Read Online The Lazarus Particle by Logan Thomas Snyder - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Logan Thomas Snyder
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you, too, Fenton. But I need—”
“Priddy, too…”
Roon blinked. Opened her mouth, closed it. That part caught her for something of a loop. He thought she was pretty? Her? Roon ? If she hadn’t already known he was under the influence of some serious medication, that last bit would have confirmed it for sure. “Fenton. Fenton . I need you to focus for me, okay?”
“Kay, I’m focust.” He nodded once in what she assumed was meant to be a reassuring gesture.
“Good. Now, can you tell me what happened before your seizure? Is there anything that stands out?”
Fenton stared up at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought. After a few seconds his eyelids began to narrow and Roon wondered if he had slipped back into that slurried, ill-defined space between consciousness and unconsciousness.
“Fenton?”
He stirred at the sound of her voice, blinking incredulously. “Roon? S’zat yoo?”
“It’s me, Fenton. I’m here. I just need you to tell me what happened before the seizure. Do you remember?”
Fenton lifted his free hand to his chest limply, tapping just below his breastbone. “Hurst. It hurst.”
“It hurts ? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
“Mmmmnn-hmm.”
“Do you mind if I take a look?”
Fenton lolled his head from side to side. Roon took the shaky gesture to mean that, no, he didn’t mind.
“Okay, Fenton,” she whispered, “just hold still.” Not that that would be a problem. He was already drifting into a peaceful, medicated slumber.
The real problem was what she found waiting for her beneath the top of his gown.
“Oh my god…”
The flesh of his breast was flush with a blossoming bruise, its petals a sickly mottle of purple, blue, and yellow. The bruise itself was roughly the size of her fist, centered around a small puckered welt an inch and a half below his nipple. It almost looked like…
Like an injection point.
“Ahem.”
The voice came from behind her, a gravelly clearing of the throat that nearly caused her heart to leap out of her chest.
Roon yelped with surprise, covering her chest with her hand. “Dr. Jenner!” she said, turning to find the man looming just beyond the cordon of privacy curtains surrounding Fenton’s bedside. “You startled me.”
“It’s been five minutes,” Jenner answered impassively. “I’m going to have to ask that you leave now. Mr. Wilkes needs time to rest and recuperate.”
Reluctantly, Roon nodded. She had no choice; her impressive haranguing aside, it was Jenner’s sickbay to run as he pleased. If he said five minutes, then five minutes was all she had. She could offer a cursory protest, but the risk of getting confined to the brig for disobeying an order from a ranking officer was hardly worth it. After all, what kind of an advocate could she be for Fenton if she got herself thrown behind bars?
The answer was simple: Not a very good one.
“Of course, Doctor.” She patted Fenton’s hand gently as she stood. Somehow she felt a connection with him, something more personal than just her obligation as his advocate. “I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning.”
She said it as much to Fenton as to Dr. Jenner.
The next morning, Fenton was nowhere to be found.
09 • RAD SPIKE
They say the sting of rejection is worse than the bite of a thousand serpents.
Having been roundly rebuffed by the corpsman assigned to escort her back to her quarters, Xenecia could say there was some truth to that.
Not that she had any interest in the man outside of her own personal gain. Far from it. All he was to her was a means to an end. An end that now lay unfulfilled.
In the wake of that failure, confined to her quarters as she was, Xenecia was as much a prisoner aboard OS Tau as her once—and future—bounty.
Oh yes, for she intended to reclaim him at her earliest convenience. In that regard, the corpsman’s rejection represented only delay, not defeat. Of that much she was certain.
It was only a matter of
“Priddy, too…”
Roon blinked. Opened her mouth, closed it. That part caught her for something of a loop. He thought she was pretty? Her? Roon ? If she hadn’t already known he was under the influence of some serious medication, that last bit would have confirmed it for sure. “Fenton. Fenton . I need you to focus for me, okay?”
“Kay, I’m focust.” He nodded once in what she assumed was meant to be a reassuring gesture.
“Good. Now, can you tell me what happened before your seizure? Is there anything that stands out?”
Fenton stared up at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought. After a few seconds his eyelids began to narrow and Roon wondered if he had slipped back into that slurried, ill-defined space between consciousness and unconsciousness.
“Fenton?”
He stirred at the sound of her voice, blinking incredulously. “Roon? S’zat yoo?”
“It’s me, Fenton. I’m here. I just need you to tell me what happened before the seizure. Do you remember?”
Fenton lifted his free hand to his chest limply, tapping just below his breastbone. “Hurst. It hurst.”
“It hurts ? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
“Mmmmnn-hmm.”
“Do you mind if I take a look?”
Fenton lolled his head from side to side. Roon took the shaky gesture to mean that, no, he didn’t mind.
“Okay, Fenton,” she whispered, “just hold still.” Not that that would be a problem. He was already drifting into a peaceful, medicated slumber.
The real problem was what she found waiting for her beneath the top of his gown.
“Oh my god…”
The flesh of his breast was flush with a blossoming bruise, its petals a sickly mottle of purple, blue, and yellow. The bruise itself was roughly the size of her fist, centered around a small puckered welt an inch and a half below his nipple. It almost looked like…
Like an injection point.
“Ahem.”
The voice came from behind her, a gravelly clearing of the throat that nearly caused her heart to leap out of her chest.
Roon yelped with surprise, covering her chest with her hand. “Dr. Jenner!” she said, turning to find the man looming just beyond the cordon of privacy curtains surrounding Fenton’s bedside. “You startled me.”
“It’s been five minutes,” Jenner answered impassively. “I’m going to have to ask that you leave now. Mr. Wilkes needs time to rest and recuperate.”
Reluctantly, Roon nodded. She had no choice; her impressive haranguing aside, it was Jenner’s sickbay to run as he pleased. If he said five minutes, then five minutes was all she had. She could offer a cursory protest, but the risk of getting confined to the brig for disobeying an order from a ranking officer was hardly worth it. After all, what kind of an advocate could she be for Fenton if she got herself thrown behind bars?
The answer was simple: Not a very good one.
“Of course, Doctor.” She patted Fenton’s hand gently as she stood. Somehow she felt a connection with him, something more personal than just her obligation as his advocate. “I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning.”
She said it as much to Fenton as to Dr. Jenner.
The next morning, Fenton was nowhere to be found.
09 • RAD SPIKE
They say the sting of rejection is worse than the bite of a thousand serpents.
Having been roundly rebuffed by the corpsman assigned to escort her back to her quarters, Xenecia could say there was some truth to that.
Not that she had any interest in the man outside of her own personal gain. Far from it. All he was to her was a means to an end. An end that now lay unfulfilled.
In the wake of that failure, confined to her quarters as she was, Xenecia was as much a prisoner aboard OS Tau as her once—and future—bounty.
Oh yes, for she intended to reclaim him at her earliest convenience. In that regard, the corpsman’s rejection represented only delay, not defeat. Of that much she was certain.
It was only a matter of
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