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I nodded, but he was already headed up to the desk.
They were too far for me to hear, but soon a woman in her early thirties stepped out from automatic doors to the left of the greenery wall and called my name.
She gave me a warm smile as Sai helped me up. He left our bags, and I couldn’t find it in me to care. The people at the front desk could watch them.
“Hi, Saige, I’m Maria.” She held up her right hand to the open door. We entered a private room that had an exam table, sink, and several cabinets. That was it. No familiar tools or charts like in my doctor’s office back home.
“Your mate told the front that you’re experiencing cold symptoms. Can you tell me how you’re feeling?” She scrolled through a tablet.
My mate? I glanced at Sai and realized that was correct. To them. I didn’t like the word, but it gave some authority to his relationship with me. It was better than “friend” or even “boyfriend.” Mate was official.
“Are you a doctor?” Sure, it was blunt and not the answer she was looking for, but I was confused. How did the system here work? She introduced herself as Maria, but did that mean she was a nurse? Someone who came to gather the important information before passing it on to a doctor?
She hesitated, glancing from Sai and back to me. “We don’t use the title of doctor, but I am the equivalent.”
“She’s a healer. An Earth witch like you, who specializes in healing and focused on that during her schooling,” Sai explained.
I felt so, so dumb in that moment. Of course. Doctors went to medical school and learned the science behind the body.
Witches and vampires had innate healing abilities. Like I should. Or could. If my magic ever decided to work.
Maria smiled. “That’s right. I apologize. I should have read further into your chart to see your background. I normally explain myself to students who didn’t grow up around our society, but those are usually only the first years.”
Right, I was the anomaly.
“And you have a mate.” She gave a small shake of her head. “I shouldn’t have made assumptions. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I know I’m not exactly in a standard situation.”
Understatement of the year.
“You may call me Healer Maria if you prefer to use a title of sorts.” She offered, and I shook my head.
“Thanks, but I should adjust.” I refocused on why we were here. “I woke up feeling off. More tired than usual. Very cold. Sore, and it was hard to focus in class.”
She added notes while I spoke but met my eyes as soon as she was done. “That does sound like a cold, so I’ll start by giving you a dose of a healing potion for that. It generally takes about ten minutes to start working. If you don’t feel better, we can do a more thorough exam.”
Ten minutes to feel better? Where had this been my whole life? Poor Mom. If she only had something like this to help when Aiden and Brielle got sick at the same time.
Maybe I could learn to make it and give it to her.
That was incentive enough to master my abilities. I wanted to not only keep my family safe, but if I could make some things a bit easier, maybe leaving them and avoiding telling them about my bonding would be worth it.
Maria handed me a small cup of a purple liquid, which I swallowed at once and tossed away into the small trash can.
“I’ll be back in a few to check in.” She gave us another small smile before leaving the room.
“Ten-minute medicine? This is amazing,” I told Sai as I laid back on the table and let my legs dangle off the end.
He stood and leaned his hip next to me. “Why didn’t you tell us you were sick earlier? We could have come before class?”
“I’m not used to the idea of there being a magical solution to basic things, not like a cold.”
“We can heal pretty much anything. There are some terminal and degenerative conditions they haven’t found a solution for, but I’m sure that’s only a matter of time.”
They could heal anything, but couldn't save my parents? Or Niall’s? Or his uncle? I guess there was a line even magic couldn’t cross.
“Theo convinced Kaden to join our rugby team, rather than the shifters-only. They’re probably a better option for him, but they agreed us having a more similar schedule would make things easier. Plus, now you don’t have to go to more than one game a week.”
