Page 291 of Phoenix's Fire

"Well?" he asked the people pushing the bed.

"The doctor's coming," a tailless woman promised, "but he's going to live."

The relief of that hit me harder than I'd expected. A moment later, a man about Zasen's size walked into the room, with Naomi right behind him. Belatedly, I noticed Holly's bowls on the floor in the corner when the doctor passed them, which meant Omden had made it back and I'd slept through it.

"Python," Zasen greeted the man, finally releasing me, but only to help me sit up.

The doctor walked over to me and offered his hand. "Phoenix?"

"Yes, sir," I said as I accepted his grip.

"I would like to compliment your work. Kanik's wounds were filthy, as you suspected, but the bleeding was managed nicely. We still gave him a unit of blood, and repaired a minor laceration of his small intestine, but there was no leakage. Somehow, the shrapnel that wounded him managed to cauterize much of what it pierced - and missed everything vital."

"So he's okay?" Rymar asked.

"He is," the doctor agreed. "Thanks to this young woman, Kanik is going to be just fine. He'll be on bedrest for two weeks, then limited activity for a month after. I expect he will heal much faster than any of you think, though. Mostly, his wounds are external. Infection is our biggest concern, so we have him on a strong dose of antibiotics for the next fifteen days."

Behind him, Naomi sighed in relief. "Thank you!"

"Now, I'm going to finally get some sleep," the doctor said. "Naomi, I've had their friends notified that he's out, so there will be more in here shortly."

But I was already on my feet, hurrying to Kanik's side. Moving the blankets, I found his hand, then clasped his fingers. Lazily, they tensed, curling around mine, and on the bed, Kanik pulled in a breath and opened his eyes.

"Ayla?" he asked.

I gasped. "Kanik! You're awake.You're fine!"

Then I leaned in, pressing my mouth to his. I didn't want to wait anymore. He'd told me it didn't matter if I did it right. I just wanted to make sure I kissed him before I never got the chance to do it again. I was tired of waiting, of being scared of what they might, or could do. I was done with being scared of them because they were men!

He murmured, then lifted his other hand to cup my cheek, pulling me a little closer. He didn't part his mouth, though. He simply smooshed his lips to mine before relaxing his hand, trailing it down my cheek.

"I didn't ask, but I hope that was okay," I said.

"Dunno," Zasen said. "You might need to try it again."

"Definitely," Kanik said. "Yeah, that makes all of this better, but I'm sure I have horrible breath."

So I grabbed his hand in both of mine, and lifted that to my lips instead. "This works." Carefully, I kissed the back of his knuckles, making my way across them.

"There ya go, Kanik," Rymar said, claiming a spot on the other side of the bed.

Zasen moved to the foot, clasping Kanik's leg through the blankets. "You scared the shit out of us, man."

"Yeah," Kanik agreed. "I scared me too." Then he tugged me closer. "I need another kiss."

I leaned back in without hesitation, deciding this was good. This was nice! I knew Zasen and Rymar were watching, which made me feel amazingly self-conscious, but Saveah said not to hide it. She said they'd talk anyway, which meant this was fine.

My lips had just found his when someone entered the room and gasped. I jerked back, my instincts saying I shouldn't do something so wanton - and saw Meri gaping at me in shock.

"No," she breathed.

"Meri, it's okay," I tried to explain.

But she grabbed her stomach. "No, no, no!"

And something wet hit the floor. My friend groaned, bending over her belly, no longer staring at me. Guilt slammed into me. Had I horrified her by kissing a man? After everything she'd been through?

"Shit," Zasen gasped, rushing to her. "Ayla, her water broke. She's in labor!"

---