The Healer's Hellion - Miranda Bridges Page 0,58
I give you leave to do so. At this point you can either walk of your own free will or I will forcefully take you where I need to. The choice is yours.”
The futility of my situation crashes into me and almost reduces me to tears. How am I going to get back to my brother? His impaired leg won’t allow him to find food or any other necessities, for that matter. It’s always been up to me, and the weight of my failure threatens to drown me.
I head in the direction the alien’s pointed out, and before he can tell me not to, I grab a piece of fruit that has rolled from inside my satchel and bite into it. If he’s not letting me leave, then I have nothing to lose.
I study the ship as we walk, trying to remember the twists and turns for when I escape. By the time we reach our destination, I’ve polished off my snack.
“Why is it so cold in here?” I ask, rubbing my arms. “Are you from planet Hoth or something?”
“Or something,” he says flatly.
I slide my gaze to his. “A joke, huh? I didn’t think you had it in you. Your personality is as warm as the temperature in here.”
When he stops in front of a nondescript door, I wait, my nerves taking over. Whatever testing he’s going to do is probably happening inside there. What could he want with a human woman like me?
I’ve learned to hide from aliens that want nothing more than to use us as breeders or food, but to be tested is something new. I assumed that they wouldn’t need anything else from us, seeing as our planet is on the verge of dying, our food supply has all but run out, and the majority of our population has been decimated.
I guess it’s Mother Nature’s way of saying “fuck you.” And to be fair, the humans are the ones who brought about the planet’s deterioration. I just didn’t realize it was going to happen in my lifetime.
The door opens with a hiss, revealing the med bay and another icy-haired alien. Except this one has a physician’s coat covering his flight suit and his hair is longer.
“Commander,” he says, looking at my captor.
“Eli, I need you to test this female for compatibility, deficiencies, and any medical anomalies.”
“Of course.”
The commander turns to me, jerking his head in the direction of a nearby exam table. As before, he’s not speaking to me, yet I feel as if all his subtle actions are more effective than him actually talking.
I walk across the room and sit on the table, eyeing both of the males without trying to hide my suspicion. They probably already know I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them, and in this case, I can’t even pick one up, which proves my point. I wait for the commander to leave, but he surprises me by coming closer as the physician takes a device from his pocket.
“She’s malnourished, on the verge of dehydration, and has a bone that was never set correctly,” Eli says.
“That’s because I’m starving,” I say. “I already know I’m underweight and thirsty as hell. As far as my arm, that happened when some dickhead tried to rape me.” I look pointedly at both males. “But he’s dead now.”
The commander’s icy gaze grows colder looking, sending chills through me. Is he mad because someone tried to harm me? Or is he irritated because of my thinly veiled threat? Either way, it needed to be said.
“Repair it.”
My eyes widen as the commander’s words penetrate my brain. “Like now?”
“Is there a more preferable time suited to your schedule?” he snaps.
The physician’s gaze darts back and forth between the two of us. Apparently he’s not used to seeing his commander act like such an ass. But I am. He’s been nothing but rude to me. Sure, I was stealing from him, but he said he didn’t need the provisions, so I don’t understand his behavior.
“I don’t want you to fix it now or ever,” I say. “It’s going to hurt like a bitch, and then I’ll be laid up and unable to—”
“Steal.” The commander waves a hand in dismissal. “Yes, we know.” He looks at the physician. “Repair it.”
I leap from the table and duck under Eli’s outstretched arm, but then a cool hand grips my wrist, jerking me to a stop. The commander pulls me to him, bringing his face an inch from mine. His breath, a frosty breeze, skims my cheeks as he exhales sharply.
I follow his widened gaze to where he’s holding me, only to find his skin is lit up brighter than the last time he touched me. He drops his hold on me as if I’m on fire, taking a step back. However, the blue under his skin is still present, although already dimming.
“Stay still or you will be put in restraints.” The commander’s lips thin as he glances at Eli. “Hurry up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Eli doesn’t hesitate and snatches my wrist. I wait for the light show, and nothing happens. I swivel my head back and forth between the two males, wondering why Eli’s tattoos aren’t lit. Unease settles in the pit of my stomach, and it’s not because of what’s about to happen to my arm.
Something significant just occurred, but I have no idea what that means as far as I’m concerned.
A small sting grabs my attention, and I glance over at the physician as he takes my arm in both his hands. I scrunch my face, bracing myself for the pain, but it never comes. Eli manipulates my arm this way and that, eliciting a cracking noise. I watch in fascination as he grabs another tool that looks like a miniature hair dryer and runs it over where the break occurred. A tiny flare of heat brushes my skin, but then he’s releasing me.
“It’s done,” Eli announces.
I stare at my arm in amazement, twisting and bending it at different angles. The dull ache that’s been a consistency in my life for the past month is missing. I feel whole, no longer inhibited by my limited range of motion.
“That’s some serious technology,” I say. “It didn’t even hurt.” At the thought of my brother’s ongoing struggle with mobility, I immediately sober, feeling almost guilty at being pain-free. “How thorough is that healing process anyway?” I ask.
The commander gives me an enigmatic look, but Eli answers me.
“Any type of wound such as that can be healed except for complete and total regeneration of a limb. In that case, we would just replace it with a metal one, infused with nanobyte technology, and then cover it with a skin graft made up of synthetic material. Once the process is complete, the patient will resume their original function, or it could even improve.”
Adam could be made to walk again.
The idea has me swaying to the side as dizziness overtakes me. At first I wanted nothing more than to escape from these aliens, but now I’m wondering if it might be beneficial to stick around long enough for them to heal my brother. The commander probably wouldn’t be so accommodating, but Eli is pleasant, all things considered.
“I just need a small DNA sample before you take her to the cellblock,” the physician says.
Everything inside me screams at the idea of confinement, and as I tense to bolt once more, the commander catches my gaze. He shakes his head once, letting me know he’s onto me. Eli holds out a fancy pen that I’m sure is not a writing apparatus and presses my index finger to it. If blood was taken, I’m not aware because I don’t feel a thing.
“She’s ready, sir.”
“What are you planning to do to me?” I ask, hopping down from the table.
The commander raises a brow. “Use you to unlock our true potential.”
I purse my lips. “That sounds very Jedi Master–like. Is it painful?”
He stiffens at the word master, his gaze flaring infinitesimally. “That will be entirely up to you.”
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About Miranda
Miranda Bridges began sneaking romance novels as a teenager and did not confess to reading them until she became a legal adult. After years and years as a voracious reader she woke up one day with a story in mind. She decided to write it down in order to silence her imaginary friends, but they’ve grown in number and have gotten louder. When she is not reading, writing, or drinking coffee she is taking care of two princesses who are of a reading age. Needless to say Miranda is still hiding romance books around the house, but now some of them have her name on the cover.