Chapter 13 #2
We all glanced up to see Nemo approaching, his face grave.
“Sorry, but I need to borrow you for a moment,” he said.
Mac shot me an apologetic look. “I’ll catch up with y’all later,” he said out loud.
I watched him leave the canteen with Nemo, the two of them speaking in low tones. Unease and guilt filled me. I needed to tell him about the other powered person. It was urgent. People’s lives were at stake. Why hadn’t I told him yet? Why did I feel sick with fear when I thought about it?
Even stranger, I wasn’t scared by Mac’s presence in my head. It was familiar but also so different. The other powered person’s presence instinctively terrified me. It felt dangerous, like a predator, like an invasion. So, what did Mac’s presence feel like?
I thought about it as I slowly sipped my broth. Mac felt like…nothing—but not in a bad way. That didn’t make any sense. Nothing in a good way? That wasn’t?—
My stomach did a little flip as the realization crashed into me.
No, not nothing. Me.
Mac’s power—if it was Mac’s power—felt like mine. That’s why I barely noticed it.
What the fuck did that mean?
“Freckles? Hey, Freckles!”
I blinked and met Lee’s eyes.
“You want some more broth?” he asked.
I glanced at Wolf, but he was simply watching me with an unreadable expression. “What?”
“Do you want some more broth?” Lee repeated, a slight grin crossing his face.
“No,” I said, confused. Everyone was looking at me now.
“You were starin’ into that mug like you hoped it would magically refill itself.” Lee’s grin widened.
“Oh.” My face warmed. “No, I’m fine.”
“Do you often have to stick to broth?” Sable asked from the other side of Wolf.
I set the mug down, still not looking at him, and shrugged.
“Does certain food make you sick?” Lee asked.
“No,” I said to my plate.
“You never used to have any problem with food,” Wolf finally spoke, his voice low.
My heart was pounding so fast, sending adrenaline surging through me.
My body was responding to this conversation like I was about to fight Brimstone again.
Movement caught my attention, and I saw Sam standing from where he had sat on the other side of Griz.
He strode over and sat in Mac’s empty spot, his hand finding mine under the table and squeezing. His thin face was serious again.
“Emmy, c’mon,” he said softly.
“Sam—”
“I think it’s important,” he interrupted.
I stared at him, my heart in my throat.
“If it has to do with your health, it’s important,” Sable murmured.
Sam squeezed my hand again under the table, his expression expectant and encouraging.
“I’m makin’ a guess this is related to the starvation,” Sable added quietly.
My spine locked up. Had I said something about that? I honestly couldn’t remember everything I’d spit out in the clinic.
“There’s something called refeeding?—”
“I know,” I interrupted, my face heating even more. “And yes.”
I gripped Sam’s hand as though drowning, but he didn’t seem to mind. The table was silent for a moment. Apple wrapped herself around my arm.
“How often were you denied food?” Sable asked.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “Often.”
“For long periods?”
“Sometimes, yeah.”
“How long?”
I blinked furiously, determined to keep my wet eyes from overflowing. “Three weeks and two days was the longest.”
“Prolonged starvation can be devastating to a body,” Sable continued, his voice gentle. “Especially for a child.”
I pressed my trembling lips together.
“Do you feel like your body still suffers from the refeeding syndrome?” Sable asked after a short silence. “From what I know, it shouldn’t be permanent.”
“I don’t know,” I continued, speaking to my empty plate. “If I go t-too long without eating, I get anxious… I’ll get sick if I eat, and then I get sick because I’m anxious.”
“Why do you get anxious about being sick?”
I wasn’t going to answer, but the sharp words escaped. “Well, when you get fuckin’ beat for puking, you learn to be anxious about it.”
Wolf abruptly stood, and I jumped, my gaze shooting to his face. His eyes flashed, but he simply turned and stalked out of the canteen. His crew exchanged silent looks before Scar and Lee got up and followed him.
“If he puts another hole in the wall, he’s fixin’ it,” Sam said.
“What?” I asked, my stomach clenching.
“He punched through the wall earlier,” Sam explained matter-of-factly as though that were normal.
“He’ll fix it,” Tuck spoke up.
“He punched through the wall?” I repeated, bewildered.
“After you left the clinic,” Sam said.
“ Through the wall?” My brain was apparently stuck on this. The wood-paneled clinic wall was not a material easy to punch through.
“Well, he did break several bones in his hand,” Sable said, also matter-of-factly as though that were normal.
“What?” I finally looked at Sable and found him studying me with his pale blue eyes.
“It’s alright. I set the bones and bandaged him up.”
I hadn’t even noticed his hand was bandaged, but I’d been avoiding looking at him at all costs. I exhaled sharply through my nose and stood, gently extricating myself from Apple.
“Where you going?” Sam asked.
“To heal my stupid brother.”
It took me a while to find them. They’d gone into the deserted marketplace.
The market only ran three times a week, from morning to afternoon.
When it was closed, all the booths were empty.
I glanced at the small rectangular booth where a faded green bunting fluttered gently in the breeze, remembering when Griz and I found Jax inside with a bullet in his shoulder. Gods, if we hadn’t found him?—
I forced that thought away.
Wolf, Scar, and Lee were standing at the far end of the marketplace.
Wolf had his back to me, but Scar seemed to be speaking to him with their hand gestures.
Lee spotted me immediately, but he didn’t warn the others.
Instead, he flashed me a crooked grin and watched as I neared.
I was almost to them when he finally nudged Wolf.
Wolf spun around to face me, and the raw emotion in his face made me falter slightly.
It was carefully gone a breath later, his face smoothing into a blank mask.
“Give me your hand,” I demanded when I reached him.
His eyes narrowed at me, and his voice came out rough. “What?”
“Your hand,” I repeated impatiently, gesturing at his bandaged hand at his side.
“You don’t—” he started, but I’d had about enough.
“Wolf,” I snapped, “just give me your damn hand.”
Lee made a suspicious coughing sound, but I didn’t look at him.
Wolf glared at me a second longer before slowly giving me his bandaged hand.
I took it, carefully unwrapping the bandage and checking to ensure the splints stayed in place.
The flesh of his hand was already swollen and darkening with bruises.
I cradled his hand in both of mine and let my healing power flow into him, assessing the damage.
He’d broken three bones in his fingers and fractured several in his hand.
I was grateful Sable had already set the bones, so I didn’t have to move them, but the damage was extensive.
My powers painstakingly fused the tiny bones back together, and the swollen tissue began to recede.
His breath caught slightly, but I kept my eyes on his hand.
The bruising faded, and the skin smoothed over, leaving no sign of the injury.
“The next time you feel like punchin’ a wall, at least do it where I could put a fucking window,” I muttered.
He didn’t say anything, and I glanced at his face. The emotion and pain there made my stomach flip over in panic, so I just released his hand and strode away.