Chapter 9 Tiana
My fingers trailed across the smooth surface of the exam table, then my eyes roamed the rough-hewn logs of the walls. The military-style building was basically a cabin outfitted for medical use, but it was my cabin.
The walls were bare, displaying little more than shaved logs.
I’d broken convention by hanging my father’s favorite tapestry in the foyer to comfort and distract patients while they waited for care.
In the back, I stored bandages, herbs, and a wide variety of potions and creams to treat patients who didn’t require a magical cure.
If Healing magic didn’t sap my energy so quickly, I would prefer to use it on every patient who walked through the door, but I supposed every Healer had to learn when not to use their Gift.
The days of my youth, working with my father, were often long and exhausting. Today, I felt like I had worked three of those days in one.
I scrubbed my hands, but my smock was streaked with stains that would take more effort—and a fair amount of lye—to clean. I sucked in a breath, sat for the first time in hours, and rested my head against the wall, visualizing the steam wafting off the hot bath to come.
My eyes had almost closed when a familiar voice called from the front door and shook me from my dream. “Miss Ti, don’t pack up yet. One more for you.”
I sighed, straightened my smock, and stood to see who had hurt themselves now. Healing was my calling, and I loved it more than life itself, but some days simply wouldn’t end when they were supposed to. This was one of them.
Two men in uniform greeted me as I entered the foyer, one holding the other upright. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw my patient . . . again.
At twenty-two, Constable Ridley Doa stood over six and a half feet tall and had the beginnings of broad shoulders. After three years of Guard training, Ridley’s once boyish features now held a hardened edge.
Ridley also normally carried himself with the athletic grace of a sportsman, but today his left leg looked as though it would barely support weight, and he needed help just to get through the infirmary’s entrance.
He was supported by a man who wore a Lieutenant’s chevron on one shoulder and the golden collar of the Gifted around the nape of his uniform.
A small sack dangled from a strap stretched tightly across his broad chest and shoulders.
Piercing blue eyes offset a rusty scruff-covered jaw.
“What have you dragged in today, Keelan? Our ‘Constable in the Making’ fall out of his bunk again?”
I gave Ridley a playful mock salute.
“Ti, he hurt himself sparring against a cadet twice his size and ten times his talent. I guess the Guard uniform makes some think they’re invincible, even if it doesn’t really fit yet.”
“Third visit this week, Ridley? One might think you just want me to see your legs again.” Ridley blushed as I took his other shoulder and helped Keelan walk him back to the exam room. When they reached the table, Keelan set his sack on the floor and helped the injured Guardsman settle into place.
“Let’s see what we’ve got today.” I cut away the lower leg of his uniform trousers and began prodding below his knee. Ridley found his courage, as his eyes sparkled with mischief. “Easy there, Miss Ti. Touch me like that again, and I might question your motives.”
I dug my thumb into the meat of his leg.
“Hey now.” Ridley winced.
“Just making sure the Lieutenant knows you’re actually hurt and not just paying me a visit.” I batted my lashes, earning a scowl from my patient.
Keelan had to turn away as his shoulders began to shake with poorly disguised laughter.
I held my palms over Ridley’s leg and closed my eyes. A familiar warm glow lit my palms.
Ridley stared with wide eyes. Both he and Keelan carried a Gift, but to see a Healer in action inspired awe unlike most other magic. I focused and willed the Light to brighten, causing Ridley’s leg to glow faintly. He gritted his teeth as the magic mended muscle, tissue, and bone.
Moments later, my eyes opened, and the glow faded.
I braced myself against the table, fending off the wave of exhaustion that followed every Healing. “That should do it, Ridley. Please try to pick on someone your own size next time.”
“Spirits, you’re amazing.”
“Oh, I’m well aware.” I winked.
He stood, carefully placing weight on his leg.
Without warning, he shot forward and wrapped me in a tight hug and planted a kiss on my cheek.
I started to speak, but Ridley bounded toward the door, then grinned back over his shoulder.
“Next time I’ll try to get hit a little higher up the leg. You really have quite the touch.”
He vanished, leaving me speechless and the usually stoic Keelan laughing through tears.
An awkward silence settled over the room as Keelan’s laughter abated.
I eyed him. “Need something else, Lieutenant?”
He ran a hand over his head and glared at his boots. He finally summoned his courage, picked up the sack, and set it on the exam table. “Well, Miss Ti—Tiana.”
