I open my little locker in the locker room, rummage through my stuff to find my extra pair of scrubs, and hear the door to the room open and close. The locker next to mine opens and Rosemary looks through her space before turning to me. I glance at her before turning my attention back to finding my clothes, noticing a smug smirk on her face.

"What?"

"I heard that you made the walk of shame back to your cabin from Raiden's this morning." She shuts her locker, leaning against it with her arms crossed. "And Will made the same walk from yours and Astrid's cabin back to his. Must have been an interesting night for the four of you."

I roll my eyes, finally finding my scrubs. I pull them out and shut the locker. "It wasn't a walk of shame; it was just a walk." I pad into a stall to change and Rosemary raises her brows.

"So, you're saying that you didn't sleep with Raiden?"

"Oh, no, don't get me wrong. I slept with him; it just wasn't a walk of shame." I change quickly and walk out of the stall, ready to tie my hair out of the way. "It's not a big deal, it was just sex."

Rosemary's jaw drops as she looks at me through the mirror. "This coming from a—and I quote—'reserved prude of the galaxy'?"

I huff and turn around to face her. "Why does everyone keep saying that? Yes, the majority of the planet is very reserved, but that doesn't make us all prudes!"

"Never mind that," She shakes her head and leans against the lockers. "Let's focus on the part where you said that you slept with Raiden."

I rake a hand through my hair then shake my head. "You've got to be kidding me, I'm literally never going to leave this room until I divulge in stupid gossip, am I?"

The question was mostly rhetorical, but that seemed to pass over her head. "You're right, you won't."

"My Lord," I face the mirror again, pulling my hair from my face and up. "I think he's hot, he obviously thinks I'm hot enough, we slept together. What else is there to say about it?"

Rosemary seems to think about that for a minute, then I see her eyes light up and I take a hand from my hair, holding it up to stop whatever she's about to say. "No, I will not give you details."

She seems to deflate, shoulders slumping as I finish tying my hair up. "Now, we have work to get to. Of course, unless you want to change professions to something you can gossip more during. Don't forget that I'm still your boss."

I watch as the girl pales and bolts out of the room, presumably to go find the venipuncture kits to get ready for the demonstration. I sigh and stuff my day clothes into my locker, staring at the small mirror I put in the door. Something about last night did feel different. Back home, all the guys I had been with was after Shawn had left and I was trying to distract myself from the loneliness and sadness that had consumed me. After that, it just became sort of routine, meeting up with the older guys who didn't care who they slept with as long as they got laid.

As much as I hate to admit it, while putting my hair up it took everything just to ignore the phantom feeling of Raiden's hands in my hair. Last night hadn't been routine. While I needed it as a distraction, some part of me wanted last night to happen, not because I was used to it, but because it was actually appealing and enjoyable.

I shut my locker, dropping my head against the front of the door, the cold metal pressing into my skin. I groan at my own stupid situation. Of course, people would notice me leaving Raiden's cabin this morning. Ever since the eight of us were announced as the first elders of the colony, all eyes had watched our every move; I had just gotten used to it so I didn't notice as much as before. Word travels fast in the small colony and I'm willing to bet that the entire colony knows that we slept together by now.

I pick up my head and slam a fist down on the locker door, a loud clang sounding and vibrating my eardrums in a satisfying way. I needed to get out there and focus on my work, not stand in here, hung up on how some guy touched me in the best way I've experienced.

I grit my teeth and turn, walking to the door of the locker room. After a final deep breath, I walk out, clenching and unclenching my fists in an attempt to stretch out my personal irritation.

I clench my fist and feel around the antecubital fossa of my elbow. Not feeling anything, I shake my hand and relax my hand. "You need to tie the tourniquet tighter. You're trying to engorge the veins with blood so you can see them and get the needle and catheter in, if the tourniquet isn't tight enough, you won't see or feel anything."

Hera, a larger girl with strawberry blonde hair, sits in front of me, my latest victim of venipuncture. "How—How will I know that it isn't hurting the patient?"

