by Gun Brooke
“It’s Druid O’Diarda, ma’am. We found her on the path among the shrubbery.”
“Ciel?” Gemma flinched and began running. “What…was she attacked?”
“I don’t think so. She looks very ill.”
Her heart pounding and experiencing a cold sense of dread, Gemma ran to where she saw several SC soldiers standing with their light sources directed to the ground. As she reached them, she saw someone on the ground. Ciel! She threw herself to her knees and tore open the kit to find the scanner. Running it over the motionless form that was her infuriating guide, she had her initial suspicions confirmed. Anaphylactic shock. Against what was anybody’s guess. As far as Gemma was concerned, this planet had enough allergens and poisonous plants and creatures to kill half the population.
“I’m going to give her generic anti-allergenic medication, as I have no way of knowing what she’s reacting to.” She didn’t wait for anyone to respond, but pressed the imbulizer and administered a double dosage of her most potent version of the drug. Ciel’s throat could swell shut any moment, and Gemma would rather not have to intubate her in the field if she could avoid it.
She heard running footfalls and looked up for a second. One of the Gantharian physicians came up the path, gasping for breath. Grateful to have one more set of hands and eyes, she kept her scanner running across Ciel’s chest. “I’m monitoring her circulation and breathing,” she said curtly. “I need O2 saturation levels.”
“On it.” The man busied himself with his equipment. “Eighty-four percent.”
“Not good enough. We need her on oxygen.”
“I have a mobile unit here.” Her colleague attached a small nostril clamp and turned a dial. “Nothing like your high-tech stuff, but it does the job well in the field.”
“That’s what counts. We need to move her. The ground is damp, and she’s cold and clammy as it is.” Gemma looked at the hovercraft and down toward the clinic. “Our hovercraft is well equipped, and it can be moved nearer. Private!” Raising her voice, she got the young man’s attention. “Bring my vehicle as close as you can. Are you licensed to drive it?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took off running.
Gemma bent over Ciel, touching her cheek. “Ciel? Dr. O’Diarda?” There was no reaction, but that didn’t mean Ciel didn’t hear her. “Ciel? It’s Gemma. You’re going to be all right. You’re having an allergic reaction to something—”
“Bush…bushes,” Ciel whispered huskily. “Think they’re…sientesh’ta bushes. Allergic…”
“Oh, all right.” Gemma raised her gaze to the Gantharian doctor. “Does that mean anything to you?”
“Sientesh’ta bushes aren’t poisonous to most people. If you’ve been subjected to their thorns several times, though, you can become oversensitized to them and develop an allergy. I assume the druid, being a great herbalist, has come in too close a contact with them too many times.”
“I see. Any known Gantharian remedy?”
“Just what you’re already doing, when it comes to traditional medicine. As for the herbal approach, I guess Druid O’Diarda can tell you when she’s feeling better.”
“I’ll ask her.” Gemma blinked at her own words. Would she really ask about herbs and magic tricks? Honestly. “Ciel, are you in pain anywhere else? Did you hit your head?”
“Don’t think so.” Ciel’s teeth were clattering. “I fell to my knees and then on my side. Tried calling.”
“Good thing the soldiers found you.” Her insides trembled at the thought of Ciel dying alone in the shrubbery from an allergic shock. Trying not to analyze why she was reacting in such a physical way to the fate of a patient, she pushed Ciel’s hair from her forehead and felt how cold she was. She glanced over her shoulder and saw her hovercraft begin to move. “Oh, great. Ciel, the hovercraft is meeting us, but we have to carry you a bit. Tell us if we hurt you too badly.”
“All right.”
The soldiers lifted Ciel gently, and only when one of them gripped her left thigh did she cry out. “Not my leg. Please.”
“Let me look.” Without hesitation, Gemma grabbed a twin laser blade from the belt of the closest soldier. Carefully she cut the fabric of Ciel’s trousers and tore it. She had to hold back a horrified gasp at the pus-filled crater on the outside of Ciel’s thigh. “I, um, I seem to have found the culprit here. We need to move, fast. Don’t touch this part of her. No wonder she cried out.”
