My cheeks heat further, and I try to do as I’m told, hoping this process will end faster if I do.
“Good girl. Bare down for me now.”
I shake my head. That’s going too far. I might accidentally void my bowels if I do that. I can’t.
“Janie,” he warns, using my first name for the first time. I wasn’t sure he even knew it. “Bare down on Papi’s finger.”
I squeeze my eyes tight, hiding my face against the soft covers of his bed and push. I want this over.
“That’s my good girl,” he praises as he finally removes his finger. He gently rolls me to my back with one hand and then removes a glove I hadn’t seen him put on. “Do you remember when you last emptied your bowels, Little one?”
I realize I can flush deeper as I shake my head. I have no idea. Not for a few days. I haven’t really eaten anything solid.
Papi pats my belly. “Don’t worry. It’s okay. You’ve been sick for over a week. I bet your body isn’t flushing itself out properly.”
I bite into my lower lip. Part of me just wants to go back to sleep. A beeping noise makes me turn toward Surgient who has a black box of some sort set up on the bed. He’s looking at data he must have collected from the strange probe.
We certainly don’t have anything that advanced on Earth. The nurse in me has a thousand questions. The patient in me hopes the data is helpful, and they can figure out what’s wrong with me.
“Her fever is pretty elevated. The rest of her vitals look strong though. I’ll do a body scan to see if we can detect what’s causing her body to fight so hard,” Surgient says.
“Do you think it could simply be a virus?” Papi asks.
“It’s possible. If it is, we may never know what caused it, and it won’t matter.”
I lick my lips. “Why won’t it matter?” I ask, conjuring all my strength.
Papi pats my tummy again. “Because I’m going to have you all better in no time, and we may never know what caused it.”
“How? They’ve tried several antibiotics. Nothing touched it.”
“I won’t need antibiotics, Little one,” he says gently. “I can heal you without them. We don’t have any need for antibiotics on Eleadia.”
My eyes widen. How is that possible? “You don’t get sick?”
“Not in the way your people do on Earth, no. We live healthier lives and don’t have the kinds of diseases you have here.”
I can’t imagine a world like that.
Papi removes his hand from my belly and reaches for my wrists, lifting my arms above my head. “I need you to stretch out for me so I can do a scan.”
I shiver. “Scan? Will it hurt?”
“No. Not a bit. You won’t feel a thing. I’ll wave a wand over your body. It’s sort of like your human CAT scans, MRIs, and X-rays all in one, but more advanced. Whatever is happening inside you will be recorded.”
I stare at him, stunned and hold my breath as he pats my hands to remind me to keep them above my head. He parts my legs a few inches next.
I shudder. Even though I know I’m probably delirious with fever, I’m unnerved by my nudity. Two men are staring at my completely naked body. The look on Surgient’s face is what I would expect from a doctor, clinical.
The look at Papi’s face is completely different. Even though he’s told me he’s also a doctor, his expression holds a combination of concern and…lust. He’s worried about me in the way a parent or a lover would be.
It’s irrational. We just met. I’m incredibly ill. I must be imagining things. My brain is conjuring up nonsense. Maybe I’m sicker than I thought because it’s not realistic that I would be aroused. It’s not reasonable for my brain to be going “there” right now.
But it is.
Papi holds up the wand he mentioned, but Surgient looks at him with narrowed eyes and takes it out of his hand. “You’re not impartial,” he states.
My entire body shudders. Is it possible? I shift my gaze back to Papi as he nods agreement and sets a hand on my foot only to remove it a moment later.