Veda put two fingers to his neck. “He’s passed out. The pain must have been too much.”
Cyra warred with indecision. Should they return to Din’ Gale? What if he died? What if he remained in pain and they couldn’t fix it? She needed answers. “What can we do?”
“I don’t know,” Veda barked at her. “If we can get him to the medical bay, I can run some tests. I tried to calm him when I first came and he was more aware. When I touched him, he threw himself to the other side of the room to get away from me. He hasn’t been able to say two words to me.”
“I’ll stay with him while you get the gurney.”
Veda turned and ran out. Cyra prayed she would be able to help him.
As soon as Veda returned, they managed to get him onto the gurney. Cyra watched him for any signs of awareness as they guided the floating tablet back to medical. It was crazy, but it looked like his skin was writhing. Or at least his tattoos were—they were changing, moving and rearranging themselves on his body. She didn’t know much about Dez, or his race but his condition couldn’t be normal.
Veda locked the gurney into place once they reached the lab. Bright white floors and fixtures reflected the strong overhead lights.
“Do you see what I’m seeing?” Cyra asked Veda.
“You mean the fact that his markings are changing?” Veda removed the med probe from his ear and placed a sensor on his chest.
“Exactly. What the hell is going on?”
“I’m not sure. I couldn’t get much out of him, but he did say the word ‘mate’.”
“Mate?” Cyra retrieved her comm. Maybe she could ask his family. The signal was too weak. She’d have to try from the bridge. What she wouldn’t give to have a communications specialist who would know how to route the signals across vast space.
Veda kept taking measurements and staring intently at the display mounted in the wall. “His vitals indicate stress, but not in a range that could be dangerous. I need to do some research. I’ll hook him up to a fluid push and stay here until we know more, or he’s better.”
“He’s not going to die is he?” Cyra could barely choke out the question.Please don’t let him die,she begged silently. Who she addressed she wasn’t sure. Any being with the power to save Dez.
“Based on the readings, I don’t have any reason to think this is a deadly situation, but I don’t know.” Veda sat at her computer and pulled up a medical encyclopedia.
Cyra clutched her hands together to keep from touching Dez despite the compulsion to comfort him. “Do you want me to stay with you?”
“No, you’ll only be in the way. I’ll comm you if something changes.”
“Take care of him.”
Veda glanced up, eyebrows lifted.
Cyra glanced away unable to deal with the feelings she shouldn’t have. Dez was cargo and any illness put her future and her partners’ future in jeopardy. Any other thoughts were inappropriate and should be squashed.
“Go.” Veda shooed her out. “Your nervous energy is not what he or I need right now.
Cyra left the medical bay and strode blindly back to the bridge. She’d been the last to see him before he had taken ill—had touched him, and sparks had definitely flowed. The word “mate” reverberated in her skull. Butshewasn’t his mate. Maybe someone back on Din’Gale. Maybe there was an incubation period, and his reaction had nothing to do with her. Maybe Veda misheard him.
Didn’t matter. She couldn’t take him home. And she sure as hell couldn’t keep him. Veda would have to figure out how to fix him, preferably before they got to Cassan.
Chapter20
Dez openedhis eyes and quickly shut them. The light was blinding and painful. Where was he? What happened? Slowly, in flashes of images, he recalled Cyra touching his bare skin and what it meant.
Why now? Why her?He released a moan before he could stifle it. Footsteps neared and stopped.
“Dez, can you hear me?” Veda asked.
Her voice so different from Cyra’s—the voice he ached to hear again. Dez’s throat was too dry to respond. He nodded.
“Are you feeling better? Can you talk?” She pressed something cold to his ear, and he shifted away. “Dez?”
“Water,” he croaked out.
