“I’m not leaving.” He’s firm, unmovable.
“At least let someone check out your injuries.”
“No.”
The healer blocks her sight of him, shining a light in her eyes. “I’m Healer Michaels. I’m going to put you to sleep while I heal you. Rest.Somnum.”
The spell wraps its arms around her and drags her into the void.
The next time Veda opens her eyes, she’s alone, but not for long.
Healer Michaels enters the room after a polite knock.
“I’m fine,” she says automatically.
“You will be.”
He walks her through everything. They found evidence of a nearly crushed windpipe, but not how she ended up healed. She knows, though she keeps that to herself. Veda touches her neck. The reason she’s alive is gone. Healer Michaels explains that her burns are healed, ankle repaired, but her wrist needed to be set due to the number ofbroken bones. Her concussion must be monitored closely; he warns her that the bruises caused by magic will take days to heal.
“You need to have that Sanguis Curse checked out,” Healer Michaels says. “I can see where the curse’s scars have begun to retreat, which should not be happening. The bind is stable, and Sanguis doesn’t typically retreat, it grows larger. Have you done anything differently? Has a Seer tried healing you?”
“No and no. I know the rules. Even if they could ...”
“How long has it been in place?”
“Years,” Veda replies, voice hoarse.
“Too long.” The healer frowns and looks at the door as if someone is going to burst into the room. “I’ve seen your curse once before in a patient. Nasty creation. The worst of the worst. She was cursed by her sister in a fit of rage, and it didn’t leave her body until she ... died.”
Well, that’s comforting. The healer is about to say something else when a doctor knocks on the door. “We need you in room four for an arterial unblocking.”
“Be there in a second.” He lets his exhaustion show and apologizes.
“Been here a long time?”
“I’m fifteen hours into a thirty-hour shift.”
Veda winces.
“Yeah, rough.” The healer steps back. “Excuse me. Duty calls.”
He’s gone before Veda can react.
Nothing has changed in the medical field. Healer Seers are still criminally overworked and underpaid. It’s a shame.
Veda shifts in bed, frowning at her itchy gown, in desperate need of a shower and something to wipe her memory.
Hiram knocks on the door.
Before Veda can answer, magic allows him into her room like he belongs.
“How?” Veda croaks, her voice rough.
“Had to say you were my wife so they wouldn’t kick me out. They tied my Imprint to your room.”
Wife?She elects not to dignify that with a response. There are more pressing questions. “No, the alley. How?”
“How did I find you?” He sits in the chair next to her bed. “Gabriel got your message. Peter got your missed call. He called Gabriel, then me, because I was in the area. I saw the flare. It smelled like ...” He clears his throat. “Doesn’t matter. It led me to you.”
