by Sadie Carter
Racar nodded, but he was already preparing the anesthetic. It was just a small needle. They only had to wait a few seconds for the area to become numb.
“What are you going to do?” Marc asked. Racar had learned all their names over these past few hours.
“Racar will cut open the area,” Moroco answered. “The medwand didn’t pick up on this, so we need to see for ourselves what is under there. Perhaps you should wait outside.”
“No, I’ll wait here.”
“I will not have you interfere,” Racar warned.
Marc sent him a fierce look. “Ellie is family. I’ll wait here.”
He did not have time to argue. He made a small slice across her foot. Instantly, the scent of rotting garbage hit them. Behind him, the human male started to gag.
“If you are going to be sick then leave.” Racar looked over at Moroco, knowing immediately what this was.
“Java worm,” Moroco said with some surprise. “How did it get in there? I thought they only resided in the hottest part of the desert.”
“Perhaps it got in through a wound site,” Racar pondered.
“Jeez, that’s disgusting,” Marc said.
Racar scowled at him. “You should leave, then.”
Marc shook his head, looking even more pale. “No. When I got sick with mulla flu, Ellie was the one who took care of me. She sat in a chair by my bed, she watched over me, made sure I had everything I needed. I will do no less for her.”
Loyalty. It was something he understood and admired. He felt himself start to soften towards this odd group.
“Could have been there a while without her knowing, I guess,” Moroco said.
Racar took the tweezers that Moroco handed him. He could see the worm just sitting there.
“That’s it?” Marc asked. “That’s a java worm? Jesus, considering the way it smells, I thought it would look grotesque. But it’s kind of beautiful.”
Racar didn’t answer. He was too busy trying to extract the worm without pressing too hard and having parts of it break off.
“Get a container,” he demanded.
Moroco immediately held one out and he quickly dropped the worm into it. The container sealed itself immediately, trapping the worm inside. Racar examined Ellie’s foot. He needed to make certain that he had gotten all of the worm.
“Java worms are pretty uncommon,” Moroco explained to the human male. “I’ve never come across anything like this before. We researched every possible threat to your kind when we first learned your females could mate with us. Java worms were deemed an unlikely threat as they are only found out in the desert.”
“Then how the hell did one get in Ellie? It’s glowing. Are they always colored like a rainbow?” Marc asked.
“It’s glowing because it’s mad. Racar, do you believe you got all of it?” Moroco asked him.
“Really? Wow.” Marc stared at the worm.
“Yes,” Racar replied. “I think so. I will only stitch the wound in case, though rather than use skin replacement until we know for certain.”
“Good idea.”
“Do you think Ellie will be all right now?” Marc asked. “Will she fully recover now that it is out of her system?”
Racar turned to look at him. “I hope so.”
7
Damn, she felt like shit.
Everything hurt. From her little toe all the way up to her hair. Was it possible for your hair to hurt? If it was, then hers did. She attempted to open her eyes, but it was so much effort. What was wrong with her? Where was she? And did she really care?
She took stock and decided she didn’t much care. She just wanted to go back to sleep. Which was what she would do…as soon as she took care of the damn itch on her nose.
“Sunshine? Are you awake?”
She stiffened. There was only one person who called her sunshine, and that was the one person she least wanted to see. What the hell was he doing in her bedroom? Okay, maybe she did need to worry about where she was. Because that beeping noise wasn’t normal. Nor was that odd smell, like antiseptic. And neither was the big alien dude who she just knew was standing next to her.
Maybe if you don’t open your eyes, he’ll go away.
“Ellie? Can you hear me?”
Did he just call her by her actual name? What an asshole. “So now, when I’m half-dead, is when you decide to use my actual name?” she managed to say. Jeez, why did her voice sound so raspy and dry?
“Ellie, you can hear me?”
“Of course I can hear you. I just answered you, didn’t I? Can you not hear me?” She cracked open one eye and saw him looming over her, his face just inches from hers. She gasped. “Jesus, you could warn a girl. You ever hear of personal space?”
“What?”
“Dude, any closer and I’m going to be able to see what you had for breakfast. Could you, um, back off a little.”
He drew back. “This is better?” His voice was stiff, formal, as though she had insulted him. She sighed. Later, maybe she’d feel bad about it. Worry over it. Hell, who was she kidding? She worried about everything. But right now, she did not have time to deal with tender male feelings. She had other more pressing things on her mind. Like the growing itch on her nose.
She tried to raise her hand.
“Stay still,” Racar warned. “You are too weak to move.”
“Why?”
“Why what?” he asked.
“Why am I so weak?”
“You have been ill. A java worm somehow entered your bloodstream and settled in the base of your big toe on your left foot. I found you collapsed on the ground two nights ago. You had a high fever, you stopped breathing several times, and your heart had to be restarted. You could have died. We finally discovered the worm and removed it. We believe that the small excretion it leaves in your bloodstream built up inside you and became poisonous.”
Collapsed. Poison. Heart stopped. Died. It was all too much and she didn’t know what to focus on first. So, for some reason, her brain decided to settle on the last thing he’d said. “Excretion…do you mean…oh gross. I think I’m going to be sick.”
