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I hug her to me. “You couldn’t ever be replaced,” I tell her. “There’s no one out there like you.”
And she leans against me.
That’s the best part of all of this. Even when I’m injured and she’s caring for me, I can still find ways to care for her. The two of us are so much stronger together. Both of us know how to provide for each other.
“Thank you so much,” I tell her.
“You don’t have to thank me,” she replies.
“I know.”
But I want her to know how thankful I am for her. For this moment together.
For all the other moments that I know we’ll have someday. For everything that she’s brought into my life.
For her.
28
PENNY
Iwish I were a real healer. I don’t know the sea plants around us or any of their healing properties. I don’t know any of the complicated potions that I’ve seen people use for the kinds of wounds that Laiken took in that fight. I don’t know for sure how tight to make bandages or how often I’m supposed to change them.
And yet I can tell that somehow or another, I’m making a difference to Laiken. He’s cheerful around me, and his color has been returning. Many of the wounds which were once serious gashes are now just thin cuts.
I don’t know if it’s him, me, the temple, or just time, but he’s getting better.
Sometimes, I go into his room, and he’s not in the bed. I’ll find him hidden behind something, or under something, or one time, he even dropped from the ceiling.
“I just don’t want waiting for me to heal to be as boring for you as it is for me.”
I laugh. “Trust me. There’s nothing about trying to figure out how to treat a giant sea monster that’s boring.”
For a little bit, both of us were afraid that the elves would return. Every once in a while, I swim out, just to keep a watch.
But there’s never anything there. In fact, fewer boats seem to be coming by here than did before that whole battle. Either the elves all departed before telling anyone where the fugitives they were chasing were holed up exactly, or they learned their lesson and are leaving us alone. The second is hard to believe, but one way or the other, they’re not coming back.
Things slip into a routine. I bring him something to eat and change his bandages for the day. I go out to find fish and anything else I can. I return and check in on him. We have a quick lunch and talk for a while.
Sometimes we end up just looking up through the temple ceiling and watching the fish. He’s taught me a great deal about them. Finally, I cook something for dinner and prepare to go to bed.
“I’m almost better,” he tells me one night. “Once I’m healed, completely healed, there’s something very important that I want to do with you.”
“What is it?” I ask.
“Wait until I’m feeling better,” he answers. “Then I’ll tell you.”
Immediately, I start to wheedle him. This is one of the best things about living with Laiken. I can be silly, and he can, too. “Oh, come on. You know I hate secrets. Tell me now, and then I’ll have time to get excited for it.”
He laughs. “It seems to me like you’re already pretty excited anyway.”
“No, but I wanna know!”
“And you will. When I tell you.”
He’s good at playing these sorts of games. I have to give him that.
“Well, I have a secret, too, and I’m not going to share it with you unless you tell me yours.” I cross my arms and lie next to him. “Now let’s see how you like it.”
