03 Solar Flare - Spark Series (24 page)

The email remained unanswered the next day,
so Azor sent off others. Brandy tried to eat something, but she
wasn’t very interested in food. Everything tasted bland and a
little off. She didn’t even have the distraction of romance from
Azor—he was all business, refusing to be distracted from the
possible menace on board. He was also talking about staying awake
while she entered cold sleep at the end of the week.

“I want to keep an eye on things,” he said
calmly. “I can’t do that from the pod.”

“Then I’ll stay up too,” she said. “I don’t
really need to sleep.”

He shook his head. “Until we know what’s
wrong, I’d be happier with your body in stasis. There are no good
hospitals this far out. In another month, that may change. We can
always hail a military ship if we have to.” There were occasional
cruisers to be found in the deeper space, but few inhabited planets
for the remainder of their journey.

She was too out of sorts to argue then, and
as the week went on, she began to feel slightly better. “It might
be better if I stay up,” she told him. “Maybe cold sleep doesn’t
agree with me.” They hadn’t heard back from Dr. Vhanee, though he’d
called Blue to see if he could track him down, since he was closer
to home. She’d begun to think Azor was worried for no reason.

He shook his head. “We won’t risk it. You’re
going to sleep, and I’m going to watch over you. We’ll see how
you’re doing when you wake next month. Besides, you’re already
bored.”

She might not have been, if she’d had the
attraction between them to keep things lively. He hadn’t made any
moves, though, and she was too fatigued to care. “True enough.
Okay.” She sighed. Ah, well. Maybe he’d be more reasonable next
time.

Brandy woke from her second cold sleep
feeling even worse than before. Her previous week of wakefulness
had passed in nagging discomfort, despite the pain meds she’d used.
She’d blamed her vague nausea and muscle cramps on a bug she might
have caught at the last port. Azor had kept a watchful eye on her,
but she had never really recovered. Though she hadn’t wanted to
admit it, it had been a relief to enter cold sleep and escape the
misery.

She checked a lock of her hair and grimaced.
It had lightened more, becoming almost white blond in places.
Oddly, that scared her more than her crippled feet.

A wave of pain washed through her legs and
surged into her stomach as she sat up. She groggily cataloged the
feeling, rating it on her mental pain scale, which was necessarily
high. The red line was rapidly edging past a six. Ten was where she
started screaming.

Azor was standing over her pod, looking a
little too alert to have just woken. He must have risen early, for
she’d been scheduled to thaw out early. “How are you feeling?” he
asked. From the frown on his face, he’d formed his own options.

She gratefully accepted the hot tea he
offered, taking a large swallow before she answered. “Not so
hot.”

His frown deepened as he took back the cup
and helped her out of the pod. The minute her feet took her full
weight, she cried out and sank to the floor. She bit her lip,
fighting back a moan of pain. Ah, that hurt!

Azor scooped her up and took her to a med
table. “Where does it hurt?” he asked as he prepared the body
scanner. “Is it still your legs?”

She drew a shuddering breath. “Yes. Caught me
by surprise, is all. Do you have a pain patch?”

“Soon,” he promised. “Let me do this scan,
and I want a quick manual examination. I want to be sure of where
it hurts before we take away the pain.”

She cringed at the idea. She wasn’t keen on
being touched anywhere right then, and her legs were especially
tender. Still, it was necessary, so she endured it when he gently
examined them. She cursed though, short and dirty. It was that or
scream.

Azor looked at the scans as the medical
program processed them. When he was done, he gave her two pain
patches and helped her up. “Let’s get you settled in the galley,
then I want to send these results off to your doctor. We’ll see
what he has to say.”

She nodded dully, relieved to feel the
patches begin to work. She was less pleased that he carried her to
the galley, but until the meds had saturated her blood, it was
probably for the best. He left her with a bowl of soup and a
promise to be back quickly.

Twenty minutes later, he returned and
silently flipped on the view screen. In moments her doctor’s face
appeared. Middle aged, with a sharply pointed chin and neat goatee,
Dr. Vhanee had always been straightforward with her. He was
frowning now with concern. “I apologize for being out of touch.
I’ve…been on vacation.” He glanced to the side and his face
smoothed. “Fortunately, I happened to check my email and contacted
your companion. I understand you’re not feeling well. Why don’t you
tell me what the problem is?”

