Like me, she coped with adversity best through action.
“Can I?” She glided onto his chest. “He looks so…”
Nothing could prepare you for the first time you saw his shell absent of his vibrant personality. Without his twinkling eyes, wide smile, and endless chatter, he was a lump of raw material. Unreal and unfinished.
“I’ll teach you his shem.” I selected a wooden modeling tool with a rounded tip from my kit, which had survived the blast unblemished. I wasn’t sure what spell which ancestor of mine put on it, but I felt certain it would outlast me. “You might want to size up for this.”
A burst of magic grew her to cat proportions, and I passed over the tool for her inspection.
“How does it work?” She gripped the wood hard. “Will it fix his head, or do we?”
Had it been up to me to sculpt him, he would have resembled a lump of mashed potatoes at this point.
“Once the shem is in place, he’ll regain awareness, and his magic will begin repairing him.”
“He always comes back the same way?” Her worry was palpable. “His wigs will still fit him?”
“Yes.” I smothered a laugh. “His wigs will still fit him.”
Using my thumbs, I smoothed a section of what remained of his forehead then taught Colby the shem. It shouldn’t have surprised me she was better at drawing it than I had ever been. Originally, we had used gaming to improve her manual dexterity after she became a moth and struggled with coordinating her extra limbs. That was before I realized what a valuable social outlet her online community provided her.
The sudden influx of air whistling through Clay’s lungs indicated her penmanship had done the job.
“Clay,” she said softly. “You’re safe now.” She snuggled into his neck. “I’ve got you.”
Experience had taught me consciousness was slow in coming, so I settled in to wait with her.
CHAPTER THREE
I was sitting in the exam room, heart in my throat, when a wide-eyed Marita wheeled Asa in.
Without his piercings, dressed in a hospital gown, he looked…frail. And it made me want to scream.
“Well?” I shot to my feet. “How did it go?”
“Loud.” He let me help him from the wheelchair to the table. “And unexpectedly cleansing.”
“Cleansing?” I ran my hands down his neck and across his shoulder. “How so?”
“The MRI ripped three pieces of metal out of his stomach,” Marita blurted. “It was amazing.”
A wobble in my knees almost sent me crashing to the floor, but Asa caught me under my elbows.
“Ah.” Dr. Vandross let herself in without knocking. “I see you’ve heard the good news.”
Had Marita been a hair slower, I might have succeeded in mauling the doctor with my claws and teeth.
“Bad, Rue.” She pulled the same rolled-up pamphlet from her back pocket and popped my nose. “Bad.”
“I’m not a puppy,” I snarled. “Quit hitting me with that.”
“Hey, if I had a squirt bottle full of water, I would have gone with that. But I don’t. So you get this.”
“The foreign bodies have been removed from Mr. Montenegro.” Dr. Vandross placed a lot of faith in Marita’s ability to protect her from me. “He should begin to heal naturally and fully recover within the week.” She dared me with the curve of her lips. “Faster if you continue your daily sessions.”
“Don’t let her yank your tail.” The nurse bustled into the room. “The procedure was augmented by magic.”
“Wait.” I held myself very still. “Are you saying she didn’t rip chunks of metal out of Asa?”
“Oh, she did.” The nurse passed him a paper cup full of pills and a glass of water. “But it was precise.”
“Any magnetized metal,” Marita added, “would have turned his guts to hamburger meat otherwise.”
A bitter taste flooded my mouth, and I had to swallow to keep from vomiting. “Thanks for that.”
“I got curious after he removed all that face bling, and boy did the internet deliver.”
“This day keeps getting worse.” I slumped in her arms. “What else can go—?”
“Nope. Nah-uh. No way.” She slapped a hand over my mouth. “We don’t tempt the universe.”
As far as I was concerned, the universe deserved a swift kick to the junk, but I nodded so she let go.
“You need to wait here for thirty minutes,” Dr. Vandross informed us. “Then we’ll reexamine and release him.”
While Marita ran interference in case I got any ideas, the doctor and nurse made their exits.
Calmer for their absence, I crossed to Asa and took his trash from him. “What did they give you?”
“Ibuprofen.”
Closing my eyes, I counted back from ten then opened them and set my hands on him. “Hold still.”
With Clay groggy and vulnerable, Colby had refused to leave his side. Like the sucker I am, I caved faster than a house of cards when she begged to stay with him. Even warded in the SUV, she was close enough to draw from. As I reached for our familiar bond, her bright magic rushed into me, and I pushed her light into Asa. An exhale passed his lips that betrayed the amount of pain he had been in up until that moment.
“Oh.” Marita patted her pockets. “I almost forgot.”
The tiny envelope she produced jingled and understanding dawned. “His jewelry.”
“Would you like to do the honors?” Asa took the packet. “I won’t make you do my mouth.”
“I’ve done your mouth plenty.” I kissed him to swallow his laughter. “Your tongue and I are old friends.”
A blush heated his cheeks, and he almost fumbled the lapis hoop he had been wearing in his septum.
“Aww.” Marita clutched her hands to her chest. “You guys are so sweet.”
Had Clay been here, he would have gagged, but Marita was immune. Probably because she was worse.
To pass the time, since Asa’s eyes were heavy and his fingers clumsy, I replaced his earrings, nose ring, and tongue piercing. The act was surprisingly intimate, and I almost wished for privacy from Marita.
“Are you sure they only gave him ibuprofen?” She cocked her head to one side. “He’s about to fall over.”
I might have given him a hit of magic along with the healing burst that worked particularly well on him, leaving him as drowsy as the delicate tea blend I perfected for Hollis Apothecary.
Peppermint, chamomile, lavender, and catnip.
A twinge in my chest reminded me how much I missed those simpler days, and the girls.
“He’s fine.” I got him comfy. “What’s the ETA on Derry?”
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “He’ll be here in six hours.”
“The way things are going,” I hated to admit, “we could use the backup.”
“I do have these.” She held up a baggy stained with blood. “And a medical horror story.”
“Are those from the MRI?” I studied the contents. “How can something so tiny cause so much damage?”