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“This is not going to heal kindly,” A woman’s voice, one that I recognised from in my dream, came from somewhere nearby, and a sharp pain ripped through my body in the seconds that followed. I opened my mouth to scream, but the noise never came. My body arched away from whatever I was lying on, and cold hands held my shoulders down.
“I know, I’m sorry.” A different voice came this time, and it took me seconds to realise who it belonged to. Cyrus? “Can you give him anything else for the pain?”
“I’ve given him everything I have,” The woman’s voice was exasperated, “She’s burned through five layers.”
Five layers of what?
“I can see that, Fionnuala,” Cyrus snapped, and I wondered if it was him holding me in place as I writhed on the table. “He needs more.”
“I could kill him,” Fionnuala sounded panicked, but a sharp scratch in the crook of my arm seconds later brought on a wave of welcome relief.
I sagged back onto where I lay, and Cyrus took his hands away from my shoulders.
“I want him tended to every minute, of every hour.” Cyrus’s voice was strained, and as whatever pain killers Fionnuala had given me started to work their way through my body, he sounded as though I had been placed underwater.
“I will have staff on him every chance we get, Your Majesty.” A different voice spoke, and hands busied themselves around me, shocks of cold against burning flesh.
“No. Listen to me.” Cyrus snapped, “I want someone with him all the time. He gets the best care we have available. Fionnuala stays with him.”
“Fionnuala is but a student,” The other voice sounded shocked, “Would you not like one of our more… senior healers?”
“Do not make me repeat myself.” Cyrus’s voice was fading again now as my body gave way to nothing but numbness, “Kira loves him. He gets the best.”
~~~
As I woke again, a gasp ripped itself from my body.
Sweat ran off every inch of exposed skin, and I tried desperately to kick my legs, trying to rid myself of the woolen blanket covering them. Wherever I was, it felt cooler than where I had been before. A soft hand on the side of my head made me stop moving, my head tipping lightly in that direction.
“Are you awake?” Tarian asked, and I managed to pry my eyes open long enough to look at him.
Regret consumed me.
Tarian’s nose was swollen, and two black bruises had worked their way under his eyes. A soft, stark white bandage had been strung across the bridge of his nose, and his hair was limp as it fell around his face. But he smiled -- His heart warming, full of teeth smile.
“Hey, Matty.” He grinned, his eyes welling up, “You had me worried.”
“What — where —“ My voice croaked as I tripped over the words, the pain in my throat enough to make anything more than that impossible.
“You’re alright, don’t worry.” Tarian reassured me, pushing a cold cloth over my head and ridding my forehead of sweat. “You’re healing, that’s all that matters.”
Healing from what? I wanted to ask, but my eyes slid themselves closed again against my will. I groaned, frustrated, and shifted on the bed slightly, moving myself into a more comfortable position. Tarian helped, his hands wrapping around the bottom half of my arms and shifting me, so I was, somewhat, sitting up against the pillows.
I let my head lull to the side, facing Tarian as he talked. Icould not register exactly what he was saying, but his voice was soothing, pulling me away from the onslaught of pain that happened any time I woke up.
My mother’s face flitted through my mind again and again, her voice still playing in the brief reprieves I got between being given something for the pain and the empty nothingness of unconsciousness. I felt tears start to form behind my closed eyelids, and one finding its way down my cheek. A hand wiped it away quickly.
~~~
“How is Kira?”
Tarian’s voice ripped me from unconsciousness once again, and I jolted as my body woke up to the searing pain of someone pressing down on my chest. A weak scream broke from my lips, and a hush came from whoever was working on me.
“She still burns.” Cyrus’s voice sounded exhausted, “She won’t talk. She won’t leave her room. The only one allowed near her is Gracie.”
“That is not a surprise, though. You knew she would be devastated about what she’s done to him.”
“It wasn’t her fault,” Cyrus snapped, his tone unnecessarily harsh, “He pushed her to it.”
