A Desconian Happily Ever After (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (11 page)

“Have you got a moment, Kal?” Jax asked in a rather serious tone.

“Of course,” Kallum said as he nodded to Jenelle and walked the few steps away to speak to Jax in relative privacy. Jax seemed extra vigilant in keeping Jenelle in sight, and that was definitely concerning considering Jax was often overly protective of the three people he loved.

“Where’s Ally?”

“At home with Drew,” Kallum said, feeling a little bit confused by the question. Surely Jax knew that they were protecting Ally and Alex with every resource they had.

“He knows not to leave her alone?” Jax asked urgently, his words aimed at Kallum but his eyes glued to an unknown man approaching his wife.

“He does,” Kallum said, feeling his tension climb several notches. Jax was an intimidating, highly experienced, well-trained Royal Guard. If he was on edge, there was a damn good reason. “What’s going on, Jax?”

“We’ve received several reports of attempted abductions of human women. Fortunately all of the women have been well protected and so far no one has been seriously hurt, but it’s only a matter of time. Many Desconians are getting more desperate now that the ships are no longer coming.” Jax relaxed slightly as the unknown man walked past Jenelle to speak to a doctor at the far end of the room. “The applications through the Fertility Council have always exceeded the number of human women available. Things are only going to get more dangerous for human women now.”

Kallum swallowed hard. He’d had the same thoughts himself over the past few days, but to have it confirmed by someone in the know was much more frightening.

“Would it help if we released details of Galeena’s pregnancy?”

“I think people need hope,” Jax said, nodding in agreement. “Would you be able to keep Galeena’s personal details out of it?”

“Most definitely,” Kallum said urgently. Being a Desconian female who was obviously pregnant likely put her in as much danger as human women. “After we get through processing the new arrivals we’ll all sit down and figure out the best way to release the information to the public. You’re right. People need hope, but we must be careful. Galeena’s pregnancy has so far been very promising, but the babies aren’t born yet.”

Jax looked grim at the reminder that things could still go wrong, but didn’t let it deter him from his purpose. “I made a few discreet inquiries about routing funding from refugee processing into specialized fertility research and the response was promising.”

Kallum sagged a little in relief. A small part of him had worried that with the refugee processing coming to an end his funding might disappear also. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

Jax nodded and moved away to join his wife and husbands.

The next few hours were a blur of pain and misery. As had become increasingly common on the refugee ships, most of the humans were in appalling physical health. He treated patient after patient, most of them wary of doctors, some downright terrified, many too sick to argue.

As he worked his way through the ship a young child grabbed his hand. Surprised by the child’s willingness to break what was one of the most stringent rules on Earth—no physical contact of any kind—Kallum glanced down at the dirty tear-streaked face.

“Don’t let him die.”

“Who?” Kallum asked in the standard Earth language, squatting down so he could talk to the young boy who looked maybe six years old.

“The man who saved us.” Kallum followed the child’s line of sight to where at least eight other children stood protectively around what seemed to be a person lying under a heap of old clothes. Kallum signaled for a translator and moved urgently to deal with a patient that no one else had seemed to notice.

The reason became clear once he got closer. The children—nine of them in all, ranging from perhaps three years of age up to sixteen or seventeen—stood protectively around the man they obviously considered their savior.

“What’s his name?” Kallum asked as he did a quick visual assessment. The man seemed to be suffering several festering wounds. They appeared to be the result of a knife attack, but considering that the rest of him was bruised and bloody, they probably weren’t his only problems.

“We don’t know his name,” a young girl—apparently the leader of this small band of children—said as she stepped closer. “He found us, kept us safe.” The girl gave Kallum an aggressive look. “He said Descon is a nice planet.”

“It is,” Kallum said with a brief glance in the child’s direction. It was clear that she’d needed to grow up way too fast. The fact that the other children seemed to defer to her suggested that she’d been in charge for some time.

“Please don’t let him die,” she said quietly. “He got hurt saving me from them.”

Kallum tried not to react to what the girl wasn’t saying. He had a pretty good idea who “them” was. Chances were that if the man lying on the floor of a refugee ship hadn’t been there to help, this young girl would have the same kind of memories that Ally had spent so much effort trying to overcome.

“I’ll do my best,” Kallum said as he quickly hooked up IV antibiotics. Treating the infection was his first priority, but he would need to do more tests to determine the extent of the damage. “Did any other adults come with you?”

“No,” the child said, looking at Kallum aggressively once more. “We take care of each other, so don’t even think about trying to hurt us.”

Kallum checked the line to make sure the antibiotics were flowing into the man’s bloodstream before turning most of his attention back to the child.

“He was right, you know. Descon is a good place. You’ll be happy here.”

She gave him a skeptical look that suggested she’d heard that line before, reiterated her earlier statement—“Don’t let him die”—and moved back to the group of younger children. Kallum was pleased to see Jenelle and several other human women approach the group soon after. If anyone would be able to convince them that a better life could be found on Descon, it was Jenelle. Despite the tragedies in her own past, she had the most generous heart and would make certain that everything possible was done to find families who would love, cherish, and protect the children for the rest of their lives. She’d also make certain that the group were able to continue their close bond by keeping them in the same area and school.

Kallum looked back at his patient as the man mumbled in his delirium. Like all of the refugees he was underweight, his features drawn and pale, his clothes threadbare, but underneath it all was something else. Something that drew Kallum’s attention in a way he couldn’t explain. Perhaps it was the man’s height, or the fact that with the right nutrition he would be a formidable physique. Maybe it was just that the girl had spoken with such admiration that her emotions had influenced Kallum’s. Whatever it was, for both medical and personal reasons Kallum needed to follow this patient’s progress.

