by Marla Monroe
“I guess I just can’t see how you can not love her. She’s wonderful and gives you every part of her. She’s worked really hard to be who you need, Greg.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Greg all but yelled at Steven.
“Okay. Just don’t let her know how you feel. She’s having our baby.”
“I don’t plan on it. I can’t help how I do or don’t feel, Steven.”
“I know.” The other man grew quiet.
Greg sighed and pulled the transport up to the side of the house. Steven jumped down and Greg parked it under the shed. He was just walking inside when Steven came running into the living room white as a sheet.
“She’s fallen down the cellar stairs.”
Greg felt cold water pour down his spine at the thought of her at the bottom of the stairs. He ran behind Steven toward the kitchen and the cellar stairs. Steven hurried down the stairs with Greg right behind him. When they reached the bottom, it was to find Janet lying on her side in a pool of blood. Aw, hell. She’d lost the baby.
“Where is she hurt?” Greg demanded.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell where the blood came from. Her pants are mostly dry. I don’t think it’s the baby.”
“Fuck! Check her head.”
“Ah, hell. She has a busted place on the back of her head.”
“I’m scared to move her, Steven. I don’t want to do anymore damage.”
“We don’t have a choice. We’ve got to get her upstairs, she’s cold, Greg. We can’t do anything with her down here.”
“I’ll pick her up. You walk behind me so that if I slip, you can catch us.”
“Got you.” Steven stood back while Greg gathered her to his chest and picked her up.
She groaned but didn’t open her eyes. He felt something burn his arm when he held her, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. Right then, all he cared about was getting Janet upstairs where they could see about her. What in the hell were they going to do for her?
As soon as he had her upstairs, he walked over to the kitchen table and gently laid her on her side on the table.
“Check her head, Steven. I’m going to start taking her clothes off her to see where she’s hurt.”
“She has a big gash, about two inches, back here. She needs stitches in it, but at least it’s quit bleeding.”
“She has a bad bruise along her back. I hope to God she hasn’t broken her back. I’ve made it worse by carrying her up here if she did.”
“We had to move her, Greg. We can’t see well enough down there and she’s cold already. I’m going to get blankets while you finish checking her. I’ll be right back.” Steven ran out of the kitchen.
“Hell, baby. What have you done? Please don’t die on us.”
Greg finished pulling her pants off and found to his amazement that she wasn’t bleeding vaginally. Thank God for small favors. The baby seemed to be fine so far. He did find some strange-looking bumps on her thigh, though. He checked her pants and found that they were all burned looking. Where had that come from?
Steven was back with blankets and piled them on her. He gave Greg a questioning look.
“Other than the bad bruising on her back, the only thing I found were some bubbly bumps on her thigh. It looks like something like acid dripped on her that went all the way through her jeans.”
“That sounds like one of those creatures, Greg. Do you think something attacked her and she fell down the cellar stairs that way?”
“I don’t know. We need to get her to the doctor.”
“Go get the transport and I’ll stay with her. Honk the horn when you’re out there, and I’ll bring her out. We’ll put her in the back. I’ll ride back there with her.”
“She hasn’t lost the baby, yet, Steven. With all that she’s been through, I can hardly believe it.”
“She’s going to be fine. She has to.” Steven tucked the blankets all around her.
“I’ll be right back.” Greg took one last look at her and ran for the door.
Something inside of him was choking. He didn’t know what it was, but it hurt like hell. When he had the transport back at the house, he honked the horn and threw open the back door to help Steven get her inside. Once they had her settled on her side, Steven lay down with her and wrapped the covers around her once again.
Greg climbed back in the driver’s seat and waited until Steven gave him the go-ahead to drive off. When he said to go, Greg took off at top speed. He had to slow down several times because of the terrain, but they made it to the city in half the time it normally took.
There was an empty parking spot directly in front of the doctor’s office. He hoped they could find the doctor fairly quickly. As it was, as soon as he climbed out of the transport, Scott, the nurse, opened the door and walked out.
“What’s going on? Someone saw you flying into town like the hounds of hell were on your tail.”
“Janet fell down the cellar stairs. I don’t know how long she was down there. She’s unconscious and she has a busted head.” Greg ran around to open the back door.
“Steven, let me go get a stretcher before we move her again.”
He ran back inside and returned with the doctor as well as the stretcher. Greg helped them settle her on the stretcher on her side, showing them the bruise to her back as well as the cut on the back of her head.
“Let’s get her inside so I can take a look at her. Any vaginal bleeding?”
“No, not so far,” Steven said. “There was a lot of blood around her head, though.”
“She has some weird, bubbly bumps on her thigh. I think one of those creatures got her,” Greg added his thoughts.
“Well let’s get her inside.”
Once they had transferred her over to the bed in a large exam room that looked more like a surgery than anything, Greg watched as they unwound the blankets from around her and checked her over. Doctor Davis paid close attention to her head and the bumps on her thigh. He didn’t seem as worried about her back.
