“Too late,” she whined. “They already burn!”
Concern made him stride quickly in the direction of their suite.
He rubbed her back with his free hand. “I’m going to fix it. I promise, I’ll make everything better.”
Chapter 6
Nova
A lifetime of doing tumbling and high-flying acts meant that Nova was familiar with discomfort. All performers ended up working while hurt, it was inevitable. Riff was good about having the ship’s medical team visit them when severely sick or injured, but little bumps and bruises were expected to be ignored.
Normally she was good at ignoring pain, but she’d never experienced this level of eye irritation. It wasn’t only that it hurt, but that she couldn’t keep her eyes open to see anything. It was scary and made her want to start crying for real.
Surprisingly, Miran’s calm voice helped keep her panic at bay.
He kept petting her back and speaking in both Hissa and Space Standard. When he spoke in Hissa, it sounded rhythmic and musical. When he spoke in Space Standard, he told her all the ways he was going to make her feel better and promised that she’d never have to deal with Fielden sand again.
It all sounded good to her!
She was fighting the urge to rub her eyes when he paused and moved the hand from her back. She heard the familiar sound of a lock pad beeping.
“We’re here,” he said at the same time she heard a click and then a door swish open. The temperature changed a little, the room was set to a higher ambient temperature. It felt good and made her realize that the pain was making her sweat but that she was also cold and shivering.
Sometimes her body made no sense to her.
He leaned over, and she expected to be dumped on the floor or a chair, but instead, she ended up sinking into a soft bed. Her bag swung free of her shoulder and tugged her arm down. She tried to pull free, but the strap got tangled in her loose Fielden clothes. She tried to open her eyes far enough to see, but the stinging made it impossible. The constant tears also plugged up her nose and irritated her face.
This was horrible!
A gentle hand pulled her arm out straight. “Easy, let me help.”
She felt him tugging at her clothing and the bag. Soon the pressure from where the strap had been digging into her shoulder was gone, and her clothing was loose and flowing against instead of uncomfortably tight around her upper arm.
She let out a little sigh of relief. “Thanks.”
“Stay here. I’m going to get something for your eyes,” he said, then she felt the air shift as he left.
She heard water and sloshing. She blinked furiously, but all that did was make her eyes hurt more. Was there sand in her eyes or tiny swords?
This was worse than when she’d fallen face first into Mikner’s “lava” pit while standing in for his partner. The chemicals making up the fake lava had given her the equivalent of a sunburn all over her body, but a quick gel treatment from the medic had her all fixed up.
She could only hope that whatever Miran planned was that effective.
“I need you to bend at the waist,” he said. She’d been so distracted by her misery that she hadn’t realized he was back until he spoke.
One of his hands pressed on her back, guiding her to sit up and lean over, putting her face over her lap.
“Hold your hair back,” he instructed. She gathered her hair with one hand. The tie that had been holding it back was lost in the sands somewhere.
Warm water covered her face, and a gentle hand swept the sand off from around her eyes. He must’ve filled a bowl with water from the cleansing room. The bowl was lowered away from her face. She made a little whimpering sound.
“They still hurt,” she said, scared to blink.
“Let me get some clean water. This bowl is half sand now,” he said, and she heard movement. Soon he was back and pressing another bowl up to her face. This time, she blinked open her eyes the moment they were underwater. The relief was instantaneous.
Sitting up, she breathed out a sigh and looked around. Her vision was hazy, and her eyes still hurt, but better than before.
“One more time,” he urged, still holding the bowl with both hands.
