Haven 4 AVOW - Sandra R Neeley Page 0,30

it as much as they did. It apparently put them at ease to know he was tending them as an individual and not just another body.

Doc took his blood sample, then left the examination room. “Give me one moment,” he said, quietly closing the door behind himself. Doc went to his small lab and ran the blood test to be sure Synclare wasn’t ready to be harvested. His face scrunched up in frustration as he looked at the hormone count displayed on the clear holovid board just above his workstation. He just didn’t understand it. Synclare’s hormone levels were all over the place. Each time she came in they were far too high to allow her reproductive cycle to produce ovum for him to harvest.

Shaking his head, he prepared another injection to administer to the hopeful female, and laid the vaginal sample aside to prepare for testing after she’d left his offices and returned comfortably to her own quarters to recover. The treatments were causing her to become brutally ill afterward, despite the fact that he’d reduced the strength of the treatments to allow for her being human. He wondered again if perhaps that was the problem. But he feared if he increased the hormone levels, she would become severely ill and possibly endanger her own health. After preparing the injection, he pasted a smile on his face and returned to the examination room.

Doc paused outside the door and listened to the soft laughter coming from the room. Lo'San was relating some story from his childhood that had her laughing at the antics of Lo'San and his younger brother. He admired Lo'San more than he had before. Lo'San was one of the more analytical rather than emotional males aboard ship, and Doc had often shared meals with him as they debated any particular subject. He’d wondered at the cold, business like nature of Lo'San and how a human female would adapt, when it became apparent he intended to pursue one of the human females, but it had not been necessary. Lo'San had surprised him. The male was proving to be quite supportive and loving with his female.

Doc tapped on the door and opened it, walking in with the injector in hand. “Another injection. Then we’ll measure your levels in a few days to determine our next step.”

Synclare nodded as she took a deep breath and blew it out slowly through pursed lips.

“Are you ready, my Sink Lar?” Lo'San asked.

Synclare nodded and turned to face Lo'San, giving her backside to Doc.

Doc lifted the edge of the sheet and pressed the cold metal of the injector to the skin just behind Synclare’s hip. The soft sound of pneumatically compressed air escaping the injector filled the room, and Synclare caught her breath.

“Alright?” Lo'San asked.

Synclare nodded again.

“There you go. I suggest you go straight home and into bed. I have no doubt you’ll be feeling poorly soon,” Doc advised.

“I’ll get her situated before returning to the Command Deck,” Lo'San assured the healer.

“I’ll run the additional tests and let you know if there is any change. Otherwise, I’ll see you in several days to run hormone levels again.” Then he handed several vials to Lo'San. “Here, six to eight drops into anything she wishes to drink will ease the nausea, cramping, and help her sleep.”

“Same as before?” Lo'San asked.

“Yes, it is the same medication as before. If her reactions are more severe than they’ve been, you can add another one or two drops, but not much more. We don’t wish to make her sleep for days on end. We just wish to make her reactions to the treatment less severe,” Doc explained.

“I understand,” Lo'San said, slipping the vials into the pocket of his uniform pants. He helped Synclare down off the exam table as Doc left the room. Then helped her pull her clothes on.

“Come, my love,” Lo'San said, guiding her by the hand he held in his out of the room. “Let me get you settled at home, then I’ll return to the Command Deck.”

“I can get home by myself. I’ll be fine, go back to work,” Synclare urged.

“I am at work. No one has called. There is no threat. No one needs me at the moment but you. Allow me to settle my female in for a nap, and then I’ll go back,” Lo'San answered.

“You’re stubborn,” Synclare said, chuckling softly as they left medical.

“As is my mate,” Lo'San countered, grinning at her as she walked beside him.

Synclare took a deep breath and her