“Touch them!” Mindy demanded. I hurried to comply, resting my hands on them both.
This went on for another ten minutes, each second feeling like an eternity. But Mindy and the two others seemed to be satisfied for now.
The others left and then it was just us and Mindy. She sat next to us and seemed to gather herself for whatever she had to say. “We might need to put you into a coma, too, Nolen. If you’re asleep, it might help heal them quicker, with your magic helping soothe theirs.”
“How will me being asleep help them?” I asked.
“You’ll use less of your magic, and it might be the solution for us to hurry this along. They both died at the same time, when you slept. My theory is that you help heal them when you sleep.”
“But they died!” I argued. I wasn’t about to have them die on me again, even if it only lasted a few seconds.
“Because you were only taking a nap. Had you stayed asleep they would’ve continued to heal with your help. I could literally feel them pull from you when it happened.”
“You could?”
She nodded. “This is new for all of us, and we will most likely make mistakes along the way. I can only act on my instincts and from what I see.”
“And you think putting me asleep will help them heal faster?”
“I do.”
I had to take a minute to think it over. I really had nothing to lose. With both my mates asleep and broken I felt like trusting Mindy would be the best. Considering it only took a small amount of magic to put me asleep, Mindy could easily do it herself each day so I remained unconscious.
“Let’s do it,” I said, feeling like I’d made the right choice.
“It’s not up to me to decide. I still need to ask the rulers for permission,” Mindy explained, and yeah, I hadn’t really thought about what the rulers would say to this. I felt like they would agree with Mindy, seeing as she was the best in the city at healing.
Our magic was like skillsets, one could become a great healer if they practiced, and the same with elemental affinities. I wouldn’t be able to light a fire with my bare hands, but I could use basic magic easily. Glamour being one of them. Putting someone to sleep was taught to us early in school and so was basic healing and technological magic, which basically taught us to combine tech with magic and will the technology to do our bidding without having to rely on the tech being operational without the aid of magic. It was mostly using magic to fuel things instead of electricity, and if a certain part wouldn’t cooperate, we could just magic it to work.
“I’ll be back in a sec,” Mindy said, leaving me alone with my mates.
As I looked at them both, I realized that even if it took years before they woke up fully, then it would all be worth it knowing they were together again. Even in their sleep their hands found each other’s on my stomach, searching for the comfort of their twin’s touch. They needed to never be apart again; it didn’t matter if I lost years being asleep. I would do anything for them.
Chapter Thirty-One
Derek
A week later.
“Just one quick magic session with Remi and Juno and then we’ll return,” Nolen assured me.
I reluctantly left our room where Aiden was sleeping, feeling like my heart was breaking as we left him alone for the first time.
“Explain again why leaving him is wise?” I demanded, hating each step I took.
Nolen sighed. “Because you need some grass time before I’ll be put to sleep.”
He’d told me about Mindy’s idea of him being in a coma-like state too, and how it could potentially help me and Aiden heal faster, but it sounded like this would take more than just a week’s sleep.
“Just how long does Mindy plan on you sleeping for?”
“For as long as it takes,” he muttered quietly.
I stopped him, my hand grabbing his. “You plan on sleeping for maybe months?! I can’t ask you to lose that much of your life for me, forus.”
His smile turned from pensive to soft. “I don’t have anything to live for when you two are asleep. I live for these moments when you’re awake. Sleeping and then waking up to both of you being healed is actually a blessing. I don’t have to lay there in silence, waiting for one of you to wake up only to be left alone again. I know I shouldn’t complain. You two have it way worse than me. I know that, but I feel so powerless. I want to fix you both, to heal your core so we can start living, the three of us. And I selfishly can’t wait, so being asleep really is a help for me.”
Blinking at him, I tried to come up with a reply, but how do you answer that weird love declaration?
