing that desire for the moment.

“They will accept you, in time,” Hunter told Ri softly, squeezing her hand.

Jace nodded, holding her eyes. He was impressed with her handling of the situation. He stared down at her for a moment longer, his eyes warming from clinical physician to curious male, surprising her. Then he smiled at her, turned and strode off to other duties.

Hunter got to his feet by her bed, looking down at her, as well. She sensed his reluctance to leave her, not because he thought she was the women’s leader, but because he was personally interested in spending more time with her. It warmed her heart.

“I must see to the others and hear the report from the team I left to investigate the crash site,” he murmured to her, sending apologies along their mental connection. “I do not wish to leave you, for we need to talk, at length. But the medicine Jace gave you will make you a bit… dizzy-headed. You should sleep so that the nanos can begin their work. I will return in a few hours to check on you. If you are up to it, we will have a meeting after supper to discuss what needs to be done next for your people.”

She nodded at him, her head spinning. He squeezed her hand one last time, his grip strong and sure, and held it for just a bit longer than was probably necessary. She sensed that he wanted to say more, but a call from another of his men proved that he had to leave. He offered her a crooked little smile then released her hand and, turning on his booted heel, strode out of the medical center.

She wanted to call him back, to have him sit there and keep talking to her in his deep, mesmerizing voice. She wanted to touch his agile, brilliant mind, have him show her this new world. She wanted to look into his bright green eyes with their dark ring around the irises, maybe even stroke his soft, silky back again. She just wanted to look at him. He was so pretty. She about giggled at that silly thought.

But he was right. He was the leader of his people, so he probably had a million things to do, especially with a group of young, naked women suddenly landing in their midst. She wondered at the absence of women in their group, but as her brain started shutting down, lost hold of the thought.

Several beds over, Amy closed her eyes, anger roiling through her. That chubby older bitch was getting all of the attention, all just because she’d been the one to organize Amy’s sorority sisters and get them to safety. The big, handsome men were practically drooling over her, and she wasn’t even pretty! If Amy hadn’t had such a horrible headache when everything had happened, she’d be the one in charge now. She was the head of her sorority, after all. It stood to reason that her girls would have followed her, instead. And she would have done a much better job of getting them out of their situation, leading them into the forest to find shelter on their own, without having to be rescued by the alien men. It had to be the head wound that had made her try to attack the men, instead of the animals. Or had she been the one to attack the animals, and Arianna the one that wanted to attack the men at first?