“I’ll get Tareik. He’ll want to look you over.” Maddy kissed my forehead. The action happened so swiftly that I couldn’t react. She stood, heading for the privacy screen.
“Give us a bit?” I coughed.
She nodded as Roys sat up. He squeezed my hand, frowning as if he thought nothing had changed. Then his eyes, bloodshot and swollen, caught mine. He looked an utter mess, exhausted, with a beard hugging his chin. But he still made my breath catch, and if I had the energy, I would be kissing him senseless.
Instead, I managed to brush a shaking finger along the scruff of his jaw. “Have I mentioned how hot the beard is?”
Roys laughed, a broken yet thrilled sound. He launched over the bed to take my cheeks, bringing his lips to mine when I couldn’t imagine it was pleasant. I had been unconscious for two days. But Roys kept me there, as I had done to him, kissing and running his fingers through my hair as if he hadn’t felt me in years. He tasted of cherries again, sweeter than ever.
As pleasant as it was to have his undivided attention, he was leaning on me, and my body shrieked.
“Heavy,” I said against his mouth.
Flinching, Roys leaned back, letting me take a deep breath. “Sorry, I,” he cradled my neck. The other hand balanced on the pillow. His forehead fell against mine. “I got carried away. We weren’t sure if you’d…”
Wake up. Survive. I shouldn’t have. My exoskin had taken damage, and that pirate got me in the abdomen. We were far from the habitat. The cradle had to be working overtime, and so did I, which had to be why I felt like such shit.
“I thought you were supposed to be the cowardly type.” Roys shut his eyes, where the tears collected on his lashes. All my body could do was reach for his waist where my fingers curled in his belt loops.
He wasn’t wrong. I always had been, maybe I still was in my way, but maybe I had changed, or it was all the drugs in my system, but I didn’t want to risk letting Roys go on without knowing the truth.
“I love you, and I guess that makes me want to be brave,” I whispered.
Those eyes opened onto a rich sea of otherworldly beauty. “You’re utterly maddening, do you know that?”
“It might have been brought up once or twice.”
“I love you.” He breathed in a jagged breath. “I love you so much, Ethin, and if you keep this up, I am going to require extreme dental work.”
“Oh?”
He tugged a handful of wrappers from his pants pockets. “There’s even more on the floor.”
I laughed, and with it came pain. Roys laid a hand over my chest while I struggled not to clutch my wound.
“I can’t lose you,” he cried and I kissed him.
“I’m not going anywhere. I fear you’re stuck with me forever, Captain.”
“I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“You sure aboutthat? I’m kind of annoying, a bit of a dick, and I will keep you up more nights than not.”
Roys laughed and I traced the smile lines on his face. He took my hand to kiss every knuckle, whispering against them, “I love you that way, and I love the idea of staying up all night with you.”
“I hear our patient is finally awake!” Tareik came around the sheet, and I wanted to punt the gooey bastard into another universe for ruining our moment.
Roys gave me another kiss, far too short for my liking, before standing up. Tareik brushed by him, carrying a body scanner to rove over me. “Good morning, Private Katlan. How are we feeling? Give me every detail and, Captain, please step back. You may stay if Private Katlan is okay with that, but I need space.”
“Right. Sorry.” Roys shuffled away from the bed, looking like a scolded child twiddling his thumbs. I wanted to drag him back onto the bed and kiss him senseless.
Tareik asked a series of questions and used a plethora of equipment to determine that another round in the cradle would be best in a few hours. The cradle used our energy too, and Tareik wanted me to attempt eating proper food. Tareik offered more painkillers before sitting the bed up. The pain was little more than a dull throb, then I received a warning.
“I fear you will not be eating alone,” Tareik said and, upon his departure, a stampede emerged.
“Lucky, you… lucky jerk! You scared us!” Lilea threw herself at me. Roys caught her, much to the relief of my abdomen that may have exploded on impact.
“Let’s keep the hugging to a minimum and gentle,” said Roys.
