Chapter 43

The walk up the stairs to the infirmary at Healen Lodge made Aura ache. Reno's grip on her elbow had tightened as she had leaned more and more heavily on him. She stood up straighter however, when she got through the doors and spotted Zena standing by the far wall. The blonde woman turned to them and her brow creased with a frown.

"Zena…" Aura gasped, "What are you doing?"

"My job?" the woman replied, coming closer before her eyes turned on Reno sharply. "Where have you been?" she demanded, "You should have brought her straight here!"

"No…" Reno frowned, "We went home…"

"She's injured…"

"I…I know…" Reno stammered, glancing at Aura, "I…"

"We're here now." Aura cut in. "But Zena… why are you working? You should have taken some time…"

"I'm fine." The woman replied, then apparently she read Aura's face because she shrugged. "Ran some tests this morning."

Aura watched her for a moment, but then nodded. "Okay."

"Zena…" Reno's voice was gentle, "Nobody would mind if you took a few days…"

"Nonsense." Zena turned away and pulled a curtain around one of the beds. "I have things to do."

Aura moved toward the bed, wincing as she lifted herself to sit on it. Reno followed her. "Okay, well… I'm ready." She told the other woman.

"Damn right." Zena murmured, "You should have been here last night. What if you have some internal injury? You could have gone into shock… You could have a ruptured organ…" She flicked a glare at Reno. "You should know better." She told him.

"I…" Reno shook his head, clearly not knowing what to say to the blonde woman.

"You what?" Zena snapped, "You thought you'd heal her with your magic penis?"

Aura's eyes widened and she looked at Reno who actually looked ashamed. "I thought she'd feel better … somewhere safe…" he said weakly.

"I'm fine." Aura put in, "I'm just here because it's better to be sure."

"Did Rude bring you straight back?" Reno asked, and Zena nodded.

"Well, after we wandered around for a million years because he thought we might have been followed."

Aura glanced again at Reno who was nodding. "Right… Okay…"

"Okay, well… I'm sure you have an actual job to do." Zena said dismissively to Reno. "Let me do mine. Goodbye."

Reno frowned and moved closer to Aura. "I think…"

"Didn't ask you to." Zena replied, "I need to do my job. Aura needs me to do my job. For that to happen, you need to leave us alone."

Aura watched Reno take in the woman's words. She could see his indecisive glance flicking back and forth from Zena to her, his frown deepening. "Reno…" she said gently. "It's okay…"

"You sure?" he asked softly, and she nodded.

"Yeah… I'll see you a bit later." She was pleased with how steadily her voice came out. Aura would have liked for him to be able to stay, but evidently Zena wasn't down for that. It was the blonde woman's space, so she just nodded again, meeting Reno's gaze. She watched as he hesitated before nodding his agreement and backing away. He cast a glance at Zena for a second, before looking back to Aura and smiling.

"Okay…" With that he turned and was gone. Aura watched the doors swing shut behind him, and fought the sudden illogical rush of panic that flowed through her. She looked back to Zena, her eyes wide.

"You're fine." The woman told her softly. "Shirt off first…"

Aura began unbuttoning the shirt she wore. It was Reno's. When she'd gotten up this morning, she'd found that she had nothing to wear. The dress she had been in the night before was filthy and torn where Cadan had ripped it open, and she couldn't wear it. She had nothing of her own at Reno's apartment, and so he had gone through his stuff to find her something to wear until she could get to something of her own. Biting her lip as she watched Zena take in her clothing, Aura decided not to say anything.

"He really take you home to fuck you?" The doctor asked, in what Aura was coming to recognise as her own particular brand of straightforwardness.

"That wasn't the purpose…" Aura murmured in response.

"But he did?"

"I mean, it's not the way I'd put it, yo…" She shrugged, "But…"

"Did he hurt you?" Zena asked, her eyes moving over Aura as the shirt was put aside.

"Course not…" Aura replied firmly, frowning a little.

"Did it make you feel better?"

"…Yes." Aura watched Zena tilt her head in acknowledgement. "Have you… told anyone … what happened… to you?"

"Like who?" Zena asked flatly.

"…Rufus?"

Zena's eyes narrowed. "What's the point?"

"So… that people… can take care of you."

"I don't need them to." Zena replied, her eyes on Aura.

"No, I know… I just… is it cause you don't want people to know?"

"I don't really care if they know." Zena said, "I just don't want people trying to coddle me."

"Okay…"

"Okay." Zena nodded, and then gestured at the bed. "I need you to lay down so I can check out what's going on with you."

Aura did as she was instructed, gasping a little when Zena's fingers moved over her abdomen. She closed her eyes and just let the other woman do what she needed to, hoping that she really had been left with nothing more than just bruises. They would take a while to heal anyway, she didn't need it to be anything more.

Reno sat in his chair at his desk, his head in his hands as he leaned onto the file in front of him. He tugged roughly on his hair. How could he have been so selfish? What if Aura was actually seriously hurt? What if she had really needed to be brought in last night? What had convinced him to stay the night at his place? He could have caused her precious hours. And the sex!

He had been completely irresponsible. He could have seriously hurt her. Reno closed his eyes and sighed out loud. "Arsehole." He murmured.

Twenty minutes later he was in that same position when Elena arrived, slinking quietly to her own desk and dropping into her chair. "Elena…" Reno said, and her eyes flicked directly to him.

"… Still mad at me?" She asked.

"Mad at you?"

"Yeah. You were mad at me, for what I let happen to Zena and Aura."

"No, I wasn't…" he frowned, "That wasn't your fault." She just looked at him and he gave her a wry smile. "I'm sorry if I was a bit harsh… I… just… I was worried."

"Tseng said you got them back…" She smiled back at him.

"Yeah… is he here?" Reno looked around, "I didn't see him come in…"

"Uh… I don't think so."

Reno looked back at her. "… then when did he tell you?"

"Oh…" Elena's gaze slid to her desk, and Reno smirked when her cheeks filled with colour.

"Did my little Rookie get her some?" he asked, his smirk widening.

"Shhh…." Elena looked around again. "Someone will hear you."

"You did." He laughed, "How did you get Tseng to loosen up? Or, did he not? Did he do some weird robotic sexytimes?" He watched her narrow her eyes at him, "Okay, I'm sorry… but seriously, what was that like?"

"I don't ask you for details about your sex life, Reno."

"You literally did the other day and then you threw a tantrum when I wouldn't tell you."

"I did not throw a tantrum." She exclaimed, "I just… went to ask someone else."

"Same thing, yo." He waved a hand, "But also I have been invested in you getting some Tseng action for years now, so you don't get to hold back on the spillage. Talk."

"No…" she whined, "No… I'll only… it was good."

"Good?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Was he drunk again?" Reno asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, he was not."

"Then you really need to work on your adjectives…" he suggested. "That or Tseng needs to up his game…"

"No, he doesn't." she muttered and Reno stared at her.

"Are you just going to drop little hints but refuse to outright spill?"

"Maybe."

"You little tease."

"Really?" Elena asked, her voice rising in pitch. "Are you going to tell me about your sexual exploits with Aura?"

Reno blinked and looked away. "Uh…"

"I didn't think so." Elena leaned back in her chair. "… is she okay?"

"Zena is looking now…" he twisted his hands in his lap. "She's pretty… bruised." He said softly. "That bastard … did some damage." He looked up, meeting Elena's wide brown eyes. "He's going to pay."

"I'm here for it." She replied, not looking away from his gaze. "Whatever you need." Reno nodded and picked his pen up again.

"Thanks, Laney."