TWENTY-THREE RECOVERY
TWENTY-THREE
RECOVERY
T here’s the faint smell of antiseptic in the air, along with a gentle beep of a machine. My eyelids flutter open and the white walls of a hospital room come into focus. My body feels heavy, a dull ache pulsating through me.
As my groggy mind attempts to piece together what’s happened, a figure by my bedside comes into view. It’s Mum, her eyes brimming with relief as she leans in to kiss my forehead. I manage a weak smile. ‘Hey, Mum.’
Tears shimmer in her eyes as she brushes a strand of hair from my face. ‘Liam, my sweet boy. You’re awake.’
I’m struggling to make sense of where I am, how I got here. ‘What… what happened?’
‘There was a fire in the college library,’ she says, stroking my hand as she starts to explain. ‘You were… you were trying to escape, and some debris impaled you.’
Fire. Draven. The knife. Fighting the Dark Friars. Miss Williams… Layla.
I gingerly shift to glance down at myself, fearing the worst. There, beneath the hospital gown, a bandage wraps around my tummy.
‘Your friend Tariq found you. He got you out of there, kept you safe.’
Tariq’s face flashes before my eyes. My heart swells with gratitude.
Mum’s gentle touch anchors me in the moment.
‘Rest now, Liam,’ she says.
My eyes are heavy. They close and open.
‘Rest,’ she says again. But her voice sounds different this time. Harsher.
I gasp.
Mum is different. Her eyes… those eyes. Yellow. Strikingly evil.
The beeping in the background accelerates. The room darkens.
Mum… no. It. It smiles as it leans in. Its breath on my cheek.
‘When I rise,’ it whispers, ‘you will suffer.’
The beeping fades and the darkness consumes me.
I squint at the blistering sunlight filtering through the window. It’s hot on my face. Someone pulls at the curtain and the hospital room becomes clearer.
Familiar faces are gathered by my bedside. There’s Tariq’s warm smile, and Lily and Jack, their eyes lighting up.
‘Hey there, sleeping beauty,’ Lily quips. She squeezes my hand gently.
Jack grins. ‘Good to see you among the living, mate.’
‘Is this real?’ I croak.
‘It’s real,’ Tariq says. ‘You’re here with us.’
‘You’ve got a hell of a story for SNT, mate,’ Jack says.
‘Give him a break, Jack,’ says Lily. ‘He’s barely conscious.’
‘I know.’ Jack shrugs. ‘Once you’re up and about, I’ll need a quote from you.’
I roll my eyes.
‘How do you feel?’ says Lily.
‘Uh… okay,’ I say. There’s a rumble in my stomach. ‘Apparently, a little hungry.’
Lily laughs. ‘Nothing new there then. We’ll fetch you something from the café.’ She nudges Jack. ‘We’ll give you guys some alone time.’
‘We will?’ Jack says.
Lily pushes Jack toward the door as Tariq gives me an awkward smile.
The door closes behind them.
‘Close your eyes,’ Tariq says.
‘What?’ I say.
‘Just close them.’
I do as he says. I hear a rustling and then there’s a weight on my chest. I open my eyes and see a pack of unopened Bourbon biscuits lying on me.
‘Oh, you didn’t,’ I say, grabbing at the packet.
‘Well, you said they were your favourite, and if you can’t devour an entire pack of biscuits when you’re bed-bound in hospital, when can you?’
I take a bite of the first biscuit and make a satisfied sound.
Tariq watches me polish it off and start on number two.
‘You had me scared. You know that?’ he says, squeezing my arm.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say, half a biscuit in my mouth.
Tariq sighs. ‘I should have gotten there sooner.’
I swallow and shake my head. ‘You saved my life, again. I can’t exactly ask any more than that.’
There’s a knock on the door and it opens. Mum enters the room. Her eyes are the first thing I check. They’re her normal light brown, kind eyes. It’s her. She’s dressed in her nurse uniform.
‘Well, look who’s finally awake.’ She walks over to my bedside, ruffling my hair affectionately. ‘This one has barely left your side, you know?’ She tilts her head toward Tariq.
‘I uh… I just wanted to make sure you were well taken care of,’ he says to me.
Mum chuckles. ‘Well, you’ve certainly done that. I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned this one before, Liam, especially when he’s this handsome.’
‘Thanks, Mrs O’Connor,’ Tariq says.
‘I told you, call me Marie.’
She quickly checks my vitals.
‘I’ll leave you both to it.’ She rubs my foot and flashes a smile before leaving the room.
Tariq grins. ‘Apparently I’m handsome?’
‘Yeah, yeah, don’t let it go to your head.’
I stuff another biscuit in my mouth as Tariq basks in my mum’s compliment.
This bangers and mash dinner might be trashy hospital food, but it’s really hitting the spot after my lengthy afternoon nap.
Mum is beside me, engrossed in a book and back in her regular clothes after her shift. On the other side, Tariq is dozing off, his head bobbing slightly as he fights to find a comfortable position.
I cram the last of the gravy-soaked potato into my mouth and move my plate onto the moveable table.
There’s a knock at the door. Tariq jolts awake.
Nathaniel and Opel step inside.
‘Can I help you?’ says Mum.
‘Oh, Mum, this is Mr… Lockwood,’ I say, quickly, before Nathaniel can reply. ‘He’s, uh, the new college librarian.’
Mum gets up and extends her hand. ‘I’m so sorry about the fire, Mr Lockwood. It must have been devastating.’
