Aaron dropped down so that he was crouching next to her at eye level. Part of him wanted to remind her that she could get up and walk away right now, but he knew she wanted this, and if he suggested such a thing, it would only make her angry, not deter her. “Hey, beautiful. You’re okay,” he said quietly. Cadence’s eyes widened, and across her, in his peripheral vision, he could see Jamie finding the vein in her arm. “You’ve got this. You’re going to be just fine.”
Jamie pressed down, and Cadence immediately started to sob. Reaching up, Aaron smoothed back her hair. “You’re okay. It’s okay. Take some slow, steady, deep breaths.” He could feel the pain himself now, and it was burning like fire. But it wasn’t having the same effect on him as it did on her. Jamie picked up the second syringe. “You’ll be asleep in a minute and it’ll all be over.”
“It… hurts….” Cadence stammered as Jamie pushed down the second time. She increased her grip on his hand, and Aaron could hear the bones crunching, but the pain coming from her was far more intense than whatever damage she’d done to his hand.
“It’s all right. It’s over now. You’re floating away. You’re falling asleep, and when you wake up, everything will be different. You’ll be faster, and stronger, and nothing will be able to stop you. Nothing.”
Her eyes unclenched for a moment, and she stared at him, tears still streaming down, though he could see how tired she was. The pain had met its crescendo now, and as she rode the wave down, he could see the longing in her eyes, the unasked question lingering there. “I love you, Cadence Josephine Findley, and when you come back to me, we’ll figure this all out, okay? You don’t need to worry about me.”
She nodded, unable to speak, and the fire began to fade, becoming a dull flicker before her eyes fell shut, and she was asleep.
It took him a moment to loosen her grip from his fingers, and then the throbbing began. Having broken plenty of bones in his years, he didn’t think this was anything to worry over, and Jamie could heal it if he let him. He shook his hand out, kissed Cadence lightly on the head, and helped Jamie pull a sheet up to cover her. On the other side of the Healer, Elliott was also out. Both teens had tears in their eyes, and Brandon held Cassidy close, her head leaning on his shoulder.
“Are you okay?” Jamie asked, gesturing at Aaron’s hand. “I can fix that.”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Aaron knew that wasn’t the truth, but at least he’d managed to pull himself together long enough to help Cadence get through her struggle. The fear that she might actually not wake up was present in the back of his head, but he couldn’t let that worry him now. There were thousands of other things to be anxious about, and he had to trust Jamie when he said it was safe.
“How long do you think this will take?” Brandon asked, likely already knowing there would be no true answer.
“I have no idea, but I’d say probably less than twelve hours. The recovery rate on the samples has been that or less.”
They were all quiet for a moment as Jamie cleaned up the used syringes. When he was done, he walked around Cadence’s sleeping form and took Aaron’s hand in his. Though it crossed his mind that maybe now wasn’t a good time for this, what with two patients potentially needing Jamie’s healing powers, they both knew nothing would happen for at least the next several hours. So Aaron allowed Jamie to fix the damage Cadence had caused, which made the doctor yawn, but not pass out, and then the Healer asked, “Are you gonna hang out here for a while?”
It was a legitimate question, one that hadn’t entered Aaron’s mind until it was asked. He’d spent so much time in his office lately, he’d simply assumed he’d head back over there, but a glance at the sleeping form of his fiancée on the bed had him answering differently. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Jamie nodded and Aaron backed out of his way so he could go do whatever else he needed to do across the operating room. Brandon was getting himself and Cassidy a chair, and it seemed like a good idea, to get a chair, if he was going to stay there. But he didn’t move.
“You doing all right?” Brandon asked as they both sat down next to Elliott. Cassidy’s hands were folded in front of her face, her lips pulled to the side in concern, but not for him, for the two sleepers.
How many times in the last few weeks had someone asked him if he was okay? Too many to count. The simple answer was no, but beyond that, there was nothing that could be said. He had no simple explanation for why he was feeling the way he was—like he wished he was made of sugar so he could fall into a puddle of water and dissolve. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” Cassidy didn’t even look up at him as she answered. “You haven’t looked fine in a while.”
Again, there was nothing to say, and Aaron realized Jamie had brought him a chair, so he sat in it, because that’s what people did with chairs.
“I’m going to finish up a few things in my office,” the Healer explained, likely trying to avoid a conversation he’d already had multiple times. “Let me know if they need anything.” The second comment was directed more at Brandon and Cass than his boss, and Aaron couldn’t hold that against him. Would Aaron even be present enough to notice if something did go wrong?
Whatever this was, this funk or depression, or whatever anyone wanted to call it, he needed to find a way to get out from under it soon, or else it was going to destroy him. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to do that. And sometimes… he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
