Page 76 of Taken By the Convicts
Melina tensed as she turned around. “No,” she said softly. “That was Dr. Castor, here for a week to train me.”
His little bird looked exhausted, like she hadn’t been sleeping. Guilt washed over Ivan. He’d let a week go by without coming to her. The other three men had all stood outside, switching off to make sure someone would be there for her if—when—she decided to leave. They had all remained hopeful. This rift between Ivan and her needed to end.
“Melina—”
“I have work to do,” she said as she moved past him to a small desk and started rifling through drawers.
“You’re not going to talk to me, are you?” he asked.
“I checked your vitals. You’re healing fine. The nanites have repaired your cheekbone and the hairline skull fracture.”
Crusher had messed him up pretty badly. It was worth it. It had given Ivan his way in.
She slammed the bottom drawer shut. “Damn.”
“Lost something? A leather ring perhaps?”
She covered her thumb where the ring had been. “I had to remove it recently to handle a delicate medical device.”
He lifted his hand only to find he was chained to the bed. “Is this necessary?”
“The guards and I have agreed on procedures involving prisoners. They’re very nervous about the prospect of medical equipment getting damaged by inmates who might riot.”
“Yeah, well, that’s because of an asshole ten months ago. A new prisoner tore up the place, destroying tons of hard-to-replace equipment. Thorne lowered all the guards to a Level 3 since they’d failed to prevent or contain it. They don’t want to risk being lowered to Level 4 and ending up on Narkos or Kyth as inmates. That’s when they started chaining all patients to the beds, to control us.”
“It’s easy to go a bit crazy in this place. I’m surprised more prisoners haven’t,” Melina said as she ran a hand lightly down his arm to the chain around his wrist.
Ivan didn’t like seeing her worried or sad. “Smile for me, Melina.”
“What?”
“I’ve missed your smile. Smile for me.”
She looked toward the isolation bay doors. “I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“You think I like seeing you chained up like this?”
“You could have your way with me,” he said, waggling his brows, which hurt like fuck because of his injuries, but he maintained his grin because he wasn’t going to fuck this up with her, not again.
A smile teased her lips.
“That’s a start, but we’re going to have to work on that. I know you have a beautiful smile. You light up every time you see Crusher.”
Her smile disappeared. She worried about the man. Ivan tugged her shirt, the only part of her he could grip while chained to the bed. “Are you okay? Really okay? The truth, nothing less.”
She nodded. “Something feels off here.”
“Off?” His hackles rose. He never ignored his instincts or anyone else’s.
“This med-center has some of the most advanced labs I’ve ever seen. The chem lab rivals what I have—had—on Baccula. It seems odd. On the other hand, maybe it isn’t. Thorne’s ordered me to do pharmaceutical research in addition to my duties as the medical doctor here. Every planet has unique flora, so perhaps this is standard procedure for a prison planet. Or a Company planet.”
“Is doing research for Thorne a problem?”
“Not exactly. I love R&D, finding new properties, and exploring the potential uses. But he hasn’t given me specific research directives yet, so I’m guessing The Company is looking for anything that will bring in an additional revenue stream.”
She sighed. “I think I’m being paranoid. Not enough sleep this week. I kept Vaughn up most nights later than planned because one question led to another and another. There was so much to relearn, and new equipment, too. It was hard to stop once I got going. Now he’s gone and I’m on my own again.”
