“What’s wrong?” I ask, my stomach clenching with nerves.
“Is that how your people seal wounds?”
“Well, yeah. Sometimes.” How else was I supposed to close the three-inch hole in his shoulder? “If the wound is huge, we might use staples—er, little metal clips that hold the skin together while it heals.”
“That’s barbaric!” he bellows as his face grows even paler.
“No, it’s not. We numb it first!”
He arches a thick eyebrow. “And would you have numbed me before stitching me like cloth?”
“Um...” I sift through the kit, not finding anything that resembles lidocaine.
“This one.” Rovos picks up a thick stylus, or maybe a pen light.
“How do I use this?” I take it from him and turn it over in my hand.
“Pinch the skin together and push this.” He taps a raised bump on the side. “Then slide the laser across the seam.”
“Okay.” I lean in close and lift my blood-stained hands to his shoulder.Gloves! I should be wearing gloves.Or at least—damnit. I really need to wash my hands.
“What is wrong now?” Rovos asks. His voice is soft, with a hint of amusement, but I’m sure he’s getting annoyed with me.
“I should wash my hands first, or at least wear gloves. To protect against contamination.”
“Yours are a strange people,” he chuckles under his breath. “You cannot contaminate me. Most of this is my blood, anyway.”
“Rovos, I know what I’m talking about. I’m a nurse!”
“What is anurus?” he asks me, canting his head to the side.
“A nurse,” I repeat. “It means I do this. I take care of people who are sick or hurt. I give them medication or change their dressings. Sometimes I make sure the overworked doctors don’t accidentally kill them.”
“I should have known my brave Annah was a healer,” he says softly, and his eyes flash gold for a moment when he lifts his hand to my face and tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear.
“Nurse,” I correct him.
“Whatever.” He tips his head to the side. “Now, seal my shoulder so we can get out of here.”
* * *
Anna
S
ealing Rovos’ shoulder turns out to be a quick and straightforward procedure. All I had to do was pinch the skin and then run the laser over the seam to seal the skin closed. When I try to place a dressing over his shoulder, he laughs at me and plants a quick kiss to my lips before standing up.
Now I’m reorganizing the med-kit while Rovos’ legs stick out from under the control panel so he can remove the tracking system. Because, of course, alien ships would have lo-jack.
“A-ha!” he crows, rolling out from under the panel with a mess of wires gripped in his hand. “Finally, we can leave.”
Tossing the wires away, Rovos heaves himself into the captain’s chair. I watch as his fingers dance across the panel and the whole thing lights up like Christmas.
“Annah, sit down and strap in.”
After putting the med-kit back where I got it, I slide into the chair beside him. I’m just pulling the straps across my body when the engines fire. Rovos’ hands hover over a glass pad, and the shuttle drifts away from the dock.
A metallic voice fills the shuttle, “SC-90076, you do not have clearance to launch. Please return to your dock.”
