Starflight (Starflight, #1)(47)

The next morning Solara yawned and stretched, massaging the knots in her shoulders and feeling a twinge of remorse for all the weeks she’d made Doran take the floor when there was plenty of room on the mattress. She glanced over to see if he was awake, and he blinked at her with sleepy eyes.

“Sucks down there, doesn’t it?” he asked.

She ignored his question and looked more closely at him because something didn’t seem quite right. His facial swelling had decreased, revealing high cheekbones and allowing his eyes to open all the way. But despite that, his skin was pale and a sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead.

“No offense,” she said, “but you don’t look so hot.”

“None taken.” He rolled onto his side with an agonized groan. “You were right when you said I’d feel it in the morning.”

“Where does it hurt?”

“Where doesn’t it hurt?” he quipped, and glanced at the door. “Do you think Cassia has any more of those magic pills?”

“I’ll ask her.” Solara squinted at the dried cracks in his lower lip, threatening to split open again. “But first you need another coat of oil.”

Doran reached for the salve with one trembling hand, but he only managed to knock it to the floor. Since he was too weak, she picked up the jar and applied a thick layer for him. His dehydrated flesh drank the oil in seconds, forcing her to repeat the process and ignore how the slide of her finger across his mouth made her insides dance.

“All better,” she said, and before she realized what she was doing, she licked her thumb to erase a smudge of dried blood from his forehead. She didn’t know what had possessed her to clean his face with her spit. “I’ll go find your pills.”

She was halfway to the door when Doran cleared his throat and said, “Pants.”

“What?”

“You’re not wearing any.”

“Oh, good catch.” She grabbed her pants from the floor and pulled them on, more surprised by her lack of embarrassment than the fact that she’d flashed Doran her underwear. Funny how comfortable she’d grown in his company. When had that happened?

She padded on socked feet into the galley, where she found Cassia and Renny sitting alone, whispering over their coffee mugs, each unaware of Acorn creeping silently along the wall behind them. The furry sugar bear spread her wings and glided onto Cassia’s head, sinking tiny claws into the blond dreadlocks. Cassia let out a scream and splashed coffee into her lap while Renny tried not to laugh. He gently untangled Acorn’s claws and handed her a raisin before sending her off in the other direction.

Cassia stewed, glaring after the animal. “I hate that little—”

“Doran’s awake,” Solara interrupted. “He needs more pain meds. You might want to give him an antibiotic for infection, too. He looks feverish.”

That distracted Cassia from her rage. Her mouth pulled into a frown as she stood from the table. “I already gave him one.”

“An antibiotic?”

Cassia nodded. “Because of all the open wounds.”

She and Renny followed Solara to the bedroom. As soon as Cassia took a seat on the edge of Doran’s bed, she placed a hand on his forehead. “No fever. If anything, you feel cold.”

Doran responded with a shiver and gathered the blanket around his neck.

“Any dizziness?” Cassia asked.

“A little,” he said. “But I thought it was from the pills.”

“Those left your system hours ago.”

“Then give me some more. I’m dying here.”

Cassia didn’t seem to like hearing that. She flicked a glance at Renny, then refocused on her patient. “Where’s the worst of the pain?” she asked. “In your nose?”

“Unh-uh.” Doran curled into the fetal position and shivered again. “My belly and my sides. It feels like I did a thousand crunches in my sleep.”

“Did Demarkus hit you there?”

Solara knew the answer to that. “Yes. And he didn’t hold back.”

“Lie flat and pull down the covers,” Cassia said. “I want to have a look under your shirt.”

“Yeah, you do,” Doran teased.

That elicited a smile from Cassia. “It’s my lucky day.”

“Get on with it,” Solara said, her face suddenly hot. “This isn’t the time for jokes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” grumbled Doran, rolling onto his back.

As soon as he lifted his shirt, Cassia gasped, but clearly not out of appreciation for his sculpted torso. Her smile fell and she breathed, “Oh my god.”

Solara moved closer to see what was wrong. She glimpsed exposed flesh, but Doran’s nakedness barely registered. She went blind to everything except the sick patchwork of bruises that bled across his body until she couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began. It looked like someone had injected wine beneath his skin.

Her stomach tightened. “What does this mean?”

“Internal bleeding,” Cassia said. “That’s why he’s dizzy. He’s lost too much blood.”

Doran tugged down his shirt. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here. How are we going to fix it?”

Instead of answering, Cassia locked eyes with Renny.