Hidden Heat by Amy Valenti

hunch.”
    I dabbed a little nano-salve on the puncture wound and watched with interest while the tiny injury repaired itself. It had always fascinated me, how the top layers of skin could be so easily healed by nanotechnology, and yet some of the more serious, deeper wounds resisted the treatment.
    A couple of taut, silent minutes passed. Then Beth nodded, gazing down at her readout.
    “Beth?” I asked, and she handed me the device.
    I looked down at it and winced—the display was set up to compare the two results, and I might have still been a doctor in training, but I knew what I should be seeing, as opposed to what I was actually looking at.
    “Shouldn’t my baseline test have a lot less of a hormonal component than it does?”
    Scott looked over my shoulder at the test results and sighed. “There’s only half the hormonal increase there should be in the second test. I guess I’m just not as hot as I thought I was.”
    Nothing could have been further from the truth. I tried to avoid the temptation to give him a look that told him so, but I couldn’t help it. It smoothed his ruffled feathers, and he winked at me before wandering over to the fridge to find something to snack on.
    Beth took the readout back. “I think it’s safe to say that your hormonal baseline at the moment is what most people would experience at the ‘light kissing’ stage. Therefore, it takes less time and provocation for you to become fully aroused.”
    Having my sexual impulses discussed as if the topic was no more taboo than what I wanted for lunch was more than a little embarrassing. I stared at my fingers, biting my lip. “Can you fix it?”
    “We’ll still need to do a few scans of your brain before we can fully assess what’s going on. I can have the room booked after your lecture tomorrow, if you’d like to come by then.”
    “Sure.” Brain scans. Wow, I’d never had those before—I wished. It seemed like half of my time between suppression procedures had been spent having scans and other tests as I frantically tried to figure out what was wrong with my physiology. The specialists hadn’t come to any concrete conclusions.
    Beth pulled some pills from one of the pockets of her bag and examined the dosages. “I recommend you take one of these now, another before you sleep, another when you wake and another before class. They’re experimental, so don’t expect miracles.”
    Suspiciously, I eyed the plain white box she handed over. “Are these going to have a million scary side effects?”
    “Doubtful. If they do, call in sick rather than try to get to your classes. I don’t want you wandering around while you’re out of it, understand?”
    Taken aback by the sternness in her voice, I looked from her to Scott and back. “You think I might expose the committee?”
    “I think you need to be more careful now than you’ve ever been, Holly. I don’t doubt your intentions, but taking unnecessary risks would be reckless and stupid.” She paused to let the words sink in, then smiled again. “Now I’ve finished with the lecture, I’d better get going. I want to investigate your aunt a little further.”
    Scott and I exchanged a glance. It seemed as though our minds were moving on the same track, with one question blazing brightly in our thoughts. I didn’t think I could ask, though—I’d been humiliated enough by the medical assessment without giving Beth further ammunition.
    Scott seemed to be having difficulty voicing the question as well, though I wasn’t sure about his reasons. We watched as Beth picked up her medical bag and glanced about her, apparently checking she hadn’t forgotten anything.
    As she began to walk towards the door, alarm spurred me into taking a breath to speak, and I could see Scott doing the same thing. Before either of us could get a word out, Beth said matter-of-factly, “And yes, you can still engage in sexual activity. I doubt denying yourself would have much of an effect, Holly. It’s