Keelan never called me by my name. The corner of my mouth quirked into a curious grin as the skin of my arms prickled.
“I thought maybe, um, you might like a glass of wine at the end of a long day.” He set a bottle, two glasses, and a bowl on the table, then looked up at me with sheepish, nearly terrified eyes.
“Lieutenant, are you asking me on a date? In my infirmary?” My brows rose.
“Well, uh, when you put it like that, I mean . . . the wine was Ridley’s idea.”
I laughed—not a girlish giggle—a full-throated, from-the-gut bellow. One hand went to my stomach while the other braced against the table.
“I wondered how long it would take you to ask. I mean, this isn’t exactly the romantic setting I had pictured in my mind, but it is very Keelan-esque.”
The goofy grin that split his face made me laugh again. He fumbled the bottle, nearly dropping it onto the hard floor.
“Please, let a professional,” I said, taking the bottle from him.
Once the glasses were filled, I pulled the cloth off the bowl, and my smile turned from teasing to pleasant surprise.
“Hope you like strawberries,” Keelan said.
“I love them. Thank you, Keelan.” I squeezed my eyes shut as I savored the first bite. Sweet, tart juice flooded my mouth. It tasted like summer.
We spent the next half hour talking of little things. When I turned the conversation toward Keelan’s work, his shoulders lifted and his back straightened. Everyone knew that Keelan hated talking about himself. It wasn’t a surprise when he dodged my questions.
“Enough about me. I want to know about you. Are you from Saltstone? Did you grow up here? What’s it like dealing with sick people all day? Are you always wearing baby blue? I mean, you were even in a blue gown the other night at the ceremony.”
I laughed at his litany and was thrilled at his remembering my dress.
“So, yes. Yes. And some days I wonder why I chose this path. And no, sometimes I wear a darker shade.”
I took another bite, and my eyes drifted a moment.
“I love being a Healer. It’s all I ever wanted growing up, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
“Even with patients like Ridley?”
“Especially with patients like him. After all, without Ridley’s unfortunate fall, we wouldn’t be having this elegant exam-room soiree.” I waved around the room with my wine glass, clearly enjoying teasing him about the setting for our first date.
This is a date, isn’t it? Oh, Spirits, I’m on a date with Keelan Rea.
“Promise I’ll do better next time.”
I might die. He said, “next time.”
Resisting an embarrassing death, I reached across the table and placed my hand on his. “You did great.”
A blush raced up his neck and filled his cheeks.
He sipped wine, then asked, “When did you start? I mean, you’re young to be a full Healer, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “It all started with my father.”
“I’ve seen the statue of him over at the Triad’s building. It still amazes me you’re that Healer’s daughter.”
“That’s what everyone says. I guess I’m used to it now.” I shrugged. “He was the best. When I was a little girl, I followed him everywhere. I even made my own tiny Healer’s smock from one of his old rags, knitting it together with ratty brown yarn. I wouldn’t let him take it off me, even to sleep.”
“Is he why you became a Healer?”
I nodded, my eyes pooling, “I miss him so much.”
Keelan watched as I searched my memories, a swath of emotions crossing my face. He then decided to ask about happier times.
“Do you remember the first time you Healed?”
“Oh, yes. Absolutely.” I brightened. “When I was seven or eight, I had this scruffy dog, Ollie. He terrorized our horses, chasing them all over. I think they actually liked it, even though they’d kick and bray.”
I grinned and took another sip.
“One afternoon, I heard Ollie wailing from somewhere in the field. He’d gotten his paw caught in the joints of the picket fence. By the time I squatted by his side, the paw was full of splinters, bleeding and raw from where he’d struggled to free himself.
He looked up at me with terror in those big eyes, and the sight nearly broke my heart. It took forever, but I managed to free his paw. His howling ceased immediately, but then he started to whimper, and his breathing turned shallow and quick. That’s when I knew he’d hurt more than just a paw.”
“What did you do? Was your dad able to help?” Keelan asked.
I shook my head. “No . . . I don’t remember where he was, but I don’t think he was home at the time.
As scared as I was, I knew I had to help him myself.
I spread him out on the ground, forcing him onto his back to inspect the rest of his body.
He squirmed, and the keening that followed was nearly too much. I really didn’t know what I was doing.
“His eyes started rolling back, and I could tell he was fading. Keelan, it was terrible. I loved that little dog more than anything. I prayed for help, for anything. When no one answered, I ran a hand across his muzzle, then laid it on his chest to calm him.