“Okay, I’m going to sew that cut up first. I’ll have to remove a small area of hair to do it. She isn’t going to like that too much.”
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Greg told him. “I’m more worried about her back and if she’s going to be okay than anything.”
“We aren’t going to know much until she wakes up. I’m worried about her waking up right now. With a head injury, you never know.”
“Fuck!” Greg turned away and took a few steps before turning back around and staring at Steven.
The other man was still pale and had an obvious tremor to his hand as he rubbed up and down Janet’s arm.
“Do you want to wait out in the other room while we do this?”
“No. We’re both staying,” Greg almost shouted at him.
“Just stay out of the way.”
Steven looked at Greg and drew in a deep breath. His cousin was having a difficult time holding it together. Hell, he was having a hard time doing the same thing. He wanted to beat something, preferably the creature that had hurt her.
Nearly an hour later, they had shaved a small section of Janet’s scalp, cleaned it, and sutured the cut. They didn’t bother applying a bandage to the area. The doctor had said it needed to get some air. It was already at least six hours old. He was hoping they had gotten it sewn up in time for the skin to heal.
Next, they examined her back by checking her reflexes and found that she moved all her extremities with pain. She still hadn’t woken up, though. Greg was beginning to worry she wouldn’t anytime soon.
He noticed that he kept rubbing his upper arm. He rolled up the sleeve and found that he had a couple of bumps that looked like Janet’s. He pointed them out to the doctor.
“Looks like you got some of the thing’s saliva off her pants onto your arm. I’ll treat it once I finish seeing about hers. You’re going to have a raised scar there that will change colors.”
“I could care less about me. I’m mor
e worried about her. She had a lot more of it on her.”
“Is it going to hurt her?” Steven asked.
“I don’t think she’s going to hurt from it. She’ll be past that part by the time she wakes up. She will have some raised scars and it will turn colors. I’m not sure what color, either green or yellow I think. At least that’s what color the others’ skin turned. It’s all I have to go on. You don’t know what sort of creature it was, do you?”
“No, we didn’t see anything around her when we found her,” Steven said.
They watched as the doctor and nurse cleaned the area and applied some white-looking salve to the area. He told them that it worked well on burns and essentially that was what they were dealing with. He had them move her to a room where the nurse set up an IV of fluids to keep her hydrated. Then the doctor treated Greg’s small burn the same way.
“When is she going to wake up?” he asked.
“I don’t know, guys. It could be a few hours to a few days. It depends on how bad the head injury is. She hadn’t thrown up anywhere that you could tell, had she?”
“No. We didn’t see any,” Steven answered for them.
“That’s good. Maybe it’s not that bad. The other thing I’m worried about is shock. Her vital signs are all low, and that worries me some, but she’s a strong young woman.”
“We’re going to be staying with her. We’re not leaving her,” Greg informed him.
“Only one of you can stay at a time. There just isn’t room for both of you.”
Steven turned panic-filled eyes toward him. Greg looked the doctor in the eyes.
“We’re both staying, Doctor. I’ll wait out in the waiting area when you need to get in there with her, but neither one of us is leaving her. You’re not even sure she’s going to wake up.”
“Fine. Just don’t get in the way.”
“We won’t,” Steven assured him.
The doctor looked her over one more time before leading Scott out of the room.
“She’s going to be okay, Greg. You’ll see. She’s not about to die on us.”
“I’m more worried about if she wakes up and how bad her back is. I know she isn’t going to die. I refuse to believe it.”
“One of us needs to go contact the others and let them know we aren’t going to be back to work for a while. They’ll understand.”
Greg nodded his head. “I’ll do it. You keep watch on her.”
Greg walked out to find the other two men talking in the hall.
“I need to contact Brad and Kirk to let them know we won’t be out at the house site tomorrow. Where can I go to do that?”
“Come on. I’ll take you to our radio. You can reach them with it.” Scott led the way to a room in the back of the building.
“I’ll set it for you to call them. Here are the readings for everyone in the area.” He handed the mike to him and left the room.
Greg called for nearly fifteen minutes and finally got Brad. He told him what had happened and that they wouldn’t be out for several days.
“Take care of your wife. We’ll be fine. Keep us informed about how she’s doing. You know Carmen is going to be beside herself with worry.”
Greg thanked them and signed off. Then he made his way back to the room. He hesitated to go back in. Maybe it was best to go back and let Steven take care of her. The man loved her with all his breath. A small part of him was choking inside. Was it more than just caring about her? Did he possibly love her just a little bit? He sighed and opened the door. When he saw her lying so still and pale on the white sheets, he nearly dropped to his knees by the bed. If it wasn’t love, it was something very close to it. Nothing had ever knocked him over like this had.
He looked over at Steven and they both nodded. They would see her through this without fail.
