“Shh, it’s me, Cylea.”
I blinked repeatedly, willing my heart to slow. It was beating out of control, adrenaline hot in my chest.
“Come with me.” Cylea grabbed my arm and practically dragged me out of bed.
I glanced back at Valeriana. She stirred, but remained asleep.
“What is going on?” I asked once we were out in the hall.
“Come, quick!” She took off, urging me on.
I gathered the long tunic I’d worn to sleep and followed.
“It’s Arabis,” Cylea said. “She’s hurt.”
I moved faster then, realizing this was a medical emergency.
After several turns down a few long halls, we rushed into a large bedroom with a large bed in the middle. I rolled up my sleeves as I approached the bed and assessed the situation.
Arabis looked tiny on the massive bed, her face as pale as the sheets that cover her.
“What happened?”
Kryn—who sat on the other side of the bed, holding her hand—pulled the covers back to reveal a gaping wound in her middle and a whole lot of blood.
I’d learned to keep my reactions to myself, so my face remained stoic, giving nothing away. The wound was serious, though. It was a miracle she was still alive.
“Save her!” Kryn ordered.
“Clear the room,” I said.
“C’mon, Kryn,” Cylea tried to usher him out.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he growled.
“At least get off the bed then,” I said as I used my skills to take Arabis’s vitals. Her blood pressure was low, and her heart was beating fast to compensate. I relaxed a little. It wasn’t as bad as it looked.
Steadying my initial nerves, my training and experience kicking in, I focused on the wound, which was on the left side of her abdomen area. A piece of flesh was missing, the edges around it ragged. There were other puncture marks around it that immediately alerted me to the type of wound. These were bites from a large animal. I’d seen enough children bitten by dogs not to know what I was looking at.
I laser-focused my skill to evaluate the damage. I did my best to construct an image of her injury, the tissue around it, her vital organs. It was hard not having a visual aid. At the hospital, I would be using ultrasound to assess the exact nature of the damage. It would be fast, effective, and error-free. Still, the practice had dulled my natural skill. It took longer than it should have to assess the torn muscle tissue, but I was glad to find no injury to her stomach and kidney, which had been missed by a hair’s breadth. Still, she had lost a lot of blood, which meant it had been a while since she’d been attacked.
“Her vital organs are intact,” I said, trying to offer comfort to her friends. “She’s lost a lot of blood, though, so I will lend her some of my energy.”
As I spoke the words, I sent healing power into Arabis. She gave an audible sigh of relief, and the pinch expression on her face eased. A second sigh of relief came from Kryn.
With that done, I stretched my hands forward, held a few inches from the wound, and started repairing the damage, slowly knitting sinew together until the hole closed and a thin layer of pink skin was left in its place.
When I was done, I cracked my neck and pulled away from the bed. “All done,” I announced. “She’ll be fine. She needs to drink a lot of fluids.”
Kryn rushed to Arabis’s side and snatched her hand, looking relieved.
“What happened to her?” I asked Cylea.
“We… don’t know,” she responded, and something told me she wasn’t telling the truth.
“That was an animal attack.”
“I thought so.”