She was so sure she hated Stag…but the pain in her chest said otherwise.

“I had to turn off all his implants when I ran an electrical current through him to restart his heart rhythm. They will be down for hours, since I had to force the shutoff. I’m not reading any real damage, so we’ll have to wait.”

“English,” she got out.

Maze glanced at her. “That was in English.”

“I don’t know what that means!” She was upset and frustrated. “Is he brain dead? Just tell me.”

“I’m reading some activity. It would be easier if I could access his chips, but I panicked.”

She just stared at him, confused.

“I’m a medic. Every cyborg in my care has allowed me a pathway to hack access to their bodies in emergency situations like this one. I can shut down their implants and chips. Otherwise, sending a current of electricity through them can damage those cybernetics permanently. Stag matters too much to me, and I think I may have drained the power to them completely.”

She tried to make sense of it. “I get that electrocuting them is bad, but power drain?”

Maze twisted, grabbed another scanner, and ran this one over Stag’s chest. “Our bodies generate power for our cybernetic components. As a medic, I was designed to be able to drain that power to care for other cyborgs if they give me access to do so. I think I overdid it. I panicked. I wasn’t calm. It means it’s going to take hours for his cybernetics to recharge enough to work again.”

“What does that matter? I mean, how would they help you figure out what’s wrong with him?”

“We have three chips implanted inside our brains. They could tell me if there’s any damage around them. They’re off, and not responding to me trying to turn them back on. Recharging.” He grabbed another injector, pressing it against Stag’s side.

“What was that for? Is something wrong with his heart or lungs?”

“I’m not reading any damage to his organs. I just gave him a sedative to keep him under.”

“Don’t we want him to wake up?”

“He’ll heal faster if he’s immobile.”

She felt frustrated. “If he survives.”

Maze finally put his gadgets away and closed the case. He stood. “He’s a cyborg. We’re tough, and we heal faster than you do. It’s how we were designed. I am reading brain function.”

That calmed her. “So he’s going to be fine?”

“He was lucky. The drug will keep him down for an hour. I’m going to give you access to direct coms with me. Just press your hand on the panel next to the wall and say my name. I have to go. Another crew member will leave the ship to check Stag’s work on the patch and seek out any other damage. I want to be there in case there’s another medical emergency. Will you watch over Stag and contact me if he’s in distress?”

“I don’t have much experience with injured people. How will I know?”

Maze walked over to the door and pressed his hand on the panel. “Just contact me if you become alarmed with anything. Watch him.” He pulled his palm off the sensor. “The computer will now transfer your calls to me. Just say my name. It’s Maze, if you’ve forgotten.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He regarded her with a stern look. “I’m trusting you not to do him more harm. I’d have put him in my room to heal, but I hate to leave him alone in case his condition worsens. He saved your life when we took you off the Pride. It wasn’t in our orders to save anyone on that ship. Just to investigate if it was in fact the Markus Models that had attacked it, and to see if we could gain any information of why they would target it.”

“I’m not going to hurt him.”

He continued to watch her.

“I swear. He’s an asshole, I won’t lie. But I’ve seen some good qualities about him too. I don’t want him to die.”

That seemed to alleviate any of his doubts because his expression softened. “Stag is a good male. He’s been emotionally damaged by Earthers. It’s impossible to forget the abuse we suffered while they were in control of our lives.” He picked up the case. “There’s a med kit in the lower bunk wall drawers. Can you wash the blood off him and redress the wounds? I sanitized them but I didn’t have time to do that.”

She nodded. “I can handle that.”

“I’ll check in when I have time. It will be a while though.” He left.

Nala turned, staring at Stag. He still looked too pale, and she knew he’d hate being vulnerable to her, since she wasn’t tied to the bed while he slept. She bent, crawled under the bunk, opened the drawer, and slid out the med kit, placing it by his feet at the end of the bed. A trip to the cleansing unit and she returned with warmed, wet clothes.

“Look, we might fight a lot, but I want you to wake up and be okay.”

She removed the hastily applied bandage below his knee with care, his skin warm to the touch. The cut made her wince. It was jagged, about an inch long, but not deep. It wasn’t actively bleeding anymore but she didn’t expect it to be. Sanitizing wounds meant it hadn’t only been cleaned out, but the injured blood vessels had been sealed.

She sat on the edge of the bed and gently washed away the blood from his skin, glancing up at his face. He looked younger in sleep, peaceful, and all the harsh lines that he usually wore were gone.

“Be okay, alright? I’m sure we have a ton more arguments to have before you’re rid of me. Plus, if you stay the way you are, think of all the bad things I could do to you.” She smiled. “I’m sure that’s your biggest fear. What is that horrible Earther plotting with her devious mind?”

But her humor faded, because it was possible he’d never wake up. “You’re paranoid for no reason. You haven’t hurt me. We agree on the definition of self-defense, remember?”

She put a clean bandage on the wound and scooted higher, almost afraid to see what waited under the larger one on his shoulder. She placed the med kit up by his pillow, where she usually rested her head while they slept. It was tough to get close enough to him so she lifted his arm, inched closer, and laid it across her lap to lean in.

Her hands trembled a little as she used her fingernails to carefully break the seal on the bandage and lift it up. There wasn’t one cut, but two. Maze said Stag had been hit with shrapnel. The medic had done more than just clean and bandage the top cut. It was deep, and she could see foam, a bonding filler that would prevent more bleeding as he healed.