I give her a small smile, she was a transfer from the botany division and I can't help but think she grew accustomed to the delicate nature of plants. I pull the ivory rubber strip from my arm and pull on a pair of nitrile gloves.

"The patient will be uncomfortable, there's no avoiding it. Something to keep in mind, however, is that the patients that need IVs or their blood drawn, are typically going to be sick or injured to begin with; a tight tourniquet and small prick of a needle is the least of their worries."

With a new kit in front of me, I hold my hands up and glance at her arm. "May I?"

Her eyes widen for a moment but she takes a breath and nods. She's awfully green when it comes to anything anatomy related but I can see a future for her here in the infirmary. She joined us two weeks ago and while she struggles, I've never seen someone with the care, compassion, and gentleness that she has. Hera has a soft voice and a timid personality, but her attention to detail and understanding of everything going on is astounding.

I reach out for her arm and place a folded towel under it for support. "When tying the tourniquet, there are three main things to remember: keep the material flat, if it twists it will hurt; make it tight enough to see the veins, it's better for it to be too tight than not tight enough; and when tying it, cross the two ends and fold the top end over the bottom so it's easier to remove."

I tighten the material then tie it and pull my hands back so she can see how it should sit. "Okay," she says, "I think I get it."

After popping the tourniquet off her arm, I hold out my arm and give her a reassuring grin. "Try again,"

She nods, a new determination set into her expression. Quickly, she moves through the motions of washing her hands, donning gloves, and placing the tourniquet. I feel for a vein again, finding a large one that should be easy to get. "Feel right here,"

With a shaking hand, she reaches out and gently presses in the same area I had. After she feels around for a moment, her brows climb up her forehead and a small grin spreads across her lips. "Feel it?" I ask, "You can learn a lot about a vein just on how it feels. Is it firm but palpable? Is it hard and stiff? This will help you in choosing a vein strong and healthy enough for an IV."

"It's...strong, yet easy to compress. Why?"

"The strong feeling is mostly due to the built-up blood supply pressing the walls out; it's easy to compress because it's a vein, veins are structurally simple and weak comparative to arteries."

"Fascinating..."

"Now, grab the angiocath and put it in my arm for an IV."

"What?"

"You know how to locate the vein to put it in, now place the angiocath."

"I—I'm not ready!"

"Hera, the easiest way to learn is on a willing participant. It's better to learn now than on a patient where it counts."

"O—Okay, okay..."

"Because you're just starting out, here's a little trick," I say, grabbing a ball-point pen. "Follow the vein up and down about an inch from where you want to put the needle and it will help with the direction you need to go."

I feel around, finding about where the marks should go and wait for her to confirm. Once she does, I give her the pen to mark two dots along the vein. "Now to clean the area, grab your wipe and move it in circular movements out from where the needle will go in, making sure to let the area air dry for a few seconds." She does as I say, her hands still shaking.

"Grab the angiocath and insert the needle, bevel up." I watch her hand placement, everything is perfect except for her extended hesitation. "Hera, it'll be worse the longer this tourniquet is on my arm, it's growing uncomfortable. Just go for it."

I nod at her, trying to encourage the timid girl as best I can. She takes a deep breath and nods, then lines up the needle and sticks it into my arm.

I manage to keep myself from jumping from my seat as a sharp pain radiates from my elbow. The loud hiss that escapes from my lips, however, gets free before I can suppress it.

"Oh no—"

"No," I clear my throat and set my free hand over hers to keep her from removing the needle, knowing that if she does, things will get much worse. "It's fine, I'm fine. Just pull out the smallest bit and go again at a shallower angle, you went too far. You want a fifteen-degree angle of entry otherwise you'll miss the vein or go straight through."

"Mhm..." She hums in response and does as I say.

