She just looked pathetic.
He motioned over his shoulder. “I can turn my back or step into the lav and close the door to give you privacy.”
Her heart melted. Hot and sweet. What a great combination. “I’m sorry,” she said miserably. “I’m just self-conscious, I guess.” She wished she could be bold and fearless like Eliana or Simone. She wished she could be beautiful, too. “I know you’ve seen me in my underwear in our dreams, but I don’t look like that now.” And she’d only had two lovers back on Earth, neither of which she’d walked around naked in front of. They’d only ever been naked with each other when they had sex.
She had even felt self-conscious at first over just being braless beneath her shirt in front of Jak’ri and Ziv’ri.
Jak’ri stepped over the bag, the action bringing him within reach.
Ava tilted her head back to look up at him.
“I don’t look the way I did in our dreams either.” His lips acquired a wry twist. “Except for the one in which I showed you the results of my sojourn in the Gathendien cell.” Reaching out, he brushed several stray strands of hair back from her face. “We’re the products of the torture and everything else the Gathendiens subjected us to, Ava. If all goes well, we’ll make it safely to K-54973, our wounds will heal, and we’ll regain our health and strength while we evade capture and await rescue.” Amusement lit his silver eyes. “Although I believe I’m the only one in need of increasing my strength. You seem to have more than enough for both of us now.”
Some of her nerves calmed as she returned his smile.
Swiveling, he headed for the lav.
Was he giving her the privacy she both wanted and didn’t want at the same time?
He entered the lav, pressed something high up on the wall, and pulled out a white towel.
Nope.
Returning to stand in front of her, he held up the canister. “Have you used this before?”
“No.”
“I’ll show you how, then I’ll turn my back.” Before she could bolster her nerves and tell him he needn’t look away, he draped the towel over his shoulder and motioned to her arms. “Which one hurts less?”
She held out the arm with the cut on it. The burn constantly felt as if something was still searing it.
Jak’ri aimed the canister’s nozzle at her forearm where she bore no wounds and sprayed. Cool clear liquid dampened a small circle of skin. As Ava watched, the liquid turned white and swelled into foam that was nearly as dense as shaving cream.
Setting the canister aside, Jak’ri took her hand and held her arm still while he used his other hand to spread the foam until it coated her from her elbow down to her wrist. The foam fizzled, turning pink where blood stained her skin, and reminded her of the way club soda fizzled in her mouth when she drank it. A moment later, it seemed to melt down and turned clear again, leaving her arm damp but clean. No blood remained anywhere the foam had touched her.
Ava stared at her arm a long moment, then drew it closer to her nose and gave it a cautious sniff.
She even smelled clean! “That’s amazing. The Lasaran pod only had packaged cleansing cloths.” They hadn’t looked all that different from the hand wipes one could purchase on Earth, but they had been far more efficient.
“This pod has those as well.” Tugging the towel off his shoulder, Jak’ri drew it down her arm to dry it. He nodded toward the canister. “Normally, we only use the retsa for first aid purposes, not for bathing. But since most of the blood coating you is Gathendien and we don’t know if you’re vulnerable to any of their diseases, I’d feel better using the disinfectant.”
Crap. She hadn’t thought of that. Her transformation had left her invulnerable to any and every illness found on Earth. But Eliana seemed to believe there was something in Lasaran blood that could harm immortals. Who was to say there wasn’t something similar in Gathendien blood?
Once her arm was dry, Jak’ri draped the towel over the back of the seat they stood beside and bent to rummage through the medic bag. “Here’s a shirt and some shorts. It looks like these are both made to fit someone my size. I’m sorry. I didn’t think to look for something closer to your size in the other lab.”
“That’s okay. I’ll make it work.”
He set the clothing beside the towel, then bent and drew more fabric from the bag. “There’s also a pair of pants,” he said, holding them up for her inspection.
They, too, were made for someone Jak’ri’s size, and would be way too long on her. They also looked like they were meant to fit more loosely than the shorts, so she’d probably have trouble keeping them up.
“I’ll stick with the shorts.”
Nodding, he returned the pants to the bag. Then he gave her a smile, stepped away, and turned his back.
He was such a good guy.
Ava went to work, peeling the bloodstained shirt and loose shorts off. Her lip curled in disgust. So gross.
Without looking back, Jak’ri held out his hand. “Give them to me. I’ll put them in the clothing decon unit.” Which was what aliens called their magical clothes washer. The Lasaran pod had boasted one, too.
Ava plopped the stained fabric in his hand.
“A little foam can clean a large area,” he mentioned as he ducked into the lav to rid himself of her clothing. “So do as I did and spray a small spot, then spread it.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
He backed out of the lav, careful not to face her. “It’ll sting when it touches your wounds, but we need it to disinfect those.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. The foam stung like rubbing alcohol when she spread it over her cuts and the burns. “Yep,” she wheezed. “That stings all right.” But she let it sit there longer, even adding a little more. The foam fizzled, turned pink, then dissolved into what looked like water, leaving the wounds nice and clean.
Gritting her teeth as they continued to throb, she hurried through the rest of her peculiar bath. The odd foam left her so clean that when she dried herself off with the towel, she left no bloodstains on it at all. “Can I wash my hair with this stuff?” A quick feel revealed it hadn’t escaped the blood splatter. And the stagnant water stench of the Gathendiens seemed to linger in it.
“Yes.”
It didn’t take much. A little spritz in her palm provided enough foam to coat her scalp and work through her long hair once she untied it. That stuff really went a long way. The can still felt full when she finished.
Once clean and dry, she pulled on the shorts. They reminded her of the stretchy boxer briefs some men wore back home. On Jak’ri they looked great, hugging his muscled butt and thighs whenever he moved. On her they sagged and fell beneath her belly button before settling low on her hips. The shirt was a lot like the one the Gathendiens had given her, just larger. Ava stuck her arms through the short sleeves and pulled it on.
It swallowed her. Instead of crossing in front and tying on the sides, she could wrap this one so far around her that she ended up tying it in the front. And it was so long it nearly hid the shorts.
“I’m dressed,” she announced as she rolled up the sleeves.
Jak’ri turned and gave her a quick once over. “Feel better?”