by Jessica Dall
“You’re a doctor.”
“I’m not a surgeon.” Dahlia shook her head, pressing the cloth back on it as more blood began to bead along the surface. “I don’t generally sew people up.”
He fought back a grimace. “I can’t exactly just stroll over to the hospital.”
“Don’t you have one at the camp?”
“Please, Lia.”
She pressed her lips together for a long moment before releasing a shaky breath and moving to her medical bag. She pulled out a jar, handing it to him. “Rub this on the site. Just a thin layer, don’t move the skin too much.”
He did as directed, watching her as she pulled out a syringe. “You’re going to give me a shot?”
“It’s a weak local anesthetic. I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything stronger that isn’t also a blood thinner, which is the last thing you need right now. They regulate the stronger stuff, you know, to stop drug abuse.” She found a small vial. “I’m going to inject near the wound. Hopefully, it will dull the nerves a little and make it a little less painful.”
He nodded, looking away as she readied the syringe and injected the painkiller into his arm. She got up, wrapping the syringe in plastic, pausing for a second, and then dropping it in her trash can. “I’m going to let that sit for a few minutes so it can take effect. Tell me when the wound doesn’t start to hurt as much.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“You don’t have to put on a strong face.” Dahlia frowned at him. “A cut like that has to hurt.”
“I’ve felt worse.”
She shook her head, pulling out a thread and needle. “Are all men like this?”
He attempted a smile, ended up with something more like a grimace. “Perhaps.”
She threaded the needle quickly. “I don’t have any surgical thread... or needles for that matter, so I’m going to have to do this the old fashioned way.”
“Yeah?”
She didn’t respond, but pulled her hair back and sat down. She looked at the cut and then back up at him. “You’re sure you want me to do this?”
He nodded. “I’m just not going to look.”
“I...” She ended up just shaking her head and set to work as he did his best not to flinch each time she passed the needle through his skin. She finally finished, tying off the thread and smoothing some salve on the cut skin before she wrapped it in gauze.
“Done?” He glanced at her.
“Yes. Be careful not to move your arm too much, you don’t want to rip out the stitches and have us have to do that all over again.”
He nodded shortly.
She studied his face. “Are you all right? You’re very pale.”
“I’m fine.”
She looked at him for another moment before moving. She pulled the pillow out from under the covers and stacked them behind him. “Lay back.”
He didn’t argue and leaned back with a sigh, letting her clean up.
She replaced everything she had used, dumping out the bloody water, throwing out the needle, and setting her bag back by the door. She couldn’t put it off any longer. “So?”
He turned his head to look at her. “So?”
“So,” she repeated, “what happened?”
“Minor turf war broke out.” He shrugged with his right shoulder. “I... the guards broke it up pretty quickly, but Eli—this jackass who is intent on fucking me over—somehow got a goddamn switchblade. I’m lucky he only got my arm.”
“I’m sorry, were you speaking English?”
“What else would I be speaking?”
She just looked at him, waiting for him to explain.
He managed a smile. “Another guy that me and my friends have issues with pulled a knife on me. Got my arm.”
“My friends and I,” she said.
“What?”
“Never mind.” She waved it off. “Well, you were lucky he didn’t cut deeper. Another couple millimeters and you could have bled out.”
“Lucky then,” he said.
She crossed her arms. “You’re going to have a scar.”
“I have enough of them.”
She studied him for a long moment, critiquing him. “You feel all right then?”
“A little dizzy now,” he said. “I think that pain killer’s doing its job though.”
She nodded and picked up a piece of chocolate from her desk. She unwrapped it and offered it to him. “Here. You need to get your blood sugar up.”
He accepted it, taking a bite. “I’m sorry if I stained anything. I tried to keep some cloth...”
“Don’t worry about it.” Dahlia sat down. She paused. “Ben?”
He looked at her, taking another bite of chocolate.
“Why are you here?”
“I told you, I needed a doctor. A good doctor.”
She nodded slowly. “Tell me how you managed to get here.”
Ben looked at his arm, touching the bandage. “My friend. He knows a thing or two about electronics. He made it look like you sent for me.”
She frowned. “He can hack into our computers?”
“He’s a genius or something,” Ben said, giving her a pleading look. “Please. You can’t tell anyone. You’ll get him moved off to god knows where. He only did it to help me. He could have let me die.”
Dahlia frowned. “It’s a security risk.”
“Please.” Ben held her gaze.
She sighed, hands clenched, and then forced them to release. “I can’t deal with guards tonight. I think we’ve both had more than enough excitement for the day.”
He gave her a weak smile. “Thank you.”
She stood. “I’m going to give you something to help you sleep.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“Trust me. When the anesthetic wears off, you’ll want a sleep aid.”
“And you?”
“I think I’ll manage without anything.”
“Then I’m fine.”
She sighed. “What about tea? Will you drink some tea?”