"Good, you see that?" I point at the small amount of blood that entered the cavity of the angiocath. "That's called 'flashback' it means that you're in the vein. Now that you're there you'll want to slowly push the catheter into the vein while pulling out the needle but not before—"

I stop as I watch in horror as she does the act before I finished explaining to take off the tourniquet. It was like a slow-motion disaster, one that you don't want to watch yet can't look away from. As soon as the needle leaves and the catheter is empty, my blood shoots out of the hub of the catheter, getting all over our station. Hera's scream echoes through the infirmary and I yell her name, shocked at her actions.

I quickly pop the tourniquet off my arm, waving Hera away. "I'm f—" I start to say before catching a glimpse of her pale and terrified face. "Everything will be okay, just go grab Rosemary."

She nods and walks off, shrinking in on herself under the stares of everyone in the infirmary; even the GTA cadets that stand around seem shocked.

Glad to still have gloves on, I remove the catheter and press gauze to my elbow, trying to wipe away a lot of the blood. Above all, what irritates me most is the clean-up time this will take. I'm not frustrated with Hera, she's new and couldn't have known better. I feel fine so it has nothing to do with that. Really, it's an odd frustration, but I find myself discouraged at the work it will take to restore this area back to normal.

"Serina!" Rosemary rushes over and looks around, having a hard time comprehending the situation. "I was outside and all of a sudden, Hera came running, saying that she'd done something wrong before she broke down crying..."

"She didn't pop the tourniquet." I say, answering her unsaid question. "She's new and didn't know better, it's not her fault. Besides, I pushed her when she wasn't ready."

"Okay, what can I do?" She looks around again, overwhelmed by the situation.

"Would you," I hesitate and sigh, slightly embarrassed for what I'm going to ask. "Would you just wipe my arm down and tape on some gauze? It's a little difficult to do on myself."

Rose chuckles slightly before setting on her mission. She makes quick work of my arm and before I know it, I'm set to go with gauze and cohesive wrap around my elbow. "Thanks, you were in a hurry it seems."

"You're welcome, as for the speed, it would appear that you have a visitor..." She looks at the door and I follow her gaze. Standing just inside the door with a clear view of the table I'm at, is Raiden.

There's a moment of shock mixed with unease as butterflies flutter in my stomach. Even though I knew we'd have to see each other plenty—it would be hard not to in our given our situation—I just hadn't expected him to seek me out so soon.

I force the butterflies away and set my jaw, it's not like me to get nervous at the sight of someone, whether we've slept together or not. I'd run into plenty of past distractions back on Aoria and it never bothered me. Why was this different? Why did my mind fixate on him? Why did my heart seem to fight against its protecting barriers when he was near?

With a shaking breath, I glance at Rose to tell her to continue with the lesson, but she nods, already knowing my thought. She gives me a slight push in the direction of the door and I walk to meet with Raiden, swallowing the nerves away.

"You...you've got a little something..." Raiden says as I approach, pointing at me.

"Huh?" I look down towards my left side where he points to see my blood spotted across my scrubs, both the top and the pants. My teeth clench and a frustrated groan vibrates through my chest.

"Anyway, I was hoping you had a minute to talk."

I glance back at him, surprised he was able to transition from the blood that covers my clothes to something else so quickly. Not seeing a reason not to, I call out to Rose. "Rosemary—"

"Let me know when you're on your way back." She gives me a knowing look and a smile, always knowing just what to say.

"Walk with me," I nod for him to follow and start walking in the direction of my cabin.

"Did you want to talk somewhere specific?"

I chuckle, admiring his ability to focus. "We can talk on the way to my cabin; I have to change my scrubs."

"Right, well, let's talk."

"Okay,"

I wait for him to say more, but there's nothing but white noise around us as we move into the housing burrows. My skin starts to crawl and I'm not sure if it's because of the drying blood on my clothes or the growing tension between us.

"Raiden, you found me, talk unless you want to put this conversation off until later."

"No, I'll talk." He clears his throat and walks faster to catch up to me. "We need to be clear about what happened last night and anything that might happen after this."

"Easy,"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," I say, already jogging up the steps to the door of the cabin. "Last night was just sex between two consenting adults and it won't happen again."