Page 75 of Failed State

“Ah, but the thought still counts.”

She rolls her eyes, then shrugs. “Okay. But I won’t ask you to drink holy water or whatever. Just come with me, so no one gets worried and sit outside the med bay until I’m done.”

I grin, pushing my hat back a little so I can see her better. “Absolutely. Nothin’ I’d rather do.”

That might not be exactly true, but anytime I spend with Sydney is better than every other minute I spend without her.

DON’T WORRY, I’M A DOCTOR

SYDNEY

As soon asthe stupid coaching lecture ends, I stand up, looking at Huck as I gather my shit. The other guys are still quiet, which surprises me a little. I clear my throat, not meeting their eyes as I say, “Huck is coming along to the infirmary, so I’ll see you upstairs in a bit?”

When my eyes skitter upward, I see Thad nodding. He’s not looking at me like I’m the odd person out, and I’m grateful. Rory and the other two do some sort of dude thing with their eyebrows at Huck, but he ignores them to offer me his arm.

“Ready, sweet pea?”

Normally, I’d balk at his chivalry, especially when I’m feeling less than strong, but the small spotting from earlier must have increased during class. I’m cramping pretty badly, and it honestly aches to stand upright. So I grit my teeth and take his arm with a fake smile, letting the demon lead me up the stairs of the hall and into the corridor. “Thanks,” I mumble as we start towards the main wing.

He pats the hand on his arm lightly, not saying anything as we walk at a slow pace through the classroom hallway. You wouldn’t know anything is wrong by his posture or expression,and I add some points to his mental tally. I don’t even want to discuss this unwelcome visitor with my team, much less some dill hole from one of the other teams. Listening to them answer questions and act like unruly high schoolers in the class was bad enough. Having one of the unenlightened dudes milling around us start shit about a normal biological function would send me over the deep end, I fear.

Not that it takes much, especially lately.

Huck opens the door for me as we exit the education wing to the main area, and I sigh in relief. “I think it’s this way, right?” Pointing across the atrium to a set of doors diagonal from us, I squint up at my escort. Hopefully, that ingrained spatial memory of his is working because I didn’t pay enough attention when we were being shuffled around on arrival.

“Yep. That section has all the medical and administrative offices, I believe.” He winks at me, obviously realizing I haven’t mapped this giant eyesore of a building yet. “It’s not like you to skip over knowing your surroundings on day one, Syd.”

He’s right; being unemerged forced me to develop a lot of habits to help keep my ass unharmed while moving around Tempest Seven. Not memorizing every inch of this place as if my life depends on it—and it might—is a huge failing on my part. I chalk it up to having to learn to live with a bunch of people in my space and continually getting smacked with reality I had no concept of before being sent to this circus. It’s thrown me off my game and I need to get my shit together before I pay for my distraction.

“After we eat and get this stupid ass homework done, we’ll work on it together. You’re the best at it, anyway.” I grin a little, ignoring the radiating pains from my gut as we enter the double doors to the correct wing. “Will you help me, pardner?”

His face lights up at my request, especially because I teased him. “Sydney Jolie, I would gladly help you learn to walk over hot coals if you asked.”

I frown, giving him a pinched expression. “You’re a demon, Huck. You can walk over hot coals with zero issue, I bet. That’s not saying a damn thing.”

“Sounded pretty, though, didn’t it?” He puffs up a bit and I laugh softly at his antics. He’s purposely keeping my mind off my situation, so I think he’s realized I’m hurting. “But if it makes you feel better, I’d let you wear my hat and put pink sparkly bows on my horns if you asked. How’s that?”

That sounds like a lot of fun—not that I want to admit it.

My eyes dance as I look up at him when we stop at the door to the infirmary. “I’ll hold you to that, Huckleberry Monroe. Don’t play with me.”

Leaning back a little, the devilish demon smirks and pulls his hat off, plopping it on my head. “Cross my black heart and hope to be exorcised. Now get in there and see this doctor before I decide to find a use for those ribbons you’re not ready for.”

My eyes widen and I squeak, making me want to die of embarrassment on the spot. Hurrying inside, I head directly to the desk, looking at the witchy nurse from our medical inspection when we first got here. “I… uh. I need to see the doctor, please.”

Her eyes narrow behind a pair of black wire rimmed glasses. “Name and team?”

“Sydney Jolie, Team Bite Club,” I reply quickly, not wanting to look back at Huck after that flirty exchange.”Is there a wait?”

I don’t see anyone else in the small waiting area, but this isn’t the same place they checked us out back then, so I have no idea how many patient rooms there are. The inspections were done in quickly thrown together suites and this feels like a real medical office. I guess the people responsible for running this joint havebeen busy while we’ve been getting orientated. The nurse shakes her head, bringing my focus back to her as she clicks at a tablet on a stand in front of her.

“No. Dr. Moreau is here this evening and he’s very efficient. There’s rarely a wait when he’s working. Follow me, but your friend has to wait here.”

Huck frowns, about to protest when I hold my hand up. “That’s fine. He has excellent hearing, so if I need him, it won’t be long before he comes for me.”

“Hmmph,” the nurse says as she rises from her chair to grab a well-protected tablet from a charging station. “If you say so.”

I follow her down a short hallway to a door labeled ‘four’ and when she opens the door, it looks exactly like a normal exam room. They’ve been busy as fuck in this place and I’ve been too worried about my own shit to notice. She points to the exam table, then walks over to pull out a smock. Once she lays it out, she hands me the thick cased tablet with another squint.

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