The Bond That Heals Us (20 page)

“You are so…perfect,” he said before leaning in and placing a kiss on the end of her nose.

Sara opened her mouth to speak but closed it and instead rested her head on his shoulder. He knew what she was going to say, despite the words not coming out. She wanted him to stay. Wanted him to work with her and be a part of her life. Give up his ship and crew. Stop traveling from station to station dodging local authorities to drop off supplies and other black market goods.

And for the first time in seventeen years, he was tempted. Really, honestly tempted.

Sara lifted her head, looked into his eyes and smiled. “We should get dressed. I’m sure Rachael is wondering what the hell we’re doing in here.”

“I think it’s very obvious what we’re doing in here. Unless you have a soundproof office.”

“Shit,” she said and immediately turned red.

“I think your friend would be very happy for you.”

“My friend will tease me mercilessly once you leave.” Sara looked suddenly very uncomfortable. “Not that you’ll be going anywhere until we figure out what’s going on with those damn parasites.”

Davin lifted his body from hers and Sara straightened. She didn’t move away from him immediately, instead pushing against the wall to wrap her arms around him.

Locked in her embrace, Davin felt his heart soar and cherished the gift she’d given him.

It took them a few minutes to get cleaned up and straighten their clothing. Sara tripped over her desk and jumped around, massaging her smashed toes.

“How have you survived all these years?” He chuckled as she bent down to massage her wounded foot.

“Why do you think I became a doctor? Between always hurting myself or causing one of my friend’s injuries, I figured it was time to do something about it. I can’t imagine doing anything else, to be honest.” Sara gasped, her hand going to her mouth.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you should be a doctor, healer too.”

Davin laughed a bit harder and brought her foot up to his mouth. He placed a kiss on the top of her toes before sliding it into her shoe.

“I would never assume you’d mean anything like that. You’re too concerned with making everyone feel better to cause harm, wild one.”

130

“Sometime I say stupid things. Haylie always laughed too.” She smiled down at him.

At that moment, there was nothing he wanted more than to take her back to his quarters, throw her onto the bed and not let her get up for the rest of the day. Instead, he stood up and pulled her tight in his arms.

“Stupid isn’t a term I’d associate with you.” He brushed his lips against hers before running his tongue over the seam of her lips.

“Oh.” She smiled as her gaze roamed over his face. “And how do you think of me?”

“A brilliant, caring doctor.”

Sara blushed again and Davin loved seeing the color spread across her cheeks.

“And how do you see me, wild one?”

“The rogue alien captain wants to know what a simple human doctor thinks of him?” Sara leaned against him and mimicked his earlier action by running her tongue over his bottom lip. “I think you’re very exciting and fucking sexy.”

“That kind of talk is going to get you in trouble again. And you have patients to cure.”

“Yes, I do.” With a sigh, Sara stepped out of his embrace and moved around to the computer. “I need to go back to the mine to see not only where the parasites are coming from, but what is keeping them from killing the miners.”

The thought of Sara going back to the mines, even if she was healthy, sent Davin’s internal warning sensors into overdrive. Walking up behind her, he slid his arms down along her shoulders and arms.

“I’m sure there is another way. We can get the medics who are there to bring you some samples. You’ll have all of the equipment you need here to run your tests.”

Not looking back at him, Sara shook her head and bent over to pick up a data pad on the desk in front of her.

“I need to retrace my steps. Somewhere I got infected. That’s where I’ll find the solution. It will take too long to get someone else to go where I was and even then I can’t guarantee they won’t miss something.”

“Sara, you’ve barely been out of isolation yourself. You’re not honestly going to put your body back through that.”

That got her attention.
Sara spun around, her mouth open with a look between shock and anger on her face.

“That’s my job. I’m perfectly fine now, thanks to your help. I have to do everything in my power to make sure no one else suffers. I can’t afford to have a whole station full of Seans out there.”

“And they can’t afford to have you get sick and unable to help. I’m not a doctor, just a healer. I can’t solve this, I can’t save all of them. They need you.”

Sara gave him a shove strong enough to send him staggering back a step. “Who the hell asked you to save them? I’ve never asked
anything
of you, Davin. Not even to help 131

Sean. So don’t get a martyr complex on me. This is my job and I’m damn well going to do it!”

