Читать книгу Defiant. Tome 1. Defiant - - Страница 7

Serena slowly opened her eyes, and cursed the strike of fate that didn’t let her die. She didn’t doubt she was still alive. However, she could barely see, but what she could – made no sense.

Silver plating and dim light surrounded her.

Her consciousness failed her quickly, but when she came to her senses again, she could feel her body once more. The heavy, agonising pain was first to come. And then there was the feeling of helplessness, as she couldn’t even move at all.

Serena didn’t fight it when her mind went blank, throwing her into the unconscious state.

From time to time she would swim out again, only to succumb to the darkness shortly.

Finally, she managed to wake up and grasp at reality, not allowing the weakness to take over once more. Only then she realised she was lying face down in some sort of a medical pod she hadn’t seen before.

Slowly and weakly turning her head she noticed her hands bound to the pod.

«Please, remain calm.» she heard a soft female voice through the ringing in her ears. «You are safe and being treated from the injuries you have suffered.»

The pod administered some medicine and Serena felt her mind slipping again.

The next time she awakened her hands were no longer bound. Serena gritted her teeth and tried to push herself up.

«It is highly recommended you stay in the pod, Lady Serena…» the same voice came through.

The woman realised that it could be the AI speaking to her. Failing to get up, Serena closed her eyes, feeling dizzy and weak.

«Where…» Serena exhaled, her voice coarse and raspy. «Am I?»

«You are in a private section of the Imperial Hospital. Please, stay in the pod. Your Medic has been notified of your awakening and will be arriving shortly.»

Serena allowed herself to stay lying and closed her eyes, almost immediately dozing off. However, she forced her eyes open once she heard approaching footsteps. Forcing through the nauseating wave, she turned her head towards the sound and saw a tall, slim man approaching. He was green eyed and with short cut dark hair – so short, that it looked almost non-existent.

«Lady Serena.» the man bowed. «Allow me to introduce myself. I am Alpha level medic Kareem Dorn Thilidin. I was entrusted with your well-being until you recover from the immense injuries you have suffered.»

The woman tried hard to push herself up, but failed again:

«Empress Alathea…» she felt the medic touch her arm and stopped trying to get up.

«She is alive and well, Lady Serena. We all saw what happened. You and your crew saved Empress Alathea’s life.» the medic stepped aside and ordered the pod to run a scan. «And though your injuries were severe, you are healing quite well.»

«My crew…» Serena felt her head spinning again.

«They’ve apprehended the criminals that failed to assassinate our Empress, Lady Serena.»

«They’re alive…»

«They’re all alive and well, my lady.» the medic administered some medicine. «Now, sleep. You need to recover. Our Empress will be happy to hear you are getting better by the day…»

Serena couldn’t answer, already succumbing to the sedative she received.

She didn’t know how long she slept, but when she woke up once more, she pushed herself up – even though she was still feeling bursts of pain in her back. The AI kept trying to talk her into staying in the pod, but Serena gritted her teeth and sat up.

The woman didn’t know how long it took her to do that, but as soon as she did – the medic she already saw before ran into the room and hurriedly approached her.

«Don’t dare tell me to lie down again, Kareem.» Serena growled at the man.

He frowned at such a statement, then smirked and contacted someone through his information tablet.

«You’re not in the condition to go anywhere, Lady Serena…» he said. «But I was warned by your crew that you are a very stubborn woman who disregards her injuries often.»

«Show me what happened to me…» Serena swallowed hard, battling with the dizziness that hit her again.

Kareem smirked and showed her his information tablet with her initial scans.

Serena saw her body in shambles: all the muscles on her back were burned off by the explosion, her ribs shattered, spine broken in a few places. It was a miracle she was alive.

The door slid open and a couple of helper bots appeared. One of those flew up to Serena, who sat shocked at the news, and offered her water. The woman took it without question, emptying the unbreakable packet used for patients during recovery in a couple of big gulps.

«How?» she exhaled, slowly shaking her head.

«How are you alive?» Kareem chuckled. «Only thanks to the quick thinking of your crew members, Lady Serena. Your Officer… Hunter, he administered some emergency stims you made on your ship. Fascinating mix, my lady. I do admire the thought that came into that.»

«I know how to survive, Kareem.»

«And that is extremely admirable, Lady Serena. Please, will you be so kind to grant us the mixture recipe for medical use? It has proven itself quite effective in your case… Even though we didn’t have much hope at first.»

«I thought every mix I made was logged and sent to Veluthian servers every time I visited?» Serena glanced aside to the patiently waiting helper bots – one of those carried something reminiscent of a free-flowing robe.

«For usual ships this is true. Yours, however, was not uploading everything. The unique medical mixtures you’ve concocted on your own weren’t supplied to the servers for public use.» Kareem tilted his head. «I hope you understand that if you wish to end your military career at any time, the medical field would be thrilled to have you help us make medicinal mixtures. I think you’d be a great medic.»

