Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland novel Chapter 71

Chapter 71 The Scaling Patient

Chapter 71 The Scaling Patient

“Captain Sterling What’re you up to?”

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The day before, Merrick had made it clear that nobody outside their inner circle could know about the marriage to Gillian.

Once he had tied up the loose ends from this whole mess, he would announce it himself.

That was why Sylas had switched to calling her Captain Sterling around the base.

“Relax, it’s nothing. I’m just sending Lucian a little peace of mind.”

Gillian studied the photo of the two of them, gave a satisfied nod, and forwarded it straight to Lucian.

“Tristan’s head is patched up. Since our grandfathers fought together in the old days, Tristan can crash at my place and eat my food for the next three months. Consider this bill of yours settled.”

Gillian deleted the bill on the spot.

She figured out of sight meant out of mind.

Lucian opened the photo and saw the bruise on Tris’ head had faded. The fox was sprawled in the metal box, dozing, with a faint stubble of new fur pushing through his shaved scalp.

Then he hit the part where Gillian, on the strength of their families’ old ties, promised to cover Tristan’s food and lodging for the next three months.

Lucian didn’t bother replying and just put it on his tab.

He had lost count of his debts to the legion, so a little more hardly mattered, and remembering how dazed Freya had looked when he drove her home the night before, he figured saving up for a wife was pointless

anyway.

Meanwhile, Gillian stepped through the doors of the medical hall’ and felt a flicker of unease.

The lobby was already packed with patients, and the medics were working through the line.

“Captain Sterling’s here. Captain Moore too.”

“Finally, the two of them showed up. Open up two more triage lines.”

The medics had been running off their feet, and their faces lit up at the sight of her. “Desperate” hardly covered it.

Gillian could feel the shift right away. The medics looked at her now with warmth and even friendliness.

“Thanks for all the hard work, everyone.”

Gillian smiled and nodded to the group, hoping that as long as she worked with the medical team, they could all stay in their own lanes.

1/3

1990

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Chapter 71 The Scaling Patient

Right this way. Captain Sterling

Gillan followed Sylas to a blank metal wall.

Sylas stepped aside so the wall-mounted scanner could read her.

A metal office room of about ten feet by ten feet by six feet slid open.

The registered user came up as Gillian.

Gillian’s wrist terminal pinged with the confirmation that full access to the office was hers

“Captain Moore, I thought you said everyone with side effects from the healing alloy had been dealt with.

“So why are there still this many sitting out there? Gotta be 800, maybe even 1,000.

Yesterday, because of the healing alloy situation, we paused all other patient intake.

“Over the past three months, only the worst cases of taint corruption got the alloy. They were our first trial group a few days back.

“Everyone else with milder taint exposure is still waiting for the second batch of alloy to arrive.”

Sylas had his own concerns about whether a small frame like Gillian’s could hold up under the workload.

“With everything that’s happened, it looks like it’s all on you now.”

Gillian let her eyes sweep across the room.

From inside the office, the view out was crystal clear, but from the outside, the interior was a blur, almost like a miniature version of the main medical hall.

“Nobody brought me here yesterday.”

Gillian took in the clean, spare metal room with quiet approval, then walked over to the consultation desk and settled in.

“Let’s get started.”

Sylas hadn’t expected that. Gillian’s ability to roll with the punches was remarkable.

“Captain Moore. What are you waiting for?”

She had a certain spark about her, the kind that made you believe she could find a way out of anything.

Sylas couldn’t help smiling as he bent down and tucked Tristan’s metal box into the corner.

He watched the little fox slowly coming to and murmured a quiet reminder.

Tris, stay put. If anything comes up, holler for Captain Sterling.”

93

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