“Meg? Could you slow down?”
“You were the one in a hurry.”
“Not that much of a hurry.” Simon braced a hand against the door.
She lifted her foot—and heard him breathe.
“Is it . . . ?” He stopped. Sniffed delicately.
“Is it what?” she growled, knowing exactly why he’d sniffed.
“Nothing.”
They were running out of road, so she slowed down a little more. “You were going to ask if it was that time of the month, weren’t you?”
“I did not say those words.” Then he added in a mutter, “Already learned that lesson.”
She pulled into one of the wide parking spaces that were used by the earth native delivery trucks that brought in supplies from the terra indigene settlements and took back human-made products.
Meg turned off the BOW but made no move to get out, even when Simon opened his door. He looked at her, then settled back in his seat and closed the door.
“Do you think people will stop coming after Lizzy? Stop looking for whatever they think she has?”
“Yes, they will, because we found it.”
She felt light-headed. It took a moment for her to identify the feeling of happiness mixed with relief. “You found it?”
“Something you told Tess helped her find the book that had secrets about the HFL movement. That’s why humans were chasing the Lizzy. They wanted to get the book back before someone read the secrets.”
Just because the Others found the book didn’t mean Lizzy would be safe. “But no one knows you found it.”
“The terra indigene already knew the secrets, Meg. We found out a few days ago. Now some humans will know too.”
“Will they believe you?”
A long pause. “It doesn’t matter if they believe the words or not.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t matter. People will stop coming after Lizzy, and that will be enough.” She opened her door. “Come on. I need to get to work. Let’s get our doctor visits over and done.”
They walked the short distance to the medical office. Theral was at the reception desk. She looked pale, and her eyes were puffy, but she gave them a small smile. “Thanks for sending the flowers. My aunt and uncle . . . It meant a lot to them that you sent flowers picked in the Courtyard. And it means a lot that you’re going to let them have Lawrence’s share of the produce from the garden this year.”
The examination room door opened. Nathan stepped out, looked at them, and said, “You’re next.”
But Meg stopped at the examination room door, despite seeing Dr. Lorenzo waiting for them. She studied Simon. “Sharing food is important. You did that for Lawrence’s family?”
“We wanted them to know Officer MacDonald was . . . valued.”
Friends were valued. Family—pack—was valued. And the loss of a member wasn’t forgotten.
Meg walked into the examination room and let Dr. Lorenzo check her knee and make his notes. Happy that she no longer needed a bandage of any kind, she waited while Lorenzo poked and prodded Simon, wincing in sympathy when the Wolf tried to stifle a whine.
Simon was hurting plenty, but Dr. Lorenzo didn’t think there was any permanent damage. Simon just needed time to heal. They all needed time to heal.