Page 42 of Under Control

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Espinosa messaged them about Singh’s arrival.

It was a shame that Alex had chosen not to have sex. No, it was a good thing. Tracht knew that, intellectually. He was simply too mellow to care about the consequences.

He got dressed in simple sweats and a t-shirt, which he normally would never allow anybody on board to see him in, but currently couldn’t get himself to care about. The collar tugged at his skin, but at least the drugs kept him from feeling that particular bite of pain.

Thankfully there were few people on board, and they got to the medbay without any gawkers. Singh was already there, looking to be in a foul mood herself.

“There weren’t any other doctors you could have called? I only have so much time on Atalanta before we depart, and—what is that?” She grimaced as Alex tugged down the neck of Tracht’s shirt.

“So, I’d take it off, but the last person I tried to remove it from ended up bleeding a shitton, and I don’t want to do that to Tracht.” Alex let go and backed away. “Can you get it off him?”

She stepped in close and examined the collar. “What does it do? How did it even get on him?”

“A new form of bondcollar,” Tracht answered, “designed to keep its wearer compliant. I think some people would like this sort of thing. I thought about putting one on Alex, but now that I’ve experienced it in action, absolutely not. Alex being nice and agreeable is not what I want at all. Can you even imagine?”

Her fingers ran along the edge of the collar, lifting gently on the edges. Tracht could feel the hooks digging into his flesh, a dull sort of pressure that was probably far worse than he could currently feel.

“This is nasty. Let’s get him into the private room and I’ll take a closer look.”

They all went into the other room, the one with all the soundproofing. Tracht thought about what was likely to happen. “Alex, can you leave?”

“Huh?” Alex looked hurt. “Are you sure? I mean, I can stay. I want to stay.”

Well, Alex wanted to stay, and Tracht did actually want him to stay, so Tracht smiled and nodded. “Yes, that’s fine too.”

Both Alex and Singh looked at him strangely, and finally Alex huffed. “Fine, I’ll go. Singh, you’d better fix him.”

It wasn’t until Alex was well out of the room that Singh turned to him. “This is quite the predicament you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“Yes. I blame Espinosa, mostly.”

“I’d ask, but I don’t think you should tell me.” Singh had Tracht sit on the exam table and pulled out the x-ray camera. “Hold perfectly still, please.”

She did her inspection, hissing sharply when she looked at the images. “Wow. That is... That’s awful. Did it hurt when they inserted it?”

“I believe so. The drugs kicked in very soon afterward. I was somewhat grateful for that.”

“This looks like it could require minor surgery. I’d love to give you actual anesthesia for it, but I have no idea how that would mix with whatever is in your system. I could draw your blood and check, but that could take a few hours to be properly analyzed, and at this point I think we want to remove the collar sooner rather than later.” She set her tablet down and pulled on a pair of surgical gloves. “Is that all right?”

“Yes. Please do it.” Tracht closed his eyes and waited for her to get started.

===

Singh did end up drawing blood and setting it to be analyzed by the computer while she worked. She had to cut open his flesh to extract the claws of the collar, and whatever was coursing through his veins wasn’t so good as to prevent the sensation entirely.

Tears began to build in the corners of his eyes, and sweat broke out over his entire body. Even lying on his back he could barely prevent the spasms of pain.

All in all, it took Singh forty minutes to remove the collar and patch up his wounds.

“I’d like to keep you for observation. Between this, the drugs, and what is likely a minor concussion—”

“I want to sleep in my own room,” Tracht said quickly. “If you have painkillers, I’ll take them now.”

“No, you’ll take them when we can be sure whatever is currently in your system has fully left,” Singh answered. “I don’t want any adverse reactions.”

She had a very good point, and Tracht was still feeling too agreeable to argue. “Fine. Pass them along with instructions. You can give them to Alex to dispense at a later time.”

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