The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,85

of us with open amusement.

“I have never heard someone speak to Luc like that before,” she said.

“I’ve been telling her that for a while.” Luc let out a long-suffering sigh that had me rolling my eyes so far back in my head I was surprised they didn’t fall out. “No one speaks to me like she does.”

“As if you don’t like it,” I muttered.

“I do like your attitude. In fact, I love it.”

Remembering what I had heard him say while I’d been waking up, I felt my dumb heart turn to mush.

“Interesting,” the doc murmured. “And you really aren’t experiencing any dizziness or nausea?”

I shook my head. “I feel like someone who hasn’t moved in four days.”

“Which would be common for anyone inactive for that long. You may still experience muscle weakness for the next couple of hours, and you’ll probably still be tired, but I have good news for you both.”

“You do?” My brows lifted as I leaned against the headboard.

“Your vitals are almost perfect,” she said, folding up the stethoscope and slipping it into the front pocket of a black book bag. “I can see no overt signs of any type of illness.”

“What do you mean by ‘almost’ perfect?” Luc questioned, latching onto that one word.

“Well, her temperature is a little high.” She crossed one extraordinarily long, denim-clad leg over the other. “It’s about 101.2, but from what I know, Luxen, hybrid, and Origin temps all run higher than human, so considering that you aren’t quite human, that may not be abnormal at all.”

I glanced at Luc in surprise.

“I had to tell her about the serums,” Luc explained. “And what you are. I didn’t want her to attempt to treat you without knowing everything.”

“Doctor-client privilege is still a thing, even in Zone 3,” Dr. Hemenway advised. “You can trust that what we discuss here goes no further.”

“Okay.”

She tucked back a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Full disclosure. I’m no alien-human hybrid specialist. Before everything went to hell in a handbasket here, I worked in human genetics—focusing mostly on cancer and hereditary diseases, which means I’ve had to dust off my med school days to be of any real help around here.”

“But we couldn’t have gotten luckier to have someone with her background,” Luc stated, and man, he couldn’t be more right. “We were planning to send those serums we found at April’s house to Viv.”

“I’m still upset that I can’t get my hands on them,” she said with a sigh. “How they concocted those serums is truly fascinating.”

I thought the how was a little horrifying, but whatever.

“I’ve been able to study the LH-11 and the Prometheus serum,” she continued. “Well, to the best of my ability with the limited access to the necessary equipment and power to be able to use said equipment.” Dr. Hemenway folded her hands on her bent knee. “I’ve been able to learn a lot from the Luxen and the others—the ones who’ve let me tinker around with them to satisfy my own curiosity. Y’all have some bizarre genetics going, so there is a whole hell of a lot I don’t know. And on top of that, I’ve never seen a Luxen or Arum hybrid. Luc over here isn’t the special snowflake anymore.”

A slow grin tugged at my lips.

Luc pouted. “No matter what you say, I am still a snowflake, unique and pure.”

Dr. Hemenway snorted. “Luc also gave me a background on your health before…”

When she trailed off into awkward uncertainty, I filled in the rest for her. “When I was Nadia?”

She nodded. “It’s only been in the last four years that I’ve learned anything about how Luxen and human DNA could be blended or that these serums had the potential to cure certain cancers. To think of all the lives that could’ve been saved.” Sadness pinched her features. “But these serums and cures didn’t come without a price.”

“No,” Luc agreed quietly. “No, they did not.”

“So.” She drew the word out. “With all that being said, I may be of no help whatsoever beyond confirming that you’re alive and breathing.” She paused. “Which you are.”

Unable to help it, I laughed. “At least you’re honest.”

“The only good doctor is an honest one,” she said. “It may help to know exactly what you felt before you passed out. Luc filled me in on what Grayson told him, but I want to hear it from you.”

Fiddling with the edge of the blanket, I told her exactly what I remembered, even the weird light I’d seen