Free Defensive Instinct (Survival Instinct Book 4) by Kristal Stittle Page B

boy?”
    “Barely anything. You heard what I told Crichton, right? That’s pretty much it.”
    “You said you were giving him liquids?”
    “Not an IV if that’s what you’re thinking. We still have enough supplies for one, but it’s not necessary. No, Robin and I just boiled a watery broth, which we’ve managed to trickle down his throat a little at a time. His swallow reflex is still active.”
    “You think he might be faking his unconsciousness?”
    “If he is, he’s very good at it.”
    “Well, I should get back to work. I’d like to have all my data collection done before tomorrow morning.” Riley pushed off the desk they had been leaning on and walked around it.
    “Let me know if you need anything. I assume you’re spending the night at Lauren and Abby’s?”
    “That I am.”
    “All right, I gotta go deal with this,” Josh decided, tapping on the x-ray. “See you later.” He exited the lab with a wave.
    Riley waited a few minutes, then exited after him. Her tests were already complete, but there was someone she had to find.
    The hallways branched off one another like an erratically grown tree, but Riley knew where she was going. Even in her depression, she had managed to study and memorize the layout of the Black Box and its colour-coded walls and floors. Despite her good sense of direction, she was delayed when she turned a corner and literally bumped into Rose.
    “Hey, Riley!” she smiled brightly.
    “Hello, Rose. How are you?” Riley did her best to return the smile. She had been one of the doctors to save Rose’s life when she lost her arm, and had sat with her beneath the smoke while the Diana burned and Rose waited to be evacuated.
    “Not too bad, not too bad. Yourself?”
    Riley shrugged, tempering it with a fake smile.
    “Yeah, yeah, I get ‘cha.” Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. “How’s Jon?”
    “He’s out scavenging right now.”
    “Oh.” A funny little look crawled its way across Rose’s face. Riley knew what that look was. She hadn’t been the only one depressed upon arriving at the Black Box. Rose was the kind of girl who would jump at the chance to be a scavenger, but lacking a hand made it too dangerous for both her and the people she would be out with. She didn’t even move to the container yard because of her disability, although it was probably safe enough for her to come now.
    “He should be back anytime during the next week and a half. Do you want me to tell him to come visit when he shows up? He should probably visit Claire and the rest of his family anyway.”
    “Yeah, yeah he should visit them.” Rose clearly wanted to see him too, but jumped on the chance to hide that. She could be very similar to Riley at times, which made it easy for Riley to talk to her.
    “By the way, I’m looking for Dr. Haily, have you seen her recently? I wanted to go over your medical supplies with her.”
    “Yeah, I think she’s in her room right now. She’s been doing night shifts and might still be asleep.”
    “Good to know, thanks.”
    “I’ll let ya be on your way.” Rose grinned and stepped around Riley. “I think I might try to jump scare your daughter.”
    “Good luck with that. She’s become very aware of her surroundings ever since you started doing that whenever we visit.” At first Riley didn’t like that Rose would deliberately try to scare her daughter, but now she was glad. Constant awareness was a skill Hope needed to have in this new world.
    Rose gave Riley a cheeky wink and then headed off down the hall. Riley watched her go for a moment, noticing how Rose always seemed to stick close to the wall, keeping her shorter arm away from anyone who might be passing by.
    Continuing on her own path, Riley felt a little bit sorry for lying to Rose. She wasn’t going to see Dr. Haily, but couldn’t think up a good reason to go see the person she was hoping to find.
    Riley made her way into the hydroponics lab, where rows and rows of troughs sat beneath