Dismissing Tom and Risa, she removed her steriles as she moved to the com unit.
“Captain Morris?”
She leaned against the wall while she waited for a response. She was just wondering if he meant to ignore her when his voice broke the silence. “Yes?”
“I’m done. You want a report now? Or can it wait?”
“I’ll be right down.”
Shrugging, Mel found a stool and plopped down on it, her thoughts veering off abruptly to Lena’s brother. Nigel wasn’t going to take it well if he found out they’d rescued Lena’s clone instead of his sister, Lena.
ChapterSix
“What’s the verdict?”
Mel shrugged tiredly. “Which one?”
“How is she?” Dax asked irritably.
“Like I said, beat all to hell. I’ve mended everything, though. She isn’t going to feel wonderful for a while, but there won’t be any lasting damage--not physically, anyway. Otherwise, it’s a little more tricky. That sort of experience isn’t something people put behind them easily, especially when they’ve managed to make it to adulthood without seeing too much of the ugly.”
Dax frowned. “Lena’s seen the ugly.”
Mel studied him for several moments but finally, instead of reminding him that he’d already made up his mind the real Lena, the one who’d had those experiences, was gone, she merely shrugged. “From what I heard, she wasn’t much more than a baby. I doubt she remembers too much about that. I meant since your father took her in. Anyway, she’ll get over it. The drugs--it’s going to take a little while to get all that nasty out of her, but I’m going to keep her out for a while to give her plenty of time to heal up. She’ll sleep most of the withdrawal off. She won’t be really lucid for at least thirty six hours.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Make it forty eight. We’re headed for Antaria to lose the trackers. Once we’ve pulled that off--if it goes smoothly--I can focus on questioning her.”
A twinge of guilt flickered through Mel, but she dismissed the temptation to confess that she hadn’t sent Lena to the brig. She was out and would be for a while. Even if it turned out that Dax was right about her, it wasn’t like she was going to be in any condition to try anything. “Are you going to let me check you out?”
Dax arched a brow at her. “You are always so anxious to get my clothes off, doc.”
Mel chuckled. “You got me. I just can’t resist using that tight little ass of yours for a pin cushion.”
Dax’s smile flat lined. “I think I’ll pass.”
“Don’t be such a baby! Jeez! Your face looks like somebody was using it for a punching bag and you’re worried about a needle?”
Uttering a long suffering sigh, Dax caught the front of his uniform and gave it a tug, unsealing the opening from neck to groin. When he’d shrugged out of the top, he peeled the one piece suit down his legs and dropped it to the floor. Giving him an irritated glance as he climbed up onto the examination table, Mel snatched the uniform from the floor and dropped it onto the stool she’d vacated.
He was a gorgeous specimen of manhood, top to bottom, but he could be a real pain in the ass!
It dawned onher abruptly why she’d felt so badly for Lena. It wasn’t just that she could tell the poor girl had already been through hell. It was the fact that she’d managed to get on Dax’s bad side and that was a really unpleasant place to be.
The scan revealed bruising--a lot of it--and several cracked bones in his right hand. When she’d mended the damaged bone with the laser, she shoved the scanner out of the way and told him to get dressed.
“No needles today?” he asked as he bent down to step into the uniform again.
Mel checked his ass out. “It’s oh so tempting, but I couldn’t find an excuse. You must be made out of titanium.”
His lips curled wryly as he sealed the front of his suit again. “I felt every one of those damned bruises.”
“Want something for pain?”
He shook his head. “All I need right now is a few hours sleep.”
Mel sent him a startled look, but he’d already stepped out of the med lab before she recovered enough from the jolt of that announcement to consider saying anything. After a moment’s thought, she decided against trying to head him off.
Retreating to her quarters, Mel grabbed her toiletries and headed for the shower. She’d just lifted her foot to step into the chem bath when she heard the captain’s voice over the com unit. “Mel!”
