Sax
Lacing my fingers together, I lean forward, bracing my arms on my knees, but it does nothing to ease the ache in my limbs. My head lolls, my chin falling to my chest as I exhale slowly, but still no sense of reprieve comes.
My eyelids close as I pinch the bridge of my nose, willing something to change, but it doesn’t. I’m high on adrenaline. It’s been coursing through my veins for the past seventy-two hours, and it’s not going to diminish until she opens her eyes and settles the part of my soul that aches for her.
Three days.
We found her three days ago.
We watched her die, resurrect as a phoenix, and fall to the ground in a heap of limbs.
I thought it was just shock, we all did, but four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes is too long.
The medical team insists it’s natural, but they don’t know that from experience. Their knowledge comes from textbooks since there has never actually been a phoenix at Neverbound Academy.
Exhaling, I drop my hand from my face and slump back in my seat as I pry my eyes open, reaccepting my current reality.
Ivy is a phoenix.
Of all the things in the world, and as obscure as they can get, I didn’t think it would be that.
Crammed into Ivy’s private suite, the white-washed walls are giving me a migraine.
She sleeps softly in the center of the room, surrounded by the rest of us, while Hugo marches back and forth in front of her bed.
Give it another hour and he’ll take someone’s seat, giving them an opportunity to expend some energy.
No one is going home and leaving her here alone. We’ve had that conversation enough times in the last seventy-two hours. This seems to be our compromise, which is a strong word since we’re all high on adrenaline, running on no sleep, and cranky as hell.
It doesn’t help that we’re all still processing this new turn of events. On top of the fact that Ivy has been blessed with a rare form of magic, there’s also her father and Leonardo Corrigan, the leader of the Second Kingdom, to consider.
My rage threatens to burn to the surface, but I take a deep breath, saving it for when the time comes. Instead, I focus on Ivy.
Our mate.
Our phoenix.
No one has really spoken on the matter, but there’s a new energy in the air. Be it curiosity or wonder, it tethers us to her even more.
But all that matters right now is her wellbeing, and her ability to open her damn eyes.
A flash of red flitting past catches my attention, and I fixate on Ember for a moment, watching as she nervously darts around the room, pausing by Ivy’s bed for a moment before returning to her spot on the windowsill.
Ivy’s sprite is as stubborn as the rest of us, and her sass is on another level, so I appreciate her being quiet for the past few hours.
Looking past her, I shift my gaze to the gray weather outside the window. The midafternoon sun is nonexistent behind the thick cluster of clouds. Rain patters against the glass, all rhythmic and melodic, but it’s quickly enhanced by the grumble of thunder and a flash of lightning.
I glance at Hugo from the corner of my eye. The weather outside is his doing; we all know it. If he’s aware of it, he doesn’t pay it any attention, but he has the ability to control storms, and this one is most definitely linked to his current state of despair.
As if on cue, he clenches his hands and lets out a sigh, and the sky outside somehow manages to darken further.
Footsteps outside the room snap my attention away from the abysmal weather as shadows cast through the small window in the door, but they disappear just as quickly.
I can’t decide whether it’s a good or bad thing that they’re practically ignoring us.
If Ivy were in danger, they would be in here more, monitoring and testing, but as it stands, they’re happy to let her sleep.
Unlike the rest of us.
Another sigh escapes my lips as I shuffle in my seat, the cushioned chair beneath me no longer offering any comfort while the room remains thick with dread.
“They should have run some more tests by now,” Archer states, dragging a hand down his face, and Hugo scoffs.
“There’s no use for observations. She just needs to wake up. We can observe her ourselves. We’ve been doing a good job of it already,” he grumbles, and Baron grunts.
Tensions run high as the atmosphere remains stilted, hanging on Ivy’s next breath and eyes opening, but instead of drawing us all together, it feels like it’s slicing us into pieces. All because we can’t regulate ourselves the second we feel a lack of control.
“They still have a job to do, and they should be doing it,” Ember declares from her spot by the window, and Teddy nods in agreement, ruffling his messy hair as he purses his lips.