Davin found his teeth grinding together and he had to take a deep breath to keep from snapping at her. Didn’t she realize how important she was to this colony?

“I’m simply asking that you let someone else collect the samples. You can still do your job.”

“What do you care anyway? As soon as Kamran gives you the all clear you’ll be out of here. You’ve made it no secret that you don’t want to stay.”

“Just because I don’t want to give up my life doesn’t mean I don’t care about you!”

he roared.

They stood there, panting and staring at each other. Davin’s heart was pounding madly in his chest as he stared at her. Sara’s chest was rising and falling as fast as his, but her eyes were wide and locked on him.

“What did you say?” she whispered.

Fuck
. “That I care about you.”

She swallowed hard. “Do you love me?”

By
Ralla
yes!
“No.”

“I see.”

Sara picked up the data pad, slipped on her medical coat and walked to the door.

Davin fought every muscle, every impulse to keep his body still. He couldn’t go after her. If she stayed with him he’d use her. More and more he’d drain her energy, healing the people she’d never ask him to heal. All because he wouldn’t want to disappoint her.

No, it was far better for her if he cut all ties now and let her live a full life. It wasn’t like they’d formed a permanent attachment. It had only been a few weeks. Not long enough to give up everything he’d known to stay with her.

Sara turned once she opened the door to the office and stepped outside. “You know, I thought I cared for you too. I can’t get you out of my mind. Damn near obsessive. I thought there was a time when I might even love you. But I see that really wasn’t the case. Take care of yourself, Davin.”

“Please don’t go back to the mine.” His throat was tight and the words were painful to say. The ache in his throat spread to his chest, squeezing his heart.

“I don’t have a reason not to. It’s my job and it seems that’s the only important thing I currently have in my life.”

Without another word, she turned and walked away.

132

Sara took a long drink from the canteen that held her water rations, enjoying the sensation of the cool liquid filling her stomach. When she looked around the area that they’d set up as a makeshift med bay, she felt a sudden wave of exhaustion pass over her. She’d been struggling to deal with the parasite infection for the past two days and hadn’t made any progress.

One of the medics who’d been here since Davin had gotten her out walked over with a man draped around his shoulders. “We have another man who’s showing symptoms, Doctor Fergus.”

“There is a free bed near the back, Marc. If you can take a blood sample and put it into the scanner, that would be great.”

“Got it.”

She watched as he helped fill one of their last three empty beds. Since her return, more and more men had started to show signs of the parasite infection. Shit, she had to rush one man to the station because she didn’t have the resources she needed here to help him. Last she’d heard from Rachael, he was in stable condition but barely holding on. Maybe Davin had been right about her coming here and things would have been better if she’d stayed on the station, doing her analysis there.

No!
The last thing she wanted to do was second guess herself. Davin was nothing but an ass. She needed to be here to help. These men needed her. Everything else was irrelevant. And his fears that she’d get sick again were unfounded. There wasn’t a single parasite in her blood and she felt great.

Totally, ass-kicking exhausted, but great.

“Doctor Fergus.”

Sara looked up and tried not to groan out loud when she saw Grant walking toward her. It was hard to believe he hadn’t put in an appearance long before now, considering the impact this parasite infection was having on production.

“Mr. Grant.” She stood up to face him. “What can I do for you?”

“I want to know when the hell I’m going to have my mine back under my control.”

His red face somehow grew redder. “This foolishness has been going on long enough.”

“What foolishness is that, sir? The total infection of every miner in this facility or the fact that you’re still insisting on working the miners during this crisis?”

“With the exception of a few, most of the men are fine. As I said before, they are taking advantage of your bleeding heart.”

Oh this guy was really pissing her off.

133

“Please take a seat,” she said, and pointed to the small chair she was using as an exam area. “And roll up your sleeve.”

“There is nothing at all wrong with me. This is ridiculous.” He stood and crossed his arms across his chest.

“Well, unfortunately for you, I’m the judge of that. I have orders from the administrator himself that anyone who enters this place must undergo a full blood scan and physical to see if they are showing any signs of distress.” Sara took a step away from the chair and pointed at it without breaking eye contact. “Sit.”