They hurried as fast as they could along the dark path, a female soldier in front to light the way, Gemma and the Gantharian physician on either side of Ciel, monitoring her. In less than two minutes they’d reached the hovercraft, where the private had opened the door for them to enter.
“Use my quarters,” Gemma said, and pointed. “I think they’re slightly bigger.”
The soldiers placed Ciel on Gemma’s bed and stepped out. Gemma knelt on the floor, opening her pack. “I’m going to have to drain the pus, Ciel,” she said, wondering why her stomach clenched at the thought of how much this would hurt. “I wish I dared to sedate you, but with the way your vital signs are reading, I simply can’t. I can try for some local anesthetics.”
“I appreciate that. It’s very painful and you’re not even touching it yet.”
“Before we begin, I have to get you warm. Your clothes are damp.”
Ciel nodded weakly. “So cold.” Her face was pale and her lips even more blue-tinted than usual.
Gemma nodded at the other physician and together they pulled off Ciel’s garments. When she wore only her underwear, Gemma tucked a thermo-energy blanket all over Ciel except her thigh. After sealing her hands with surgical gloves, she placed a sterile sheet around it and ran a sterilizing wand over the surrounding skin. “There. Now we have to hurt you some, Ciel. I’ll numb as much as I can.”
“Thank you,” Ciel said, her speech slurred.
Gemma looked up, quickly scanning Ciel’s vital signs. Her values weren’t optimal, but Ciel was holding her own for now. Pressing the imbulizer against Ciel’s skin, Gemma numbed it by repeating the procedure six times in a circle around the ugly wound. Then she brought out a laser-scalpel and looked at her colleague, who had taken over the scanner to keep check on Ciel’s vital signs. “If she dips, I need to know instantly.”
“Certainly.” He nodded grimly.
“Here goes. Ciel, stop me if it becomes unbearable.” Holding her breath, Gemma cut into the hard center of the crater. Ciel whimpered. Pus oozed, and she snatched another wand from her surgical kit. Running it over Ciel’s thigh, she watched the pus disintegrate and turn into harmless fluids, easily absorbed by the body. It took several attempts with the wand before the swelling was reduced and the pus drained. She had to stop twice when the opening became too hot and the pain too great for Ciel. Once the wound was clean, Gemma used a derma-fuser to close it. She would have to keep checking it the first couple of days, since she might have missed some pus, but she was pleased with how it looked. “That was one evil bush out there.”
“Yes. I wasn’t aware of it growing so close to the clinic,” her Gantharian colleague said. “I’ll make sure it’s removed.”
“Pick the flowers first,” Ciel whispered. “Pick them, then boil them in cooking oil until they melt. Use the salve on burns, scars, and insect bites.”
“How ironic.” Gemma shook her head. “I’m going to get you some of that soup of yours. Then I want you to sleep, preferably for twelve hours at least. I’ll set an INI to help your body recover.”
“INI?” Ciel frowned.
“Intravenous Nutritional Infusion.”
Gemma turned to her Gantharian colleague. “I’m Dr. Gemma—”
“Meyer,” he said, smiling politely. “Your reputation precedes you, Dr. Meyer. My name is Tenner O’Sialla.”
“Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.” Gemma smiled wryly. “Thank you for your help, Dr. O’Sialla. I couldn’t have worked as well without your assistance.”
“It was my honor to assist
the renowned Dr. Meyer of the Supreme Constellations.”
Gemma flinched. Renowned? “Um. Thank you. I’m not sure how to respond to that. I’m hardly famous.”
“Ah, but you are. Possessing medical skills beyond anyone else on Gantharat, a close friend to our protectors, and having treated them and our prince—how could you not be famous on our planet? You have helped bring us freedom.”
“It’s true,” Ciel murmured from the bed.
“And I need to go heat some soup for you, Ciel. See you tomorrow at the clinic, Dr. O’Sialla.”
She bid him farewell and hurried to the kitchenette. Famous? Hardly. Hurrying, she heated a mug of soup for Ciel. She was going to have to sleep in the recliner next to the bed and set her alarm to check on Ciel continuously.
As she returned to her quarters, she helped Ciel sit up and eat her soup. Still weak and drowsy, Ciel leaned against her shoulder. Before she realized it, Gemma found herself stroking up and down Ciel’s arm. “There. Better?”
