SIX MONTHS AGO
The regen gel did its job, though Tessa insisted that Kayleb stay in the med bay for longer than was strictly necessary. His brother and friends had tried to move in, visiting at all hours to make sure he healed. And every second Tessa could steal away from them and from work, she was next to Kayleb, finding little excuses to touch him, to meddle with his sheets, or just talk.
They could talk for hours.
It started when she was fiddling with one of the medbots that had been broken for a long time. The power system didn’t cycle steadily and it had a bad habit of turning off or short circuiting at inopportune moments. Like in the middle of surgery. Rather than risk patients, the doctor had decommissioned the device, but Tessa was determined to bring it back online.
“I thoug