Nathaniel shoots me a subtle look. I might have jumped the gun on explaining things. He probably could have crafted a more convincing story about his arrival and connection to me.
Nathaniel clears his throat. ‘Yes, those poor… books. It’s truly a tragedy.’
Tariq and Opel exchange amused glances.
‘And this is Opel. She’s… one of the cleaners,’ I add.
Tariq tries to suppress a snort. Opel glares at me but offers Mum a half-hearted smile.
‘Such a caring team the college have,’ says Mum. ‘I’ll leave you all to it.’
‘I hope we’re not intruding,’ says Nathaniel.
‘Don’t be silly,’ says Mum. ‘I’m nearing the end of my book anyway, and might go browse for another down at the shop. Lovely to meet you both.’
Mum gathers her book and jacket before offering me a smile and leaving the room.
Tariq resettles himself in the chair beside me, while Opel takes a moment by the window, gazing out at the city in the fading daylight. Nathaniel steps closer, positioning himself at the end of my bed.
‘You’re looking good, Liam,’ he says with a grin. ‘I trust you’re healing well?’
‘I am,’ I say, shifting to find a more comfortable position. ‘No major organs were hit. I was lucky.’
‘The doctors say he can go home in the next day or so,’ Tariq says.
‘Excellent. Your speedy recovery will be most welcome,’ Nathaniel remarks.
‘Not getting stabbed in the first place would have been better,’ Opel says.
‘Opel…’ Nathaniel begins.
Opel throws her hands up. ‘What? Thanks to this one not being on his guard, we’re down a Keeper.’
‘He was outnumbered, Opel,’ Tariq says. ‘Neither of us would have fared better now, let alone when we were just starting out. He’s alive, and that’s what matters.’
Opel crosses her arms, leaning against the wall.
‘Indeed,’ Nathaniel says. He takes Mum’s empty chair beside me and continues, ‘Liam, I need you to tell me everything that happened to you before Tariq found you.’
Silence passes. Everyone’s attention is focused on me. Even Opel seems to be paying attention, albeit begrudgingly.
The memories have been slowly returning to me throughout the past couple of days.
I clear my throat and begin recounting the events.
I explain how Miss Williams is Layla Blyth.
I detail the attack, Draven’s arrival, and the tense conversation between Layla and Draven as I lay wounded on the upper library floor.
‘… I was pretty out of it by that point,’ I conclude.
Opel lets her hands drop to her sides. ‘So, another Blyth has been wandering around, one working at the college, and you didn’t sense anything until today?’
‘Oh I’m sorry, was she supposed to wear a sign that says “Hello, I’m Layla Blyth, I’m a Dark Friar”?’ I say.
Tariq smirks, though Opel remains unimpressed.
‘Do you remember anything from your encounter with Layla?’ says Nathaniel.
‘Only that she’s here to play a crucial role in some sort of… thing happening. She wasn’t exactly open, dishing out info.’
Nathaniel leans back in his chair in thought.
‘Wait,’ I say, attempting to go over the events in the library again. ‘I remember Draven mentioning something about a summoning.’
Nathaniel’s composed demeanour cracks. ‘A summoning? Are you certain that’s what you heard?’
Tariq leans forward in his chair. ‘What’s the deal?’
‘I’m not entirely sure,’ says Nathaniel. ‘There hasn’t been one in my lifetime. This does explain the increased Dark Friar activity in the city over the past weeks. And now, with two known Blyth family members among us… I’ll need to speak to the Guild.’
‘There’s something else…’ I begin. I’ve been holding off mentioning it because I don’t know whether it was real or just the morphine. ‘I saw it again.’
‘Saw what?’ says Tariq.
‘The thing with yellow eyes,’ I say. ‘It was here, in this room, pretending to be my mum, just like with Katie.’
‘Like what you saw in the well at the Crossing?’ Nathaniel says.
I nod. ‘But this time, it spoke to me. It said “when I rise, you will suffer”.’
Opel scoffs, and Tariq shoots her a look.
‘Anything else?’ Nathaniel says.
I shake my head. ‘How is this even possible?’ Tariq says to Nathaniel. ‘The Auctus Keeper can’t get visions, it’s not one of their abilities.’
‘I don’t know,’ Nathaniel begins, running his hand through his short beard. ‘Whatever is supposed to be rising, the Dark Friars are behind it. We need to gather more information about this summoning and the whereabouts of the Dark Friars.’
A brief silence fills the room, only the distant murmur of hospital staff in the corridor breaking the quiet.
‘I think I know where they are,’ I interject, surprising everyone.
For Nathaniel’s benefit, I recount my encounter with Katie’s parents back at college, sharing the story of her dreams about a church and her possible search for it before she went missing.
‘We’ve had this conversation,’ says Opel, throwing up her hands. ‘That church is a wreck inside. Tariq and I went back there a couple of times after what happened to Thomas. Not even the Dark Friars would want to use that place as a hideout.’
‘They may not have much of a choice,’ Tariq says.
‘What do you mean?’ I say.
‘It’s part of how the Dark Friars operate,’ Nathaniel begins. ‘They can only occupy sacred sites, like churches. Uninhabited holy spaces in Sarumbourne are quite rare, which is why the Dark Friars tend to reside in other areas of the country, only returning to Sarumbourne when required.’
‘But if the church is still a church, burnt out or not, they could be there?’ I say.
‘Yes,’ says Nathaniel.
‘So, what’s the plan?’ Opel says.
‘I will speak with the Guild. Until then, stand down. Train.’ His gaze falls to me. ‘Heal.’