catheter embedded in the back of it. I followed the tube to the IV bag hung up on a metal pole next to the bed. The pink tinged liquid in the bag had to be gallberry serum.
Gallberry serum was like goddamn gold on the black market. And hanging just above me was my ticket to surviving my next encounter with Richie. If I brought him serum, he’d not only forgive me for giving the juice to Bailey, he’d probably get down on his knees and kiss my fucking feet.
You have bigger problems than Richie Bulchanini, you idiot.
I licked my dry lips. Damn straight I did. I was definitely still on the Draax ship. Hospitals on Earth didn’t give gallberry serum to lowers like me. The serum was reserved for the uppers – the rich and the famous. Which meant I was trapped on a Draax ship and that was definitely a more pressing concern than Richie Bulchanini. I needed to figure out a way to sweet talk my way out of imprisonment or…
I slapped the hand not attached to the bag of liquid gold behind my ear. The bulge of the translator was gone, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The thing was killing me, I had no doubt of that, and apparently the Draax had removed it. But why?
I touched my throat, manipulating the spot where the voice translator was. I couldn’t feel it either and I carefully sat up in the bed and studied the room I was in.
Well, shit. The room was too big for me to still be on the ship. I knew that right away. It housed numerous hospital beds and a few large pieces of machinery and… oh fuck me.
I studied the Draax standing at the counter with his back to me. He was wearing a white coat that reminded me of the lab coats that doctors wore on Earth. A hologram screen was to his left and every once in a while, he would study the screen before staring at the test tube in his left hand. His right hand tapped away at a tablet on the counter.
My heart pounding in my chest, I eased back the tape on my hand and, holding my breath, yanked the catheter from my hand. I ignored the blood oozing out of my hand and quietly slipped out from beneath the sheet.
I was still dressed in my clothes, but the bandage that bound my small tits had been removed. I stared longingly at the bag of gallberry serum but what use was it to me? I couldn’t exactly sell it on the black market if I was on the Draax planet and I was certain that’s where I was. Why they hadn’t just tossed me out of the ship into the blackness of space, I had no idea, but I was a fool to stick around and wait for them to do whatever it was they had planned.
Did the Draax have prisons? Probably, and I had no wish to see the inside of one. I needed to get the fuck out of here and now.
My backpack was sitting on the floor next to the bed. I picked it up and slipped the straps over my arms, the familiar weight of it on my back comforting me a little.
Years of fighting for survival had made me a quiet little mouse. The Draax at the counter didn’t hear a thing as I glided silently across the room to the door. My heart still hammering, blood dripping out of my hand, I eased open the door, keeping my gaze trained on the broad back of the Draax.
He didn’t turn and I quickly glanced out into the hallway. It was a wide hallway but short with blind corners at either end. It was currently empty. Hopefully my luck would hold out just a little longer.
I took one final look at the Draax before stepping out into the hallway. I shut the door slowly, wincing a little at the click as it closed. My hands were sweating, and I was feeling weak and a little faint. The urge to cough had returned and I swallowed it down before turning left and jogging toward the corner.
I needed to find my way out of the building and find a place to hide. I knew it was summer on Draax so at least I wouldn’t freeze my ass off. Maybe I’d even find a –
I stared wide-eyed at the Draax who rounded the corner.