“When it’s activated, it heightens the functions of the amygdala, making your translation so powerful your body can’t contain it. The energy erupts, and you implode, usually taking anyone nearby with you.”
“ButIdidn’t.”
Justine looked at me, again. “No, you didn’t.”
I leaned in closer. “So, what didyoudo?”
She hesitated, clearly rethinking the events. “I wanted to preserve your body, so I?—"
“Wait,” I interrupted, confused. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, you were still breathing. Which was a good sign, so I had to keep you alive. I put your body in a magically induced coma—a suspended state, so to speak.”
I blinked. “How did you know how to do it? Had you ever done it before?”
Her eyes flashed with irritation. “Is that what this is about? My inexperience? Me not being a fully certified Healer yet?”
“No!” I said quickly, my face wide with conviction. “No, I simply don’t understand how you knew what to do.”
Justine stared me down, with a wary look on her face. “Healing is a little different from other forms of translation. With regular translation, you cannot influence the body. Non-Healers can age at will, and Offensives can translate away their Skindo tattoo once earned, but that’s it. Any other translation can never be physically used. Healing is the exception.”
She took a breath. “However, like any other translation, healing is also about knowledge. The more you understand, the more you know, the better you heal. I know the magi-body, I know anatomy, and I know how energy flows through us. So, I figured keeping you in this fragile, barely-alive state was our best shot while we tried to figure out what had happened to you. Physically speaking, at least.”
“But I woke up,” I said, pressing further. “So, you figured it out?”
She hesitated again, a rare vulnerability flickering across her face. “I have no idea why you regained consciousness.”
I stared at her, stunned. “What do you mean?”
Justine frowned, clearly frustrated. “I’ve gone over it a million times in my head, Emma. You were in a coma for three weeks. James and Julian stayed by your side every single day. Then, one day, they were both gone. I found drops of blood by your bedside, so I assumed they’d finally come to blows and were off somewhere fighting.”
My jaw dropped. “James and Julian fought each other?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. It looked that way, but I never asked.”
“So, what happened after?”
“I stayed with you. Nothing changed. You were still breathing but not moving an inch. When they came back, they asked for the room. I didn’t return until the next morning. When I did, Julian was gone, and you awakened. You know the rest.”
I sat there, speechless. All this time, I thought Justine had saved me, had nursed me back to health, but she was as clueless as I was. And why hadn’t James told me any of this?
“So, James woke me up?” I asked, trembling.
She snorted. “James? I don’t think he could even find the amygdala, let alone heal it. But the other guy…”
“Julian,” I whispered.
She nodded. “The Elder has immense power. No one knows how far it reaches, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s a Healer. He’s an Offensive and a Specialist. Why stop there? Why not a Healer too?”
I mulled it over. “So, you think Julian healed me? But then why would he leave?”
Justine threw up her hands. “Hell if I know. Ask your boyfriend.”
I clenched my jaw. Oh, I was definitely going to ask him.
Godsdamnit. I had wanted answers, but now I had even more questions. How had I survived the Amplifier? Had Julian woken me up? And if he had, why wait three weeks? Did James know about any of this? And if he did, why the hell hadn’t he told me? Had the Amplifier somehow altered my translation, or was that Julian’s doing too? What had happened to me?
I shook my head, still very confused but grateful. “Justine, thank you so much for talking to me. I don’t understand what happened to me—or my body—and I have no clue where to start looking for answers.”