Grant huffed a few times and looked ready to snap at her again, but he finally plopped his heavy frame into the small chair.

“Completely unnecessary,” he muttered.

“As I said, I’ll be the judge of that. Now, when was the last time you were here?”

“Last week. I came for my meeting with the shift leads to get my progress report.”

“And have you noticed any strange feelings or sensations? Dizziness, shortness of breath, that sort of thing?”

Grant stared at her, the cords in his neck tensing and relaxing and he ground his teeth. “No.”

“Good. Then your blood test will most likely be clean and you’ll have nothing to worry about.” Except the fact that Kamran was going to kick his ass back to Earth for screwing with the wellbeing of the miners.

Sara gave the needle an extra firm jab into his arm and a small, vindictive part of her enjoyed the small twinge of pain on his face. The rest of her felt guilty.

“Sorry. I’m a bit tired.”

“There’s no reason for you to be here at all. These men will be perfectly fine.”

Tired of hearing other people’s opinions as to whether or not she should be here, she felt her entire body tense, wanting to retaliate. Instead, Sara closed her eyes and somehow managed to push her annoyance away. “I’m doing my job. Nothing more.

Now I’m going to run your blood sample. It should only take a minute for me to get the results.”

Standing in front of the cell scanner seemed a blessed relief. The quiet hum of the motor as it did its work lulled her into a state of peace. For a moment, she could almost believe her heart hadn’t shattered.

Davin didn’t love her. Despite all of the feelings she had and all of the signs she thought he’d given her, he didn’t love her. But that didn’t make sense! The way he’d touched her, the passion with which they’d made love all told her he cared. Fuck, even the fact he hadn’t wanted her to come back here proved he had feelings for her.

Though he admitted to caring for her, he just didn’t love her.

“I can’t sit here and wait around for your tests.” Grant stood up so fast his chair nearly fell to the floor. “I’m leaving to attend to my business matters here in the mine. If I’m about to die, please find me.”

134

Before she could argue the matter, he stomped off in the direction of the lower drilling cavern. Sara wanted to scream but somehow managed to keep it inside.

“Grant is a fuck-up,” a voice behind her muttered.

Sara turned and saw one of the miners she’d treated yesterday lying on a cot, his head propped on his hand. He winked at her when she smiled.

“I’m not the nicest person to deal with these days either.”

“You’re a saint, Doc. Don’t let that ass make you think otherwise.”

She couldn’t stop the small smile that leapt to her face. “Thanks. It’s nice to know someone appreciates what I’m doing.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to figure out what’s causing this? I haven’t felt this shitty since I did a tour on an ore hauler ten years ago.”

“That’s what I’m hoping to find out,” she said and ran her hands into her hair and pulled it back into a fresh ponytail. “Do you remember when people started getting sick? My records in med bay don’t really show an increase in patients.”

The miner rolled onto his back and pursed his lips. “Must be about a month or more now. Just after the order from that alien asshole came to shut us in and run triple shifts.”

Sara took a step closer to the man, her hands placed firmly on her hips. “Kamran did no such thing. Chief Bond and Taber are trying to find out what happened, where the order came from. The last thing Kamran would want to do is harm anyone.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you, Doc. But a lot of us down here don’t really know the administrator. Your friend Grant there told us the orders came from him. Most people still belive him.”

“Well Grant is full of shit
.
”

No wonder Grant had wanted Kamran’s approval so badly at the last board meeting. He’d been throwing his name around down here at the mines. He was probably scared the miners would stop believing his stories and contact Kamran directly.

“I was at the meeting where it was discussed. Kamran most certainly
didn’t
give his approval.”

The cell scanner dinged, indicating it was done with its scan. Sara punched the buttons on the keyboard, annoyed with the whole situation. Why did things always seem to go to crap at this place? When the computer displayed the results, she thought it was her annoyance that was making her see things.

“Computer, please confirm results.”

After a few minutes of running a silent check, the computer beeped again.

“Confirmed.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered.

“Problem, Doc?”

135

“Ah no.” Not one she was about to share with anyone but Haylie and Kamran.

“Are you going to be okay for a few minutes? I need to get in touch with the station.”

“A mandatory rest? I’m in heaven.”

