Page 15 of Whispers of the Dragon
Grandmother’s medicine for any kind of sickness, no matter what it was, was first, strict bedrest, and then a small cup of her “medicinal” tea every three hours that might as well have comefrom the depths of hell. Eira didn’t know what all was in it, and she’d rather not ever know, because there was no way in hell she would ever have plans of making it.
“Here you go, honey.” Grandmother placed the cup on her bedside table, waking Eira back up.
She hadn’t even realized she had passed back out; the sickness was really starting to take over now.
“Thank you, Grandma.”
“You know, that boy is going to come in handy. It’s been a long time since we had a strong man able to work around the house.” She smiled widely, her mind clearly running rampant with all the chores a tall Ryu could do.
“Um …” Eira started to say as her jaw dropped to the floor yet again. “Grandm—”
But she was already running back to the door, not even hearing her contest. “Get some rest, Eira.”
The door slamming shut had a dumfounded Eira left with nothing to do but pick up the piping-hot tea. She downed the gross liquid and made a grotesque face.
That was only the first cup, and it was always the easiest to stomach. It all quickly went downhill from there. Only one thing could give her pleasure out of this …
Please let Ryu get sick, too.
Crack.
The sound of broken bones greeted her ears as a baseball bat slammed down onto a limp body.
Snap.
Another flash of the bat making contact with the man’s leg, the man who lay practically lifeless on the floor.
He raised the bat once more, pausing only to look her in the eyes. An evil pair of blue-green eyes stared back at her, making her blood run cold.
She watched his hands grip the neck of the bat with a force so intense she was positive it was going to shatter before the bat was brought down for its final time.
Crunch.
As she watched the man inhale the air around him, he looked crazed, his appearance disheveled. Then he slicked his overgrown hair back in place, and you could see the slight smile come to his lips …
“Eira … Eira?”
Again, her name being called lulled her out of her nightmare.
“You had another one again, didn’t you?” Ryu asked, taking a deep breath.
Now that the sun had gone down, she only knew it was Ryu because she had committed his voice to memory. It took her a moment to be able to see him, and once she did, she could read the growing worry on his features because she was dreaming these dreams that weren’t hers. Seeing the guilt, knowing he had caused it, hurt her heart that had already been won by him. Thankfully, the rest of his appearance gave her a chance to change the subject seamlessly.
“Why are you filthy?”
“I did some outside work for your grandmother.”
By the look of him and his clothes covered in dirt, she didn’t doubt it. Eira could only imagine the work his grandmother had put him to. She had been asking Grandfather to do some work on the outside of the house for years now.
Taking the hot tea he held out to her, she looked down at the gross steamy liquid. “How do you feel? Are you sick?” she asked, maybe a bit too hopefully.
Ryu laughed, his tenseness from her dreams finally easing up. “No, I don’t get sick.”
“What do you mean, you don’t get sick?” she asked, taking the cup away from her mouth and stopping before the liquid had hit her lips.
“I’ve just never been sick.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Never been sick?” she reiterated in disbelief. “How does that even happen?”
