Chapter 12 #2
“Well, you’re a big help taking messages and medicine for me,” I said instead, and when I glanced at him, he had a shy smile on his face.
On the last kid, Cloud gasped and blurted out, “Your nose is bleeding, Bones.”
Trey pulled out a handkerchief and met my eyes, his gaze concerned but steady. “Okay if I get that?”
I nodded, feeling uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to stop healing this last kid. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to start again. Trey dabbed at my nose, wiping away the blood in a strangely intimate gesture. Once I finished, I let go, and chills wracked my body. Cloud’s eyes widened further.
“Don’t worry, she only needs some rest, Cloud,” Trey said, wrapping an arm around my waist to steady me.
“Cloud, go tell the other kids.” Gods, I was so tired. “Tell ’em to come back here right away if they don’t feel good.”
Cloud nodded and darted down the ladder. One of the children I’d healed started to cry. I looked in her direction and tried to stand, but Trey’s arm tightened around me.
“No, you’re taking a rest,” he directed.
“I should stay up and see if any more sick kids come.” I leaned on him, still shivering.
“Remember how sick you got when you burned yourself out?”
I grimaced.
“C’mon. Let’s go down the ladder, you can lie down, and I’ll keep an eye on the kids, alright?”
I nodded. I hated resting with people still sick, but as I shakily made my way down the ladder, I couldn’t deny that my body was nearing burnout. Trey made sure I drank some water and tucked me in like a child.
“I’ll keep watch,” he said. “Rest.”
I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
He let me sleep for three hours before he woke me back up and I started rounds again.
It took two days for hundreds of people to get sick.
The more I healed, the more I believed this had to be the same disease that had killed so many of the Reapers.
Like before, medicine had no effect. Only my healing powers made a difference.
Last time, I hadn’t been able to use my powers on anyone besides Juck and Vulture.
This time, I saved almost everyone, but it took a huge toll on my body.
I barely slept, dragging myself from shack to shack, healing until I reached the edge of burnout.
We started taking a horse, usually Violet, with us on rounds, because by the time I finished, I couldn’t even walk.
There was something so unnatural about this illness.
Every other disease I’d ever healed felt natural, no matter how severe.
I’d read about viruses and germs, and I knew they were made of the same materials as human bodies.
This was different. It didn’t feel normal.
It felt alien, like an oozing darkness, and when my healing power connected with that darkness, it fought back.
Instead of healing a sickness, it was like I waged a battle every single time.
Zip fell sick a couple of days after Silver.
When I healed him, I didn’t miss how his eyes kept flicking to Trey waiting by the door before narrowing on me again with suspicion.
I hadn’t seen him since before he left, and I had to fight the feeling that I’d done something wrong.
He didn’t say anything, but unease still swirled through me.
He demanded a kiss before I left, and I obliged, hoping it would ease the anger he’d voiced when I said that I couldn’t stay and take care of him.
He made a show of it, kissing me while his hands roamed my body. I hated it, but I let him.
Trey muttered what sounded like an insult directed at Zip when we stepped outside, but he didn’t say anything else as he helped me stumble over to Violet.
The sickness didn’t discriminate. Madame fell ill, and so did the council.
I bounced between the slums and the nice large houses and everywhere in between.
I healed Madame with six of her men standing behind me with guns ready in case I got any ideas, though Trey’s standing in the room was all the motivation I needed to obey orders.
I knew that if I tried anything, Trey would do something stupid and heroic and end up dead.
I was healing Nemo when Trey swayed in my peripheral vision. I glanced at him to see a sheen of sweat on his pale face. He noticed me examining him and gave me a lopsided smile with glassy eyes.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were sick?” I snapped at him, still funneling my healing power into Nemo.
“I was gonna,” he mumbled.
I turned my attention back to Nemo. He was breathing easy now, that strange dark spot of sickness I could sense shrinking beneath my powers. In another minute, I smothered it and it vanished. I let go, feeling relieved.
“Thank you, Bones,” Nemo said, his voice raspy.
I nodded and got to my feet, ignoring the way the room spun, and strode over to Trey, laying my hand on his forehead. I grimaced at how hot he felt. He shivered.
“Let’s get you back to the clinic.” I glared at him.
I wasn’t too exhausted. I’d only been working for a couple of hours, and we hadn’t even had to call for a horse yet.
I hovered at Trey’s side as we left for the clinic, noting that his shivering was growing worse.
Thank the gods it wasn’t a long walk from Nemo’s place.
When we made it through the door, Trey sat heavily onto his mattress.
I crouched next to him, but he halted me.
“No. Go drink some water first,” he said through chattering teeth.
I muttered some choice words but did what he said.
If this sickness had taught me anything, it was that I’d have better luck arguing with a brick wall than with Trey.
I gulped down a glass of water, glancing up at the loft.
It looked empty. Most of the kids spent all day checking on folks for me.
After I emptied the glass, I returned to where he still sat upright, watching me.
“Gods, lie down.” I shoved his shoulder as I kneeled beside him.
He obeyed, and I pulled the worn blanket up over him and then unbuttoned his shirt enough to lay my hands on his bare chest. As the warmth of my healing powers flowed into him, his hand curled around mine like he’d done when I’d saved his life on the rooftop.
“Feels like sunshine,” he murmured, his eyes half closed.
I scoffed under my breath.
“It does.” His eyes had closed all the way now, but his hand tightened around mine. “S’beautiful. Just like you.”
My cheeks warmed; I didn’t answer, but he fell asleep a second later.
I healed him until that inky darkness vanished.
Then I gently freed my hand and sat back on my heels, gazing down at him.
His hair fell over his forehead into his eyes, so I brushed it from his face.
He leaned into my touch, mumbling nonsense, and I let myself cradle his face for a moment.
A light stubble grew on his jaw, scratchy against my skin as I stroked his cheek.
I don’t know what the fuck Trey sees in you. Raven’s cruel words ran through my head.
Honestly, I didn’t either.
“Bones,” he mumbled in his sleep, and for some stupid reason, my eyes filled with tears.
“Get some rest,” I whispered, stroking his cheek once more before I pulled away.
As soon as I stepped outside, I heard my name being called. I looked up to see Cloud running toward me.
“Mac is sick at the bunkhouse,” he panted when he reached me. “Where’s Trey?”
“He’s sleeping inside. He got sick, but I healed him. Can you go find Griz or Sam and ask them to meet me there?”
He nodded. “You need a horse yet?”
I paused. My body felt bone-tired, but not to the point of struggling to walk…yet. “Might need one soon,” I admitted.