They all turned and looked at me as I entered. Maive’s relieved expression was all I could see for a moment. The tension in her face smoothed away.
She rose to greet me. “Gilrox. Thank you for coming. You already know Pasek, and this is our healer, Micher.”
Pasek looked exhausted, but hopeful. I didn’t want to see that hope, because I had no idea if this equipment would work. One glance at Tregen and it was all I could do not to grimace and let out a curse. He was unconscious, shiny with a veil of sweat that made him look even sicker and a few shades more washed out than he’d been when I pulled him out of thatcalroid’sgrasp.
I nodded to the healer and Pasek, and tried to keep my thoughts to myself. Again, in addition to having zero stealth, I’d never been good at games of chance. Everything showed on my face. I must have looked neutral enough, though, because Micher gave me a stricken look, spread his hands, and said, “I’ve done all I can. The infection is not going away with our treatments.”
“Well, let’s give Gilrox some space, shall we?” Maive sent both Micher and Pasek a pointed look. “I’ll let you know when there’s an update. In the meantime…” She waved her hands and the two men retreated, leaving me alone with Tregen and Maive.
I took the seat that Pasek had been sitting in and tried to assess what I was dealing with. I had to admit, although I wouldn’t say so toher, he didn’t look good. “What exactly is his status?” I asked.
“We cleaned out the gash thecalroidmade with its teeth, but despite our medicines, infection took hold.” She pursed her lips. “I should have called for you sooner.”
I did not mention that I was not a servant to be called for. She wouldn’t like that. Instead, I just went with it. “Why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know if you had anything on your ship that could help.”
I pulled the satchel off my shoulder and set it on my lap. “That’s why you ask.”
“You’ve already saved him once,” she said. “We owe you enough debt.”
I carefully removed the field medic unit from its case. “To my thinking, issues of life and death should not be weighed in terms of debts to be owed. It’s not like I’m going to demand galactic credits from anyone after this.”
I began to set up and calibrate the device, doing a quick scan so it could adjust to Tregen’s physiology and target the infection correctly.
“Forgive my assumption,” Maive said quietly. “I always thought mercenaries expected payment for services performed.”
I didn’t remember this many settings to adjust the last time I’d used it, but then again, that had been onme, and the device wasn’t used to working on a different species. “I’m retired from that life,” I murmured. “And I’ve no idea if this will work, anyway. The infection could be too advanced.”
I jolted as a soft hand touched my forearm. Everything froze. My breath, my movements, and for one very weird moment, every single thought in my head. It all went still. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched me because they just wanted to.
“Thank you anyway, Gilrox,” she said softly.
If I looked at her, I would completely forget what I was doing, so instead I nodded and shifted forward, dislodging her hand and refocusing everything back on the reason I was there. “I need to see the wound.”
Maive pulled back the sheet covering Tregen and carefully removed the bandage from his side.
The wound was oozing. It smelled, and hadn’t even begun to heal. Still, I’d seen worse. Some of them had made it. I just hoped to thestarsshe didn’t ask me for the odds of his survival or something impossible like that.
I focused on the device, which had two components: a wand that did the healing, and a small handheld apparatus that monitored its efficacy. I held the wand directly over Tregen’s wound without touching it and light bathed the wound in bright crimson.
Maive leaned forward. “How does it work?”
I tilted the digital display toward her, not that the scrolling symbols and readouts would mean much to her. It had taken me an embarrassingly long time to figure it out myself. “All I know is it releases pulses ofditeriumradiation that put the immune system into healing overdrive. Basically, it speeds up the natural processes while also eradicating bacteria and infection.” I shrugged. “Hopefully.”
It was quiet for a little while. It wasn’t exactly the relaxed, easy quiet that people sometimes enjoyed—or so I’d heard they enjoyed. That wasn’t something I had experienced myself. And it wasn’t to last anyway.
“Well?” Maive shifted on her seat and cleared her throat. “Is it working?”
I shrugged again. “Be patient. It’s notinstant.”
“Okay.” She sat back and I leaned forward. The device made a soft whine as it did its work, and I kept a close eye on the readouts. It scanned as it healed, and finally, to my relief, I saw that Tregen’s body was beginning to respond. It was reacting to the pulses.
Maive didn’t miss it either. She leaned forward, her shoulder brushing against mine. “He’s looking a little better.”
I grunted. “We’re lucky the infection didn’t spread throughout his body. I’ll give him a little more of this and then he’ll just need a lot of rest. This device quickly regenerates the healing process, but at a cost. Rapid healing takes a lot of energy. Even though he’lllookfine, expect him to be in bed for several day cycles and eating a lot more.”
She nodded, her eyes bright with tears. “Yes. Oh, Pasek is going to be so relived.”
