Ice pulled her closer. Her arm flopped down, away from her body.
The armed fighter he did not recognize came at him a little too fast. That confidence would be the man’s downfall.
Ice pivoted and kicked out his leg while still holding Elle. She moaned in protest, but her body gave no resistance to the movement. Ice’s foot met with the man’s stomach, doubling him over even as it sent him stumbling back into his partner. A weapon dropped on the ground, skittering over the concrete.
The smelly man dove from where they attackers pushed him and grabbed the weapon.
“Run, blue tattoo, run,” the man yelled as he fired the gun into the sky. Shots rang off several times.
Ice ran. Elle bled onto his arm. The metallic smell was new to him, but unmistakable. She stopped moaning, and he feared he would lose her. There was no help he could give. If she were Sintazian, he’d put her in the cold and slow down the process as she had time to heal, but she was human, and in many ways they were much more fragile.
His mind raced as he tried to think of an Earth word for helping wounds. He knew there were places, not unlike the medical booths those reticulan missionaries offered some planets. The Sintaz population had no use for them, but had they been offered to Earth? Nothing in his language knowledge led him to believe it was an option.
“Veterinary physician,” he said suddenly as the word came to him. That was a person who helped injuries and diseases. Physicians were doctors. That is what he needed. A veterinarian. “Don’t worry, Elle, I won’t let you die.”
Chapter Fourteen
Elle groaned. The medicine-induced haze that had followed her since surgery numbed her senses, but not the pain. It was beginning to creep back into her side. A blur of a blue figure moved past the open doorway. The image made her try to call out to Ice. Her voice croaked, and the sound was not coherent.
Elle became aware of something on her face, and she slapped her fingers against the nasal cannula inserted into her nose. She roughly pulled it off and slung the oxygen tubing over the bedrail. Her vision wasn’t steady as she looked first at the IV fluid being fed into her arm, and then at the blipping heart monitor mounted on the wall above her head.
Another blue figure moved past the door. She tried to push up, even as she realized it was a nurse and not Ice. Before even looking, she knew he wasn’t in the room. What had happened? How did she get here?
Seeing her struggling to sit up, one of the nurses turned into the room. He smiled at her. “Good to see you’re awake.”
“Ice,” she said, a little dazed from the medicine. Annoyed, she pawed at the tape securing the IV on her arm.
“Elle, please don’t to that,” the nurse said. “If you pull out your IV, I’ll have to re-stick you in order to give you your pain medication.”
She squinted to look at his name tag, partially obscured by the stethoscope dangling from his neck. “Bob.”
He followed her gaze down and then said, “Rob.”
“Ice,” she insisted. Was he there? Was he shot? Did he get away? She had to know.
Rob gently pushed her back down, not giving her a choice, and reinserted the oxygen cannula back into place. “I need to check a few things then I’ll get you some ice chips.” He lifted the side of her gown to look at her dressing then turned his attention to the monitor. He nodded. “Looking good. No more bleeding. Your vital signs are stable.”
“Where…?” She tried to ask where Ice was.
“You’re in the Intensive Care Unit at?—”
“I have to go.” Elle tried to pull the cannula off again.
“Elle, try to relax. You’ve just gotten out of surgery and you’re in no condition to go anywhere. Do you have someone I can call for you? A friend? A husband?” Rob again adjusted the nasal cannula.
Elle blinked several times, trying to clear her thoughts. She eyed the nurse as she tried to get out of bed. He had kind eyes that stared out from a rounded face. His short hair looked to have migrated from his balding head to his chin. She fought but Rob’s firm hold sapped her energy and she finally stopped trying to sit up.
“Ice,” she whispered.
He let her go and patted her arm. “There you go. Just relax. You’re safe now. The police are right outside ICU and no one can hurt you here. They need to ask you a few questions about the shooting. Do you think you’re up to talking to them yet?”
That kept her from falling back into a drugged haze. Police? Did they come to arrest her for assault? Did they have Ice?
She lifted her hands, reassuring herself she wasn’t cuffed to the bed.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Rob said. “It’s all routine. The sooner they get your information, the sooner they can find who did this to you.”
“I can’t…” Elle wanted him to understand. She couldn’t be here.
