Nexus: Ziva Payvan Book 2 (48 page)

-100-

HSP Medical Center

Noro, Haphez

The first thing Ziva noticed when her eyelids fluttered open was the cold metal bracelet around her wrist. She didn’t think anything of it until she tried to lift her arm and found that a chain restricted her movement to a few centimeters. A second bracelet secured the chain to the metal rail that bordered the mattress, effectively rendering her immobile. After a couple of yanks for good measure, she allowed her head to fall back against the pillow, too exhausted to care.

Her attention was drawn to the door when she sensed another presence in the room. It turned out to be more than one – five, to be exact. Her team stood in the doorway along with Aroska, Marshay, and Ryon, looking at her in stunned silence. A guard who had been posted there stepped aside to let them in, but they lingered there for a long time, glancing at one another as if nobody was quite sure what to do. It made her entirely uncomfortable.

“What are you all staring at?” she muttered, mustering all of her energy to sound as gruff as possible. It only made her wince – even speaking was painful.

That seemed to snap them out of their stupor. They all came crowding in at once, eyes still on her, faces grim. Skeet and Zinni took up positions on her left, perching on the edge of the bed, while Aroska, Marshay, and Ryon hovered on her right. Ryon reached down and took up her cuffed hand, careful not to disturb the IV line that was held in place by an adhesive strip.

“How do you feel, kiddo?”

Ziva coughed a bit, struggling to adjust her position. “I’m a little sore.”

“I don’t doubt it,” said an unfamiliar voice. Marshay and Aroska parted to make way for a doctor with graying hair who carried a data pad. His blue military uniform was visible under his crisp white lab coat, strange considering Ziva was fairly certain this was HSP’s facility. “Ziva Payvan, you are a very lucky woman.”

She forced a good-natured scoff. “I don’t believe in luck.”

“Well maybe you should start.” The doctor held his data pad up to a large viewscreen beside the bed, transferring the information from the smaller device to the bigger one. “Captain Dasaro’s bullet entered at an angle and passed just below your heart, nicking your liver and primary stomach,” he explained, pointing toward one of the scan images on the screen. “Neither organ was completely penetrated, but we’ll be keeping you under close observation for a while. Your left lung also collapsed thanks to a couple of broken ribs, but we managed to get it repaired. It should be functioning at one hundred percent within a few weeks. Other than that, you suffered a nasty concussion when you fell, and there’s still some swelling that needs to be dealt with. The remaining tissue damage is nothing that can’t be fixed with a caura regimen and some rest. You’ll be back on your feet in no time.”

That was all good and well, but she was more concerned about what would become of her
after
all the caura and rest. The real question was whether HSP would take her back after all this. Maybe she was just tired, but the thought of having to recover on her own again was almost unbearable. Feeling panic encroaching, she opened her mouth to ask, but Skeet beat her to it.

“What does HSP think?” The same concern that she felt was apparent in his voice.

The doctor smiled, giving Ziva the impression it wasn’t the first time he’d heard such a question. “Director Arion has already authorized her for a ten-week session on Na,” he replied, shifting his attention down to her. “I’ll be personally overseeing your recovery. You leave the day after tomorrow.”

Sighs of relief rose up throughout the group and Ziva closed her eyes. A second chance at the Na Facility was a rare privilege that far too many agents had been denied, her included. The opportunity to recover there was an honor she had never dreamed of receiving. The rehab and conditioning were as brutal as HSP’s elite training sessions, but nearly all those who were admitted had been able to return to work. She lifted her hand to rub her face, but the rattling chain was a startling reminder that she could not. “What about this?” she asked.

“You’re technically still in custody,” the doctor explained. “While the real killer is still at large,
your
involvement in Tachi’s assassination has been waived thanks to the information that was uncovered regarding Captain Dasaro and Argall. But you
did
kill another HSP agent, and while it’s clear that she was in league with Dasaro, your charges can’t be dropped until the proper evidence is brought forward, just like during a regular grace period. Unfortunately the hearing can’t take place until after your rehabilitation session is complete, so you’ll be placed in military custody for the duration. As such, I’m sorry to say you won’t be permitted to make contact with anyone outside the facility as you normally would during rehab. Do you understand everything I’m telling you?”

Ziva nodded and then shrugged, giving the cuffs another yank. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The doctor smiled again. “I’m sure you’re not, Lieutenant. It’s really just a formality at this point. We’re required by law to keep you under guard.” He made a slight adjustment on one of the nearby monitors and checked the IV line running into her hand. “Again, I apologize for the inconvenience, but things already seem to be looking up for you as far as the case goes. Like I said, you’re a lucky woman.”

Ziva watched as he shut the viewscreen off and took up the data pad. Nodding respectfully toward the group, he turned and strode out of the room, his long white coat billowing behind him. She waited until he had disappeared before running her tongue over her dry lips and taking as deep a breath as the bandages around her abdomen would allow. “I really wish you all would stop staring at me,” she said, closing her eyes to escape the pressure of their collective gaze.

The first signs of tears glistened in Marshay’s eyes, but her voice didn’t waver when she spoke. “We’re just enjoying seeing you in one piece, my dear.”

“I’m pretty happy to
be
in one piece.” Ziva pulled herself into more of an upright position, wincing against the fire that surged through her body as she did so. Her entire midsection was engulfed by an ache beyond description, and she instinctively placed her free hand on her stomach in a futile attempt to alleviate some of the pain. She instantly regretted it when every member of her entourage gasped and leaned forward. How they expected to help, she had no idea.

She masked her genuine discomfort by sending them all a glare that did a sufficient job of keeping them at bay. “I don’t need to be babysat, thank you.”

