Chapter 4
Chapter Four
My head was throbbing, my neck aching, and I desperately needed some water. Those were my first thoughts before my eyes flew open, the unknown scents enough to make me uneasy.
“Finally!” Ryn exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief next to the bed I was currently sprawled on. “Took you hours, you know.”
“Wh—” I stopped talking, my throat protesting. Damn, I needed something to drink to ease the dryness away.
“Here,” a man said, appearing out of nowhere next to me.
“It will help with the soreness.” I could tell from his appearance that he had to be a healer, so I accepted the vial of whatever concoction he’d deemed I needed, and gulped it down.
“You had a nasty fall,” the doctor explained, helping me piece together what had happened to me.
“Falling from such great heights is never without injury, but lucky for you, you were caught by your classmate before you hit the ground. I tended to your concussion with a potion, but sadly for you, it will leave your throat feeling sore for a few hours. Try not to speak unless you really need to. And your balance might be off for a day or two as well.”
“What?!” Jamie exclaimed, walking into the room at that exact moment. “That’s how bad it is?”
“No,” the doctor quickly assured us. “But he’ll heal quicker if he takes it slow.”
“Might be a good thing,” Ryn said, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “I much prefer Nym when he isn’t talking.” I wasn’t about to remind him that the doctor had said a few hours, Ryn often turned to humor when he felt scared, and me falling must’ve terrified my cousin.
The doctor simply rolled his eyes at Ryn. “You two can leave now. Nym needs to rest here for the rest of the night. If I deem him well enough in the morning, he’ll join you for breakfast.”
They grumbled and petted my shoulder before quietly walking out the room. The doctor smiled kindly at me, but his eyes held a tense look to them. I feared I wouldn’t like what was coming.
“You were attacked by your classmate in the air,” he said, his gaze intense on mine, like he expected the news would make me bolt and attack whomever had done this to me.
When I just continued to lay there, he continued.
“His fated was with you in class and his dragon took over, knowing you were winning. He’s sorry for his actions and wishes to apologize to you in person tomorrow.
I thought I should warn you beforehand. All students here are good souls, but even good souls can make mistakes. ”
I just nodded; all of this felt like a lot to take in with a throbbing headache.
“Think about it. I’ll leave you to rest,” he said. “My name is Terrace, by the way. I’m one of the school healers and I’m the best here when it comes to head injuries.”
I smiled, hoping it would be enough now that I shouldn’t speak.
“To your left is the bathroom,” he pointed in the direction. “I’ll be in my own room, but right there,” he pointed to my right. “Is a bell you can jingle it if you need anything and then one of the healers here will come to your aid.”
I nodded again and he left with a polite wave.
Eyeing my surroundings, I felt more at ease. It was a spacious room I was in; six other beds and some cabinets filled the room; one door led to a hallway and the other to the bathroom. Two large windows stood behind my bed, giving me some comfort in knowing where I was in the castle.
Closing my eyes, I wondered if I was up for meeting this other dragon shifter or not. It could be a good thing, having another dragon to help me work out what to do about Harpy. And I strangely understood why he’d acted so foolishly. I’d been driven to show off, too.
With my head spinning, I drifted off, seeing Harpy’s cute cat form in my mind the last thing I remembered before sleep took fully over.
I knew I was having a nightmare. The accident was enough to rattle my senses and make me relive the fall over and over again, but as I fell through the sky, the wind hard on my scales, a calm came over me.
Oranges. The scent that enveloped me was definitely oranges.
It soothed me, making my nightmare change into a dream instead.
I heard a faint whisper in the darkness, it was telling me it knew who I was, what I was to him, it told me to be patient.
“I’m not ready yet,” the voice said. I tried to reply, to somehow comfort this person, but I couldn’t, I just kept falling.
The wonderful scent of oranges became duller, and I swore I could feel a squeeze on my hand, but then the soothing scent was gone and I was left to fall all on my own.
My eyes had to look horrible for Myve to constantly look my way, but my nightmares had tormented me for most of the night. It was a normal reaction to head trauma—Terrance had informed me this morning.
Now I sat with my family in the dining hall, trying to soothe my stomach with some food, but it weirdly only craved oranges for some odd reason.
“Are you cleared to return to your classes?” Jamie asked, his plate stuffed high with pancakes.
“Yeah,” I replied, peeling my first orange. “As long as I wait with shifting for three days, I should be fine.”
Myve shook her head in disgust. “I still can’t believe he hit you.”
Jamie nodded in agreement. “It looked brutal.”
I shrugged, still not knowing who the student was. I’d been too focused on Harpy to see which students stood next to me, and the dragon had been on the other end of the line, both of us clearly having needed the space to shift.
“I heard from the healer that he wants to apologize to me,” I told them, trying to act casual about it.
Maybe it was weird that I wasn’t angry at the student, mostly because I understood him.
Dragon shifters were cursed in a way that meant our shifted forms took over the most, often driving us to do their bidding.
We were also the most possessive and protective mates known.
Before they could respond to my news about the other dragon shifter, Casey stopped by our table, giving me a sympathetic look. “How are you feeling?” he asked, then glanced at my plate of oranges, a pained look crossed his features before he schooled it and returned his gaze to my face.
Shrugging once again, I calmly replied, “I’m doing okay.”
“Damon really is sorry, you know?” Casey said, eyeing my oranges again.
“Damon is the dragon shifter?” Ryn asked, his tone sounding off.
Casey nodded, his focus now on Ryn. “Harpy and I spoke with him after the accident.”
That information somehow hurt. My fated had approached my attacker and what? Comforted him while I was out cold in the medical wing?
Ryn just nodded and focused back on his food, his expression closed off.
Jamie’s eyes were glued to Casey like he found him fascinating. Casey noticed and quickly averted his gaze, hurrying off back to Harpy, waving goodbye as he left.
The bell rang, announcing it was time for our first class. I stood, leaving my plate mostly untouched and followed the green light for my destination for the morning while everyone around me did the same.