Dark spirits have arrived to stop you, sent by the Warden. They don’t want Charlie to heal,Oberi rasped.The wolf is fighting them off.
Didn’t care. That wasn’t my job. The wolf continued to growl, and he threw the invisible force into the door as I moved on to healing the rest of Charlie’s organs. Medical supplies were knocked aside, and a cart was tipped over as the wolf fought off the evil entities.
The wolf chased the dark spirits into the hallway. Marcus will deal with it,Oberi stated, though her voice was strained.We’re almost done, Ava.
Thank the ancestors, because I couldn’t keep this up. His liver was the only organ left to be healed— I’d replaced all the others. It was going to be the most difficult, because the liver was what filtered all the body’s toxins, and most of the poison had ended up there due to his poor liver trying to metabolize the poison and failing. I felt my magic wavering, on the edge of failure, but I yanked on Charlie’s demigod magic to support me. His power came surging through the minute I asked, and I used that energy to give me strength as I faded the infected liver into nothing, and forged a new one in its place.
I searched his body avidly for more poison, and didn’t find any. The kurble chittered happily, and Oberi said,It is done. The poison is completely gone.
I sagged in my chair, on the edge of delirium. I’d regrown what had been damaged. But would it be enough?
I began sobbing as I watched color return to Charlie’s complexion. I reached out to touch his skin and found that it was once again vibrant and warm. “He’s going to be okay!”
Yes, he is,Oberi said wearily.We have cheated death once again.
I bawled into my hands. The little kurble scurried up my shoulder and sat there to give me a kiss on the cheek. The wolf approached from the side, giving a satisfied growl.
They must return to the Ancestral Lands now, Oberi noted.But they will be around, even if you cannot see them.
The kurble gave another trill, and the wolf grumbled lowly. Their spirits faded from my eyesight, though I sensed their presence lingering throughout the room.
Oberi hopped off the bed and changed into a husky,I will find assistance. He is healed, but he will need rest… as will we.
I couldn’t move. I was too busy weeping in relief.
Everyone had rushedin the moment Oberi had retrieved them. There were questions from a lot of people on how I’d done it, and I gave the most basic of explanations, because I was honestly too overwhelmed to go over everything.
I told my parents about the spirits that had arrived to help me. Needless to say, both of them were completely floored by the arrival of our family’s guardians, and shaken up. They took a private room in the hospital to console each other, grieve, and rejoice as I returned to Charlie’s side.
The doctors had taken the breathing tube out and unhooked him from all the monitors, as it was clear he didn’t need them. He still hadn’t woken up, but I wasn’t surprised. He’d been through a lot and needed time to recover.
I refused to let anyone help me. The doctors wanted to monitor me and check me over for any damage that may have been caused by the extent of my magic, but I wouldn’t let them. They could worry about me once Charlie woke up and we knew he was all right. I wasn’t leaving his bedside until his eyes opened, that was for sure.
“Pleaseleave me alone,” I snapped, pushing Ez’s hands away. He was trying to check if I was good, which was unnecessary, because I was certain I was fine.
“Ancestors, Ava, you’re impossible!” Ez snapped.
“Would you stop acting crazy and let people help?” Kallie demanded. She’d been arguing with me to let the doctors do an evaluation for fifteen minutes, and was getting more pissed by the second. “There’s no reason to act ridiculous now. Charlie’s fine.”
“Wethinkhe’s fine. We don’t know for sure if my spell had any side effects,” I worried.
Kallie rubbed her face. “If you don’t get looked at, Charlie’s gonna be pissed when he wakes up. He hates it when you don’t take care of yourself.”
“Fine by me.” I wasn’t the patient here.
Marcus stormed in. He carried a vial in his hands, which he shoved into my lap. “Ava,drink this.”
His tone was so aggressive that he was the only person I didn’t argue with. I looked at the contents through the glass vial and figured it was a simple healing potion. I uncorked the bottle and drank. I found it tasted like grapefruit juice.
When the potion’s effects kicked in, I instantly felt pain ebb away that I didn’t know was there. I’d been so hyped up I didn’t realize I was experiencing any flare-up symptoms, in my spine or my body.NowI noticed, and they were aggressive. My muscles ached as if I’d moved the universe itself to fix Charlie. Guess I kind of had.
“Thanks,” I said, handing the empty bottle back to Marcus.
“I brewed it myself. I figured you would need it,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about it counteracting any of your medications. Everything I put in there is safe.”
“Well, I really appreciate…”
I staggered in my chair, because all of a sudden, I started getting very sleepy. I registered that the potion had left a faint aftertaste, one of a sleeping herb I recognized.
