“Right?” I sit up, stretching my arms over my head. After Gemma drank the potion, I told her about Jared and the ghost, and then said I’d stay for a while after she passed out to make sure the potion didn’t poison her or anything. “How long was I out?”
“Almost two hours. I just got more blood drawn so I had to get up.”
“How do you feel?”
“Amazing. I’m not totally better, but I’ve gone from feeling like I can hardly breathe to a slight cold. That stuff is amazing, Ace.”
“I can’t take credit for it. I just followed a spell in my family’s book.”
“They knew their stuff.”
“Seems like it. Now I just need to learn it.”
A nurse knocks on the door and comes in, starting her shift with an assessment.
“You were admitted with pneumonia?” the nurse asks, listening to Gemma’s lungs.
“Yes.”
“And you’ve only been here a day?” She moves the stethoscope lower on Gemma’s chest, eyebrows pushed together.
“Yes, I got in late last night.”
“Huh.” The nurse moves around Gemma and listens to her lungs from the back. “Hang on a minute.” She walks briskly out of the room.
“I feel better, but I know that look. I must have gotten worse,” Gemma groans.
I sit up, looking into the hall. “I think it’s the opposite.”
The nurse comes in along with an older nurse, who listens to Gemma’s lungs as well. “You’re right,” she tells the first nurse. “Her lungs are completely clear.”
They do a head to toe assessment before leaving.
“I’m not going to be able to explain this, am I?” Gemma asks as she rakes her fingers through her messy hair.
“Nope. And if you try, they’ll just move you to the psych ward.”
I stand up and stretch. My back is stiff and sore from snoozing in that uncomfortable chair, but my head feels a little clearer. I needed that nap.
The nurse comes back in again along with the doctor, and they’re both baffled by how quickly Gemma got over her illness. The doctor says she’s putting a rush on the labs, and when the results come back, everyone is in shock.
“So, can I go home?” Gemma asks.
The doctor looks at the results one more time, shaking her head. “I have no reason to keep you here. You’re healthy.”
“I knew some sleep and antibiotics would do the trick.” Gemma smiles. She’s a nurse; she knows how unlikely all of this is. “I can be discharged, right?”
“Yeah. I would like you to continue antibiotics at home and follow up with your general practitioner as soon as you can get an appointment. I’ve never seen someone bounce back so fast.”
“I’m very responsive to medication.” Gemma takes a hair tie from around her wrist and rakes her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. I don’t know how she does it. The bun is messy but cute and looks like she took her time styling it. When I twist my hair into a bun like that I look like I’m about to sell meth on a dirty street corner.
“Well, um, this is great.” The doctor is clearly flustered. She checks Gemma over once more and says she’ll put in orders for being discharged from the hospital. It takes about half an hour to get the papers signed and things squared away.
And then Gemma leaves with me.
* * *
“It’s not perfect,but it’s the best I could do.” I set Gemma’s bag down on the bed in the guest room. Decorating has never been my thing, and the guest room is on the bottom of my list of priorities. The dresser and nightstand don’t match, the bed was here when I inherited the house, but the sheets are clean at least. It’ll work.
