Various medications were administered - their names a blur of syllables she couldn't focus on enough to comprehend. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the overwhelming need to sleep.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Mandy driftedup through layers of darkness, drawn by the sound of quiet weeping. Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but she forced them open. The harsh hospital lighting had been dimmed, casting the room in gentle shadows.
Jacinth sat beside her bed, clutching Mandy's hand in both of hers. Tears streamed down her face, making her chocolate-brown eyes glisten.
Joy flooded through Mandy at the sight of her. She managed only the ghost of a smile, but her eyes said everything.
Mandy's chest tightened as she fought back another fit of violent coughing. The spasms made her head throb. But what truly broke her heart was watching Jacinth, the usually cheerful 900-year-old Djinn, dissolve into tears at her bedside.
"It's not fair," Jacinth whispered, her voice cracking, tears streaming down her beautiful face. "This shouldn't be happening to you. Not like this."
A small laugh escaped Mandy's lips before she could stop it, but that triggered the coughing fit she'd been trying to hold back. Her lungs burned as she struggled to breathe, each cough feeling like sandpaper scraping against her raw throat. The monitor beside her bed beeped in protest as her oxygen levels dipped.
Jacinth clung to her hand, dark eyes swimming with tears. The Djinn's touch felt warm and comforting and amazingly, some of the cough eased. Mandy gestured weakly toward the carafe on the bedside table, and Jacinth hurriedly poured her some tea. Mandy drank slowly, savoring the hot, sweet liquid as it soothed her aching throat and calmed the wracking coughs.
When the cough finally subsided, Mandy took several shallow breaths before speaking. Her voice came out raspy and weak, but she couldn't help the hint of amusement that crept into her tone.
"You're nine hundred years old," she managed, "and you still haven't learned that life isn't fair?"
Jacinth's voice cracked with emotion. "You've only just learned about magic. You got your life back, you were supposed to have time..." Her shoulders shook as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "Time to explore it all, to experience everything."
Mandy's lips curved into a gentle smile even as her eyes drifted closed. Exhaustion pulled at her, making her eyelids feel impossibly heavy. She tightened her fingers around Jacinth's hand, offering what comfort she could.
"But I got to know about magic," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the steady beeping of the hospital monitors. Her lips curved in a smile, thinking back over the past weeks. "And I did get to experience my new life. So much wonder, so much joy."
She remembered the wonder of those first magical moments - the simple delight of being able to move without pain, walking in Reid Park hand-in-hand with Kieran, the thrill of ordering her mermaid tail.
"And for a while," Mandy continued softly, squeezing Jacinth's fingers as she struggled to speak between agonized breaths, "even if it was for a short time… I got to be part of…something truly special… part of a world I'd always dreamed of but never knew… it could actually exist."
Kieran's tall form materialized beside the bed, his tall frame seeming to fill the small hospital room. His white hair gleamed silver in the low light, and his ice-blue eyes held an intensity she'd never seen before.
In his hand, he held a small crystal bottle filled with an iridescent liquid that seemed to shimmer and shift colors as he moved.
He handed the bottle to Jacinth without ceremony. "Three drops in her tea, no more."
Mandy's lips curved into a weak smile. "If you're trying to poison me, that seems like overkill at this point." Her attempt at humor triggered another coughing fit, making her whole body shake with the force of it.
Kieran's silver-blue eyes fixed on her, his expression stern. "This is not a matter for jest. The elixir will ease your coughing and provide several hours of relief."
When she could breathe again, Mandy managed a small nod. "Thank you. I mean it." She watched as Jacinth carefully measured three drops into her cooling tea. "I'm okay with going out peacefully, but these coughs..." She gestured weakly at her chest. "Not exactly conducive to peace."
The liquid sparkled as it hit the tea, sending tiny rainbow ripples across the surface before dissolving completely. Jacinth helped her take a few careful sips, and almost immediately, Mandy felt the burning in her lungs begin to ease.
"Oh, my!" Mandy's eyes widened as warmth spread through her chest, radiating outward from where the elixir had settled. The burning sensation that had plagued her lungs melted away, replaced by a gentle, comforting heat that reminded her of something... someone...
She smiled, her eyes brightening for the first time in days. "It feels just like being hugged by Dean."
Jacinth's musical laugh filled the sterile hospital room, the sound somehow making everything better. Even Kieran's stern expression cracked, a rare smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he shook his head.
"Trust you to compare an ancient Djinn healing elixir to a bear shifter's embrace," Jacinth said.
Mandy settled back against her pillows, enjoying the familiar sensation of security and comfort that reminded her so strongly of Dean's protective bear hugs.
The monitors beeped steadily in the background as Kieran moved closer. His large hand settled on her forehead, and blessed coolness flowed from his touch. The burning that had consumed her for days began to recede, replaced by soothing waves of relief. Mandy sighed, letting her eyes drift closed as the fever's grip loosened under Kieran's magic.
