Page 39 of Ramshackle
I hand Reid the now-mangled collar. “One last thing. Drop this in the ocean or somewhere far from here. I don’t know if there’s a tracker in it. Then go rest.” He nods and takes it. “And Reid?” He pauses to look at me. “Thank you.”
Reid’s blue eyes slide to Raegan on the bed and then back to me. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need for her.” Then he’s gone.
I move to the foot of the bed to watch Cassandra. Her hands are carefully placed on Raegan’s sides emitting a soft, warm light. She must hear my footsteps because she turns to look up at me with her bottom lip pinched between her teeth. Her green-gold eyes seem to glow brighter while her gift is active, but it’s the lines of worry on her brow that grab my attention.
“What is it?”
“I can’t heal it all.” Dane and Kellan both jump forward, but I cut them a slashing look so she can finish. “I’ll focus on the most urgent areas tonight, but I’ll need to come back over the next few days to slowly heal the rest.”
“What’s wrong?”
She chews her lip again. “Her body’s already exhausted. If I push it to heal itself too much, too fast, she…her body could give out. It would be too much. And it takes time for her body to get the rest it already needs, let alone the healing sleep. I have to do this slowly for her safety.”
“Do it.”
She nods and focuses back on Raegan, closing her eyes and directing her gift to where it needs her healing the most.
Kellan’s watching with arms shaking, fists tight, looking ready to murder the next person he sees.
Dane and I haven’t even told him what we learned from Vera yet.
“Get out of here and cool off,” I tell him.
He glares at me. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Well, you’re not fighting anyone in this room. So either leave and vent your anger out elsewhere, or calm down.”
Dane decides to volunteer as tribute when he speaks up to snark at Kell. “There shouldn’t be any anger in a healing room.”
I grab Kellan’s arm to physically get his attention away from Dane and whatever mess might have happened there. “Don’t start anything, Kell. If Cassandra gets distracted in her healing because of you two fighting, I’m banning you both from this room until she’s fully healed.”
He yanks his arm away. “I wasn’t going to start anything.”
I seriously doubt that, but he thankfully just shoots Dane a glare and the middle finger and then goes back to pacing.
Dane wasn’t wrong, but he knew saying anything to Kellan would only piss him off more. I check back in with Jackson to see if he’s been watching the spectacle between us, but his focus is completely owned by Raegan and her healing. If anger isn’t allowed in a sick room, then Jackson is no exception. Even though he looks calm sitting there and watching, I know he’s just as angry as Kellan. He just knows how to hide it better.
“There,” Cassandra finally says. She sits up and pulls her hands away. “I’ve stopped the internal bleeding, healed her broken ribs and her concussion, as well as any other internal injuries. That’s all her body will handle for the next day or two.”
“She’s still burning up,” Jack comments almost mildly, his hand resting over Raegan’s forehead.
“I heal injuries, not sicknesses. This is just her body’s response from…well, everything. Since the internal damage has mostly been taken care of, it should start getting better soon. You can help her sweat it out, too, or see if you can get her to take some medicine.”
“Will she wake up now?” I ask, my eyes glued to her barely moving form on the bed. I have to really focus to see the movement of her back that shows she’s breathing.
Cassandra spins around to answer me next with a shrug. “Honestly? I doubt it. I’ll come by to check on her tomorrow to see if she’s up for more or if it will need to be the next day. But with how tired her body is from…before and now the healing, I wouldn’t expect her to wake up until it’s done.”
“What were all of her injuries?” Jack asks next.
My gaze jumps to Dane, whose jaw tightens, but he doesn’t say anything. Neither of us has forgotten Jackson’s promise to Vera. And I’m not entirely sure if I disagree with Jackson either after what she told us and how she acted about it. Especially after seeing Raegan like this.
Cassandra catches the mood shift in the room, her eyes darting between each of us before she nervously grabs the sheets of the bed at her side. “Um...aside from what I just healed, she has a broken wrist, wounds on her back, significant bruising all over her body, the neck injury, and...”
“And?” I press.
“Her knee...something’s wrong with it, but I’m not sure what yet. I won’t be able to tell until the rest is healed.” She takesa shaky breath, combing her fingers through her hair. “What’s making this so much harder is her body’s strength. It’s like she’s already been worn down to her limit, so she doesn’t have enough to give to heal a lot at a time. I could have done more if she’d been in better condition before...whatever happened.”
She nods to some internal comment and then continues, her voice strengthening, “Get her a brace for her left wrist and find some aloe to coat her back with. Try not to move her too much, but make sure she’s comfortable. I’d probably get her hooked up to an IV as well for administering any medications and keeping her body hydrated while she’s out.”
