Wed to the Alien Prince by C.V. Walter

Chapter 12

Serogero and Kaelin moved quickly through the halls of the ship. It shouldn't have taken them long to get to the Medical Bay, and wouldn't have if they'd gone through the emergency port, but Serogero knew they were taking the not-prisoner that way.

She was trouble, he knew she was trouble, and he didn't like her being on the ship. The fact that it was one of the pilots who was claiming she was his mate did not make him feel any better about it. There were so many things that could go wrong if he tried to use his position to convince her to stay with him.

He looked over at Kaelin and tried not to stiffen in his realization that he was going to use his position to keep her with him. And, he admitted to himself, keeping her would strengthen his position. She was the answer to so many problems if he could just convince her to stay.

The entrance to the Medical Bay from the halls of the ship was much more inviting than the one from the emergency passage. The main doors opened to brightly lit corridors with instructions projected on the different corners. Mintonar must have made some adjustments because the exam rooms had been moved and quarantine rooms made available.

Serogero directed them down the hall to the left, away from the operating theater and the offices for the Medical staff, and to what used to be the larger exam rooms. The lingering smell of disinfectant hit his nose when he opened the door with Kaelin's name on it.

Gone were the expected exam tables, equipment and cupboards and in their place had been put a bed big enough for two people, if only just, chairs, a desk and a small wardrobe. Standing in one corner was the smallest cart of monitors he'd ever seen, most of them moved from other mounts to be put in the most compact formation they could.

"Is this where I'm going to be?" Kaelin asked, looking around. "It doesn't exactly look like a hospital room."

"What does it look like?" he asked, curious.

"Honestly, kinda like a dorm room I had in college except with a bigger bed rather than 2 of them."

"You had two beds in a room this size?"

She looked around and nodded. "And two desks and two wardrobes. I shared it with a roommate and she usually had her boyfriend over."

"Wait, you shared a room this size with another person who occasionally had a romantic partner over?"

"Well, I'd leave if they wanted the room to themselves but otherwise, yeah, I did. It wasn't the most comfortable accommodation but it was pretty standard for kids in college."

"And have you done so since you left college?"

Kaelin shook her head. "Heck no, I wouldn't choose to live like that if I had the choice and after I graduated, I did. I'm glad I had the experience but I'm not going to do it again if I can avoid it."

"So this room?"

"Is perfectly fine," she said and smiled. "I don't want a roommate but if you want to visit occasionally, I don't think I'd mind."

"Only occasionally?"

She turned to him. "You have to work. We both know that. And now that I'm here, there's going to be days worth of tests and experiments and waiting for results. I know that, even if you don't, because I've been here before."

Serogero sighed and pulled her into his arms. "I know," he said. "And I hate that I can hear the unhappiness in your voice when you talk about it."

"It was my life," she mumbled into his chest. "Not all the time but enough of it. And it's okay. I'm doing better than I was and, hopefully, this will get me to being even better than that. Hopefully, this will get it so I can walk around your ship without a translator or a bubble."

He squeezed her tight.

A disturbance down the hall had him moving to the door before he realized his feet had started into motion. Aidan and Chaegar were bringing the not-quite-a-prisoner down the hall to the quarantine rooms. She was fighting them and yelling about not consenting to any experiments.

Mintonar was coming up behind them and the prince could tell he was making observations about the woman's behavior. They were almost to the secured quarantine room when Mintonar put a hand on Aidan's shoulder.

"Stop here," he said and Aidan complied, though it was obviously difficult to hold the woman still. "Chaegar, touch her hand or arm."

The pilot looked up at him and the hesitation on his face was clear for all of them to see. "I don't want to hurt her," he protested.

"If I'm right, you won't," Mintonar told him. "I suspect there will be a reaction but not one that you're expecting. And doing it here will let me observe and get her help if she needs it."

Chaegar reached out and touched the woman on the arm just above her elbow. Her shouted protests ceased abruptly and her breath caught in her throat. She looked up at Chaegar, eyes wide, and started moving her mouth. When no words came out, Chaegar moved his hand up her arm, until her eyes rolled back and she slumped to the ground.

Aidan set her down gently and Chaegar picked her up. He was careful about where his hands touched and Serogero knew exactly why. As much pleasure as he'd gotten from touching her, she was obviously too overwhelmed by her panic and fear to enjoy the feelings that had to be rushing through her.

"Interesting," Mintonar said. "You can bring her in here, Chaegar. There's nothing she can use to hurt herself or others and I can monitor her well enough until we get a chance to talk to her and find out what's going on."

The door opened to the secured quarantine rooms and Chaegar carried the limp woman inside. Serogero made a note to ask Mintonar about what was going on with the other woman that could cause that kind of reaction to being touched by someone with recognition.

"Is everything okay?" Kaelin asked, touching her hand against his back. "What was the shouting about?"

"Everything's fine," Serogero said. "Your fellow human has been brought into quarantine and is fighting the recognition. Do you know why she would do that?"

