Page 25 of The Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps

“Hi, sweetheart,” I said, leaning down to speak to the girl. “What’s your name?”

She sniffled, wiping her arm across her nose. “Lila.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Eden,” I said, patting the exam table. “Mind if I help you hop up?”

She dutifully held her arms up, and on the count of three, I boosted her onto the table in front of me, checking her over.

“That’s where they got me,” she said, wrinkling her nose. She pointed out a tiny, superficial mark from the wyrm’s sparks. “And there. And there, too!”

“Little buggers,” her mother said.

“Little boogers!” some child cried, laughing hysterically before rushing off across the exam room. Lila and I traded amused looks.

“Well,” I told her. “Good news is these look quite superficial. We call them first-degree burns.” I picked up a small container of salve. “With Nisse’s handy ointment here, you’ll be well on your way to healing by the end of the week. Think you can handle putting that on every morning and night?”

Lila nodded.

“Perfect.” I turned to her mother. “She’ll be all right. I’m going to put some salve on before you go, though. Just to start you off.”

“I cannot wait for this wretched migration to be over,” her mother said, sounding haggard. “Every year, all these people flood the town, and suddenly there are all these dragon incidents.”

“I like the dragons,” Lila whispered.

“Do you?” I asked.

She gave me a conspiratorial smile. “But only the big ones,” she clarified. “I hate these little ones. They’re so slithery.”

“That they are,” Matty said, coming over. “But they’re kinda cute, too.”

Lila pursed her lips, considering that. “Maybe they just got scared when I was jumping on the rocks.”

“You are quite a bit bigger than a wyrm,” Matty said. “Maybe they thought you were trying to break into their new home.”

Lila giggled.

I popped the pot of salve open, then set to work, dabbing at the tiny burns on Lila’s legs with a cotton swab.

“Bandages?” Matty asked.

I shook my head. “They’re too small.”

“I want to be a dragon rider,” Lila said suddenly.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” her mother cut in. “We have quite enough run-ins with dragons as it is.”

Lila lifted her hand to whisper to me. “I do.”

I shared a secret smile with her, then left her in Matty’s capable hands. “Can you give her mother instructions on infection signs and symptoms? If she notices anything⁠—”

“I’ll have them come right back to the infirmary,” he said with a nod.

I squeezed his arm. “Thank you.”

While Matty took care of that, I flitted to the side of the room, taking a quick break to sip the lukewarm tea Seraphine had made me earlier. My stomach grumbled, gnawing on itself, and I pressed my hand to my gut. Now that we were so busy, I regretted skipping breakfast to mess around with the armor.

“Was that Vaela I saw landing out by the meadow this morning?”

I looked over to find Seraphine standing there with her own mug. Her tone was curious, eyebrows slightly raised.