Page 77 of Healing Creek
The mechanical drumming of a ship’s engine swelled to overwhelm the night sounds and the clearing flooded with light. The vessel was small enough for only a few passengers, but several larger craft flew in the sky above, moving off toward the lab and its landing field. The vessel, sleek and silver with a symbol painted near the front viewport, landed with a short hop in the grass. The hatch slid open sideways, and a ramp extended.
“It’s a shuttle from theSpark,” Grace assured him.
Creek headed toward the hatch with Grace still in his arms. He recognized the tall blond man who greeted them at the opening as their brother, David. He waved them inside. Creek waited and let Jennifer go up the ramp first and she stepped easily into her brother’s arms.
“God, Jen. You look terrible. They said Grace needed medical.”
“Just bruises for me. Grace needs regen.” Creek thought he sensed a lie in her statement, but he couldn’t be sure with the scent of the ship’s engine in the air.
David met Creek’s gaze as he stepped back, pulling Jennifer along under his arm, to let them enter.
How did one greet a human brother? He simply nodded and headed to one of the seats. It was small and tight, but he managed.
David maneuvered through the narrow interior with ease. He stopped in front of them, leaned over and kissed Grace on the cheek.
“David,” she said softly. “Thanks for coming.”
Creek scented the lie in her gratitude. She was wishing he was not there so they could have gone back to theAbundance. Maybe mad that David brought the Alliance when he’d agreed not to.
He met Creek’s gaze again. “Can you put her in a seat so I can strap her in?”
“I’ll hold her.” He wasn’t letting go of her unless he had to.
“Right,” David agreed, and Creek could also smell the false acceptance of his reply.
Why did this family feel the need to lie to one another? He had only a dozen minutes to ponder the dynamics of their family before they were swallowed by the blackness of space and approached a larger silver vessel that must be theSpark. It had the same sleek lines as the little shuttle and the same symbol emblazoned on the side. It was less than half the size of theAbundance. Another, larger vessel lurked behind theSpark, dark like a shadow and heavily armored. Alliance Enforcers.
An opening appeared in the side of theSparkand David flew the smaller craft into a shuttle bay only big enough for just the one shuttle. The moment the hatch opened, Creek got to his feet and carried Grace in her brother’s wake. David led the way through hallways with light that glowed from everywhere, even the walls. Every few meters a colorful panel displayed data of some kind.
They arrived in the med-bay, greeted by a blue suited man readying a scanner and other equipment Creek didn’t recognize. Grace had been uncharacteristically quiet, and she remained silent as Creek placed her on the med-bed. With the medic on one side of the bed and Jennifer on the other, Creek backed away to let them take care of her. Her eyes did the talking her lips had withheld.Don’t leave me, they begged. He stopped just beyond the reach of the medic and held her gaze.I’ll stay, he replied without words. She reached out a hand as if to pull him back to her side. A commotion at the door held him back from acting on the longing in his heart.
“Gracie!” The silver-blonde woman wearing a silver and gray pantsuit marched into the room like a whipmaster ready to lash everyone into line. She pushed her way to Grace and took her outstretched hand. “My baby girl, what happened?”
“I’m fine, Mother. Jenny’s the one that’s been through an ordeal.”
Helen Hobbs looked up at her other daughter. “Jennifer, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Just bruises.” Jennifer was working efficiently and had several instruments in place. “Step back, Mom, I need to start the scan.”
“Yes, of course.” Helen released Grace’s hand and took a single step back. Creek had to step to the side to avoid her. Surprised, she looked him over with a more calculated gaze than she had her daughter.
“Creek,” he said simply.
Her eyebrows lifted and she nodded in acknowledgement.
“Sixty percent cellular degradation.” Jennifer read from her instruments as she prepped another device Creek wasn’t familiar with. “That’s high, Grace. We can’t wait for you to recover at the rate you’re going.”
“I didn’t have the equipment or the time for a cellular scan or I could have boosted my nutrition.”
Jennifer glanced his way before saying to Grace, “We can get you up to a safer level in a few hours, but we’ll need to induce coma to make that bearable for you.”
Grace met his gaze. “You’ll wait for me. We need to talk.”
He wasn’t sure he could leave her, even if it meant leaving his new family to stay with her “Yes. We’ll talk.”
He stepped forward and took her hand. She squeezed his hand tight. Creek looked up into Jennifer’s battered face. She had a hypo-injector ready. She nodded.
He looked down to Grace and watched as her gaze softened and her eyes fluttered close. Gently, he put her hand down on the edge of the bed and stepped back.
