Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

“Mhm,” Doctor Allbright said, waving me to the back of the room. “Okay, let’s get you cleaned up and stop this bleeding.”

I sighed, grateful she had at least pretended to accept my words at face value. The way she looked at me said she didn’t believe me, but she wasn’t interested in pursuing the matter further.

I followed her past the curtain to a narrow hall with three closed doors. Kelly opened the second one and ushered me inside to a square examination area.

“Take a seat and let's get you patched up,” Kelly said, motioning to the reclining chair. “You know, Mr. Slade, I’ve been a doctor for quite a few years. Even worked the Emergency Care Ward at the local city hospital.”

“Is that a fact?” I asked.

“Roll your sleeve the rest of the way up, please,” Doctor Allbright said, reaching for a tool I was more than a little familiar with. It was called a Heal-Aid, and even though this one looked like it was about to fall apart, she seemed confident enough in it.

The tool was in the shape of a wrench with a digital display screen on the back for the administrator to use. It was usually meant for deep cuts, much like the one I had now, but I’d seen people use them for smaller, more superficial wounds. A blue light scanned my abrasion, telling Doctor Allbright what she needed to apply to stop the infection.

“While I was working in the E.C.W., I saw everything you could imagine. Mugging victims, gang fights, street wars, you name it. Transients with nothing better to do than prey on one another for a few extra credits.” Doctor Allbright pressed a few buttons on the back of the device and the machine went to work.

It sprayed something into the knife wound, making me grimace. Disinfectant liquid, I guessed. At the same time, it cleaned the laceration. The process hurt, but in a good way. I’d been in enough fights and visited enough clinics to know the difference.

“Wounds like this one came in all the time.” Doctor Allbright held the Heal-Aid on my arm with one hand while using a towel to soak up the bloody run-off with her other. “If you’re caught up in something, I can point you to an organization that can help. Maybe set you on the better path.”

What the hell? I asked myself, looking up at the good doctor with wide eyes. She thinks I’m some kind of thug, wrapped up in a gang?

“It’s not what you think,” I said as the little machine stopped washing out my wound and prepared itself for the next phase. “I’m fine.”

Doctor Allbright raised an eyebrow.

I could see where she was coming from. The beard and long hair didn’t exactly scream “upstanding Transient.” To be honest, right now I just wanted to get the hell out of the med station and disappear. Maybe head home and crash on the couch. This Doctor Allbright was too smart for her own good. It was a reminder to stay away from this place and keep my head down. Doctors always asked too many questions and assumed too much.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh, presumably letting the matter go for the time being. “This next part is going to hurt a bit. I can give you a sedative or some painkillers to take the edge off.”

“I got to get back to work,” I said. If Boss Creed found out about my little medical visit, I’d be out of a job for sure.

“It’s not going to feel good,” Doctor Allbright said, looking at me again. “This isn’t a tough-guy act, is it? The Med-Aid has to close the wound now. We don’t have the fancy tech like the Eternals doctors downtown, just the good old-fashioned cauterizing kind.”

“I’ve had it done before,” I said, motioning to my arm. “Like I said, I’m good to go. Just do it.”

“I feel like that’s the first honest thing you’ve said to me,” Doctor Allbright said, tapping the display screen on the back of the healing tool. “Ready? Here we go.”

I needed to concentrate on anything else besides the searing hot pain that was about to scorch my arm. It would take only a few seconds for the machine to close a wound this size, but those few seconds would be hell.

I thought about everything I had to do today to finish my work. I thought about Stacy and the red holo card she and the thugs seemed so interested in. I even thought about Ricky and his incessant need to meddle in my life.

“Okay, that’s it,” Doctor Albright said, tearing me from my thoughts as she placed the Med-Aid on the counter. She cleaned off the blood from the rest of my arm while examining me. “Good as new, I think.”

I followed her gaze, lowering my eyes to the new pink skin that covered the place the wound had been only a moment before. It still hurt, but at least I knew it wasn’t infected and the bleeding had stopped.

“Here, tough guy,” Doctor Allbright said as she stood from her seat and motioned me from the room. She handed me two white pills. “Just old-school extra-strength Motrin to help ease the inflammation. You can still work and go about your day. If you don’t want them now, just take them later with a beer.” She gave me a wink. “Just don’t overdo it.”

“Thanks, Doc,” I said, accepting the pills and placing them in my pocket.

She opened the door and invited me into the hall. I rotated my shoulder, stretching my arm and noticing a significant drop in pain from before.

I had to admit, this lady wasn’t so bad, although I’d never openly say it.

She led me back down the narrow hall to the front of the office. “If you’re worried about me telling anyone, rest assured that I won’t,” Doctor Allbright said, opening the front door of the med station to usher me out. “I—”

Shouts and the screeching