Page 18 of Salvation
The pile on the table had grown noticeably larger. Scooping up a handful of tubular vials, she began packing the items Nick had gathered. “Did you find the sterilator wipes yet?”
“Not yet, but I think this is a therm….” He gaped at the duffle. “Are you kidding me?”
Warmth rose in her cheeks. “I know, it is not compartmentalized or—”
“Your Hello Kitty bag?” Nick shook his head. “We’re supposed to be professionals, Saku.”
The burn rose to her ears and she gave him a deep frown. “My name is Sakura. It is not that hard to remember.” He blinked, but she was not finished. “As for the bag, you have not come up with something better, have you?”
“No. But…Hello Kitty?”
She gathered the syringes. “Nicholaus Bock, our patients are waiting, and you are arguing over the design on a bag?” Hopefully her tone was frosty enough to end any further arguments from him.
K’rona raised both of her dark eyebrows and grinned, but said nothing. What must she think of this little escapade?
“Fine.” Nick placed the thermometer on the pile and turned back to rummage through another drawer. “But I’m going to find something better when we get back.”
“Of course.” She’d love to tell him what an inane idiot he was, but why waste her breath?
The memory of him shoving her to the forest ground and shielding her with his body rushed back. Okay, not the action of an inane idiot, but he did test her patience sometimes. Often. Most of the time. And the idiot in that case had been her as she had struggled to get out from under him instead of accepting his protection. She had not seen thelabu-basailing through the air between them, but she had heard it hit the tree. That should have been enough to warn her they might be in danger, but she had ignored the obvious and reacted instinctively. Even after all this time her fear remained.
Nick closed the drawer he had been rummaging through with a little more force than necessary. A handful of sterilator wipes landed on the table. “Got ’em.”
K’rona pushed away from the wall. “If you are finished, I will take you to see Tokki now.”
~*~
Nick followed K’rona through the streets of the dissenter’s village of cubes, fighting the urge to roll his eyeballs. A pink Hello Kitty duffle bag? And guess who got to carry the ridiculous thing? Not that he’d given his feisty little companion the opportunity before grasping the neon-pink plastic handles and following K’rona out of the cube.
All right, maybe he was being a little too harsh on the kid. She was only trying to help. And he had no idea shortening her name bothered her so much. He’d have to watch himself there.
Focusing on the layout of the central village was probably a better idea than worrying about the less than professional appearance of their improvised bag. As if the ill Anferthians would even notice.
“This village is known as Center,” K’rona explained. “Think of our villages being set up like a giant wheel. The other four villages are known by their direction from Center on a compass. They are called East, South, West, and North…creative, do you not agree?” She smirked, her green eyes lit with humor. “As you already know they are all exactly two and a half kilots from Center.”
That seemed easy enough to understand.
“Here is Tokki’s cube.” K’rona waved her hand toward the cube they were approaching. “The illness has been slow for her, but she is bedridden and near the end now.”
K’rona opened the door and called out a greeting in Anferthian, and someone responded from deeper within the cube. A moment later a teal-haired woman appeared. She had to be close in age to K’rona, maybe a year or two older. Dark circles of exhaustion underlined blue eyes dulled with worry.
“Our healers are here?” The woman’s English was broken and heavily accented, but at least she was trying.
“Great is my pleasure to introduce Healer Bock, brother offyhenAllazandra. Also, Disipula Yamata.” K’rona looked back at him. “This is B’iha.”
Tears gathered in B’iha’s eyes. “The Creators be blessed that you have finally arrived. If only the committee had sent you sooner.” She had switched back to Anferthian.
Nick ground his teeth together at the reminder of the delay.
B’iha tapped her ear with one finger. “You have translator?”
“Doen.” Yes.
“It is well.” B’iha’s shoulders seemed to relax. “To speak English is very difficult. There are few here fluent enough to tell us when we are wrong. I hope have said nothing to offend you. Despite the delay, we are grateful you have come.”
The enormity of what lay ahead weighed down on him like a boulder settling on his shoulders. “I hope we’re able to help.”
“Will you tell us about Tokki’s condition, B’iha?” Saku asked. “How long ago did she contract the illness?”