Not wanting to wait any longer, Sara downloaded the test results onto a data pad and practically ran over to the utility shed that they’d transformed into a makeshift office for her. Only once she’d secured the door did she hit the data pad and checked the results again. There had to be a mistake.

It only took her a few minutes for the call to reach Haylie, who grinned when she saw Sara. “Hey, you. Still feeling okay?”

“I’m good. How are you feeling? Still have the morning sickness?”

Haylie stuck out her tongue. “Kamran likes to tease me. Says Briel women don’t normally get sick. So I had Taber lock him in the brig for an hour.” She frowned and leaned forward. “Now that was funny, so why aren’t you laughing.”

“I think I have a problem here. Grant came by. Said he had some things to check on.”

“Pissed you off again, did he?” Haylie grinned. “Doesn’t sound like anything you can’t handle.”

“I made him submit to a blood scan.”

“And?”

Sara took a deep breath as she slid the data pad into the portable communicator.

“I’m sending you the results right now.”

It took only a few seconds for the data to transmit and for Haylie to open the file.

She frowned and looked up at Sara. “Am I reading this right?”

“He’s totally infected with them.”

“Is he sick? I mean, you only had a fraction of this amount and it damn near killed you.”

“Doesn’t even look tired. The parasites may be what make someone sick, but there’s more to it than that.”

“I’m going to let Kamran know what’s going on. He’ll want to haul Grant from active duty until you figure out what we should do next.”

“I’m going to get you to send a few extra security personnel too,” Sara piped up.

“I’m guessing Grant was the one who imposed lockdown on the mine and he blamed Kamran, even though we can’t prove it. God knows what he’ll do when I confront him with this.”

“I’ll have a team there in twenty. I want you to stay away from him until they arrive. The last thing we need is you getting kidnapped again and having an accident. I don’t trust that man as far as I can throw him.”

“Do you want me to see if Davin can tag along?” Haylie asked in an even voice.

136

Sara looked at her friend, knowing her emotions were clear on her face. Not that she could have hidden how she felt from her best friend anyway.

At the mention of his name, Sara couldn’t help but think of Davin. This is where they’d made love when he’d found her the first time. God, she’d actually been excited beyond belief when she saw him walk into the cavern.

“No. He doesn’t want to be with me. Dragging him back here is only going to make him feel guilty. Best to keep away. Just send that security detail so I can get Grant back to med bay and find out what’s going on.”

Haylie didn’t respond for a minute and Sara thought she was going to argue. She really didn’t need a lecture from her blissfully happy friend right now.

“Haylie, hon, just let this one go. It didn’t work out. Davin’s not the first man and he won’t be the last.”

“Did you know that I’d given up on Kamran? It was right before the Ecada attacked and he was in the brig.” Haylie took a breath and smiled. “I thought we’d finally connected. Not just the bond, but something deeper. And then he pushed me too hard the wrong way and blocked me out. I thought he was rejecting me.”

Sara shook her head. “I can’t imagine. He’s crazy about you.”

“Sometimes that’s not enough for things to work. And sometimes men think they are protecting us when really they’re scared. I’ve seen the way Davin looks at you. I wouldn’t give up on him yet.”

“But he doesn’t…” She took a breath and tried to relax. “He said he doesn’t love me. And while the sex is fantastic, I need more than that.”

Haylie sighed. “Look, we’ll talk about this when you get back with Grant. That security detail is on their way.”

“Thanks, hon.”

Sara sat in the silence of the shed and felt sorry for herself. She brushed a tear from her cheek, her thoughts drifting back to Davin. She really did wish he’d come, but not because he was asked to. Not to act as her protector because it was what he thought he should do. She wanted him to come because he loved her, was worried about her. But the chances of that happening were nonexistent.

A loud knock had Sara on her feet and yanking the door open in an instant. “What’s wrong?”

Grit, the miner shift leader she’d met when she’d first been kidnapped, was standing there. His face was pale and he looked like he was about to collapse. He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the shed.

“Doctor Fergus. Man down. I think he’s dead.”

“Show me.”

Sara ran after him, grabbing one of her med kits as she rushed past the patient area.

Grit led her down the tunnel that she and Davin had traveled only the week before.

When he pulled her into the cavern with the underground pool, they had to push past 137