Page 35 of A Winter Crush
She shook her head, out of breath. “Sinoe sent me to come to find you in the village and tell you to come home. Your brother’s sick.”
Before she had even finished speaking, Ori ran. He sprinted as fast as his feet would take him, terror quickening his steps.Did I neglect my brother? Was I too often away? Too wrapped up in Wareth?Guilt gnawed at him the whole way. He couldn’t run fast enough. Couldn’t be there soon enough.Please let him be all right!
He sped straight to his aunties’ cave, heartbeat thundering in his ears. He ducked inside. His brother lay amongst a pile of fur, his aunties gathered around him. Sinoe squatted by Liney, touching his face and murmuring.
Liney looked so fragile, body limp and eyes closed. Ori held in a sob. He dropped to his knees by Liney’s side, ignoring the pain that shot through his knees.
“Liney?” He touched Liney’s hand. His skin felt cold, and the colour of it held a strange, sickly yellow tinge. His brother shivered but didn’t wake. Oreads weren’t meant to shiver. They didn’t feel the cold like humans.
“Liney,” he repeated, louder this time, touching his brother’s shoulder. No response. Panic rose sharply in his chest. He shook Liney. “Liney, open your eyes and look at me!”
Sinoe placed his hand over Ori’s. “Ori, calm down.”
Ori couldn’t breathe. The cave spun.
“He’s just sleeping,” Sinoe said slowly.
Ori shook his head. Sinoe was wrong. If Liney was just sleeping, he would wake when Ori spoke to him. He would wake when Ori touched him. This sleep was unnatural. Wrong.
It was just like with his parents. They’d slept unnaturally too, their bodies given over to fever and seizures. For days, Ori had sat by their bed. He’d clutched their clammy hands, feeling their tremors. He’d lain beside them, never leaving. There had been constant healing rituals, but they hadn’t gotten better. He’d begged them to wake, over and over. He’d cried and sobbed. But no matter how much he’d pleaded, they’d never woken.
He clutched at Liney’s shoulders and shook him. “Wake up, Liney!”
He needs to wake up!
“Wake up!” he yelled.
Sinoe grabbed his hands and yanked them away from Liney.
Ori pulled away from Sinoe. “You don’t know what you’re talking about! This is just like Mother and Father. He needs to wake!”
“Ori, you need to take a breath and calm down. This is not like it was with your parents. This is not the same illness.”
Ori shook his head. “He can’t die,” Ori whispered. He gripped Sinoe’s hand. “I can’t lose him. I can’t lose him like I lost them. Don’t let him die. Please.”
“Ori, I promise you, he’s not going to die. He just has yellowmere. This is common, and it isn’t dangerous. I’ve treated this before. Many times. You’ve seen other oreads in the valley with it. Remember, Aunty Suroth had it several years ago. And she’s all better now.”
Ori glanced at his Aunty Suroth, then back at Sinoe. “Then why won’t he wake?”
“He was awake before. I gave him a draught to help him sleep. He needs to sleep,” Sinoe said, voice calm but firm. “And you need to let him.” The healer’s words slowly penetrated the panic in Ori’s mind.
“He’ll get better?” Ori choked.
“I promise. We’ll start the healing ritual soon. But you need to stay calm. Otherwise, you’ll have to stay outside. Will you stay calm?”
Ori nodded. It was only then that he noticed the different rocks, crystals, and plants in a circle around Liney.
“He’ll be all right, Ori,” Aunty Suroth said behind him. “I had the same illness, and I’m fine. And Liney is much stronger than me.”
Ori nodded, but he wasn’t so sure.
He and his aunties knelt in a circle around Sinoe and Liney. Sinoe began chanting, voice low.
Ori had been through healing rituals before, usually when one of his aunts had gotten sick. And then of course, there had been the rituals before his parents had died. The rituals that had failed to save them.
He shoved that thought away. Sinoe said Liney would be all right, and Ori had to hold on to that. He needed to be strong now, for Liney.
Sinoe picked up a rock and held it in his hands, chanting over it. He turned to Ori. “Here, take this rock. I got it from your cave.”