“Tea helps you get to sleep?”
“Valerian tea,” she said. “Valerian’s a natural sedative.”
Ben frowned, eyeing her with caution. “Are you going to force me to take something?”
“Pretty much,” she said. “Doctor’s orders.”
“I suppose I’ll take the tea then, Doc.”
“It will help you fall asleep,” she said. “I don’t have anything else that’s a painkiller other than willow bark, and I can’t give you that.”
“Why not?”
“Blood thinner.” She moved to her bag. “The last thing we want to do to you right now is hinder clotting.”
“You’re handy to have in an emergency.” He watched her put some water on a hot plate.
“As are most people with medical training,” she said.
“Will you let me compliment you for once?”
“No.” She smiled to herself, waiting for the water to boil before infusing valerian and pouring it into two mugs. “Drink this.”
He carefully levered himself up, taking a sip. He grimaced. “It tastes funny.”
“It tastes like valerian.” She took a drink herself.
“I don’t like it.”
“Drink it anyway,” she said. “Hold your nose if you have to.”
“What good would that do?”
“What do?”
“Holding my nose.”
“Smell adds a lot to taste.” She shrugged. “If you can’t smell it, you don’t taste it as much.”
“Really?”
“Try it out.”
“I...” He lifted his right arm slightly.
“Right.” She moved to the bed, using her free hand to pinch his nose gently.
He took a sip, his nose crinkling.
“Well?” She let go.
“I still taste it, but it’s better.”
She smiled. “Well, the only way not to taste it at all would be to get rid of your taste buds.”<
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“I’ll survive then.” He waited for her to pinch his nose again before downing the rest of the tea.
She took the cup from him and sipped hers.
He watched her stand. “Where are you going?”
“I’m just going to wash up.” She paused in the bathroom doorway. “Go ahead and go to sleep. You need your rest.”
He watched her move into the bathroom and shut the door behind her with a click. She had locked the door. He frowned, but gave into the calm feeling the tea caused and sank into the pillows.
Chapter Six
Ben woke just as the first signs of light came through the parts of the window not covered by the blackout drapes. It couldn’t have been much later than daybreak. He shifted slightly, giving up on that thought quickly. He would swear he could feel every cell in his left arm all the way down to the bone. A dull pain squeezed at the area every time his heart beat.
It had been a bad cut. He hadn’t bled that much since that slice on his stomach years ago. Something moved on his stomach. He frowned, the corners of his mouth sliding up as he saw the slender fingers coming to rest near his solar plexus. He moved his left arm with a slight hiss to ensure it was away from her hand before looking at the woman next to him. Dahlia was still on the other side of the bed with only her torso leaning towards him so her arm could reach him. She hadn’t changed. Her jeans were on the floor near the bed and a nightgown lay nearby, as if she had started to change, but then had decided to just sleep before finishing.
He placed his right hand over her left, lifting it to his mouth to kiss the inside of her wrist. Her eyes opened, working to focus on him in the darkness for a moment. She froze and then jerked away, moving him enough to knock his hurt arm against his side. He winced.
She pulled her arm back to her chest, giving him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. Is your arm all right?”
He released a breath. “It’s manageable.”
Scrambling to the side of the bed, she stood. “I’m going to change the dressing. The cleaner we can keep things, the better off we’ll be. Do you need a painkiller?”
“It’s okay.” He shook his head. “I have a high pain threshold.”
She nodded. “Wait here.”
He didn’t move, letting her come back with supplies to wash, salve, and then re-bandage his arm.
“Are you sure you don’t want something for the pain?” She studied the wound and frowned. “It’s inflamed. It has to hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
“Really, Ben, you don’t need to put on a strong face. There’s no reason to be in pain.”
“It’s good for you,” he said. “Builds character.”
“I disagree.”
“Are you going to keep harping on this until I agree to take something?”
“Maybe,” she said.
He sighed in resignation. “I thought you didn’t have anything to give me except that blood thinner stuff.”
“Willow bark,” she said. “I don’t have anything strong, but there are some over-the-counter pain killers I have around. One of them should help if nothing else.”
“Fine.” He sighed.
She moved to her dresser in silence.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“For the obvious,” he said. “You could have let me bleed to death.”
“I’m a doctor.” She shrugged. “I took an oath saying I would heal those who came to me for help.”
“You could have turned me in.” He watched for her reaction.
“Believe me, I’m still considering it.” She handed him two red pills and a glass of water. “Truthfully, I should.”
“Should you?”
“Having a man able to hack into our system? Having anyone able to hack into our system for that matter. That’s pretty much the definition of a security risk.”
Ben held her gaze. “We have nothing else, Dahlia, let us have something.”
“Let you have a way to throw our entire communication systems off?”
“Not like we can do anything. We can hack in and do a few things, we can’t overthrow the government or anything.”
“The little things add up,” Dahlia said.