She glanced at Azor, surprised. They must
have stopped if they were using pin beam. He had been awake a
while.

She looked back at the doctor. “Same old
thing. Feet hurt. Legs now, too. Feels like shards of bone stabbing
me in there. Are you going to authorize giving me something
stronger?”

His lips thinned. “No, Brandy, I’m not. I had
something else in mind.”

She stilled. She remembered the suggestion
he’d made the last time they’d talked. “You want to take my
legs.”

“Unless you’d like to die slowly of the
infection, yes.” He’d never had much of a bedside manner, but it
was his honesty she valued. He was very good at what he did, too.
The best. If he thought the legs should come off, then that was the
best option.

If anything else could have been done, he
would have done it.

She hated it.

Her jaw firmed. Tightly, she said, “That’ll
be tough with you back home and me out here.” She couldn’t help
feeling antagonistic, though she said it like a joke. They were her
legs! He couldn’t just trim off bits like pruning a tree. It
wouldn’t grow back.

Instead of arguing with her, the screen split
to show the results of Azor’s scan and the doctor’s prognosis.
Despite herself, she gasped. The feet were even more warped than
the last time she’d seen them, and the glowing mass of infection
riddled her bones. The tibia was beginning to twist and some of her
muscles had torn.

“This is what is left of your legs,” Dr.
Vhanee said. “They aren’t yours anymore—they belong to the
infection. Unfortunately, the chill of semi-suspension sped its
spread. Your immune system was disabled, unable to fight it.

“At this rate, you’ll be able to spend the
next week recovering with minimal spread, and then we’ll have to
put you into deep suspension, which will slow the infection even
further. Although it thrived in semi-suspension, like you, it
doesn’t like extreme cold.

“I’m forwarding your medical records and my
recommendation to the Scorpio ship your sister is traveling in,” he
said briskly. “Your other option is remote surgery on your current
ship, but I’d rather not risk it. It would be better to be with a
surgeon who’ll be better able to care for you. We want to make
certain the infection has not spread.”

She felt a little faint and realized she
wasn’t breathing. She drew a deep breath to keep the panic attack
at bay.

The doctor noted her response. “Do you still
have a good supply of your anxiety medication? I can authorize more
from the ship’s stores—“

“Don’t bother,” Brandy snarled, abruptly
angry. “I’ve got a bottle of scotch that can do it better.” She
made to rise, remembered her problem, and hesitated. Denied an
outlet, the panic threatened to return.

The doctor met Azor’s grim eyes. He nodded.
“Her chances are excellent, so long as you follow my
recommendations. I’ll send the information immediately.” He glanced
aside at his own computer screen. “I believe her family would like
to talk to her now.”

Brandy wasn’t expecting to see Gems’ face
appear so soon. Blue stood beside her, looking grave. “Gem,” she
said, a little desperately. It was futile; she knew her sister
couldn’t help her now.

“It’s going to be okay,” Gem said calmly, her
strength a rock, though her eyes were shadowed with sorrow. “We
love you.”

Brandy shook her head, slowly at first, then
faster. “They want to take my legs!” It was a nightmare she’d hoped
to prevent. They were telling her it was no longer possible to
prolong treatment. Could they possibly understand what that meant?
She would no longer be whole.

“Brandy,” Blue said quietly, in a tone that
had her full attention. “We do what we have to sometimes.” His gaze
was steady as he looked at her, the vividness of his blue stare a
reminder that he, too, was no longer all he had been. He raised his
cybernetic arm and very deliberately put it around Gem’s
shoulders.

His words steadied her. He did
understand.

She nodded jerkily and waved her hand. “I
want to…think, okay? Thanks for calling.”

Gem smiled slightly at the dismissal. “Xera’s
turn, then. We love you.”

Xera’s face appeared next, and the sight made
Brandy stiffen. It was a reminder of where she was going and what
was coming.

