Page 55 of Redeeming the Angel

“Wurrakia is closest,” Nik shouted.“And they have the best healers in the world.”

I clung to her as tears poured from my eyes.Despite the hope in her voice, I was fairly sure it was too late.I only hoped my sister wouldn’t overexert herself and crash and loseherbaby.

By the time Nik landed on solid ground, I was too weak to move.My vision went in and out and my sister’s voice sounded so far away.

“Healers, now,” she croaked.“My sister is losing her baby.”

My baby!My heart cried, but my lips wouldn’t move.I felt strong hands grab me and was able to open my eyes long enough to see Nik faint.Thankfully, two blue-robed Wurrak healers caught her.Blackness overtook my vision once more.

I woke up briefly to find I was lying in a cot in a hospital.Nik was in her own cot beside me, being attended by a healer.Another jolt of pain shot through me, making me whimper.Four healer mages spoke in soothing words and fed me an elixir.One examined me down below, and from the feel of warm hands on my bare thigh I realized they’d managed to undress me.

Something thick, wet, and hot poured out from my body.The pain in my body and heart was unbearable, so I let the darkness carry me off once more.

When next I awoke, Nikkita stood at my bedside and held my hand.Her sobs tore at my heart, but I was too weak to hold my eyes open, much less speak to her.The mattress beneath me felt wet and sticky.

Another elixir was forced down my throat as I clung to my sister’s hand.I floated in oblivion and wondered what I’d say to Lucian when I returned to Luminista.

Then I heard Nik’s voice, full of horror.“She can’t die.”

“Why not?”One of the younger healers asked.“She’s a luminite, is she not?”

“Her condition was a secret.”

Nik’s plea gave me hope.If the healers could keep me alive, Lucian wouldn’t have to know.I couldn’t bear to imagine the disappointment in his eyes when he learned that I’d failed to nurture the potential life we’d planted.

A sharp pain in the crook of my elbow brought me back to the present.What were the healers doing?The problem wasn’t in my arm.I wished I was strong enough to open my eyes and see what was happening.I heard Nik hiss in pain and grew even more curious.

The healers’ voices mingled in a chant.I hadn’t learned this language, but I felt the magic they worked.A few minutes later, I even felt a bit of strength return.It wasn’t enough for me to be able to move, but it was sufficient that I at least knew I wouldn’t die.The sharp stinger in my arm was removed, and my bedding was changed before I was fed even more medicine.This time, it was some sort of painkiller, which I swallowed eagerly.My midsection seemed to scream at its emptiness.

I heard the healers tell Nik to return to her own bed.She argued until they pushed her cot flush against her sister’s.Then she curled up beside me and sobbed against my shoulder.I longed to hold her, to tell her she didn’t need to cry for me.

A few hours later, I did enough of my own.Anguish filled my body until it overflowed, boiling out of my being in an animalistic howl.I rolled over on my side and curled into a ball, unable to stop the wrenching cries.My sister’s arms wrapped around me and she hummed in soothing tones.I cried until my throat was dry and dizziness stole my consciousness.

When I awoke the next morning, Nik was gone and a Wurrak healer gave me more medicine, then tried to feed me spoonfuls of porridge.I refused until the woman sternly told me that my sister had given her own blood to keep me alive.

“She shouldn’t have done such a foolish thing,” I wailed.“She could lose her baby too.”

“Then you’d best regain your strength so you can make sure she doesn’t.”

I had no argument for that, so I obediently opened my mouth and allowed the Wurrak woman to feed me.When I’d eaten most of the porridge, I was strong enough to sit up and ask how my sister had given me her blood.The process the healer described was fascinating.I’d make sure to learn how to do this blood transfusion in case Nik needed it.

My sister returned and it took every ounce of my willpower not to start crying again.

“The healers here promised to tell no one why we really came here.We can stay until you’re healed, and then they’ll pretend we just arrived so we can tell the Lord of Wurrakia that we’re here on a diplomatic learning mission.”The sympathy in her copper eyes made my throat tighten.“How are you feeling?I mean, besides…”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and managed a hoarse reply.“I hurt everywhere, but the healer gave me some medicine before breakfast, and it’s starting to take effect.It can’t touch the pain in my heart, though.”

“I know.”She sat down beside me.

“It’s gone,” I wailed.“My baby’s really gone.”

Nik enfolded me in her arms.“I’m sorry.”

The first week I spent mostly crying in Nik’s arms and sleeping in a drugged haze.The only thing that made eating and drinking possible was my determination to get out of this hospital and make sure my sister’s baby would survive.On the third day, I insisted on using the outhouse instead of the chamber pot.The first few times, either Nik or a healer had to help me get up and walk, but by the sixth day, I was able to make it on my own.At least there I could cry by myself as long as I didn’t take so long that people worried and came after me.

Once I was strong enough to leave the hospital, the healers escorted us to the Lord of Wurrakia’s castle.We were welcomed with luxurious rooms and banquets and tourneys.The distractions of jousting knights and dancing minstrels kept my tears at bay during the day, but at night I found myself going into Nik’s room and crying in her arms.

It felt like I’d lost more than the start of a baby.I wondered if this new emptiness within me would always exist.Eventually, awareness of my sister’s growing belly pressed against my consciousness, reminding me of my new mission.All my crying couldn’t be good for my growing niece.Eventually, I managed to sequester my tears to my own room.

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