Page 58 of Detonation
The doctor immediately rushes towards the man, who’s still coughing, and lifts a cup to his mouth. The man greedily drinks down whatever it is, his coughs subsiding enough for him to settle into the cot peacefully.
I kick the cloth off my feet and sit up, turning to face the man next to me, inspecting him, trying to see if I recognize him. Why do I feel so drawn to him?
"Doc, I already knew that my body heals at an accelerated rate but whatever happened last night is beyond anything that’s ever happened," I admit.
He nods, gathering supplies to drop on the small table. "We won't question it. It only makes our plan easier."
Liviana joins us. "What exactly are our plans?"
I smile up at her. "We’re going to get everyone out of the dungeon and out of the castle. Doc here said that whatever they use to lace our drinks and food, is what keeps everyone from being able to use their powers. He’s instructed to heavily dose this man, on top of the guards placing him in the draining shackles."
Doc cuts in, "Today, I’m not going to dose him. It has been long enough since his last dosage that I should be able to provide a true, healing treatment. I will push past the point in his health where they normally want me to get him."
"How is he going to help us?" Liviana inquires, skeptical.
"For them to have kept him alive this long and with the methods with which they have, he has to be powerful. He will most likely be a great ally in breaking everyone out." Although my voice sounds sure, a shadow of doubt creeps in at the sight of his slender limbs. Will he even be able to walk on his own?
"Well, let's get this started. If we don't show up at the room within a reasonable amount of time, the guards will be on alert and we don’t want to draw their eye."
I nod at Livi and rise to stand next to the doc as he injects a needle into the man's arm, moving to hang a bag of blood above him on a nail in the wall. Talk about creativity.
"I'm giving him the last supply of witch blood that we have on hand to try to flush out any remaining toxins in his system. We want the healing to have the most impact possible. We don't know if we’ll be granted another chance before our attempt to escape."
Witch blood?He isn’t fae?
My curiosity about this man’s identity spikes.
For long moments, we wait, watching the man, hoping for some responsiveness from him. Finally, his eyes slowly open. They're a beautiful hazel color, much like Zedd's.
He looks over to the doc and a small smile appears, although it's clear he’s exerting a lot of energy even with that. Feeling our gaze on him, the prisoner turns to look at Liviana and I, confusion on his face. "Who are you?" he rasps out.
Livi introduces herself and me, being the dork I am, point at myself and say, "Me, Lana." I gesture towards him, "You...", trailing off for him to fill in the blank.
His face contorts slightly as he looks at me, concerned.
Apparently he's never seen Tarzan. What a shame.
His eyes close without a response and the doctor hushes me. "He has no energy yet and I need to start healing him now before they come back."
I motion like I'm zipping my mouth and gesture towards the man, motioning for him to get on with his magical hands.
He chuckles at me while shaking his head, moving his chair to the edge of the man's cot. He moves his fingers to the man's neck to feel for his pulse and nods, finding it sufficient, I suppose. The doc places his hands along various parts of the man's body, a soft green glow emanating from his palms. He nods to himself each time he moves onto the next spot. I presume he's doing a wellness check of his entire body.
His words confirm my suspicion. "I've checked his system to see if there’s anything particularly failing or struggling so I know where to concentrate my energy. The majority of the trouble is in his heart. It’s beating extremely slowly and I assume it’s from the constant draining that the shackles perform. Once it saps your powers completely, what else does it leech on to? I don't know how it affects the body after that. It's difficult having an unknown component at play."
Liviana asks, "Is the poison they have us ingest the same thing as what’s infused in his shackles?"
The doctor shrugs. "I would think so with it having similar effects but perhaps the shackles are a concentrated source of whatever it is, whereas the dose we ingest is diluted. That's just speculation though."
He takes a deep breath before placing his palms on the man's bare chest, closing his eyes. This time, the light is a glowing white, making me smile at how the doctor’s energy is as pure as his work.
We sit in silence as he continues for a few minutes but I notice he’s straining as his hands begin to tremble.
"Doc, don’t push yourself too much. We need to get you out with everyone else."
He ignores me and furrows his brow, beads of sweat rolling down his face, and I march over to him, placing my hands on his shoulders with the intention of tugging him away but my hands feel stuck to him. Livi gasps.
"Don't let go! Your energy is feeding my own," the doctor says desperately.
