Advance by Gun Brooke

Author:Gun Brooke [Brooke, Gun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626393059
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2014-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Dael moaned and opened her eyes. She could tell she was in one of the infirmary beds. The linen was made of that scratchy mesh she detested, and the lights were hurting her eyes, making her close them again. Slowly this time, she opened her eyes again, blinking a few times before she could focus.

“Ah, Admiral. Welcome back,” said the chief medical officer, whom everyone aboard the Espies Major lovingly called Doc. His steel-gray, abundant hair framed a weathered face, blue-green eyes, and bushy, black eyebrows. Tall and burly, he leaned over Dael. “You’ve been napping for about two hours. I was about to try to revive you with some perk-me-up meds, which I’m sure you somehow knew, apparently.”

“How did you guess, Doc?” Dael grimaced and sat up. He knew better than to stop her.

“Oh, your dislike for medication and my profession is no secret, Admiral.” He smiled. “Although, I must say, even you must agree I come in handy sometimes.”

“Doc, you know me better than that. I’m eternally grateful for all the times you saved my rear as well as those of my crew. I just don’t like—”

“—not being in control. Being strapped to a gurney and forced to accept medication and treatment. I know.” His gaze mellowed. “You took a nasty blow to the head. I’d recommend a night here with us before you return to your quarters.”

Smiling briefly, Dael shook her head, immediately wishing she hadn’t. “How about a compromise?” she asked. “I go back to my quarters, but I accept whatever medication you decide I may need.”

“That, if nothing, shows me how desperate you are to get out of here. Humor me and let me examine you at least once now that you’re lucid, sir.”

“Very well.” Since that gave her enough time to get her bearings, she allowed it.

“Apart from the concussion, you’re remarkably unscathed. Bruised, yes, and you’ll be sore as hell for the next few days, but all in all, you survived that fall with remarkably little damage.”

“And because my crew risked everything to keep me safe,” Dael said shortly. “They could’ve left me, but they didn’t.”

“Just like you didn’t leave Spinner to fend for herself on Gemosis, you mean?” Doc raised a bushy eyebrow. “You may think you hold the crew at an arm’s length, in a manner of speaking, but they adore you.”

Such words made her more uncomfortable than his examination. Standing up, she looked down at the white shirt that ended just above her knees with dismay. “I want some actual clothes. A leisure suit, size female six.” The sooner she got out of this flimsy shirt, the better.

“I’ll have a nurse assist you and also bring you some painkillers. I’m going to have to insist that someone from my staff go to your quarters every other hour to check on your neurological status.”

“That will not be necessary—”

“Oh, but it will. It’s that or I’ll pull medical rank and have you confined to a bed here, and it’ll go on your permanent record that you had to be removed from duty.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.