Page 55 of My Alien Bughead
He sighs again, then shakes his head. “I never doubted your intelligence, D’Aakh. Two more conditions. Regular drug tests. This isn’t to humiliate you,” he adds, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Consider it a concession for my own peace of mind. Finally, and this is the most important condition. Therapy.”
“Excuse me? Therapy? With who?” It’s not like I can just visit a therapist's office at Voidstalker headquarters whenever I feel like it.
“I contacted an old friend who contacted her old friend. It’s not important who. You have a therapist ready to start remote sessions once Nikolai deems your condition stable enough.”
This is ridiculous. “I don’t think this is necessary, Captain. I’m fine now. No stimulants, no desire to use them.” That’s a lie. The craving is still there but I’m confident I can fight it on my own. I don’t need some stranger to poke around in my head.
“It’s non-negotiable,” Zarkan says. “It’s not just about the drugs. You need to deal with what happened with Mzr. Until the therapist gives you a green light, you remain off active duty. So you better start working on yourself if you want back in. That’s all.” His expression softens a little as he gently pats my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay, D’Aakh.”
“Thanks. I’ll…think about everything.” Not that there’s anything to think about. If Zarkan wants me in therapy, I’m going to fucking therapy. “Will you get rid of that other technician when I get better?” I still hate the idea of working with someone else.
Zarkan snorts. Before he responds, the voice I’ve been longing to hear since the moment I woke up sounds from the doorway. “Fire me? Seriously, D’Aakh, you’re a jerk,” Lucía says, her words lacking any bite. Her smile betrays her teasing nature. “You’ve been awake for five whole minutes and you’re already trying to get rid of me? That’s not going to happen. By the way, you should reconsider your behavior toward me. I’m your boss now.”
“No, you’re not,” Zarkan says. “You’re doing his job until he’s cleared to return. After that, well…” He smirks. “I’ll let you two fight it out. Be good, both of you.”
I barely notice Zarkan leaving, too busy staring dumbfoundedly at Lucía. I’m not convinced she’s real. Perhaps Nikolai really did drug me and I’m hallucinating. Or I died. There’s always that option.
Unperturbed, Lucía saunters across the room and sits down on the side of my bed. “Whatever. I’ll win. I’m the boss.”
I grab Lucía’s hand, tears springing from my eyes feeling her warm skin against mine. She’s real. “Maybe when you learn to tighten the graviton screws in the right order, we can talk about you being in charge,” I tease her, doing my best not to sound like a sniveling wreck, yet failing miserably. “You’re here.”
“Of course I’m here. Where else would I be? FrenCorp sent a ton of new people over to Alevvo, including several technicians. All of them were jerks. Like, world-class fucking jerks. Truepinches cabrones. I thought, better the jerk you know, right? Besides, I’d be a shitty girlfriend if I abandoned my boyfriend the moment he almost dies for the second or third time, right?”
Boyfriend. I don’t particularly like that word but I do love what it represents. Lucía wants to be with me, so nothing else matters. Too bad I can barely move my arms. Bringing her pleasure is out of the question. Not knowing what to say, I simply squeeze her hand and give her a rather teary smile.
Lucía smiles back at me. “Besides, you promised me that barb fusion thing. Don’t think I’ve forgotten. The minute you’re out of the infirmary, we’re having sex.”
Nikolai chooses that moment to return, glaring at us both. “Absolutely not! No sex! You!” He points a finger at Lucía. “No more unsupervised visits or I’ll ban you from coming here altogether. D’Aakh needs to rest, not fuck.”
Lucía rolls her eyes. “Whatever. I need to get back to work, anyway. Since I’m the boss,” she adds with a wink before leaning over to place a quick, gentle kiss on my forehead. “By the way, I’ve moved into your room. That bed? It’s the best fucking bed I’ve ever slept on!”
“You’re sleeping in my bed?” Is this a dream?
“No, I’m sleeping inourbed,” she replies with a grin. “Get some rest. I’ll be back later.”
“No, you won’t!” Nikolai waves his hand dismissively at the door. “Out! My patient, my rules. Shoo!”
Chuckling, Lucía heads out but pauses in the doorway. “Later, bughead,” she says, winking at me again. My newly stitched heart gets busy pumping blood into my cock.
“Later,zeeva!” I yell out after her, grinning when I hear her laughing from the hallway.
“You two,” Nikolai sighs. “You’ll be the death of me. Absolutely no sex, do you hear me? If you have another heart attack because you couldn’t wait a few days to fuck your girlfriend, I’m NOT fixing you up again. My time is more valuable than that. Now, sleep.”
Though my arm feels like it weighs a ton, I manage a mock salute. “Yes, sir. No sex,” I confirm, my mind already conjuring alternative options. Mutual masturbation doesn’t count as sex, does it?
Chapter 32
Lucía
Stretching my arms outwide, I groan in delight at the popping sounds along my spine. I’ve spent hours hunched over a faulty hydraulic pump and my back is not happy about it. At least the pump is fixed now and the Serramorphs can handle any general maintenance.
They’re amazing little helpers. Intelligent, quick to learn and eager to please. Truly, ideal workers. Everyone is happy to have them on board, including my grumpy Krestilian. Not that he’d admit it out loud.
A wall of hot air hits me as I enter the fully functioning biosphere. With the environmental controls now fully operational, the spacious room stays at a tropical temperature with moderate humidity. The plants are thriving and the climbing vines threaten to engulf the walls completely already, even though it’s only been two weeks since I joined the crew. There’s even a patch of what looks like bamboo growing along a pathway. I wonder where they got that from?
Slightly distracted, I remember D’Aakh’s stunned expression after he woke up and saw me. He’d really thought I’d stay behind on Alevvo even after I’d told him I wanted to have a relationship with him. Silly grump. He’s my silly grump, though, so he gets a pass. He’s struggling with lots of things right now, so I try to keep my inner bitch muzzled. We joke around and argue about the little things but we avoid the more sensitive subjects.
Like the fact that despite how advanced alien medicine is, his heart will never be as strong as it used to be. He’s oddly resigned to it and that worries me. The resignation, not the weak heart. I don’t care if he’s an incredibly fit special ops soldier or an averagely healthy tech guy. I love him anyway. It would be nice if we could have sex, though.
