“Yeah. I do know.”
A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. The redhead and the scowling fey from last night, Kerr, were on the step when I answered.
“I came by to check on the patient,” she said. “May we come in?”
“Of course.”
She said hello to Emily and asked about someone named Hannah while I took her jacket from her and hung it in the entry. The way they spoke to each other showed not only a level of familiarity but caring. Adam and I had absolutely been stuck on the wrong team.
Emily stayed in the kitchen, and the pair followed me upstairs to the bedroom.
“Hello, Cassie,” Tor said, standing.
“Hi, Tor. Has he woken up yet?” she asked both of us.
“Once overnight,” I answered, “and once while Tor was watching him this morning. Both times, he was thirsty. We gave him ice chips.”
“Good,” she said.
She moved closer to Adam and checked where we had the latest round of snow bags.
“Have you been keeping them on all night?” she asked.
“Yeah. Changing spots so nothing gets too cold. The washcloth I’ve kept on his eye more often, trying to get that swelling down.”
“I’d say it’s working,” she said, lifting it. “The lid looks much better.”
I wasn’t seeing what she was. It still looked too puffy to open.
“Adam,” she called. “It’s Cassie. I’m here to look over your injuries. If anything hurts, I need you to tell me, okay?”
He didn’t respond, but that didn’t stop her from pulling back the covers to his hips and gently feeling along his ribs and abdomen. When she touched his left side, he groaned.
“Adam,” she repeated, “my name is Cassie. Can you tell me where you hurt?”
“Everywhere,” he rasped.
“Focus on your abdomen. Does anything hurt inside?”
“Ribs,” he breathed. This time, he tried to open his eyes.
Cassie leaned over so she would look right into them.
“Hi, Adam. How’s the vision?”
“Shitty.”
She chuckled. “I bet. It looks like you took a few hits to the face. The swelling is already going down.”
“June?” he said, turning his head.
“June’s right here,” Cassie said. “She’s fine. I’d like to stay focused on you. How does your neck feel? Did anything hurt when you moved it?”
“No.”
“That’s very good,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know everything is sore, but I’d like to look at your back. Do you think you can sit up with some help?” She motioned to Kerr, who immediately stepped forward.
Chewing my bottom lip, I watched the pair work with Adam. Cassie repeated several times that Adam needed to listen to the pain. That if anything hurt, he needed to stop. She managed to check over his back and wedged more pillows behind him.