Dark Princess: Shadows (The Children Of The Gods Paranormal Romance #89)

25. Gertrude

25

GERTRUDE

" E xcuse me, Brandon." Gertrude cast him an apologetic glance. "I need a few moments alone with the princess."

"Of course." He set his lap desk on the floor and rose to his feet. "I'll be in the waiting room." The councilman had been through this routine often enough to not ask why she needed him to leave.

Once the door closed behind him, the only sound was the steady beeping of Morelle's heart monitor. The princess lay still under the blanket, her face pale and serene but no longer as gaunt as it had been in the beginning. Gertrude had been there for the transformation, and it was truly miraculous.

It would have taken a mere immortal weeks longer to rebuild such shriveled organs and muscles. The princess was part goddess, but instead of the other half being human, it was Kra-ell, and it had given her an advantage.

Gertrude approached the IV stand and eyed the nearly empty fluid bag. It was time to replace it. She reached into the cabinet and retrieved a fresh bag of saline, feeling the weight in her hands. After clamping the line, she disconnected the old bag, hung up the new one, and watched as the new fluid began to drip into Morelle's veins.

After that she scanned the vitals on the screen—heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure. All were stable.

Gertrude let out a slow breath and turned her attention to the catheter bag at the foot of the bed. It had almost filled since she had last checked it, so she clamped the rubber drainage tube from the Foley catheter and unhooked the filled bag to empty it. That done, she reconnected the collection bag and then unclamped the rubber drainage tube.

It was a repeat of what she had done in Jasmine's room only moments ago, a routine task she had performed many times and hoped to continue doing for many other transitioning Dormants or long-lost relatives recovering from comas. Not that it was common to find people who had been in stasis for thousands of years, but every life recovered was a miracle.

The work was a far cry from her earlier days when she'd mainly treated injured Guardians, patching them up while their accelerated healing did most of the work. Occasionally, she'd assisted with birthing an immortal's child, but those joyous occasions were regrettably rare, even rarer than transitions.

Gertrude knew that firsthand.

She had been taking Merlin's potions for months and hooking up with human males whenever her schedule had allowed it, but nothing had happened yet. Still, she wasn't giving up. She just had to persist and keep on going, and one day, the Fates would answer her prayers and give her a child.

When everything was in place, Gertrude glanced at Morelle's face, watching for some flicker of movement, some sign of awareness. But there was nothing. Just the steady hum of the machines.

"Until next time, Princess," she murmured as she opened the door.

Someone was in the waiting room, talking with Brandon while holding a cardboard tray with two coffees. He was standing with his back to her, so she couldn't see who he was, but she assumed he was another visitor for Ell-rom. The prince had had many well-wishers come since Jasmine arrived at the clinic unconscious. On a second listen, though, the voice sounded familiar, and she realized it was Rob.

A flutter went through her stomach, which she firmly quashed. She shouldn't read too much into their recent interactions. He wasn't there for her but for Ell-rom. Margo had probably asked her brother to check on the prince.

After all, they'd all shared the penthouse, and bonds formed quickly in close quarters.

The dinner Gertrude had had to endure with Negal and Margo still made her cringe. She liked Margo, and she was over her infatuation with Negal, but it was still an uncomfortable situation. The god had dropped her like a stone into deep water, swiftly and without hesitation, leaving no trace of the warmth he had shown her before.

It was never a good feeling to be passed over for someone else.

It was also a lesson to be learned.

She shouldn't get involved with anyone who lived in the village because it was awkward as hell to deal with a former lover in such a small place. Some of the clan ladies hooked up with the former Doomers, but they were smart enough to keep it casual and switch partners often so it wouldn't become an issue.

Gertrude preferred to have her fun away from where she lived.

It used to be that clan females hunted for one-night stands in bars, but in recent years the internet, with its endless parade of dating apps, was the way to go. It was even less personal than meeting a guy in a club, but that was how it was done these days.

As if sensing her scrutiny, Rob turned, his face lighting up with a smile that did funny things to her insides. "I brought you coffee." He held up the tray. Then uncertainty crept into his expression. "I hope that's okay. Are you allowed to have coffee on the job?"

He looked like a shy boy trying to do something nice for the girl he liked, and the wall Gertrude tried to keep up around her heart crumbled a little. "Yes, I'm allowed to have coffee, and I'm also allowed to take breaks." She glanced toward Bridget's office, where the doctor sat working at her desk with the door open as usual. "Dr. Bridget, I'm done with both patients. Can I take my break now?"

"Of course," Bridget replied without looking up from her computer. "Enjoy your break."

Gertrude turned to Brandon. "Can I get you something from the café?"

"No, thank you. I'm meeting Kalugal there later, so I'll grab something then."

She didn't have to ask Ell-rom because his vegan meals were being delivered to the clinic now, and she knew he had eaten lunch already.

Rob said goodbye to Brandon, and as they stepped outside, he cast her an apologetic look. "I didn't bring you anything to eat. I assumed that coffee would be fine, but I wasn't sure about food in a hospital setting."

"It's fine." Gertrude placed her hand on his arm, then quickly withdrew it. Professional. She could be friendly but needed to stay professional. "We can get sandwiches from the vending machine. It'll save us the time of standing in line at the counter."

"Great idea."

After selecting sandwiches from the machine, they found a table and sat down.

"I've met William." Rob unwrapped his sandwich. "His lab is like a fortress and a factory all in one. The place is insane. It looks like every person in the clan is working down there."

Gertrude smiled at his enthusiasm. "Not everyone, but many. William is constantly recruiting. He's convinced several people to study mechanical engineering and software development. Some of those working at his lab are still students."

Rob nodded. "I can see how such a limited pool of people might hamper his hiring progress. Maybe that's why they are working on robots, not that robots can do what people can. They can be good for menial jobs, and artificial intelligence is advancing at a frightening rate, but I still believe that humans are much better at generating fresh ideas. They can literarily think outside the box, while AI is limited to what's inside the box." He tilted his head. "Do you get what I mean?"

"I think so."

He grinned. "It's such a pleasure to talk with an intelligent person." Rob launched into a detailed explanation about some interface that went mostly over her head, but his passion was infectious. His hands moved animatedly as he spoke, his eyes bright with excitement.

Gertrude couldn't help but smile when his face lit up while he described particularly interesting aspects of technology, or when his voice rose slightly when he got to something that really impressed him. It was endearing, and dangerous territory for her thoughts to wander into.

"Sorry," he said suddenly, cutting himself off mid-sentence. "I'm probably boring you with all the technical details."

"Not at all," Gertrude assured him, and it wasn't entirely a lie. While she might not understand everything he had been talking about, his enthusiasm made it interesting. "It's nice to see someone so passionate about their work."

Rob ducked his head. "My former fiancée accused me of being unable to talk about anything other than my work, and she wasn't wrong. I tend to get carried away."

Gertrude had heard about Rob's canceled wedding and the betrayal he'd experienced.

"We are all like that. I used to freak people out talking about the things I did in nursing school and later when I worked for a human doctor to improve my skills. I loved describing the open wounds and the puss I cleaned—" His horrified expression stopped her, and she laughed. "Yeah, that face you just made is what usually happened, so I learned to only talk shop with other medical practitioners."

Looking slightly green, Rob let out a breath. "You should teach me that trick. I need something to talk about that inspires me, but that is easy for everyone to understand. Any suggestions?"

Gertrude laughed again. "That's why men talk about sports. Religion and politics are a no-no in polite company so that leaves sports, food, and kids, if you are lucky enough to have them."