I peered down at him, barely making out his features in the low light.
“He asleep?” Carl whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Nighty night, then.” Carl’s head touched the side of my shoulder. It felt nice. Tight, as if he should be there. Hopefully, he would snuggle closer tomorrow or the day after, too, so I would feel complete as we bedded down. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift off.
25
KITTINIR
Being newly matched to not one, but two mates, instead of the usual two weeks off to settle in together, we were given four. Thankfully, the curriculum for the course I was to continue teaching had only required a few modified tweaks, which were already all done, thanks to my Dragonii partner, who was more than happy to stand in my stead for the rest of the meetings regarding implementation, with me available via comm should the need arise.
We watched movies and played vid, board, and card games over the next few days, and went out for walks in the park to burn off the Bratty Dogs we were eating thanks to a challenge Carl came up with - we would try every style of Bratty Dog on their extensive menu, with Alec sticking to the low sodium versions after we remembered his blood pressure issue.
“Guys, I’m going to be fine, I tell you,” Alec said as we left the park, having each consumed a Kimchi Dog and several pieces of gimbap to accompany it.
We weren’t on our way back home this time; instead, heading over to the ship’s sickbay, where Alec had his appointment with our chief medic, Dr. Yoslin.
“Of course you will be. Mylos medicine has been adapted in several ways for the human body, and I am certain that the nanite treatments that are usual for us will no doubt be applied to you.”
“And effectively cure me?” Alec asked, looking hopeful. “And not just have to take different pills as Dr. Proslo suggested?”
“Dr. Yoslin specializes in the cardiovascular field and just recently returned from working at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu," I informed him. “So, he no doubt is more up to date on the latest Mylos applications in this area, though Chief Medic Proslo and the others will be updated by him as they can make time.”
“And you know this how?” Carl asked me.
“Xeranos told me when he let me know that Alec really shouldn’t have imbibed alcohol with the medications he was taking. Korpia notified him after detecting it in Alec’s urine.”
“Stupid bathroom AI snitch,” Alec murmured.
“It’s for your own good. You knew to tell us about the alcohol and didn’t, or forgot, so Xeranos thought it wise to let me know so I could share that with Carl, and we could help remind you if necessary.”
“Look at it this way, if the nanites can indeed be programmed to help with whatever is the underlying cause of your high blood pressure, it won’t matter. You can drink as responsibly as Kit and I.”
“I guess,” Alec said, still looking a bit sulky. “But I still think Korpia is a snitch.”
“Only if it is something that could seriously affect your well-being,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, yeah,” he sighed. “I’ll get over it.”
“Good, because what if you’d had a drug interaction?” Carl said. “I’d have felt awful, having been your bartender.”
Alec glanced over at him, looking remorseful this time. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” He leaned over and brushed his lips across Carl’s cheek, and I inwardly cheered. This was the first time he’d kissed either of us, and it had happened so naturally and unprompted.
Carl grinned, not saying anything, but between the smile on his face and the added bit of bounce to his step, I knew that both the apology and the kiss had him going from merely happy and content to feeling delighted.
Arriving at Sickbay, we were greeted immediately by Dr. Yoslin, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“There you are, right on time!” he said, appearing excited to see Alec. “I’ve been reviewing your profile and medical chart, including the bio scan done at your orientation. I’m going to do a more thorough one today to confirm the genetic anomaly I believe is the root cause of your blood pressure rises, and if I’m correct, I’ll program some micro-nanites that will live and reproduce within your cells to compensate.”
“So, I’d be cured?”
“That would be the general effect, so as good as. Just don’t get yourself caught in an EMP field, and you should be fine. If you do, you’ll need to seek medical care immediately so you can receive treatment once more. And you’ll need to come see me next week so we can make sure all is working as it should. From there, we’ll decide how often you should report for a scan. Every few weeks at first, then months, then only if you suffer a spike or suffer a different cardiovascular event of any kind, including physical trauma.”
“Yeah, I’ll try not to get mistaken for a vampire on Halloween, so no one will stake me,” he joked, and Yoslin merely blinked.
“That is when the humans dress up as monsters and superheroes and boxes of cereal holding knives and go asking for candy,” I explained.
