CJ
The sounds of the battle raged around them as CJ worked alongside Amelia as wounded fighters were brought in and then sent back out to battle.
“When are the reinforcements coming?” She asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.
“As soon as they can.” Came the answer.
And so she put her head down and did what she could to help, and tried not to think about what was happening. How was Domik?
I’ve been such a fool.
She shook herself. It didn’t matter what had come before. Nothing mattered except him. Nothing.
How could I be so blind? I love him.
She paused in bandaging an arm, the medi-wand-long since run out of charge, and pressed a hand to her sternum as she fought back a sob.
You are strong. You are brave. You can do this.
She took a deep breath and continued. Looking after Taureans and humans alike. One Taurean came in with a piece of metal the size of CJ’s fist embedded in his shoulder. His uniform was torn and bloody and, as CJ cut it from him, she distracted him by getting him to talk. His face was pale, his eyes the same piercing green as Zac’s.
“Where were you when this happened?” she asked.
“On the gun. You know the big ones?” he said, grimacing as he moved to let her get to the back of his shirt.
“I haven’t seen them.” She scowled as she looked at the metal. It was in too deep for her to remove, it could be preventing massive blood loss. “Amelia?” she called across the bed to where the red-haired doctor was working on another patient. When she looked up, CJ gestured to the shrapnel. “I’ll need you for this one.”
“Give me a second to finish up here.”
CJ readied the equipment Amelia would need and continued speaking with her patient. “Tell me about the guns.”
“They’re a Vo’Ress design, built into the ground. Best ones we’ve ever had,” he said with a proud smile.
“Vo’Ress? Not Domik Vo’Ress?” She asked, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
“Yes, he’s the designer. A genius, really. Every modification he’s made to our weapons has made them safer to use, and more effective.” He turned his head as Amelia approached, greeting her with a grimace as he shifted on the bed.
Domik designed weapons?
She knew he was a specialist, and he’d alluded to making modifications to Taurean weaponry. But she didn’t realize he had been the designer as well.
What was he doing on a small combat team?
It was confusing. She acted on autopilot, passing Amelia what she asked for. The patient was sedated, and the shrapnel quickly removed, the mobile medi-wand quickly knitting torn muscles back together.
“He’s lucky,” Amelia said as she watched the mobile machine work.
“Hmm?” CJ turned to her friend. “I’m sorry, I was distracted.”
“Worried about Domik?” Amelia gave her a small smile and patted CJ on the shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
But will he? If he would be anywhere, it would be on one of his own guns, surely?
CJ’s eyes drifted over her patient.
He could have been Domik.
She sat next to the stretcher on a stool and watched as the machine worked, marveling not for the first time at the advanced Taurean technology that made what would have been a complex medical procedure into something minor.