“You turn me in, and I’ll never see daylight again.”
“More likely your friend’s the one who would get the brunt of it.”
“I’d rather be thrown in myself than pushing it off on my friend.”
Dahlia sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers. “Do you understand what sort of position you’re putting me in, Ben? If someone else finds out about your friend’s little talent and finds out that I knew about it, but didn’t say anything... I’d be just as culpable as either of you.”
“I just said I wouldn’t sell out my friends. That includes you.”
She sighed. “We aren’t friends, Ben.”
He frowned. “We aren’t?”
“We can’t be friends. There’s no possible scenario where being friends would be possible.”
“I’m sure there is. Obviously I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I consider you someone I care about enough to at least protect you from someone if I could.”
She scoffed, placing a hand on her hips. “What have I done to deserve your ‘protection’?”
He nodded at his arm. “If nothing else, I owe you. I’m not selfish enough to ask for someone’s help, and then refuse to give them any when they need it.”
She didn’t respond.
“I know you don’t have a reason to help me anymore than you already have,” he said. “I mean, I’m just a man, right? A mutation? I’m asking, if not out of friendship, out of compassion. Pity, even, if you can’t offer anything else. Help me just a little more.”
She paused another beat. “I don’t pity you.”
He laughed with derision. “You’re lying, ignorant about my situation, or heartless. From what I know about you, I don’t think it’s the last two.”
“You’re in a bad situation.” She crossed her arms. “I don’t think there’s anyone here that’s ignorant enough to think you aren’t. It isn’t that I don’t have the sympathy to appreciate that situation, because I do. But pity... no. You have someone you care enough about to want to protect them, enough to sacrifice yourself to protect them. If nothing else, that makes you human. You might deserve sympathy, but no human deserves something as condescending as pity.”
He stood, relying on his good arm to push him up, and moved towards her. “I consider you a friend, Dahlia, even if you don’t think I am. I wouldn’t sell you out. I do care about you.”
“Don’t you dare.” Dahlia frowned.
His eyebrows furrowed. “Dare what?”
“Caring is what gets people in trouble in situations like this.” She jabbed a finger at him. “I won’t turn you in, which, yes, is stupid on my part, but I won’t if only for some misguided compassion for all of humankind. It is in no way a personal favor for you.”
He smiled knowingly. “Duly noted.”
“Get that smirk off your face before I change my mind.” She glared at him.
He ran his good hand along her jaw line. “You might be smart enough to avoid any misguided affection, but you forget I’m at a lower evolutionary level than you.”
“Stop it,” she insisted.
“Just, let me, all right?” He stepped a little closer, letting his injured arm drop to his side.
“Stop it before I call up the guards and have them drag you away.”
He watched her chest rise and fall with rapid breaths and felt her pulse speed up under his hand. He bent, brushing his lips against her collarbone. When she didn’t pull away, he kissed it again, moving to the hollow of her neck.
“Ben, stop it,” she said in a quiet voice.
“I don’t want to,” he mumbled against her skin.
“Seriously.” She pushed against his chest. “Stop it.”
All at once, he jerked, stiffened and stumbled backwards.
“Are you all right?” Her eyes widened and her hands went to his waist, making sure he didn’t hit his hurt arm against anything.
“Yeah,” he croaked. “My...”
“Your...?”
He steadied himself and then touched his collarbone.
“Oh.” She looked at the scar there. “Did I hit...? I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to. I didn’t push that hard...”
“Yeah.” He gave a short laugh. “If you had, I would be on the ground right now.”
“I’m really, really sorry.” She helped him sit on the chair near her desk. “I really didn’t mean to... shock you or whatever that chip does.”
“Well, it took my mind off my arm.” He offered a tense smile.
She laughed nervously. “Not your week is it?”
“Seems to be shaping up that way.”
“I can get you some more acetaminophen,” she said. “You aren’t close to overdosing.”
“That those red and white pills?”
Dahlia nodded.
“I’ll really be okay. I’ve lived with that chip as far back as I can remember.”
She frowned at that. “You don’t know how big it is?”
He shook his head. “All I know is they put it in there when I was two. Only reason I can figure that out is I have a memory someone doing something to my shoulder that hurt like a bitch when I was that young.”
“If it’s right under the skin like that and not too big, it probably wouldn’t be that hard to remove.”
“Are you offering to take it out?” He looked at her.
She froze as the implication hit her, shrugged off the question. “Just hypothesizing.”
“Well, it makes no difference I suppose,” Ben said. “They’d notice if it were missing. It has all our information on it. They’d be a little suspicious if they scanned me on the way home and couldn’t find anything.”
“Information chips.” She shook her head.
“What about them?”
“They sound uncomfortably close to how we track the animals we have on farms.”
“Well, no offense, but you don’t seem to consider us much better than anything you might raise on a farm.”
“I might take offence if it weren’t true, but...”
He nodded in understanding