Chapter 9 #2
I scrunched my face and allowed her to take my hands in hers.
Her beautiful green eyes went out of focus as she started peering into me.
Skye’s hands felt wonderfully warm against mine as her powers began their work.
Not wanting to remain idle, I used my own healing abilities to speed up the process, focusing on areas other than the ones she was working on.
We quickly completed our task, and she once again gave me a stern look.
“You will need to eat and rest. And those ribs will need a second round of healing once you have replenished your reserves.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I said, slightly annoyed.
“Don’t yeah, yeah, me before I tell Maheva how you didn’t follow our most basic rule,” she said tauntingly before turning back towards the medical bed.
“Bully,” I playfully mumbled in her back as I also approached the bed.
Lenora was doing a phenomenal job using her kinetic abilities.
She could control and reshape any inert material.
Surgically, it would have taken an insane amount of time to remove all the reinforced leather armor that had fused with his skin.
With a simple touch, my cousin had the burnt material just melting away so that she could effortlessly pull it off.
As much as we wanted to proceed with healing him, Gavin didn’t have enough spare resources for us to use.
We couldn’t make flesh, muscles, and tissue grow out of thin air.
Something needed to be consumed in exchange.
With his species naturally being extremely lean, there wasn’t much fat to work with.
We gave him a few injections filled with protein and nutrients that we could leverage once his body had assimilated them.
Moments later, Rhadames returned, fully healed, with a look of concern on his face.
“How is he?” he asked as he entered the room.
“He’s a mess, but he’s stable,” I said in a slightly shaky voice, annoyed with myself for starting to get emotional again.
“You’ll fix him,” he replied with a confidence that touched me deeply.
“Thanks to you, I’ll be able to,” I said with gratitude.
“Anytime,” he said affectionately before scrunching his face in almost the same fashion I had done with Skye. “Well, let’s try not to do that in such an inhospitable environment next time.”
I chuckled. “I’ll do my best.”
“If you’re ready, I can take all of you home. Nana is ready and waiting,” he said in a more serious tone.
I nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Although he left Skye on the ship to look after the rest of the team and crew, Rhadames teleported Gavin, Lenora, and me directly to Veredia’s general hospital. Nana Maheva—the greatest healer of our times—was already waiting for us. Nalia, another fantastic healer, also stood by.
They didn’t require a single word or explanation to jump into action as soon as Gavin appeared. But the shock on their faces spoke volumes about the fact that his injuries were even greater than they had expected based on the description my brother likely gave them.
The determination in their eyes filled me with pride and gratitude.
For the first hour, Lenora continued to assist with removing all the melted armor.
Simultaneously, Nana, Nalia, and I worked diligently on mending vital organs and expelling toxins in between giving him protein injections and plenty of fluids and other nutrients intravenously.
After my cousin completed her task, we continued for a few minutes longer before being forced to stop.
“That’s enough for today,” my Nana said in a firm tone. “He must rest, be fed, and rebuild his strength until the next pass. You know that,” she added in a slightly reproving tone when I looked like I wanted to argue.
I sighed, which made her chuckle.
“Patience, sweetie. You’ve done everything possible for your mate,” she said, eyeing me teasingly.
“Right,” I replied.
We had indeed. At least, he no longer needed to remain in stasis.
In that state, his entire body was dormant and therefore unable to properly assimilate the nutrients we were feeding him.
Therefore, we deactivated it. He would have to be sedated or put in an artificial coma to avoid him feeling any pain.
I stretched, feeling physically and emotionally drained.
“You’ve done great, Zharina. But now, you also get some rest. You’ve faced a terrible ordeal and have some healing of your own to do,” Nana said gently before kissing my cheek and kissing my forehead.
“Right again. Thank you, Nana,” I said, the love I felt for my great-mother loudly audible.
She winked at me and then left with Nalia.
My cousin came to stand next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders, her eyes locked on the still severely burnt body of my mate.
“Your man is absolutely badass,” she said wistfully.
“I know, right?” I said, pride but also sadness that he suffered so much filling my heart.
“You were right in comparing him to my papa,” Lenora continued pensively. “Dad always spoke so highly of him. Now I see why. The way he just jumped right into that pit without hesitation to come for you was something else. You’re one lucky lady.”
My chest warmed as I nodded.
“I truly am. But so will you. Your turn will come, and your mate will be just as amazing,” I replied affectionately.
“May the goddess hear you,” she said teasingly before giving me a tight hug and kissing my cheek before exiting the room.
I watched the door close behind her then walked back to the medical bed.
I stared at my man while absentmindedly applying another round of healing on my ribs.
Leaning forward, I gently kissed the damaged skin of his lips, then climbed on the bed to snuggle against him.
I rested my palm on his chest to feel the soothing motion of his heartbeat and addressed a silent prayer of thanks to the Goddess.