Three
Drozel
Ihad no clue why Meri didn't want to be in the hospital anymore, but she didn't, and I wasn't going to make her. That was fine. I could handle that part. The thing that bothered me was how foolishly light this girl was. I could've carried her with one arm!
But when she curled up against me, pressing her brow into my shoulder, I tried to give her what reassurance I could. The trick with these girls was to be soft, Zasen had said. Gentle, slow, and quiet. If I wanted to keep from scaring them, I had to treat them like a scared little puppy - and it pissed me off.
Meri had become this amazing thing in the short time she'd been here. The girl who'd started off scared ofeverythinghad turned into a woman who gave of herself without hesitation. Not because she was forced to, but because shewantedto. I couldn't even wrap my mind around how someone could abuse that!
So I stretched my legs. Yeah, I was going to have some explaining to do. Omden would be shocked, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't have a problem with taking care of Meri. He liked the girl. It was Lessa who worried me the most. Likely her jealous streak would rear its ugly head again, and if she didn't dump me at least once, I'd be impressed.
Soon enough, we reached my place. Getting the outer door open with only my tail was a little tricky. Thankfully, Omden heard something and came to check. The moment he released the latch, I swept in with our little sparrow still tucked to my chest and didn't stop until I made it all the way across the house and into the guest bedroom.
"Droz?" Omden asked, trailing behind me. "Why isn't Meri in the hospital?"
"She didn't want to be," I told him as I eased her down into the bed. "Hey, tiny bird. Do you hurt anywhere?"
"No, I'm okay," Meri insisted, looking around. "Why am I back in bed?"
"Because," Omden said as he pushed around me, "you aren't done healing."
"But..." She looked between us with wide eyes.
So I crouched down beside her, doing my best to make myself small. "But what, Meri?"
Her little pink tongue darted out to lick her lips. "In the compound, there weren't enough beds, so once we were good enough, we had to go home to finish healing. Most women weren't even allowed to use one. I just..." She glanced at Omden, then back. "I don't want..." And then she swallowed hard. "Since the baby is Jeera and Brielle's now, I was supposed to leave, wasn't I?"
"In Lorsa," Omden said, moving to sit on the edge beside her, "you can use a bed until you no longer need help."
"Oh." And she dropped her eyes to the blankets. "I messed up?"
"Nope," I said before Omden could make her feel bad. "You did what you know, and I helped. Now, we're going to take care of you right here. It's fine, Meri, and this way you don't have to worry about everyone wanting to talk about the baby, right?"
She stilled. "Really?"
"Which part?" I asked, looking to Omden in the hope he could help me out a bit.
"I don't have to talk about it?"
"Not unless you want to," Omden assured her. "But what you do need to do..." He grinned at her, then hooked a finger under her chin and made her look up. "We have to get you cleaned up and in something more comfortable. You, Meri, are on bedrest for a few more weeks."
"Do you know what bedrest is?" I asked, having a bad feeling about this.
Those deep royal-blue eyes of hers slowly found mine. "Maybe?"
"Try?"
"It's when a man is hurt so badly, he can't care for himself and needs someone to do all things for him. His wife will even bring him a bed pan and his meals."
I made a little noise, proving that wasn't what we meant. "Maybe for Moles. For us, bedrest means you can't do anything hard. You're allowed to sit up and read, or sit down and sew, or go lie on the couch. You can visit with Lessa, but you cannot pick up heavy things. Nothing more than a glass or a plate of food, okay?"
"But..."
I lifted a brow. "Hm?"
"I keep thinking I have to do things," she admitted.
"Nope," Omden said. "I mean, if you want to design Droz some decent-looking clothes while you're stuck sitting all the time,Icertainly won't complain, but you don't have to."
