Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Cameron

She wasn't awake. Nor was she asleep. Instead, Cam floated. Her eyes were closed and her entire focus… was on her body. Every breath was a careful one. Every swallow timed. She'd created a nest in the bed, using the robes to cut out some of the sunlight. Because of her headache and nausea—the sun was not her friend.

Her heartbeat throbbed throughout her body. The beat reverberated inside her brain and pulsed outward, affecting everything. Every muscle clenched, every breath burned, and her stomach… rebelled.

Cameron didn't need to guess what was happening to her. She knew. The alien… doctors and their equipment… hadn't fixed her. Oh, they may have sucked out all the spider venom and repaired whatever damage it had done to her insides. But all the signs and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury were getting worse.

She used to work in the neurological wing of the hospital. Even impaired, Cam could list the warning signs. She had a headache, was nauseous, drowsy, and when she tried to get up earlier, she was dizzy and couldn't get her balance to stand. When she opened her eyes—her vision blurred. Her ears were ringing, and there was an unpleasant taste in her mouth. She had all the signs, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Well, she didn't know if she had problems with her speech because there was no one to talk to. But Cameron was pretty sure that if something didn't happen soon, she'd slip into a coma and die. She'd never see her sister again. Never… sleep in Reb's arms again or have the chance to kiss him. She worried about him. He could have been captured or hurt… and she couldn't go to his aid.

Feeling a tear leak from her tightly closed eyelids and trail down her cheek, Cammy willed away the sadness. Crying would literally make everything worse. Her head would explode if she cried. And then she'd vomit all over and that would escalate all her issues.

Taking slow, measured breaths, she focused on breathing and let the regrets fade. She couldn't do anything about them now. Shutting away the thoughts, she concentrated on her body and let everything relax. Going away in her mind meant she wouldn't hurt. It also meant Cam didn't hear the hover door open.

ReBOrB

He bent over and rested his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths and trying to get his heartbeat under control. Once the Nadhuk couple had returned upstairs to dress for the day, Reb slipped out of the house and ran to the hover without stopping. He had been gone much longer than he planned and he couldn't believe he'd locked Cammy in the ship with no way out.

Once he programed her palm signature in the commands and made sure she was okay, he would return to the small farmhouse. Maybe just before dawn tomorrow. He found a little food for them and some clothing, including the shades of green overshirt he wore. It fit his body well enough, and helped him camouflage when he was in both the forest and among the yama vines—and he needed it to cover the mating marks. But if he could get upstairs, he might find more medicinal herbs.

Reb straightened his spine and slapped his hand to the faceplate beside the door. It slowly lowered. Bounding into the hover, blinded by the sunlight streaming through the window, it took him several moments to realize that Cammy lay balled up in the center of the bed, with both robes and the thin blanket over her head. She didn't move.

"Cammy. I'm back. I'm so sorry it took me this long," he whispered. And she still didn't move.

Shifting closer to the bed, he pulled back the covers and touched her forehead with his palm. She was warm, and he could see her chest rise and fall as she breathed. But she still didn't wake.

He frowned, realizing the direct sunlight had to be why she had piled the robes over her head. He stepped over and flicked a few switches on the console. Ambient floor lighting came on at the same time the blackout shades covered the window.

When the hover plunged into near darkness, he reached across and lifted the bundle of cloth protecting Cammy's eyes. The soft, blue lights at floor level allowed him to see, without the muted illumination bothering her. Reb sat at her side and watched muscles relax in tiny increments. Then her breathing eased. He cursed himself, realizing she'd been in pain because he hadn't shown her how to lower the window shades.

Gently smoothing his hand over her forehead, Reb tried to wake her. "Cammy, I'm back. Did you miss me?" A glance at the small table told him she'd eaten one of the yama fruits. And took a few small bites of the dehydrated bread. Reaching over, he lifted the water tube. When he left her last night, it was full. She drank about half of it.

He turned back, his eyebrows drawn together. Concerned that Cammy remained motionless. Had she had an allergic reaction to the fruit? Or was this her head injury?

Siluthien Hell!

Reb remembered listening to the doctor at the medical center. As he explained to the Andaran why the man couldn't remove Cameron from their care. She'd been bitten by a tiny Iceactic spider. The creature's deadly venom caused her internal organs to fail. The doctor had said they reversed most of the damage, but she needed continued treatment or she would die.

No. The doctor said she needed a final treatment. What if she needed more?

Reb jumped to his feet and carefully repositioned Cammy on her back, straightening her arms and legs. He needed to do a complete scan.

Cammy still didn't respond.

As the Master of Biology—Reb studied all living things. All the native plants and animals, all the alien lifeforms. He knew by looking at them what they needed for optimal health. When they were healthy, he could figure out what animals and sentient beings needed to eat or drink. He understood what soil conditions plants required. And figured out which creatures preyed on other creatures for sustenance.

When a being wasn't healthy, when they were sick or injured as Cammy was, Reb could do a surface scan from several yards away and know they were sick. If he planned on helping someone heal, he needed to do a more comprehensive analysis to figure out what treatment was necessary. A detailed scan would let him know if diet changes would help, or if a specific herb or medicine needed to be ingested. Sometimes he would see the patient needed surgery or other high-tech treatments.

A full scan required his undivided attention. His energy drained, often dependent on how close to death the person was. The time he'd spent hiding in the medical center watching over Cammy had allowed his psyche to study the human body. He now knew Earthers needed sunlight, hydration, and rest to be in optimal health. He knew that compared to many humanoids in the universe, the time it took them to heal was slower than most.

ReBOrB sat beside Cammy on the bed. He faced her feet, deciding to start the full body scan there, assuming her greatest issues would be from the waist up. That would be true if this coma-like state sprang from an allergic reaction to the yama—or from failing to heal the spider bite or the head injury. But he didn't want to miss anything, so he'd start at the bottom.

He didn't expect this to be so hard. Reb knew he needed to examine her, but he found himself smiling at how cute her toes were. How dainty her feet.

Closing his eyes, taking a few deep, cleansing breaths, he let his ability to see Cammy's skin, muscle, bone, and blood… fill his mind. This time, when he opened his eyes, her cute toes did not sidetrack Reb. Instead, he watched the blood flow in her veins. Looked at the way the bones in her feet connected to her leg, knee, and hip. Her stomach…

It wasn't the yama. Cameron had digested the fruit just fine. She had a bit of queasiness, but it didn't come from the fruit. Her internal organs were good. Healthy, with just a hint of damage from the Iceactic spider venom. But it was healing without issue and didn't need help from him.

When ReBOrB raised his gaze to her head, time stopped.

Moments later, he gasped for air, not realizing he'd ceased to breathe. Here was the problem . Fear blinded him for a moment. Until he realized he'd closed his eyes. Not wanting to see.

Forcing them open, he studied the damage. A vessel in her head was still bleeding. Filling her skull with so much blood, it shifted her brain off center. Pushing it to the side, squeezing it into a smaller space. Not only was the brain pushed to the side, but blood saturated all the tissue. How had they missed this?

He couldn't look away.

Reb felt Cammy's headache. It was all-consuming. Making her nauseous. If this continued, she would have seizures. Already she had trouble using her legs and arms. They were weak. Unsteady. If something wasn't done, her body would decline rapidly. The coma-like symptoms would become a true coma she would never wake from. The head injury was killing her.

Reb sat very still. Waiting for his powers to kick in. For the therapeutic knowledge to fill him. He wanted to know what skills he could use to heal her. To repair the damage and accelerate her return to health. Maybe the herbs he'd gathered at the farmer's cottage would help? Or something from the forest surrounding them?

Wasn't there anything he could do?