He signaled for a transport team to get him onto a bed, glanced around the ship to make certain that no other group of children stood protectively around an injured adult, and then turned to follow his patient into the hospital transport.

“Kal,” a man called just as he was about to climb into the vehicle. Kallum recognized the man as the captain of this particular transport ship. When they’d first met he’d held little respect for a man making money off of other people’s misery, but in the last few “shipments” Kallum had seen many passengers come through who’d obviously been unable to pay their way. Apparently the ship’s captain hadn’t been completely immune to the suffering of others. It didn’t make him a person Kallum particularly wanted to know, but it meant he wasn’t completely evil either.

Kallum signaled to the transport to wait just a moment and then watched the man move closer. Unlike the humans on his ship this man was well dressed, well fed, and obviously wealthy.

“Is he going to live?” the man asked when he got close enough to be heard.

“I don’t know yet,” Kallum answered honestly. He wasn’t about to discuss a patient’s medical condition with anyone other than that patient’s own family.

“If he does,” the man said, looking suddenly embarrassed, “tell him we’re even. He doesn’t owe me.” The man laughed self-consciously as if he couldn’t quite believe the words leaving his mouth. In all honesty, neither could Kallum. “I mean just tell him not to worry paying me the rest. With Earth gone and all…” The man’s words trailed away as he looked around the filthy cargo hold. “He’s one of the good ones, doc. He saved lots of lives. Cost me plenty of profit over the past year with his haggling, but he always paid me what he could. Tell him this last trip is on me.”

Kallum nodded, not certain what to make of a man who so obviously cared more for himself than others suddenly changing his tune. “Do you know his name?”

“David.” The man gave him a half smile and shook his head. “That’s all I know. Well, that and he kept bringing in strays. He would have gone back for more if he hadn’t collapsed from his wounds when he dropped the last lot off. Lucky for him, I suppose.”

“Yeah, lucky,” Kallum said absently, only half hearing the rest of what the man said. He was too busy running through possibilities in his head.

David.

Could this be Ally’s David? From what he understood it was a fairly common name on Earth, but the man certainly fit the physical description Ally had given them. Kallum turned away from the ship’s captain, no longer interested in anything the man had to say. He had a patient to save and then identify. As much as he wanted to call Ally here urgently to verify the man’s identity, he didn’t want to offer false hope. Ally had been devastated by the destruction of Earth and the loss of her friend. It would be truly awful to suggest this man might be the one she’d known only to disappoint her when he turned out to be someone else.

Kallum climbed into the vehicle, checked his patient’s vital signs, and prayed for more than one miracle.

* * * *

“Tough day?” Drew asked as Kallum slid into the bed behind him. His husband had been working twenty-six-hour shifts over the past few days. That left barely ten hours to travel home, sleep, eat, and return to work. It was unusual for him to work such long hours, but Drew supposed with the final ships from Earth arriving in the next day or so, the work would come to an end soon enough.

“Tough day doesn’t begin to describe it,” Kallum said, sighing softly. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“I’m not.” Drew rolled over and pulled his husband into his embrace. “Did you get something to eat? Would you like me to make you some dinner?”

“Not at the moment. Right now I just need to be held.”

Drew smiled, pulling the man closer. This was how it had been at the beginning of their marriage. Drew had truly missed being able to support his husband emotionally, so it felt very satisfying to be well enough to offer it now.

Ally rolled over, her small hand seeking his warmth subconsciously as she slept. She sighed as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer as well.

“She’s come a long way,” Kallum whispered as he reached over Drew and touched Ally’s face lovingly. “Even in sleep she trusts us to keep her safe. She hasn’t had a nightmare in weeks.”

Drew wished that were true. Her nightmares had slowly decreased in frequency and intensity over the past few months, but then Earth had died. Over the last few nights as Kallum had worked tirelessly treating the final few survivors of a doomed planet, Ally had dreamed fretfully again, but this time for a whole new reason. In many ways, Drew was looking forward to the day when the last transport arrived. Once Ally knew for certain that David wasn’t on one of the refugee ships she might be able to mourn his loss and move on.

It was far more likely that David had been one of the billions who’d died on the planet, rather than the lucky few thousand who’d left only hours before.

Just when Drew thought Kallum had drifted off to sleep his husband mumbled a few words.

“I missed that,” Drew whispered, trying not to wake Ally but somehow sensing that the words Kallum had just said were very important.

“There’s a man named David in the hospital.”

“Ally’s David?” Drew asked, glancing at the woman in his arms.

“I don’t know. He arrived yesterday but hasn’t woken yet. He’s very ill.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Drew asked, feeling annoyance at being treated like he was still sick and couldn’t withstand the stress.

“Because I don’t want to give her false hope.”

“What if he dies?”

“Then Ally will never need to know.”

“Damn it, Kallum,” Drew said more loudly than he’d intended. “You should have told us. You should have given Ally the chance to see for herself if he’s the man she knew.”

Kallum glanced worriedly at Ally as she came awake slowly.

“She doesn’t need to know.”

“She’s not a child.”

“But she’s ours to protect.”

“Damn it, Kal. You don’t understand. Having that chance taken away…that’s more cruel than finding out it’s not him. What if it is
her
David and he dies and Ally never gets a chance to say good-bye? Did you even think about how your decision might affect me and Ally?”

“Of course I did,” Kallum said tiredly. “I was trying to protect you both.”

Drew had a whole tirade of words that he could have spewed at that moment, but Ally interrupted his train of thought.