“I want to treat your ankle next,” Dranker said after putting away the mask and drops. “Can you move back on the bed so I can straighten out your leg?”
Before she could move, Miran was there. He grabbed her under her arms, lifted her into the air, and set her back on the bed. He was quick to push a bunch of pillows behind her back. That used up all the pillows she had, and he rushed to a cabinet in the wall and retrieved more pillows. When he came back, he carefully lifted her leg with a hand under her calf and placed the pillows under her leg.
When he was done, he stepped back and gave a satisfied grunt. “I should’ve done that earlier.”
She’d been able to ignore the throbbing in her ankle because her eyes hurt so much more. Now that it had her full attention, she was a little concerned. It looked even worse now than on the shuttle. Maybe she had broken something and not realized it.
“That’s worse than I thought,” she mumbled, leaning forward to get a better look.
“There’s no point in being anxious before I’ve assessed the damage,” Dranker said. As if her worry could simply be turned off.
Dranker was gentle as she tested the range of motion. The pain medication from earlier was helping, but it still hurt. Dranker did some medical tests with several machines, then addressed Nova.
“There won’t be any permanent damage, but you’ll need to keep weight off of it until the medication has time to work,” she said, digging around in her medical box. Pulling out a length of tightly wrapped fabric, she started winding it around Nova’s ankle. “This is a medicated wrap. It will provide constant, low-level medication and encourage the swelling to go down and help your body to heal.”
She finished wrapping and snapped the closure together. The wrap suddenly felt cool, and the last of the throbbing pain subsided almost entirely.
Dranker pointed to a small indicator box next to the snap. “When this light turns yellow, take it off. I’ll leave a second one. Do the same thing, wrapping it snuggly but not tight, and wait for the light to turn yellow. By then the ankle should be mostly healed with only some discoloration left.”
“That’s easy,” Nova said, relieved that the treatment was so simple.
Dranker gave her a few more instructions and some medication for her eyes and the pain.
“What about the mask?” Miran asked. “Does she need another mask treatment for her eyes?”
“No, the medication will help her corneas heal. The mask wouldn’t be helpful for that,” Dranker said. Nova was a little sad to hear that, the mask had felt so good.
Miran asked Dranker more questions. Feeling tired and worn out from her flight, fight, and injuries, Nova leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She should be glad that Miran wanted to keep his investment healthy or she’d be spending the night in pain and maybe even have permanent damage to her eyes.
For someone who bought her, Miran wasn’t such a bad guy.
She drifted into a dreamless sleep to the sound of their conversation.
Chapter 7
Miran
Staring down at the sleeping human, Miran thought about all the things that had happened in a short period of time. Most of it was because of Nova. Nothing he’d experienced so far had prepared him for her. She was a powerhouse of unpredictability.
He was most definitely in love.
Tearing his eyes away from Nova, he finally stripped out of his armor and weapons. He stacked everything neatly against a wall. The fabric and make of his pants and shirt meant that there was almost no sand on him. His chest plate didn’t fare as well. When he got a chance, he’d need to pull his armor apart and give it a thorough cleaning. It still worked but looked horrible.
The door chime sounded, and he walked to the door to open it instead of verbally ordering it. He didn’t want to disturb Nova’s sleep.
A Fielden stood there with a box on their back. This box was marked with the building's logo. It had to be the food delivery. Before the Fielden could speak, Miran gestured for quiet. It was one of the only nonverbal signs in Space Standard. Whenthe Fielden remained silent, Miran held his hands out for the delivery.
The Fielden took off the box and handed it to Miran, then turned and walked away with silent strides.
Miran took the box inside, touched the top and watched it open like Dranker’s medical box. It didn’t have as many layers as hers had, but the ones in there were full of the food he’d ordered.
The sight of the many sealed containers made his stomach remind him that it had been a long time since he’d eaten. Except he hesitated.
Should he wake up Nova to eat, or was it more important that she sleep? He was torn.
Delaying his decision, he pulled a table out of the wall and began pulling the clear containers out of the box. He recognized some of the dishes but had to read labels for others. He’d made sure everything he’d ordered was marked human safe, which meant he could eat it also. Of course that didn’t mean they’d taste good.
After setting the containers on the table, he decided he’d eat and see if the smell of food woke Nova up.
