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brushed out her hair before braiding it into a tight coil around her scalp. The sandy brown mass became a skullcap that she saw every time she looked in the mirror.
    Her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen and there was a dreamy glaze to the pale green of her eyes. “Stupid. You can’t stay here. You are a freak to him, just like you are to everyone around you.”
    She shut her lips and entered the bedroom, her robes swirling around her once again.
    Kondr was wearing a dark shirt with a fitted vest over it. His trousers were snug and his boots had lost their polish. She took it all in in a second and then strode to the door, not waiting for him to catch up.
    A medical attendant was waiting for her, and he escorted her down to the lab area where the scene was the same as the day before.
    Dr. Rathos looked exhausted, but he smiled when she entered, “So, how did it go?”
    Ava smiled weakly. “Fine. I am now carrying an antidote for this pathogen specific to Terrans. If you can find me a sample of compatible Admorik tissue, I can work on creating the antidote for your folk as well.”
    “Can I draw a sample?”
    “Of course. Is there somewhere I can eat?” Ava took a seat to let the assistant draw her blood. It was better than having Rathos do it. His hands were shaking with fatigue.
    Dr. Rathos smiled as he watched the blood drawn. He mimicked her, “Of course. Kondr should have fed you before you came down here.”
    Kondr’s voice came from behind her. “It was my mistake. I let her leave the room before I was ready.”
    Rathos scowled. “We are depending on her, Kondr. You have to take care of her needs.”
    Despite the blood being removed from her arm, she blushed scarlet at the image of Kondr taking care of her needs. That thought was going to keep her up nights.
    “I can take care of my own needs, Rathos. Thanks for the thought. For now, I just need to know where to get food.”
    Kondr chuckled, “You taking care of yourself is something I would love to see.”
    The attendant finished with the draw, and Ava pressed down to seal the injury. In seconds, it was healed with no traces that the needle had ever pierced her. She lowered her bodysuit and robe sleeve then tugged her glove back into place.
    “Come, Avaneer, you need something inside you.”
    Ava was getting up when he spoke, and the low, husky tone in his voice made her knees buckle. She gathered herself and got to her feet, ignoring the low throb in her belly. Ava told herself she was simply hungry.
    As she put her gloved hand on his arm, she muttered, “You had better mean breakfast.”
    He chortled as they walked down the hall of the second floor to a room that had a steady flow of medical staff coming and going. “The staff is fed here. The patients are either fed by tray or on the main floor. Now, what would you like?”
    “Can I pick my own?”
    “Fine, you point, I will carry it.” His lips twisted in amusement. “I will also tell you what you are about to eat. I am not sure that our food matches what you are expecting.”
    She grimaced. “Normally, I would have Alliance rations with me, prepared for my biology.”
    “This is an unusual situation. Now, what would you like?”
    She didn’t say that she would like to be back in her pod, hiding from reality. Instead, she pointed to items that looked like cured meat, fruit, bread and a cooked grain. Kondr put two cups on the tray, and she trailed after him while he made his own selections.
    He steered her to a table, and as they sat down, a food server with only a small plague mark brought a pot of steaming liquid that had a definite caffeinated scent.
    “So, are we going to discuss what happened this morning?” Kondr poured some of the hot liquid into the cups.
    “No. I don’t think so.”
    “Well, I will, so let me run through events as I saw them. I fell asleep holding your hand, your body healed you of the plague in the night and the slight contact with you reset my health back to