“Sis,” Xera said pleasantly. “I think you’ve
missed the point of your visit. Family reunions are supposed to
pleasant; I remember how grumpy you are when you aren’t feeling
well.”

Brandy snorted. “I think you can fend for
yourself.” She knew what Xera was doing, though it was hard to be
appreciative when she felt so volatile. “Did you think we could do
without drama in this family?”

Xera laughed. “You’re right. No point in
giving Ryven’s family the wrong impression. By now they expect a
little excitement. I think I’ve given them the impression that all
alien women are women of action.” She looked thoughtful. “If you’re
going to sleep before we talk next, then here’s my wish for a safe
journey and pleasant dreams.”

Brandy scowled. “Ice cubes don’t dream.”

Xera smirked. “They don’t growl, either.
We’ll talk when you’ve thawed out. Love ya, bye!” she deliberately
used the slang they’d grown up with.

Brandy stared at the blank screen, instantly
sorry she’d chased them off. Now she had to deal with the disaster
alone.

Azor moved, reminding her that he was still
there. He regarded her silently. “We’ll be moving again soon, once
I’ve made certain the doctor has no more instructions. Do you want
to go to the bridge and strap in, or would you prefer your
room?”

She blew out a breath. It was hard to freak
out in the face of so much calm support, though she could feel the
anxiety still simmering. It might not be good to be alone. “The
bridge.” She frowned as he picked her up. “Don’t get used to this.
I prefer walking.”

“Good. I prefer letting you,” he teased. He
kissed her hair, lingering in silent comfort. Now was not a good
time to talk about the monster in the room.

They lay on the bed, fully dressed. Azor held
her, trying to warm her. She was so cold, though she was wrapped in
a blanket. He was worried about putting her in deep sleep, but
didn’t mention it. There were other things she needed to hear.
“I’ll get you there safely.”

She heaved a sigh, not in the mood to talk.
“Hm.”

He smiled as he stroked her hair, but it
didn’t last. “I’m not going anywhere, you know. You need me, and I
like it. A man could get used to this.”

She laughed a little. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and breathed in
the scent of her hair. “I’m not finished with you yet.”

Her breathing finally relaxed. She closed her
shadowed eyes…and slept. Azor gently disentangled and climbed out
of the pod. He kissed her lips and closed the pod. He entered the
code, and Brandy entered the deepest sleep of her life.

Dr. Vhanee swore as he severed his
connection. All his hard work—useless! Brandy had been one of his
most promising patients, and now this. She was not healing. She
didn’t appear to have developed any mental abilities at all.

He threw down his stylus and raged through
his apartment, feeling cornered, trapped. His only consolation was
that Brandy had escaped Vio’s vengeance. Surely she was far beyond
his reach now.

He could not forget Vio’s last message,
though. Vio had promised to make him suffer through Brandy’s
misery, had promised to destroy her. Well, she might not be the
promising subject that he’d hoped for, but Vhanee wasn’t about to
let Vio win, not while there was the slightest chance that he could
make good on his promises.

Vhanee thought about it and finally composed
a message to her family. He had done all he could and would close
out this email account, for it was too risky. He could be traced.
First, he would warn them.

When it was done, he sat back with a sigh. He
felt better, lightened. He could move on now, put the past behind
him. He felt almost hopeful.

That’s when he heard the click.

CHAPTER 15

“She’s going to wake up crabby,” Xera said,
stroking her sister’s hair. It was such a light blond it was almost
white.

Azor nodded. “She’ll be furious…and scared.”
He’d spent the last three months awake, keeping an eye on Brandy’s
sleeping form. He would not let Brandy sleep unguarded.

He’d spent a great deal of time emailing
Blue, keeping informed of things back home. The news of Dr.
Vhanee’s death had come as a surprise, and he was closely following
the investigation. Though murder was suspected, there were no leads
yet. Of course, he would wait until she was better to tell Brandy
the news.

There was also the matter of Dr. Vhanee’s
last message to Brandy’s family. It contained a disturbing warning,
though the doctor had admitted that Brandy was likely beyond Vio’s
reach at the time. Vio himself was missing, the subject of an
aggressive manhunt. He had a lot to answer for.