Page 24 of Alien Abduction for Professionals
"What happened?" one of the healers asked and pushed me aside. She was a petite Ankani, but the authority in her voice made me obey her immediately.
"She just collapsed, holding her stomach. A few minutes later, my friend did the same. They're both in agony. You'll have to give them something for the pain."
"I'll decide what to give them," she snapped. "Did they eat the same food?"
"No. She had a vegetable and root stew while he had a loomani sausage. You'll have to ask the waiter if any of the ingredients were the same."
"Yaki roots!" Matar exclaimed before the waiter had the chance to speak. "They both had yaki root smoke infused with their meals."
Klat. He was right. I'd never heard of yaki root being poisonous, but it wasn't my area of expertise.
"Peti'i, get me the antidote," the medic ordered the other healer while at the same time rummaging in her bag. She pulled out two syringes, stabbed one of them in Trish's upper arm, and then hurried over to Havel to give him the same injection. "That's going to stabilise them until we've got the antidote. Yaki root can be poisonous when burned for too short a period, but I wouldn't have expected this to happen in this restaurant."
"I'll... I'll tell the cook," the waiter stammered and ran off.
"Get the manager, too!" I shouted after him. "I've got a thing or two to say to them."
Fury raced through my veins, and I had a hard time not to attack the remaining two waiters standing in the background. This was a clear case of negligence. They could have killed my mate and my friend.
I growled.
"Xil?"
Trish opened her eyes and looked right at me. Some of the anger dissipated into relief.
"Are you still in pain?" I asked and stroked her forehead again.
"Of course she is," the medic admonished me. "Don't ask such stupid questions. I've given her some light pain killers, but I can't give them anything stronger until we have the antidote. The two drugs might interact, and I don't want to risk that."
"Hold my hand?" Trish asked weakly, and I was only too willing to oblige. She barely had to strength to return my grip on her hand. It scared me.
I looked over at Havel. He was no longer writhing in pain either, but his face was pale and his fangs were still extended. He tried to hide his pain, just like Trish, but it was clear that both of them were suffering. I was going to kill that cook. We'd come here to have a wonderful evening, to celebrate our completed nest. This was a disaster.
The other medic returned, holding a metal lockbox. I squeezed Trish's hand. "Not much longer now, little human. You're going to be fine."
"You might want to step back," the female medic warned me. "The antidote might induce vomiting, and you don't want to be in the line of fire."
I didn't move. "I don't mind. My mate needs me."
Matar didn't leave Havel's side either. I was proud of my friends, my family. We stood together even in the face of adversity and vomit.
Luckily, it never came to that. As soon as the medic had injected Trish and Havel with the antidote, colour returned to their faces.
"Wow, that worked fast," Trish said and sat up without needing help. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders to steady her, just in case - plus after almost losing her, I needed the physical contact. It took all my mental strength not to throw her over my shoulder, carry her to our ship and ravish her in the nest until we'd both forgotten about today's events.
"No nausea?" the medic asked but was interrupted by loud retching from Havel. One of the waiters handed him a bowl and my poor friend started filling it with the contents of his stomach.
The healer looked almost pleased. "Just like I said, the drug can cause vomiting. You'll both be fine. Don't eat anything today, but drink lots of fluids. Go to bed early and rest. Tomorrow you should be able to eat normally again, but maybe avoid yaki roots for a while."
"Never again," I growled.
I helped Trish to her feet but kept my arms around her. I wasn't going to let go of her any time soon.
"I'm fine," she muttered, but she didn't try to get out of my embrace. On the contrary, she leaned against my chest, just the way I liked it.
The waiter arrived with three other aliens in tow. The largest of them, a species I'd not encountered before, wore an apron covered with stains. The cook, I presumed. The other two were clad in business suits, a female with a bright green mane and a fellow Kardarian male.
He greeted me with the traditional fist-on-chest gesture, but I didn't return it. I wanted to greet him with fist-on-nose and fist-to-his-balls, but luckily I had my arms around Trish and attacking him would have meant letting go of her.
