Page 59 of Hidden By the Convicts
A hand moved through her hair. Too intimately for her liking. The guards could touch her body, use her all they wanted, but they wouldn’t break her. Never again. She was stronger now. She would survive. She had to, for her guys and for herself.
A wet cloth was set against her lips, soothing dry, parched lips. She drank from it greedily, partially wondering if they’d drugged it. It wouldn’t be the first time the guards had drugged her to make her compliant. That hand returned to her hair, stroking. It felt nice, which she hated, because she detested everything about these guards.
“You’re fine now, princess.”
Princess. That’s what Harlis used to call her. Her mind was playing tricks on her. That was probably a defense mechanism. Survival mode.
“She’s not responding,” a man said.
She didn’t recognize the voice, though it sounded nice, soothing, like someone who cared. At least he wasn’t yelling or kicking her. That was a pleasant change of pace.
“Two broken ribs and bruising everywhere, but no sign of internal injury or sexual assault.” A hand smoothed the hair back from her head.
“So Mozely didn’t—”
“Mozely couldn’t if he wanted to. He came to see me a week ago. His dick is severely infected. He wouldn’t tell me how, just ordered me to treat him. I found bite marks under a fair amount of scarring. There was no mistaking the bite impression. Human. The fool should have come to me weeks ago when he incurred the injury, but I guess he didn’t know how to explain it.”
“That’s my girl,” a man said, sounding proud. “She’s a fighter.” The deep timbre of his voice reminded her of Bowen. Oh, how she wished Bowen were with her now, wrapping his strong arms around her.
“You shouldn’t have treated him. Let his cock fall off.”
She knew that voice, didn’t she? Harlis? No, it couldn’t be. She tried to move, and it felt like fire skirting across every muscle in her body.
“Can you give her something for the pain, doc?”
“I’m giving her a nanite to heal her fractured ribs. Pain meds might compromise the nano’s effectiveness. Sorry, guys, it’s one or the other.”
“Give her the nanite.”
ThatwasBowen! She was sure of it. Teagen struggled to open her eyes. One opened, just a bit, but her vision was blurry.
“Hello there, beautiful.”
Soft gray eyes hovered above her. She tried to smile, but the pain made her wince.
“That’s okay, darling. Just relax. Sleep. We’ve got you.”
“We?” she coughed out the word.
“You’re home now,” Gavin said. “With Harlis, Bowen, and me. And we’ve got Dr. Caster here treating you. Ren sent him over.”
“Just call me Vaughn, Teagen. And I would have come even if Ren didn’t threaten me.”
“Sorry, Vaughn,” Bowen said. “I leaned on Ren harder than usual, I guess. I didn’t intend for shit to roll downhill. Just let me know what we can do to repay you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can handle Ren. But if you have credits to spare, I won’t turn them down. Dresden’s demanding to see my records. I think he suspects I haven’t been charging prisoners for treatment.”
Gavin inhaled sharply. “Cheating the company of their take. Risky.”
“It’s not just what The Company charges as much as what Dresden takes. The miners can’t afford it and I refuse to withhold treatment. I have to replace the nanites soon, before Dresden has them counted.”
Someone continued stroking her hair. She enjoyed hearing her guys, knowing that they were here with her.
“We’ll get the credits. Somehow,” Bowen said.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out, like always. Just take care of your lady here. I’ll try to slip away again in a few days to check on her, but Dresden has been watching me too closely. I don’t fit in that compartment Ren uses to smuggle stuff.”
“What has he been smuggling?” Harlis said.
