Page 49 of Fighting Gravity
Veron cocked her head, her confusion reminding me that Norm wasn’t his actual name.
“Rhone,” I huffed. “What’d you say to Rhone?”
“I was telling him to rest. He’s unbalanced and needs his sleep cycle.”
“How much could one missed sleep cycle affect him?”
“He’s missedtwo. He has not left the med bay since Tao Prime and I am sick of bringing him food.”
That couldn’t be right. Norm staying with me in the med bay? I had so many questions.
“Why would he stay in the med bay? Was he wounded?”
“He claimed you saved his life,” she groaned, seemingly aggravated by my question. “If that’s true, he owed you a debt. Making sure you survived was how he chose to do that.”
“But I’m still a prisoner. Why the hell would he care?”
“It’s our way.”
“So, he saved me and now what? I’m free game again?”
“That’s up to him. In my opinion, he should have left you on Tao. He’s been unhinged since that human freighter we attacked. Now, after you regurgitated all over him, I am surprised he has not been in the sanitization pods every day. Who knows what diseases you carry.”
“I threw up on him?” I asked, mortified.
Days ago, I would have loved to have thrown up on him and watch him squirm, but sudden pangs of guilt racked me at the thought now after hearing that he stayed by my bedside, for lack of a better term.
Veron reached out and lifted the blanket away from my abdomen with no regard for my modesty. Not that she hadn’t seen me naked now, but it seemed she looked for any opportunity to make me uncomfortable.
“Inner flesh seems fused. Outer flesh is still raw, but no longer open.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means you’re mending. Slowly, but mending nonetheless. You humans must take ages to heal naturally.”
“We do.” I couldn’t even deny it. “Broken bones take months. I don’t know how long that is to you.”
“Months,” she repeated, her eyes wandering. “It’s ridiculous. Months.”
“How long do your bones take to heal?”
“Ifsomething manages to break them, with accelerated treatment, days.”
I was astonished at the idea. Days for a bone to heal? Humans would be overjoyed that they could be reckless with so little consequence. As for me, I was feeling every bit of the consequences. If not in the wounds themselves, in my sore and stiff muscles.
Veron led me out of the showers and through the halls of the big ship, but the further I walked, the more I became aware of my throbbing leg. Healing or not, it felt battered. After walking for what felt like miles, Veron veered into a room where stacks of bins lined one wall. When I saw fabric hanging out of one of the bins, I approached, eager to find something other than a sheet to cover me.
“Be quick,” Veron said.
I looked up at her, cocking my hip like a teenager defying a parent.
“Do you mind giving mesomeprivacy?”
Her lips quivered like a dog about to growl as she took a look around the room.
“What do you think I’m going to do? Sabotage the ship from the storage closet?”
With a shake of her head, Veron spun and stepped out of the room, letting the door slide closed behind her.