Racar looked alarmed and immediately jumped to grab a pan. He helped her sit, his arm around her back as she heaved. Bile filled her mouth and she spat it out with a whimper of disgust. Her stomach tightened painfully, but there was nothing in her tummy to throw up.
Tears ran down her face.
“What do you cry?” he asked.
“I think that’s obvious,” she said, embarrassed that he was seeing her in this state.
“Are you in pain?”
“Not really,” she muttered, wishing she could make up some lie.
“Are these happy tears? I have heard of these.”
She gaped at him. “Uh, no. They’re not happy tears. How can they be happy tears when I just threw up? What the hell do I have to be happy about?”
“I do not know. I do not understand happy tears.”
“You don’t understand vomit tears either,” she muttered.
He handed her a glass of water and she took a few thirsty gulps. When she was finished, he took it from her grasp then placed a wet cloth over her face. His movements were slightly clumsy and he pretty much smothered her with the damp material.
But she didn’t complain. He was trying his best to care for her.
And it felt kind of nice.
Finally, he stopped trying to suffocate her and took the cloth away. Her face felt scrubbed raw but it was clean. Probably cleaner than it had ever been.
“Lie down. You must rest. Your body has been through an ordeal. You need rest, fluid, and food.”
“Yeah, sure. After learning some creepy worm has been floating around inside me, leaving its excretion, believe me, food is the last thing on my mind.” She shuddered. Now that her stomach had stopped heaving, she realized the itch was back again. Damn it.
“Where am I?” She twitched her nose, hoping to relieve it that way.
“At th
e medical center. I brought you here after I found you. Is there something wrong with your nose?”
“No, there’s nothing wrong.”
“Then why does it twitch like that? Perhaps it’s an effect of your illness. We will need to run tests. See if it is something permanent and—”
“Oh, for goodness sake, it’s not permanent,” she snapped. “I just have an itchy nose.”
“What?” He stared down at her.
She sighed. All she really wanted was to go back to sleep. “My nose is itchy and my arms don’t seem to have the energy to move, so I can’t reach up and itch it.”
“Your nose is itchy.”
“My nose is itchy.”
Suddenly, he burst into laughter. She stared at him in shock. She had never heard him laugh. She gaped at him. He shook his head as his laughter died down.
“Not sure what’s so funny about having an itchy nose,” she told him. Although she couldn’t really be insulted. Watching him laugh had been beautiful.
“There is nothing funny about it. Where does it itch?”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Are my friends here? Do they know I’m awake?” Right now, she needed them. She also needed to get rid of Racar. She wasn’t quite sure why he was even here. She thought he was too involved in his research.
“They are close by,” he told her. “Where does your nose itch? I will help you.”
“No, you won’t. Can you go get them?”
“Not yet. You can see them later.”
“I want to see them now,” she demanded.
“Tell me where the itch is.” He reached out with two fingers and started rubbing them over her nose. He scratched at her nose until she thought he was going to tear her skin right off.
“Enough! Please,” she begged, moving her head to the side. If he became any more enthusiastic, she wasn’t going to have any nose left.
“I got the itch?” He looked inordinately pleased with himself. These guys were so weird. Why was he so happy over taking care of an itch for her?
“Yeah, you got it. Well done. I want to see my friends. Now.”
“No.”
That was all he said. Just no. No other explanation, no nothing. Ellie stared up at him. He reached out and brushed her hair off her face. His touch was surprisingly gentle and a soft pulse of awareness ran across her skin. What was that? Obviously, some weird reaction.
Worm excretion. Great. Why couldn’t she be allergic to something sexy? Like…moonlight. That would be better, right? Sorry, hunky alien dude, I can’t meet you out by the light of the moon because I’ll break into hives.
Okay, scrap that. Nothing was sexy about allergies.
“What do you mean, no? You can’t just say no. You said they’re here. Go get them.”
“No.”
“Okay, you’re going to have to give me more than that. Why can’t I see them?” A thought occurred to her. “Am I contagious? Will I infect them with this coffee worm thing?”
“Coffee worm? No, it was a java worm. It is not contagious.”
“Whew. Okay, that’s good.” She yawned. “I want to see them.”
“And I said no, you cannot see them until you are more rested.”
She narrowed her gaze, her temper stirring. Ellie didn’t really like confrontation. She was usually the peacekeeper. But he seemed to be able to rouse her temper and right now, she was tired, weak, and grumpy. She wanted her friends. And she wanted Racar gone.
“Who is my actual healer?” she asked. Maybe she could talk to him. Surely he’d be more reasonable.
“I am.”
“You are?” she said, startled. She figured he was just filling in or something or felt some sort of obligation to check in on her since he’d been the one to find her. She didn’t have much of a memory of what had happened. She’d been going to Blue’s place; she’d cooked a lasagna. She remembered starting out and then…
“Was Giz there?” she asked, searching for the memory.
“He was the one who led me to you. If not for him, you might not have been found until too late. I owe him.”
