He rapidly blinks, then looks me up and down.“What…Taz?”he asks with a croaky voice.
I let out a choked laugh, joy bubbling out of my chest.“Who else were you expecting?”I ask as I cry.
Vik studies me in confusion.“How…how did you get so tall?”
The five of us laugh again, and I hug my brother close.“I can’t believe you survived living in the Other Side,” I say with tears streaming down my cheeks.Despite all the fighting of the last hour, I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy.With all the people surrounding me, I have no intention of being sad again.
CHAPTER 19- LUTHER
THE LIGHT SHINESon my face, and I try not to blink.After a few seconds, however, I close my eyes and rub my face.
“Sorry,” the male nurse says.“You’re all good.Pupils definitely reactive.”
“Glad to hear it, Cedric.”I share a smile with the man and put on my shirt.I’m sitting in the exact bed where Max was all those weeks ago.Taz insisted I stay overnight for observation and get a full physical exam.I was too tired to fight him, so I slept overnight in the infirmary.As for checking my status, there’s no one to ask other than Cedric, our full-time nurse practitioner.The man poked and prodded me every few hours, as is customary, to make sure my exposure to the Other Side wasn’t particularly harmful.
Curiously, he didn’t use any magic to check me over all night.Huh.
“And you have a clean bill of health.”Cedric hands me a paper with his signature on it.He’s listed all sorts of numbers about my current status.I’m not used to receiving hand-written notes that don’t fly to my desk here at work.But conserving magic is important, I suppose.
“Nice.”
“You are now free to go about being a kickass agent of SPELL.”He shoots me a funny grin as he sits down on the rolling stool.He almost sounds doleful or sarcastic, but everyone knows he does good work.Cedric took care of that witch boy when he almost died here in the Union, as well as Max after his hexing.Everyone owes Cedric big time.
“Thank you, sir.”It feels weird saying that, but he appears to be a few years older than me.I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with him.My regular, mortal doctor always took care of me, and I haven’t had so much as a concussion on the job.But the man wearing scrubs to my left knows the ins and outs of the magical world, so if he says I’m good, then I’m good.
“Just try to stay out of dark dimensions.”
I snort and cross my fingers.“Here’s hoping.”
“It could have altered your physiology.After all these years, we still have so little research on humans visiting the Other Side.”
My smile falls.“Right.”I flex my hands and gaze at my fingers.Everything seems to be in place, but who knows what lingering effects might manifest.
“You’re fine, Luther.”Cedric stands up.“But get your bloodwork checked by a mortal doctor.And have them send the results to my clinic.”He hands me a card with his address; Cedric’s everyday practice is in Cosmo, as well.
“The others said I was only gone for a few minutes.But time works differently there.There may be long-term consequences,” I say, both to Cedric and to myself.
“Come see me if anything out of the ordinary happens.Just be glad you limited your exposure.As for the other guy you brought back…” Cedric shivers and walks me out of the room.“The number of check-ups I have to do for him…well, no amount of magic can undo being trapped in there for years.”
I frown in concern and pocket the bill of health.“We all have a lot of work to do when it comes to helping him.I’m just glad he’s doing alright.”
“I’ll be the judge of his health.You work on whatever it is you superheroic field agents do.”
We share a laugh.“You know you’re the most important agent of SPELL, Cedric.”
I put out my fist, and he pounds it.“Yes, but it’s good to hear it out loud on occasion.”We laugh again as he walks into the neighboring infirmary room.
As he enters, Taz steps out and looks between us with confusion and concern.“Since when were you two all chummy?”
“We have literally never had a conversation before today.”
“And now you’re laughing together?”He puts his arm around my hips, and I grin.It’s only us in the hallway, but it’s the most privacy he and I have shared in what feels like ages.The last twelve hours have been torturous, and I want to nap for days.Preferably with this man by my side.
“He checked me out.I stayed overnight at your discretion.”My lips are an inch from his, and I bet my challenging smile mirrors his.
“Oh, so other guys are checking you out?”
“He sure did.A prostate exam and everything.”
