There were jagged cuts all over him from flying shrapnel. He was conscious, but barely. “Get him up and to his bunk,” she said straightening.
Bending, Lucien and Thor grasped him and hauled him to his feet. Chloe stopped by the med bay to collect bandages, antiseptic, a bowl for water and some sterile cloths.
Lucien and Thor gaped at her when she told them to help her get his flight suit off and then settled on the bunk beside him and carefully cleaned the cuts and bandaged them.
“His nanos will close those,” Lucien said after a moment.
“Will it interfere if I go ahead and close them?” Chloe asked.
He blinked at her. “I do not know. I do not suppose so.”
“Then I’m going to go ahead and do that. It seems to me that it would lessen the pain if the nerves aren’t exposed to the air. I know it lessens the pain when I bandage my own cuts. Anyway, I want to make sure there isn’t anything in the wounds that would slow the healing or create an infection.”
“The nanos would kill the infection.”
Chloe let out a huff. “I’m doing this because it will make me feel better to think I’ve made him feel better, ok?”
“It is alright with me,” Sebastian said in a slightly slurred voice.
Delighted, Chloe surged toward him, clasped his face in her hands and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get there sooner, sweety! Jared and Kane were hurt pretty badly and I stopped to check on them and Damon—although I don’t think Damon was hurt as badly as they were.” She frowned. “I haven’t had the chance to check on him. I need to.” She glanced toward the other two men. “Can you keep an eye on him and get him whatever he needs while I go check on the others?”
They looked disconcerted, but they nodded.
Leaning down, she kissed Sebastian again and rose, hurrying away.
Lucien glanced around for a place to sit and finally moved to the foot of the bunk. Shoving Sebastian’s legs out of the way, he sat down and settled his back against the wall. Sebastian sucked in a hiss of a breath when he pushed his legs out of the way. “What the fuck?”
“Chloe said watch you. I do not know why, but I do not feel like sitting on the floor to do it.”
“Why does she want me to be watched?” Sebastian asked irritably. “I am not going anywhere.”
Thor grunted. “Well I am hungry. I believe that I will go to the mess hall and see if I can find something.”
“I will go with you,” Lucien volunteered, scooting off of the bunk and jarring Sebastian again in the process.
“I would not mind food myself,” Sebastian called out when he’d recovered.
“Why do you not just wait until you are feeling better and get it yourself?” Lucien asked irritably.
“Because I am hungry now, gods damn it!”
“Fine! We will bring you something.”
* * * *
As badly as she wanted to hover over the invalids, Chloe finally left them to rest and went to the bridge. She was listening to the status report when Reuel joined her a little later.
She studied him uncomfortably for a moment after he’d settled in the seat across from her. “I apologize for hitting you and for behaving so badly. There’s no excuse for it, I know, but Iamsorry for what it’s worth.”
“Is your wrist alright?”
She blushed. “A little sore. I’ll live.”
He frowned. “I was angry that you challenged my authority, especially in front of the troops, but I realized that you were right. You are the captain of this ship and those are your men. You had every right to … reproach me for their injuries. They were on loan to me and it was my responsibility to return them to you unharmed.” He shrugged. “I would have succeeded if they had not charged into the fray when the port authority was trying to pin us down. My own men, unfortunately, were prevented from effectively returning fire by the barricade the transports had created between them and the attackers. It was your squad and the squad in the shuttle that made it possible for us to finish loading the supplies. Their actions were necessary to the successful conclusion of the mission and they acted just as they should have.”
She felt her blush grow hotter. “I think I made more of a fool out of myself than I damaged your reputation,” she said uncomfortably. “But I’ll make a public apology if you want me to.”
He shook his head. “That is unnecessary. The troops felt that we were both right … and they did not think that you made a fool out of yourself. They were impressed that you had the nerve to assault me. They are certain that you were just a little ….”