"Well, seeing as it's basically going from nothing to holy-horniness-batman, if you're not ready for it, it can be a bit of a shock. And if you think the person who is doing it to you is not a friend or even really friendly, it can feel like a setup for abuse."

"He would never-"

"I know," Kaelin told him. "But she doesn't. She was expecting to be somewhere else as an adversary. The fact that you don't mean her any harm isn't going to be as comforting to her as it is to me."

That was a hard thought but Serogero had to grant the logic behind it. "Is there anything we can do to convince her that we don't mean her any harm?"

"Right now? Probably not. She has to get over her fear and not be threatened while she does that. Meeting the other women who are here probably wouldn't hurt but it won't help until she's willing to actually talk to us."

"You're willing to talk to her on our behalf, aren't you," Serogero said, turning to her. "That's why you're suggesting it."

"Of course," she said. "I would be an asshole if I didn't use my presence here to help both of you. I don't know how much good I'll do at first but I'm willing to help."

He couldn't help but stroke her cheek and look into her eyes. She was so earnest and her eyes showed her concern. "I can't think you would do anything but be willing to help."

She leaned her cheek into his hand.

A knock on the wall next to the door brought his attention back to his surroundings, shock rushing through him at how thoroughly he'd gotten lost in her eyes. He raised his head and turned to look at the doctor waiting patiently for them.

Serogero turned back to Kaelin and stepped back, grabbing her hand while he did so, loathe to give up the contact.

"Your Highness," Mintonar said, the phrase filled with irony. "This must be Kaelin. Maw-lee has told me so much about you. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you," Kaelin said, her hand gripped Serogero's tighter. "It's a pleasure. Why do you say her name like that?"

"Whose name?" Mintonar asked. "Maw-lee?"

"Yes, Molly," Kaelin said. "Roger says it right, but you drag out the vowels. Why?"

Mintonar smiled at her. "Prince Serogero has the benefit of having learned the language through my translator program. I first learned how to say Maw-lee's name from her own lips and this pronunciation brought her the most joy. I could make the effort to change the way I say it but it would not feel so natural and it would not bring my ajoia as much joy."

Kaelin smiled. "That's so sweet," she said. "I bet Molly is very happy here."

"I do my best," Mintonar said with a nod. "And now, it's time to do our best to make sure that you're happy here, as well."

"I'm not sure how you intend to do that," Kaelin told him.

"Well, I'm told that you're not certain how the bio-nanos will interact with your condition," he started. "So I'm going to start with monitoring how Serogero's react when he's around you and touching you. And since I can't use internal monitors, I'll be running the external ones that are in the room."

Kaelin nodded. "Alright, I wasn't expecting you to be monitoring Roger but I did expect you to monitor me. Is there any special prep to set them up?"

"What? No, they're already on," Mintonar said. "They're not nearly as good or reliable as the ones in the bio-nanos but they'll start with all the basic signs of life and start building an internal map. It takes longer than putting you on one of the tables but I can't guarantee those wouldn't do more harm than good for you right now, either."

"Oh," she said. "I didn't realize. I thought you'd have something with, I don't know, cords and diodes or something."

Prince Serogero squeezed her hand. "We're a bit more advanced than that. And these rooms are designed to be used to supplement the bio-nanos so it will take a bit longer. And now I'll have to spend time in here with you so Mintonar can get the readings he wants from me."

"As long as you don't object to the intrusion, your highness?" Mintonar said and Serogero could tell he was laughing at him.

"I will do whatever is necessary to keep Kaelin safe, happy and healthy," Serogero said.

"I expected nothing less," Mintonar said, the laughter still in his voice.

"Alright," Kaelin said. "So, what do we need to do?"

"Well, as small as the room is, I need you to do as much as you can while in motion or touching his highness," Mintonar said. "Anything you can do while doing both is appreciated."

"Mintonar," Serogero warned. He knew what kind of data Mintonar was hoping to gain.

"Not that," Mintonar said. "Well, okay, that if you get the chance. I would not turn down the chance for more data about that but I have promised Maw-lee not to be intrusive about my data collection. This is strictly to get an idea of how her body works and where the blood flows with what stimuli."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you recording my stimuli," Kaelin said.

Mintonar blinked. "I assure you, it will be kept completely confidential and I have no interest in whatever stimuli you choose to use to achieve the blood-flow and vascular system information I require."

Kaelin flushed and Mintonar smiled.

"Mintonar," Serogero warned.

"I leave her in your very capable hands," Mintonar said and backed through the door.

Serogero turned to Kaelin and pulled her into his arms. "He means well," he started.

"Oh, I know," Kaelin said with a laugh. "Honestly, he reminds me of some of my better doctors. I'm just remembering some of the dreams I had the last time I was hospitalized for an illness. Apparently, they got some very interesting numbers and I made some of the nurses very uncomfortable."

"Oh? How did you make them uncomfortable?"

She looked up at him and grinned. "I have a very active imagination and didn't realize I was dreaming when I was responding to being kissed by, uh, someone who was tall, dark and handsome."

"Just kissed?"

"No," she said and her grin widened.