Skeet laughed. “I’d better call ahead and warn the guys on Na about who they’re dealing with. They don’t know what they’re in for.” With that, his smile faded; the thought was obviously bittersweet. “You know Z, if you go to that facility, we won’t hear from you for ten weeks. I think there’s still a lot we need to talk about.”

A tingle coursed through Ziva’s nerves, aggravating the ache in her chest and abdomen. She doubted he and Zinni appreciated being left out of the loop the way they had, but they were no worse off than anyone else. On the other hand, they were her best friends – some of the few people in the galaxy she actually trusted – and she had still kept them in the dark. Indeed, there was much that needed to be discussed.

“I know,” Ziva replied. “And we will, just not…now.”

“Right
now
, I think you need to get some rest,” Ryon said, taking up her hand again. “The last thing you need is all of us in your hair.”

Though Ziva couldn’t have agreed more, part of her was still glad they had come to see her. “I’m sorry you all had to get dragged into this,” she muttered.

“Don’t be,” Zinni said. “You did what you had to, and we weren’t going to just sit by doing nothing. There are some things you just can’t handle on your own. That’s when you need friends who can help you, whether you ask for it or not. We’re here for you – don’t you forget that.”

There was silence for several long seconds before Marshay spoke. “I think we could all use some dinner,” she said. Then she smiled and winked. “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll take good care of your crew.”

There was a series of soft goodbyes murmured as everyone turned and began shuffling toward the door, bumping and weaving around each other in the same awkward manner in which they had entered. Ziva imagined seeing her alive was still taking some getting used to. She regretted having had to deceive them in such a way, but there hadn’t been much other choice. In reality, her actions had been far from self-centered. She didn’t keep secrets because she didn’t trust her friends – she did it to protect them. But now she wondered if they would ever trust
her
again.

Aroska, the person who knew more of her secrets than anyone else, was the only one who had said nothing for the duration of the visit. Ziva watched past drooping eyelids as he fell into position at the back of the line of people filing out the door. He seemed to have an odd cloud of emotions hanging about him, some mixture of sadness, relief, and sheer exhaustion. She didn’t blame him – he’d dropped everything to follow her on what had turned out to be one crazy hyperspace trip. Even after he’d explained himself, Ziva still didn’t feel like she fully understood his reasoning.

“Aroska,” she murmured, catching him just as he reached the door.

He paused, startled by her voice, and sent her a questioning glance. He approached slowly when she beckoned, still moving in that same cautious manner. Ziva could sense a strange irrational fear emanating from him as he came to a stop beside the bed, hands shoved into his pockets. A confusing man, he was. In that respect the two of them had a lot in common.

He lingered there for a moment before taking another step toward her and flashing a mischievous smile. “You really need to quit getting yourself shot.”

Ziva sent a half-hearted glare his way, unable to help but smirk herself. “You have no room to talk, considering you’re the one who shot me last time,” she said. “I thought we had decided it was your turn.”

Aroska laughed and sat down beside her, nervously keeping his distance. “I can’t help it if you want to go jump in front of bullets all the time.” He looked down at her and nodded. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks to you, I guess.”

“So you remember?” He arched an eyebrow. “You seemed pretty out of it by the time I got up there. For a while, the only thing that told me you were even still with us was the death grip you had on my hand. I still can’t feel my fingers.” He winked.

“They look fine to me,” Ziva said, managing a brief eye roll. “Did Mag Reilly get his map?”

“We left it with Agent Zona. He stayed behind to make sure everything went smoothly. Word is they found that room of crystals. Argall is going to be okay.”

“Where’s my kytara?”

“I found it on Bosco’s ship on the way back here. I’ll put it away for you.”

She was surprised she’d even remembered those details after all she’d been through, especially the kytara. The last thing she needed was for somebody to stumble across it by accident – she was in enough trouble as it was.

“Do you remember what you said to me?”

There was something odd in Aroska’s tone of voice, the same sad quality Ziva had already noticed in his behavior. Curious, she looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed, and shook her head.

“I’d just made it to the landing pad, and I was sitting there trying to figure out what the hell to even do. For a minute I thought you were already gone, but you looked up at me…and you told me not to leave you.”

Ziva tilted her head, eyes narrowed. “I think you’re lying.”

Aroska broke out into a grin and shook his head. “Okay, I’ll admit you were mumbling and I couldn’t understand a thing, but it sounded like something along those lines.” He pivoted around to face her fully. “I want you to know that I’m not
going
to leave you. You’ve turned out to be a good friend and what Zinni said goes – I’m going to stick by you, for better or for worse.”

“It will most likely be worse, you know.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I figured.”

She wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Well, I guess that’s good, because I need to ask you for one more favor.”

“Anything.”

“If I’m gone, Skeet and Zinni are going to lose Alpha team status because of the Rule of Three. I can’t do that to them, not after how hard they’ve worked and everything I’ve put them through. I need you to stay on board – become the third member in my absence. You’ve got to help hold the team together or everything we’ve worked for will be for nothing.”

He seemed unsure. “The director’s not going to let me just walk on.”

“He will if I authorize it,” Ziva said, “and I will. I can’t order you to do this, but I’m
asking
you to – asking as that friend you were talking about.” She paused and winced again as she drew a deep breath, surprised by the words she was about to say. “Please, Aroska, you’re the only person I would ever trust enough to do something like this.”

He hesitated for a long time, staring at the blank wall across the room. “Well,” he began, “I’m flattered to finally be trusted by Ziva Payvan. I would be honored to join your team, Lieutenant.”

Ziva sighed and closed her eyes, feeling as though a massive amount of weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. Somehow her wounds no longer hurt quite so much. “Thank you,” she murmured.