“Are we going to discuss what’s going to happen when she wakes up?” he asks, his fingers running over the bandage secured around his arm. He cut himself breaking through the door that stood between us and Ivy’s lifeless body, and refuses to have someone heal it until she’s awake.
“She just needs to wake up. Surely there’s a way to give her a nudge,” Baron mutters, and Hugo scoffs.
“We don’t know what she’s going to wake up like. They’ve told us that,” Hugo reiterates, spiking the tension in the room as the doctor’s words from the first day engulf the room once more.
“To the best of our knowledge, we know that each phoenix has their own recovery pattern. No two are alike. Memory distortion is highly likely. To what degree, we don’t yet know, but she may also suffer from the likes of emotional instability and physical exhaustion.
We must show patience and nurturing. These things take time.
She just died, recovering from that isn’t usually an option for most, be thankful that it is for her. ”
Memory distortion? I think it’s those two words that have everyone in a chokehold. There’s no guess on how long it might last, how much she may have forgotten, or how it will impact her life going forward. All we know is it’s the most likely symptom, filling us all with more dread.
Every minute that passes comes with a crippling sense of hope and fear. Hope that she’s already out of her memory distortion, and fear that she’ll never open those pretty eyes.
My brother rises from his seat, distress stiffening his spine as he clenches his hands and rounds the bed to stand at Ivy’s side.
He stares down at her with furrowed brows and a tight jaw, and I know he can’t process what he’s feeling right now.
I don’t think any of us can, but he’s struggling the most. It’s hard to portray your insistent dislike for someone when you’re standing by their bed, pleading for them to wake up.
I wonder if he’s thinking about her first day here, when she fell from the cliff. He didn’t react quickly enough, and if Teddy hadn’t, what would have happened? Would he have been the one to trigger her magic? To make her go through this?
My hands clench in my lap as I shake my head, refusing to let myself get caught up in all of the what-if’s and maybes.
She doesn’t need any of that when she wakes up. She needs us to be present, alert, and patient instead of fighting our inner demons and placing our own stresses above hers.
“Someone needs to get in here and check her vitals,” Baron snaps, his jaw tight as his gaze spins to the door. He takes one step, but a huff from Hugo pauses him in his tracks.
“They don’t need to check shit. If she needs to rest, she rests.
If you don’t like it, fuck off back to your dorm,” he growls, twisting the tension even tighter in the room as he works everyone to the edge of their emotional limits.
My nerves tingle through my veins, willing me to react, but I grind my teeth together, forcing my beast to remain calm and at bay.
My tiger would love to rip free right now and take control of the matter, but even I’m aware that nothing good will come from that. Not when everyone is already so stressed.
Slowly, my brother spins on the spot to face Ivy’s brother. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I want, Hewy. If you don’t like it, you can fuck off.”
They move in sync, standing toe to toe as they stare off with one another. Ember lurches from her spot by the window, darting between them in a flash, while the rest of us watch carefully.
“The pair of you are going to have to leave if you don’t shut your big mouths and focus on the person who matters the most right now. Don’t make me speak with the dragons and have you both dragged out of here.”
They both blink at her with wide eyes, and she doesn’t falter, standing her ground as she threatens them with their own type of torture. Neither of them want their dragons getting involved right now; that would force them to leave, and despite the tension, they don’t want that. Not really.
Another flash of lightning across the sky, completed by the rumble of thunder that echoes in the distance, and it seems to expel some of the strain Hugo is handling.
He takes a step back, and I exhale gently, relieving the pressure growing inside of me as my attention turns to the poor lighting in the room.
It has a soft yellow glow that does nothing to fill the room with calm.
If anything, it gives it a dark, dingy feel and affects the room’s energy.
But the staff are insistent that it’s to help Ivy come around.
It’s not doing a great job so far.
Another exhale, and I dare to look at my fated mate.
My heart cracks, but my tension softens as I take in her features.
Her blonde hair fans around her face, soft and clean, not a single drop of blood staining her locks anymore.
There’s no crimson on her skin, no gaping hole in her forehead, but I can still see it there if I close my eyes.
Instead, she lies peacefully, angelic almost, with her hands at her sides on the soft white sheets, a hospital gown hanging a size too big on her.