“He stole my my lasagna! I was chasing after him when I collapsed.”
Racar shook his head. “You were very ill.”
“I suppose I should be grateful to that overgrown teddy bear,” she muttered. Then she eyed him. “How can you be my healer?”
“What do you mean, how? I am one of the most respected healers in Zerconia.”
“That’s not what I mean. I mean, why would you tear yourself away from your research to look after me?”
“I have taken a break from my research to care for you. You need me.”
His face closed down. She stared at him suspiciously. She had a feeling there was something he wasn’t telling her. And besides, his answer made absolutely no sense.
“Why would you take a break from your important research for me?” she asked. “There are other healers here who could have looked after me. You don’t even like me.”
“Like you?” He stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown two heads.
“Yeah, you don’t like me. You think I’m crazy. And I know that your research comes before anything and everyone else. So why are you here, looking after me?”
He opened his mouth. Shut it. Then frowned. “I am not certain I should tell you yet.”
She sighed. “Just tell me. Not like you’ve ever been afraid to tell me the truth before.”
“All right. I am—”
“Ellie? Oh God, Ellie, are you awake?”
Racar bit back his growl of irritation. He turned to see Blue and Keely enter the room, the rest of the group behind them. He sighed with frustration. He had wished to have Ellie to himself for a while longer before they interfered.
“Ellie, you’re awake!” Keely came close to her side, across the masic from him. Everyone else gathered close. Keely reached out for her hand, clasping it in hers. He wanted to order them all to leave so he could have her to himself, but he didn’t want to upset Ellie.
Well, upset her more than she was. She certainly seemed to be upset that he was her healer. Which was an odd reaction.
“Hey, you guys,” she said with a wide smile. He could not help but feel jealous at the pleasure on her face as she saw her friends. He realized he wanted her to look at him that way, as though she cared. “What’s up?”
“What’s up?” Blue said. “What’s up is you just scared five years off my life.”
“We thought you were going to die,” Jack told her.
“Don’t do that again, baby girl,” Tane added.
He frowned at the other man. Why did he have a special name for his mate?
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was so sick. Racar said it was some worm.” She wrinkled her nose up, looking adorable, despite the fact that she was still too pale and thin. “Gross.”
“Really gross,” Keely agreed. “We are never going to let you live this one down.”
“I expected nothing less from you guys,” she replied.
“But you’re all right now,” Marc told her. “They got it all out. I saw it. It glowed and was all these different colors. It was kind of beautiful.”
“Yeah, well, apparently I’m allergic to the glowing rainbow worm’s poop or something,” Ellie said dryly. “Which was enough to make me hurl, only apparently, I’ve got nothing in my stomach to throw up. I’m sorry I worried you all.”
“We’d be lost without you, babe,” Keely told her.
A strange look crossed her face; she looked almost sad. Why did she look that way? They all chatted for a while. Mainly that seemed to consist of trading insults. Then Ellie’s eyes started to droop. She let out a yawn. That was enough for one day.
“You need to all go. Ellie needs to rest,” he told them all.
Ellie turned to look at him, as though she’d just remembered he was there. He bit back a growl of frustration. He wanted to be the most important person in her life. He should be.
And maybe you would be if you hadn’t pushed her away.
It did not matter. She was his mate. She would soon forget about his earlier treatment of her.
“It is time you all went.” He gave them all a firm look.
“I’m fine,” Ellie argued. “I want them to stay.”
He knew she was not feeling well, but once she was better and understood that she was his mate, she would learn that she was not to argue when he gave orders regarding her health.
“You are not fine,” he countered. “You nearly died. You’re weak and you need to rest. You have seen your friends. They need to leave. Now. You will do as I say.”
Ellie narrowed her gaze. “Nope, don’t believe I will.”
“No?” He stared at her in shock.
“They aren’t leaving.” She scowled up at Racar. She understood that he was her healer, although she still didn’t know why.
Ellie didn’t take rejection well. She’d suffered it too often as a child. She’d already wasted enough time on someone who didn’t want her. It wasn’t that she blamed him. It wasn’t his fault. She wasn’t six years old anymore and being pried away from the family she loved. She needed to get past this.
“Um, Ellie,” Keely said, looking from him to her. “You probably do need to rest.”
“I will. Soon. I just need to visit with you guys for a bit. Please.” She looked around at them all. They must have seen the desperation in her eyes.
“Of course,” Blue told her. “We’ll stay as long as you need us to.”
She heard Racar make a low noise of protest but ignored him.
“We haven’t left the medical center since you got ill,” Tane told her.
“Que did threaten to carry Keely out and tie her to a masic to get her to rest,” Jack said slyly. “Most concerned about her, he was.”
“He’s a Neanderthal idiot,” Keely said with a sniff. “Like I need a man to decide when I should sleep or eat.”
Personally, Ellie thought she looked exhausted. They all did. It was obvious they’d been really worried. Guilt filled her.
“I’m so sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to worry you; you all look like you need some sleep and food. Go get some rest. I’m okay now.”