“Soup is always a safe bet.” Ciel smiled faintly. “Thank you. I probably owe you the use of my left leg. I can’t thank you enough.”
“No need to thank me. I did my job, like you would’ve done for me.” Gemma squirmed inwardly. “Let me start the INI, and then you can go to sleep.”
Ciel looked embarrassed. “I think I need the facilities first.”
“The fac—oh, the restroom. Naturally. Let me help you.”
Ciel’s eyes darkened. “I don’t require help in the bathroom.”
“I didn’t mean that. I just think you need to lean on me while you move over there. It’s not far, but if you fall you might tear the new skin.”
“Then let’s go.” Ciel carefully stood with Gemma’s help. “What I wouldn’t give for a shower. And I mean an old-fashioned aqua shower.”
“Tomorrow you can use the cleansing tube. That won’t hurt the healing process.”
“All right.” Ciel made it to the bathroom and Gemma waited outside, finally acknowledging how exhausted she was. The entire day, starting with the baby, Ilias, and then Ciel’s ordeal, was clearly getting to her.
“I’m done.” Ciel’s voice came through the door. “I guess I need more help than I realize.”
“Oh, for stars and skies. Don’t move.” Afraid that Ciel would reinjure herself, Gemma slid the door open. As she wrapped her arm around Ciel’s waist, she felt the other woman cling to her, trembling. “There we go. Just a few steps.”
“I feel faint.” Ciel gasped for breath.
“We’re almost there.” Gemma struggled to lower Ciel onto the bed without actually dropping her. Finally Ciel was settled against the pillows and covered with the warming blanket. “Better?”
“Much.” But Ciel looked uneasy.
“What are you thinking?” Gemma knelt next to the bed. Her touch wasn’t that of a detached trauma surgeon, and she didn’t understand why it was so gentle. She only knew that Ciel’s allergic shock had truly frightened her.
“You…I’m sorry you have to deal with this,” Ciel motioned at her leg, “when I was supposed to guide you, help you.” She pressed her lips together. “I just hate not being able to contribute, to be…” She gestured angrily with her hands with exhausted movements.
“Listen,” Gemma said, capturing Ciel’s hands. “If it were me who had a severe allergic reaction to that bush, or any other thing on Gantharat, and my life was in the balance, wouldn’t you have cared for me? Healed me? Whichever way possible?”
Ciel blinked. “Of course. It’s what I do. It’s what I’ve always been doing.” Her marbled white-black-silver hair spread over the pillow around her head like a halo. “Oh.”
“Yes. Exactly.” Gemma smiled. “This can happen to anyone, and I’m just so glad I was here to help you stay alive and preferably not lose your leg, or any muscle tissue, in the process.”
“You’re very generous and kind. I…honestly, I didn’t expect that.” Ciel looked down at their joined hands. “You have to take my bed and get a good night’s rest.”
“No. I’m sleeping in the recliner.” Gemma set her jaw, expecting Ciel to object.
Instead, Ciel looked relieved. “Thank you. They’re comfortable if you push them all the way back.”
“I’ll be fine. Trust me. I’ve slept in much worse positions, and in much less luxurious surroundings.”
“I can only imagine. You have to tell me one day, maybe…we can compare.” Ciel yawned. “I apologize.”
“No need. Go to sleep. I’ll probably wake you up a few times when I check your leg and vitals status. Just remember it’s me and don’t swing without checking, all right?”
Ciel smiled faintly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Gemma walked over to the bathroom and took care of her usual evening ablutions. Looking in the mirror, she was startled to see her brown eyes glimmering a low-burning amber. How could that be when she was so fatigued she could have slept standing up in the cleansing tube? Shaking her head, she cleaned her teeth and pulled on some soft retrospun pajamas. Then she grabbed another thermo-energy blanket and curled up in the recliner. She realized she needed a pillow and reached out for one that Ciel wasn’t using.
Suddenly Ciel’s hand shot forward and grabbed her wrist. “Not swinging, just checking,” she murmured, her voice husky.
“Just need a pillow.”
“Here.” Ciel held one out to her.
“Thanks. Go to sleep now.”
