Page 125 of Moon Chosen

“Yes, I think I am. Unless you tell me I’m dreaming,” Nik said.

“You’re not dreaming. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling confused,” Nik said honestly.

She cocked her head as she studied at him. Her eyes seemed to smile, but her expression remained serious. “Confused isn’t bad. I’d expected you to say something more like ‘I’m in agony,’ or ask me if you’re dead for about the hundredth time.”

“Well, my back hurts. So do my leg and my head. But my confusion is bigger than my hurts. Um, I have you to thank for that.”

“For being confused?”

“Yes and no. You are the reason I’m confused, but I have to thank you for helping me,” Nik said.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

“Is your name really Mari?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so. But remembering yesterday is a little like trying to recall a dream. Well, a nightmare if I’m going to be completely honest,” Nik said.

“Yesterday?”

“Yeah, when you pulled me out of the run-off and brought me here.”

She poured the steaming water into a stone bowl and swirled it around before saying, “The yesterday you’re remembering happened five yesterdays ago.”

Nik felt a sizzle of shock. “I’ve been here five days?”

“Actually, you’re heading into day seven. Dawn isn’t too far away,” she said.

“I don’t feel like I’ve been unconscious for almost seven days,” he said.

“You haven’t been—not completely. You’ve been in and out of consciousness, mostly because you had a fever. But that’s broken now. You did a lot of talking about someone named O’Bryan.”

“He’s my cousin and my best friend,” Nik said.

“Your fever self was worried about him.”

“My awake self is worried about him, too. He was wounded not long ago.”

“You were talking to your father, too.”

“What did I say?” Nik asked, feeling strangely violated and curious at the same time.

She shrugged. “It was pretty difficult to understand you, but I could make out the words father and O’Bryan.”

“Father probably thinks I’m dead.” Nik spoke more to himself than to her.

“You’re healing well. I’m especially pleased that you’re fully conscious. Finally. You’ll be back with your father soon.” She lifted the stone bowl and poured the steaming mixture within through a delicate cloth and into a large wooden mug. Then she brought the mug to him. “Drink this. It’ll take the edge off your pain.”

“Can you help me sit up first?”

She nodded and he leaned on her while she arranged pillows behind him to prop him up. When he lay back again, Nik was shocked to realize that just that small exertion left him panting and weak with pain radiating from the wound in his back.

“Drink the tea,” she repeated, handing it to him.

Still Nik hesitated. “It’ll make me sleep again, won’t it?”