Page 84 of Homebound
“I take it life is treating you kindly?”
It took a second for Gemma to understand he was addressing her.
“Yes, quite,” she managed.
“Your prison made it in the news today with Perali. You’ve heard, of course?”
“I have.”
“What a grisly sight.”
“I imagine.” Did she ever. “They say the aliens have been badly mangled.”
“They have been. I can attest.”
He surprised Gemma. “You’ve seen the bodies?”
“We have the City’s only morgue.” He gave her a tight smile. “I took a few minutes to walk down. Professional curiosity, you know.”
She didn’t acknowledge his comment. She had major issues with his professional curiosity.
One of the nurses looked up. “Have they done an autopsy, Dr. Delano?”
“They aren’t going to. Alien deaths aren’t a concern.”
“Oh, but we want to know what killed them.”
“That’s easy. A steel pipe killed them. Someone very strong beat three of them to death with a piece of conduit. The fourth one was beheaded. There won’t be an inquest. But the force with which the bodies were damaged gave me pause. I suspect the killer wasn’t human.” He pricked Uncle Drexel’s arm with a small syringe and Drexel yelped. “I am sorry. Did it hurt?”
Drexel’s eyes bugged and his mouth opened and closed in a fish-out-of-water style. “It stings like hell!”
“My apologies. I’m injecting the serum into the wound now. It shouldn't hurt too much longer.”
“Ouch,” said Uncle Drexel and slumped into a faint.
The nurse caught him but not fast enough. His shoulder hit the tray with medical equipment and overturned it. The metal instruments, the liquid medicine, suction cups, and cotton balls - everything flew to the four corners of the room.
“Nurse!” Delano barked.
“I’m on it, doctor.”
The nurse laid Uncle Drexel out on the cot and went to pick up the supplies off the floor. Gemma wanted to help but was politely instructed not to touch anything. Biohazard and all that.
She took a step back to stand by the wall. It took her away from Dr. Delano and she was glad. She was afraid she’d lose it and go berserk and stab him in the eye with the used syringe she spied under the examination table.
She anchored her eyes on Simon’s picture, passing time while the nurses worked to restore order and revive Uncle Drexel with a strong-smelling solution.
“I’ve noticed you’re curious about Rix.”
Dr. Delano moved closer again and Gemma had no option but to respond. “Yes, I admit, they seem like an interesting race.”
“That’s one way to describe them. Interesting.”
“Didn’t you say so yourself, doctor?” She sounded… angry.
“I did, didn’t I?” Dr. Delano didn’t notice her suddenly sharp tone. He smiled his condescending smile. “We need to know more about them. Pity, Rix don’t visit Earth.”
“You’ve examined one,” Gemma pointed out helpless to keep accusation out of her tone.
