Unfortunately, this was impossibly difficult to accomplish. She didn’t know the exact science behind it, and neither did Xander, so she eventually stopped trying and went back to focusing on creating a cure. Once the girls were alright, she could discover who had done this and plot her revenge.
Bisma was so preoccupied that she hardly slept or ate, and her health quickly deteriorated, a fact she did not even notice until one day she entered the greenhouse and Xander gave her a look so filled with worry that even she grew apprehensive.
‘This won’t do, Bisma,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘You need to take care of yourself.’
‘It’s fine,’ she said, but her voice was weak. She tried to clear her throat. ‘I’m fine.’
‘You’re clearly not.’ He frowned. ‘I’ve seen you in that same outfit for a week now.’
Ugh.He was right. Not that she admitted it to him then, but the next day she showered and came in wearing a fresh dress.
‘Happy?’ Bisma asked, gesturing pointedly to the clean outfit.
He smiled, about to nod, when he saw her hair. The smile faded.
‘You haven’t brushed your hair,’ he said.
She was appalled. ‘You know it isn’t exactly nice manners to point that out.’ She touched her knotted hair self-consciously. ‘Brushing it is an entire effort, and I’ve been too tired.’
‘Allow me,’ he said, rummaging around a desk for a hairbrush. Of course he kept a spare hairbrush in his workspace!
‘What? No.’
‘Come on, it’ll help you think.’ He held up the hairbrush, then strode toward her. ‘You need blood circulation.’
‘Blood circulation?’
‘Yes, blood circulation. We learned about it in school and everything.’
‘Of course you went to a school where they taught you the importance of brushing your hair.’
‘The only class I ever got full marks in, too.’
He was in front of her now, and put his hands on her shoulders, steering her to sit down on a stool. She really was too tired, so she let him, sighing.
With gentle hands, he undid the knot of her hair, then sectioned it off, his long and elegant fingers working deftly through the tangled mess. Then he began brushing, tugging lightly, and it was, to put it simply, heavenly.
Bisma closed her eyes as he worked, both of them silent. She listened to the sound of his breathing and of her hair being tamed. It was lovely, so lovely.
She had brushed her sisters’ hair for years, but hadn’t had hers brushed in a long, long time. It was so kind—so sweet to be taken care of—that she felt tears well up in her eyes, which was just absurd.
Why are you crying?She hastily blinked the tears away, glad he was behind her and would not see.
As Xander finished, she felt another wall around her heart come crumbling down. Bisma was afraid of how few of her defenses remained.
Spending so much time with Xander—she had gotten into the habit of him, and it was one she did not want to let go of. Even so, she was afraid: not only of the damage he could do to her if she let him in, but the damage he might find within her if he got too close. How repulsed he might be by the truth of her.
‘There,’ he said, gathering her smooth hair in his hands, then setting it down. She ran a hand over her hair; it was soft.
‘Thank you,’ she said, turning to face him.
‘Of course,’ he said.
There was an expression on his face she could not quite decipher, but his eyes were very green, bright and dazzling.
Bisma felt her face grow warm, and he inched closer. For a moment, she thought he might kiss her, and she resolved not to stop him. Not this time.
She closed her eyes, waiting.