Chapter Seventeen
Janet felt like she’d been beaten. Her entire body hurt, most especially her back and head. She was aware that she wasn’t at home, because the bed wasn’t nearly as comfortable. She struggled to open her eyes but couldn’t quite make it.
What was wrong with her? She couldn’t remember anything. She knew who she was but couldn’t remember what had happened. How had she gotten hurt? She felt like someone had taken a bat to her.
She tried to speak but only managed a moan. This brought two men’s voices toward her.
“Janet, baby? Can you hear us?”
“Love, it’s Steven. Do you need something?”
She didn’t recognize either of their voices, though they did seem familiar. Why were two strange men talking to her when she was hurt? Were they doctors?
She struggled to open her eyes and managed to for several seconds then her eyes closed again. The brief moment allowed her to see two worried-looking men hanging over her bed. They were both very good-looking, but she didn’t recognize their faces. They seemed familiar, sort of like their voices did, but she couldn’t place them.
The struggle to open her eyes had worn her out. She slipped back into sleep.
The next time she woke up, she opened her eyes to find the two men sitting on chairs sound asleep. She was able to study them while they slept. They were both good looking and very muscular. Why there were two of them, she couldn’t imagine. One wasn’t her brother, because she knew she didn’t have a brother. She had a sister.
She took stock of her body and realized there was something strange going on. First of all, her stomach had a definite pooch to it. She had never had a big belly. The other thing was that her back hurt very badly as did her head. Then there was the fact that she had a burning sensation on one of her thighs. She noticed that she had an IV hooked to a bag as well. That accounted for the heavy feeling of her left hand.
She closed her eyes and drifted for a while. When she heard the strange men talking, she listened in hopes of learning something about what was wrong with her.
“She hasn’t woken up again.”
“She will. She almost did that last time. She’s just tired.”
“How did her head look where she busted it?”
“It looks like it hurts, but he said they will take the stitches out in another couple of days.”
“I probably need to make another run to the house for fresh clothes. Do you think I should bring back some of hers?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. She’ll need them when she wakes up. She isn’t going to want to leave here in nothing but a blanket like she came.”
“Maybe I’ll see if I can find whatever it was that hurt her. It’s bound to be in the house somewhere. We need to get rid of it anyway before we bring her back. I don’t want to take her back if there is something running around that can do that to her again.”
“Do you want to stay with her while I go?” The other man didn’t sound as if he really wanted to go.
“No, it’s better if I go. I have more experience with hunting than you do.”
“The doctor said the baby is doing fine. She’s carrying it well, but she needs to wake up and start eating before it starts taking a toll on the baby.”
“I’m glad she didn’t lose the baby, but I would have given it up to keep her.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
They grew silent and she didn’t hear anything more. At least she knew for a fact that she was pregnant. She had guessed by the strange sensations inside of her. She’d busted her head, and one of them must be her husband. She wasn’t sure which, but one of them. She wondered why she couldn’t remember which one.
She opened her eyes once again and looked straight into a pair of hazel eyes. The man smiled at her, and then grinned even wider.
“She’s awake, Greg!”
The other man stood up and walked over to the bed. He bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips. This must be her husband. Greg. When the other man did the same thing, she was confused.
“Can you hear us, baby?” Greg asked.
“Try to say something, love.” The other man touched her cheek lightly with
the palm of his hand.
“Who?” she managed to get out before her voice broke.
They looked from one to the other and then back at her.
“Who what, baby? Your name is Janet.”
“Know me. Who are you?” She looked from one to the other.
“You don’t know who we are?” The other man looked stricken at that piece of news.
“I think we better go get the doctor, Steven.” Greg edged toward the door.
“What happened to me?” she asked.
“You don’t remember?” Steven asked her.
“No.”
“You fell and hit your head, love.”
“My head hurts. So does my back.”
“You have a bruise on your back. I think you hit the steps when you fell.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Steven, one of your husbands.”
“Husbands?” She raised her hand to her head and rubbed her forehead.
“Yes, you have two. Greg just left to get the doctor.”
“I’m married to two of you?”
“That’s right, love.”
“Isn’t that illegal?” Janet felt like her head was going to explode now.
“Not on planet Alpha. It’s the norm.”
“Huh? Planet Alpha? Where am I?”
“We’ll talk to you about it once the doctor looks you over.” Steven looked concerned.
She realized he wasn’t going to say anything else. He held her hand and wouldn’t let go. She realized that he was very worried about her. She could believe he might be her husband, but she wasn’t sure about the other one.
“Look who has finally decided to wake up.” Another strange man in a white coat walked in. “How are you feeling, young lady?”
“Head hurts.”
“I’m sure it does. You required seven stitches to close that hole in your head. I can give you a little something for your headache now that you’re awake. That will help some. Where else do you hurt?”
“My back.”
He smiled and nodded. “I’ll check you out and see how everything is working.”