in pain,” he countered. “Didn’t Aoife give you an anesthetic?”
“She did. I’m resistant. Please leave.” The words were gritted out between breaths. Focusing on the conversation meant I had less focus dedicated to ignoring the pain and it bloomed around me in cascading waves.
“Your feet will heal quickly, but the hole in your thigh will take at least half a day. You can’t stay in pain that long. Do you know of any painkillers that work?”
“Some do, but I don’t know which,” I said, wishing he would go away so I could suffer in peace.
“Do you trust me?”
I glanced at him. “In what way?”
He grimaced, and I realized that question had likely been answer enough. “I don’t need pain meds often,” he said, “but when I do, I use a special blend.” His lifted eyebrow asked if I caught the meaning. I nodded. He wasn’t going to admit to being a member of the Genesis Project outright, but he was strongly hinting in that direction. “It might work for you. I could give you a quarter dose and see.”
I tried to weigh the pros and cons, but the pain made thinking difficult. “Try it,” I conceded at last. Anything had to be better than this.
Ian disappeared for so long that I figured he wouldn’t return. I decided I’d had enough. I wasn’t going to stay here like a bug under a microscope. My brother had been sold to MineCorp and I needed to find him before the job killed him. If I could make it back to the privacy of my quarters, I could start searching for information.
Sitting up took an age and jostled my leg enough that I thought I’d pass out, but I made it. I waved away the diagnostic table’s alarm and hoped Aoife hadn’t been paying attention.
Moving a centimeter at a time, I slid my legs over the side of the table. Now for the tricky bit. I needed to slowly slide off the table so I didn’t land too hard on my injured feet. Unfortunately, my arms trembled as much as the rest of my body.
Before I’d worked up the courage for the drop, the medbay door slid open and Ian staggered inside, followed carefully by Aoife. She didn’t look at all surprised to see me trying to slip off the table. “You two are going to be the death of me,” she griped. “This one takes a walk with a hole in his gut and you decide to stand with a hole through your leg. You are perfect for each other.”
“I told you, I’m fine,” Ian said. “I’ve had worse than this.” He crossed the room and pressed an injector into my hand. “It’s set for a quarter dose,” he said quietly.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I pressed the injector against my exposed thigh and pulled the trigger.
“Yes,” Aoife said, still arguing, “but you seem to forget that you’re not in some godforsaken hellhole where you have to keep going or die. Fortuitous has an excellent medbay that would get you up and going faster, if you would just stay put.” She jabbed a finger at me. “And you, what’s your excuse?”
“I’m going to my quarters.”
She huffed out an irritated breath. “And how are you going to get there? Crawl?”
“If I have to,” I said calmly.
Her eyes widened, then narrowed. “Think you can?”
“If I have to,” I repeated.
She threw her hands up. “You’re as bad as Ian, but I’ve got news for you both: you’re staying here until you’re healed. If you want out faster, I’ll put you in the tank.”
That caught my attention. “Fortuitous has a regeneration tank? Why didn’t you start with it?” I’d thought the ship too small for a regen tank, but the double diagnostic tables should’ve been a giveaway that this ship didn’t have the standard medbay configuration.
“Most people avoid the tank if they can,” she said. “Your wounds weren’t bad enough to require it, though Ian was close.”
Regeneration gel healed even deep wounds and had the added benefit of mobility while healing. It burned like a bitch, but most people could dose up on painkillers and be fine. Regeneration tanks were reserved for critical wounds that needed intense healing. The tanks were faster than gel, but kept the patient tied to one location. They also fucking hurt and even good meds couldn’t block all the pain.
“Put me in the tank for an hour. Unless Ian has opened his wound and needs it more.”