“Yes. Let’s get her up on a flat surface so I have room to work.”
“Can’t.” Every word was rapidly becoming an effort that took more energy than he had to spare. He forced the explanation out. “If we move her, she dies. Work where she lies. Right kidney.” He jerked his chin to indicate Gabriella’s right side. “Hurry.”
Without a word, nurse dropped to her knees beside Gabriella and opened the satchel she’d brought with her. She rummaged through the contents of the pack and pulled out a wrapped bundle that she unrolled to reveal a selection of surgical implements. Then, she pulled out a second bundle that contained a series of needles of various sizes and strands of what looked like dark thread.
Using a small pair of scissors from the bundle, she cut through the waist of Summer’s lilac dress and the white linen chemise beneath and bared Summer’s abdomen, which was mottled with dark bruising from the attack and swelling from the internal bleeding.
“I’ll need the growing lamps,” she said as she worked. “A dozen of them. Set up in a circle around us.”
The Winter King turned around and started barking orders.
The lamps arrived a short while later, and within moments, Dilys, Nurse Greenleaf, and Summer were surrounded by a ring of blazing miniature suns that turned the area around them as warm and bright as full day. Nurse Greenleaf bathed Summer’s skin with a pungent salve then picked up a small, wickedly sharp blade. Dilys had to fight back an instinctive surge of protective aggression as she cut into Gabriella’s flesh.
“Oh, dear,” she whispered when she parted the incision to reveal the damaged kidney.
“Fix it. Quickly.” He was holding the pool of Summer’s blood in a bubble of magic, feeding it back into her veins, but with the amount of blood pouring out, the task felt like bailing water with a sieve.
Setting her jaw, Tildavera Greenleaf went to work.
Dilys had to hand it to her. The elderly nurse was a swift, efficient, and divinely-gifted healer. She made short work of stitching the ruptured blood vessels and lacerated kidney while Dilys blocked Summer’s blood from the area where Nurse Greenleaf was working. When her needlework was done, the Nurse sprinkled a greenish powder on the stitched wounds, murmuring softly beneath her breath as she went. A pulse of power emanated from her hands. Connected as he was to every molecule of Summer’s blood, Dilys could literally feel the wounds sealing themselves in the wake of Nurse Greenleaf’s ministrations. Tentatively, he released his hold on the blood circulating through Summer’s kidney. He breathed a short, shaky sigh of relief when both the stitches and whatever binding magic Nurse Greenleaf had employed held in place.
“You have a gift, Nurse,” he said.
“A little herb magic. A temporary measure only. She’ll still need plenty of rest, sunlight, and healing to ensure it holds.” Leaving the surgical wound open, she directed the light from one of the sunlamps onto the exposed kidney, then turned her attention to Summer’s broken ribs and collapsed lung. She clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Now, this is going to take more doing than a bit of thread and some herb magic. I hope the cursed bastard who did this to her died a painful death.”
“He did.”
The Nurse flicked a glance up at him. “Your doing?”
“Tey.” The lie fell without effort. Not that it was much of a lie. He would have joyfully ripped thefarkingkrillolimb from limb had Summer not beaten him to it.
Tildavera Greenleaf’s mouth compressed in a brief, grim smile. “Good.” The smile disappeared as she directed her attention back to Summer’s ribcage. “You don’t happen to control air as well as water, do you?”
“Ono.Alas, I do not.”
“We’ll do it the hard way then.”
For the next half hour, they worked. Nurse Greenleaf made another incision to relieve the pressure on the collapsed lung and to repair the broken ribs. Several shards of bone had broken off to pierce Summer’s lung in multiple places. The healer removed each tiny piece, stitched up the larger tears in the delicate lung tissue, and then realigned the broken ribs, sprinkling green powder and magic as she went.
The whole time she worked, Dilys crouched over Summer, stroking her face, her neck, her hair, filling each tender caress with energy and strength, whispering into her ear in his most beguiling tone. “You will be fine,moa kiri.You are strong. Life and magic and strength flows through your veins. You are a wellspring of power, a queen of all waters. All the life and energy and vitality in every ocean, every sea, every river, lake and stream lives in you. And if you need more, then take it from me. What is mine is yours without question or limits. So long as there is breath in my lungs, you will never stop breathing. So long as my heart beats, yours will never stop. Whatever pain you have, let me bear it for you. I offer my strength and magic and life force to nourish your own. Stay with me,moa kiri.Live for me.”
As a Siren, Gabriella carried within herself the great, vast power of the seas, but it was the love provided through a trusted network of deep, emotional bonds that kept her alive. It was love that allowed her to tap that power, to master and share it. The bond between mates was a Siren’s greatest source of strength, followed by maternal connections to her children, then bonds of family and friendship.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Dilys felt true hope blossom in his heart. Because, although Summer had made a master’s art of avoiding Dilys and running from their bond, the link not only existed... it was already extremely strong. Strong enough to accept the flood of live-saving love and devotion Dilys poured through it. Awake, Gabriella might fear what he was to her. Her subconscious, however, not only recognized his right to protect her and tend to her needs, but accepted his care without hesitation, drinking down his devotion and responding to his voice and his gifts the way animlanifemale responded to her chosen mate.
That knowledge set his mind and his heart at ease. Whatever her reasons for wiping his memory, it had nothing to do with lack of desire for him or their compatibility as mates. They rest they could work through in time.
One by one, Dilys felt the demands on his magic diminish as Nurse Greenleaf repaired Summer’s lungs and stopped the worst of the bleeding. One by one, Dilys cautiously released his hold on each of the damaged blood vessels until he had drawn back all but an observational connection to Summer’s blood. He maintained the connection, following the flow of blood through her veins to be certain no life-threatening leaks remained. There weren’t, and Dilys could already feel Summer growing stronger.
He bent to press his lips close to her ear. “You did it,moa kiri.I knew you could.” With the immediate danger to her life past, he was able to focus all his remaining strength and send it pouring down their bond. “A gift,moa kiri,freely given. Whatever you need, so shall I provide.” He stroked her hair and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers and sending up a silent prayer of thanks to Numahao.
Beside him, Tildavera positioned several growing lamps to shine on Summer’s chest before returning her attention to the open surgical wound near the kidney. The results must have pleased her, because she stitched up that wound, administered more green powder and magic, then came back to close the incision along Summer’s ribs.
“That’s the best I can do.” The healer sat back on her heels and regarded King Wynter, who had remained a silent, glowering presence throughout the surgery. “She needs rest and sunlight. I’ll keep her under observation in case of infection, but she’s in the gods’ hands now.”
“Can she be moved now?” Wynter asked.
“As long as it’s done very carefully. Barring any abrupt jostling, the herbal seals I applied should hold.” She glanced over in Lily’s direction. “I’ll take a look at the girl before we go.”