«Thanks…» the woman reached out and grabbed the robe, wincing, but putting it on. «But I’ll stick to my choice of niche…»

She slowly slipped off the pod and forced herself to straighten up. Pushing away Kareem’s helping hand, she took a deep breath, before making a cautious step forward. Her legs felt weak, but she still took a few steps, before glancing at the medic, who stood frozen and silent, watching her.

«My crew…» Serena didn’t know how long she would be able to stand on her own. «I need to see my crew. Preferably now.»

Kareem opened his mouth, then closed it, took a moment to think and smiled:

«Well, then… If you’re not going to stay in the medical pod until your wounds heal completely, I would recommend to step out and get some fresh air while I will be preparing your transfer to a private room for the rest of your stay. While on the way to our gardens, I can contact your crew and invite them for a short visit.»

«Would you like some more water, Lady Serena?» the helper bot flew up to her and offered another drink.

Serena felt so parched that she couldn’t resist taking it.

«Please, don’t exert yourself more than necessary.» Kareem gestured to the exit. «And do tell me if you’ll need any help.»

«I’m fine.» Serena growled, heading towards the door.

She walked so slow and unlike her usual pace, that it seemed like an eternity had passed until she reached the exit and saw the corridor, which opened up onto a sun-lit terrace with benches and comfortable seats for the patients to spend some time watching the beauty of the trees and flowers that filled the gardens the hospital had on its inner grounds. A couple of patients sat in different spots of this garden, and Serena noted how they all noticed her, immediately beginning to whisper between their little groups.

Fighting through the nausea and weakness, she approached a set of closest seats and lowered onto one of them, cautious not to lean back and hurt herself.

«I will issue you a special mobile chair that will allow you sitting without discomfort.» Kareem said. «Your back would need to heal properly before you could sit in a usual seat.»

The woman caught her breath, feeling exhausted from what little amount of steps she took.

«I appreciate the thought, but I’ll have to decline that, Kareem…» she breathed out, suddenly grimacing at the bitter taste in her mouth.

Serena forced down a nauseating wave and looked at the picturesque gardens, trying not to think about anything else, but the colourful flowers and butterflies that soared around the plants.

«How long have I been here? And how long until my full recovery?» she finally asked, leaning with her arms over her knees and finding this pose more tolerable than trying to sit up straight.

«Uh…» the way Kareem fell silent made her look at the man. «Our first assumptions were around six weeks.»

«Six weeks?» the woman frowned.

«Yes, at first we estimated your recovery at six weeks. However, thanks to the supply of your miracle stims you’ve been recovering much faster than we thought.»

«How long have I been here?»

«Two weeks as of today.»

Serena almost gasped for air, feeling shock washing over her. For two weeks she was out and there was no telling what could have happened during this time.

«You must understand, Lady Serena, we had to reconstruct your spine and ribs, as well as aid in healing all the other extensive injuries you have sustained… External and internal.» Kareem tried to explain.

Serena slowly shook her head and grasped her hair, feeling a sudden dizziness washing over her. Closing her eyes, she tried hard not to allow this to make her sway, or even worse – fall from the seat.

She heard the man kneeling next to her:

«Lady Serena?»

«I’m fine. Just a little dizzy.» she replied, taking a deep breath.

«I warned you that you should have stayed in the pod.»

The woman opened her eyes and glanced at the medic:

«If you’d know me a little better, you’d know I never stay in the pod long enough.» she took a moment. «But I’d appreciate if you have any of my stims with you…»

«Yes, your crew members warned me as much.» Kareem tilted his head aside, giving her a shot, then glanced aside and smiled. «Speaking of…»

Serena tried to turn her head slowly, feeling her neck and back hurting, and saw Wolfin, Hunter and Lindon running to her, disregarding all etiquette of being in the Imperial Hospital. The woman thought for a moment if she would be able to stand up, but realised that, most probably, not for a while – her body felt too heavy and pained.

Hunter reached her first, falling to his knees in front of her and catching her face in his palms. For a couple of moments he was watching her face with a happy smile before connecting their lips in a long kiss.

«You miracle of a woman!» he said leaning back and letting out a slight chuckle.

Serena grasped his wrist, leaning with her cheek into his palm and closed her eyes, feeling her head spinning even harder.

«This miracle needs a bit of help getting to her room…» she exhaled. «It appears, Alpha level medic Kareem was right and I shouldn’t have gotten out of the medical pod in the first place…»

«I’ll be happy to show you to your rooms, Lady Serena.» Kareem bowed. «Allow me to call some helper bots to…»

«No need.» Serena gritted her teeth, and caught Hunter’s shoulder to push herself up.

The cyborg immediately aided her to her feet, and Lindon stepped up as well, grasping one of her arms to help her stay up and walking.

«I told you she’ll be a hard patient.» Wolfin smirked, meeting Kareem’s gaze.

The medic sighed heavily and nodded:

«Hard patient indeed…» he said. «This way. The room is not that far.»