have some minor damage from years of working in those mines. We have some treatments that will help purge your lung tissues of the pollutants, but the scarring will always cause problems.”
She processed that information for a few seconds. “My dad died from pneumonia. He coughed all the time and got sick every winter. That last time he got sick, he couldn’t catch his breath. He gurgled and spit up pink froth.” She closed her eyes as the terrible memories assailed her. “It was awful to watch him drown right there in his bed. There wasn’t anything we could do.”
“No, there wasn’t,” Risk agreed.
“Am I…?” she faltered, and Cipher gripped her hand. “Is that how I’m going to die?”
Risk shook his head. “No. You’ll have issues with coughing in certain situations and catching a cold or other virus that causes congestion will make you miserable for a bit. We can treat all of those things, and we can give you medications and treatments to prevent them as well. Tomorrow morning, we’ll send you to the respiratory techs for some testing on your lungs. When we get the results, we’ll be able to create a regimen of breathing treatments to help clear your lungs.”
“Okay.”
Risk glanced at Cipher and said, “I’d like to send her over to the Mercy so they can put her in the tube a few times a month.”
“The tube?” she asked, eyes wide. “What is that?”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Cipher hurriedly reassured her. “It’s a chamber where your body can receive oxygen and other therapies in a pressurized environment.”
“We have one here, but it’s malfunctioning. Until we get it replaced, we’re sending those patients to the Mercy.”
“Is that far away from here?” She didn’t like the idea of being away from Cipher. This world was so new and intimidating.
“It’s an hour away,” Cipher explained. “Mercy orbits a little higher than we do. It’s the main hospital ship for the sector.” He squeezed her hand. “I’ll be with you.”
Her fears eased, she listened as Risk continued a rundown of her initial blood testing and told her about the vaccines she would need. She couldn’t meet either man’s gaze when Risk asked questions about her period. It made her incredibly uncomfortable to talk about something so private. Her father hadn’t been able to bring himself to explain it all to her. He had sent her down the mountain to Miss Kay for supplies and answers. Having two men questioning her about her body functions was absolutely mortifying.
Clearly sensing her discomfort, Risk let the issue drop after establishing that she had an irregular cycle and had never been sexually intimate. “Your weight concerns me,” he said, changing the subject. “You’re very lean. Too lean,” he added. “It’s why your cycle is irregular. We’ll get a nutrition plan arranged to help.”
“I’ve always been small,” she said. “Even when we had a lot to eat, I was smaller than everyone else my age.”
“How big were your parents?”
“Not very big,” she said, trying to recall her mother’s size. “Mama was a little taller than me and only a little heavier. Daddy was short enough to walk upright in most of the tunnels.” She eyed Cipher and tried to gauge her father against him. “The top of his head might have reached you right about here.”
“Genetics, then,” Risk decided and tapped something into screen where all of her medical information was displayed. When he was done, he reached into the pocket on the front of his shirt and retrieved a small metallic card in a clear, shiny sleeve. He waved it in front of the screen and Cipher’s information popped up on it. “Cipher filled out the forms last night so you’re officially his mate. This is your ID chip.”
She took the card from him and turned it over in her hand. The protective film made it a little difficult to read to all of the numbers stamped into the surface of it. In the very center of the card, there was the tiniest little sliver of metal. It wasn’t any bigger than a grain of rice. “This thing holds information?”
“It does.” Risk pulled a metal tray on wheels over to the bed and then walked to the dispenser for more foam to clean his hands. After he pulled on a pair of those strange gloves again, he waved his hand in front of a drawer, opening it and taking out a sealed package. He placed the package on the tray and