Last January
Someone knocked on the door, and I woke from my nap. Fuck, I felt like shit. Two big healings in two days were too many, but what was I supposed to do? Let those kids suffer?
I rolled off the couch and onto my feet, pushing on the cushions to help me stand upright.
Hopefully that knock had been the delivery of the wig I’d ordered.
I was running out of excuses to avoid Mamá and Rory, and any day now one or the other of them would show up here without warning.
If Mamá saw the little bald spots all over my head, she’d freak out, and Rory wouldn’t be much better.
At work I’d started wearing a scrub cap, telling my coworkers I had stress alopecia.
I stumbled toward the front door, and my stomach growled.
Luckily Grant Chernoff’s family had sent a gift basket with a bunch of cheese and cured meats in it, so I didn’t have to go to the grocery store.
They’d sent one last month too, but I hadn’t been in dire straits then, so I’d shared it with Mamá, telling her someone had sent it to the hospital.
As if there were ever leftovers of food at the hospital.
I yanked open the front door, but it was not a delivery person on the other side. No, it was a Wonder, though I couldn’t tell what kind. And her child, who had a severely damaged left eye. My spirits sank. I wasn’t sure I had enough mojo for this today.
Still, I didn’t have it in me to shut the door in her face. “Hello?”
The woman, who was tall with long dark hair, frowned as she examined me. “I’m sorry to bother you. I was given this address by someone at the hospital. They said you might be able to help my daughter’s eye. I can pay you.”
Sighing, I looked at the girl. She was about three years old, with her mother’s coloring, and she regarded me suspiciously from her remaining good eye. The injury to her other eye was several days old, and in a human, the eye would’ve been removed immediately.
“Come on in.” She pulled open the screen door and I waved her inside. “Have a seat. What are your names?” I shut the door and tried to rally whatever energy I could.
“Thank you.” She sank gracefully onto the sofa, settling her daughter next to her. I took the nearest armchair. “I’m Lina, and this is Kiki. We’re eagle shifters.”
Oh. Oh, fuck. Even if eagles weren’t known for having amazing eyesight, flying with one eye would mean no depth perception, which could be deadly. “What happened?”
“Kiki got caught in a wind gust, she fell into a tree, and one of the branches pierced her eye. Can you help her?”
I rubbed my face then looked at Kiki’s injury one more time.
Waiting until tomorrow, when I might or might not have more magical energy, would only give the remaining flesh of her eye more time to atrophy.
“Yeah. I can help her. No payment necessary, but I’d appreciate it if you could order a couple of pizzas. ”