Connor and Vince fight their forbidden attraction as they attempt to rescue themselves and fellow residents of the underground Refuge facility from a toxic breach.
*****
Conn...
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The young man who treated my wound and wrapped my head with a bandage looked like he was my age, but a bit more fragile and weaker for someone in their twenties. "It's just a cut, but it's already stopped bleeding." He worked quickly, standing over me while I balanced on the edge of the mattress. "Head cuts bleed more than any other body part 'cause of all the blood vessels and stuff. You'll be all right."
"Thank you." I touched the wad of gauze near my temple with my fingertips.
"A drop of this will take the pain away." He lifted the familiar medicine dispenser to me. The small glass vial held a single drop of clear liquid at the tip. "Just lift your tongue."
"No thanks. I can deal." If I wasn't sure about the water from the faucets, I was more unsure about whatever they had in the dispenser. I wouldn't risk it and hoped Vince and Tamara hadn't either.
He nodded and left the room with the tray of bloodied gauze, leaving the door open for Vince to limp in with a clean bandage bound around his calf. A smile curled my lips when I noticed the worry in his eyes. His concern reminded me how much he cared for me, even if he had difficultly showing or admitting it.
"You're okay." He struggled with the metal crutch he had tucked under his right arm. "You look good."
Comments on my pleasant appearance were nice, even though I knew he was comparing me to the hell I must've looked like just minutes before, and not the glowing beauty I emitted.
I nodded. "How's your leg? How's Tamara?"
"My leg's okay. They're treating her now. Just a couple of bumps and scrapes." He dropped down beside me on the mattress. "She shooed me away when I peeked in at her." Our thighs grazed as he shifted to the edge.
I cleared my throat to distract myself from his touch. "They all seem to be really helpful, truthful, and pleasant, huh? Especially that woman." I leaned in and lowered my voice. "I think she's up to something. I don't buy it."
"Me neither." He looked to me, our eyes glued to one another's. "But I'm so confused because she's right about a lot of things."
"Like the air." I shook my head in bewilderment. "Why would your dad lie to us about contaminates all these years?"
He shrugged. "They even sealed this place off-"
"With these people in it." I didn't want to believe it, but signs were pointing to that being the truth. I searched his eyes for a hint of fear, so I wouldn't feel alone in my emotions. "What would make someone do that?"
"Maybe he really believed they were contaminated. That they were dead. Maybe he was trying to save the rest of facility like he said."
"The order was to kill everyone on Ten with the assumption that anyone alive was infected?" I scoffed. "Why wouldn't he and his advisors acquire proper proof before ordering their deaths? Without definitive knowledge of who was contaminated or not, or even if there were toxins at all, any order as permanent as death is risky and irresponsible. No one operates on pure speculation."