“You too.”
Gemma listened to Ciel’s breathing even out. Only when she was convinced Ciel was sleeping soundly did she relax against the pillow. The skin on her wrist tingled and Gemma had no clue what that meant. She was going to have to keep an eye on Ciel O’Diarda in more ways than one and try to figure it out.
Chapter Five
Ciel stood on slightly wobbly legs, relieved to feel only a slight discomfort in her leg. Gemma’s chair was empty and the blanket folded neatly on top of the pillow. Military precision, of course. She listened for clues as to where Gemma might be and heard faint sounds from the bathroom. Desperately needing what the SC staff called the cleansing tube, she went over to her quarters and gathered a clean set of underwear and a coverall. She missed her usual airy, flowing kaftan and pants but conceded that, while working with the SC military, a generic sort of coverall was more practical. She stood out less that way, something she’d become an expert at over the years.
“Ciel?” Gemma’s voice came from her quarters. “You all right?”
“I’m fine. Just getting ready to, eh, shower.”
“Can I take a look at your leg before you do?” Gemma asked from the doorway.
“No need,” Ciel muttered. “I’ll check it out and, if I need to, I’ll take care of it using the correct herbs.”
“Herbs.” Gemma pursed her lips. “You had such a bad reaction last night. Life-threatening. I’m not sure herbs will cut it.”
“Herbs kept people alive through much worse during the last twenty-five years, and before that too.” Annoyance simmered in the back of Ciel’s mind at Gemma’s unwavering belief in the superiority of SC medicine.
“That said—”
“That said, I’m going to shower now.” Ciel hurried past Gemma, who took a step back without another word.
In the bathroom, Ciel leaned against the closed door. Exasperated, this time with herself and her temper, she groaned. “Damn.” She pulled off her nightclothes and stepped into the cleaning tube. The humming sound waves made goose bumps erupt along her arms. She hated how this machine made her hair static, even if the effect didn’t last. It only took sixty seconds to thoroughly cleanse her entire body. Grateful when the cycle ended, Ciel exited the narrow space and pulled on everything but the coverall that was still in her room, as she needed to apply her herbal paste and dress the affected area on her leg.
Gemma had returned to her quarters as Ciel crossed the corridor to enter hers. She thought of how she’d just talked to the woman who had sa
ved her life last night. Her personal issues had more to do with her attitude than the fact that Gemma believed in her own profession and education. Placing her head in her hands, Ciel sighed. She sometimes spoke before she had time to edit herself, but she knew when she’d been in the wrong. She pulled on the coverall and walked over to Gemma’s quarters. Knocking on the door, she chewed on the inside of her cheek.
“Enter.” The door opened. Gemma was at her desk, her computer showing the SC crest, but her subspace conversation was clearly over. “Yes?” Her expression didn’t reveal her mood.
“I apologize. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. You saved my life yesterday and it was wrong of me to dismiss your efforts, as well as your way of practicing medicine.” Ciel tugged at her sleeves, putting weight on her uninjured leg.
“Apology accepted. In all fairness, I’m guilty of the same suspicion.” Gemma smiled faintly. “We’d both do well to remember we’re working toward the same goal, albeit through different approaches.”
Suddenly enthusiastic, and a lot happier that Gemma didn’t hold a grudge, Ciel motioned toward the bed. “May I sit down?”
“Oh. Sorry. Of course, your poor leg.”
“I’m all right, just a bit sore. Honestly. I’ll let you take a look at it later in case I need more of the anti-allergen medication.” Ciel sank down gratefully. “I was thinking, and this I’m sure is why the protector sent me along as your guide, that we need to find common ground for our respective treatments. Where mine fail, yours might be successful and vice versa.”
Gemma pulled one leg up, hooking her arms around it. The pose made her seem so much younger. The Earth human was very beautiful in an understated way. Her triangular face, with large, hooded brown eyes, delicate nose and lips, was almost pagan, like the figures from the mountain sagas Ciel’s grandmother used to read to her when she was a child. Gemma’s hair, reaching her earlobes and with short bangs, was almost the same golden-brown color as her eyes.
“What?” Gemma tilted her head. “Why are you looking at me like you’ve just noticed me or something?”
