out of his mouth if she’d spoken.
Chapter 16
Saedra shivered on the lab table as the medic straightened from her observation of her leg and smoothed down the blue uniformed shirt signifying her role. The smile on her face was stiff and filled with generic pleasantries. She hated Saedra. It was there in the heated blue stare which she couldn’t hide.
“Everything else looks fine. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done for the leg. The damage was extensive and too much time has gone by.”
Understanding the woman was easy since she’d had a translator implanted in her ears. Saedra fingered the smooth skin on her cheek. The scar on her face was gone as well. Pushing off the table, she said, “Thank you. I’m grateful for all the help I have received.”
She’d still have the limp when overtaxed but the other things Maurin had done to her were healed. Once they’d taken off from Quantoon, Nevo Xyman, Garik’s associate had plotted a course for the nearest colony in the Alliance and dropped them off. Nevo had squeezed her shoulder and wished her well before leaving. Saedra took a deep breath and left the medical center. Since then Garik had been quiet and standoffish toward her.
Sure he’d made it a point to see to it that she received a translator so she could understand the myriad of languages spoken around her. He’d even paid for her to be healed as well as the separate room in the high rise they were renting. But other than that, he’d been unavailable.
Insecurities flared. Maybe this meant he wanted to leave her. She wouldn’t blame him. He’d yet to question her about Maurin’s claim in his role as her parent but she knew it was the cause of the rift between them. She’d given him time. Time for herself as well while she tried to think of a way to make him understand what she’d done and why.
Now she needed to act. No more dawdling around letting her anxieties build. As she exited the medical center, she lifted her wrist and tapped out a direct message on the comm he’d also purchased for her.
-Need to see you, tonight.
She didn’t have to wait long before her wrist vibrated from the incoming message.
-What do you need?
Saedra blew out a frustrated breath.
-Its important. I just left the medical center and am heading to my place.
-Are you ill?
Was he worried? She frowned, hating the wall he’d thrown up between them over the last week. It was obvious he was avoiding her but they needed to have this confrontation and she needed to know if he’d stand by the commitment he made.
-I’ll tell you in person. Can you come by? Around 8?
This time the response took longer. After several moments passed, Saedra was starting to fear he wouldn’t answer at all when her comm vibrated.
-I’ll see you tonight.
A relieved breath shuddered from her. Tonight she’d tell him everything and see if they could salvage a relationship. She wanted one more than anything. What she felt for Garik wasn’t a novelty nor a temporary obsession.
She busied herself cleaning up the small rental, which didn’t take much time. It was a basic place with a cleansing room, bedroom, seating area for guests and a small kitchen space for cooking. Far more than Saedra expected but also less. She’d thought to share a place with Garik but he’d led her to this door and pointed to one farther down the hall as to where he’d be staying.
That should have made it easy over the last several days for her to speak with him but he was never there. The few times she tried to catch up with him he claimed fatigue and she backed down. He was constantly busy in meetings with the two Guild leaders who’d arrived on their second day here. They spoke with her briefly and she sensed the curiosity and interest in their stares. That was the last she saw of them.
Saedra prepared a light meal to settle her growling stomach. She paced, changed her clothes three times and gnawed on her thumb nail. By the time the buzzer sounded at her door a few minutes before the appointed time, Saedra admitted she was a wreck.
“Did medical find something wrong with you?” were the first words out of Garik’s mouth.
Saedra licked her lips and spoke through her suddenly dry throat. “No. I checked out fine. Come in.”
She moved to the side so he could enter. He stared hard before